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"No propeller chip found on any serial port". — Parallax Forums

"No propeller chip found on any serial port".

ZymaZyma Posts: 10
edited 2010-03-27 20:18 in Propeller 1
Hi. I'm student doing on my final year project which is to program the propeller chip. But each time i connect the propeller chip to my laptop, and try to run it, a window will pop out and say "No propeller chip found on any serial port". I am very new with this. And i dont really know how to fix this. I've tried changing the baud rate and all. But its still the same. I hope you can help, asap. I've got to get this done by this week. :S

Comments

  • whickerwhicker Posts: 749
    edited 2010-03-24 03:20
    You've given nothing about your setup.

    Demoboard, protoboard, professional dev board, dip in a breadboard?

    Probably the worst to try and get working with such short time would be a breadboard. There's just too many things that could be an issue.
  • ZymaZyma Posts: 10
    edited 2010-03-24 03:27
    Im working on propeller chip P8X32A-Q44. my baudrate is 115200, flow control none, latency timer 1.
    Picatos0504.jpg
    640 x 480 - 95K
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2010-03-24 03:35
    Start by making sure you have +5V and +3.3V on the board. Make sure the USB driver is properly installed, and the propeller tool is using the correct port.
  • ZymaZyma Posts: 10
    edited 2010-03-24 03:38
    the propeller board uses a 9v battery. how do i know if the USB drive is properly installed ?
  • JomsJoms Posts: 279
    edited 2010-03-24 03:47
    Do you have a volt meter to check the voltages with? If you are using the 9V batt, try a new, known good one.

    If you go to device manager (right click my computer, manage, click on device manager on the left side, then expand the 'ports' in the right windows). Do you see a USB Serial Port listed in there? How about any unknown devices? What version of windows are you using?

    I have had problems with the driver not loading correctly so you may have to reload the driver. Download the link below and run it. It should open a couple dos promts and close itself automatically when completed.

    http://www.parallax.com/Portals/0/Downloads/sw/uty/USBDriverInstallerV2.04.16.exe

    Edit - Also, I think there is a power switch next to the power jack, make sure that is set in the on position too...
  • ZymaZyma Posts: 10
    edited 2010-03-24 03:57
    I have USB serial port(COM12). no unknown devices. im using windows 7
  • JomsJoms Posts: 279
    edited 2010-03-24 06:02
    Try going to your prop tool preferences (edit, preferences..., or press F5). Choose the operation tab at the top, and try changing the 'serial port search' to COM12. Normally it works under auto, but I did have to manually change it once, but that was a few years ago...

    I am not sure what exactly is going on, but just trying to throw out ideas of things that might help. If this doesn't work, is there any way to get a volt meter to check the power on the board? Is this a new board or something previous students used and possibly has damage?
  • ZymaZyma Posts: 10
    edited 2010-03-24 06:05
    its still the same. its a new board.
  • JomsJoms Posts: 279
    edited 2010-03-24 06:28
    I am sure someone with more brain power will chip in in the morning. There are a ton of great knowledgable people on here that would love to help, just most of them sleep at this hour, and I am planning to head that way soon too.

    Anyways, Check back in the morning and hopefully someone else can give you a few more ideas. But I do know, without some type of a volt meter to check that there is 3.3 going to the prop, it will be hard to troubleshoot as things are leaning towards that. I guess if you have an LED and resistor you could check that there is some type of power present on the 3.3v and 5v.

    Sorry I couldn't be of more help...
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2010-03-24 07:15
    If you can't or won't check the battery, try a proper 9V power supply!

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Leon Heller
    Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
  • Dr_AculaDr_Acula Posts: 5,484
    edited 2010-03-24 07:18
    I think it would be almost impossible to debug any electronics without a voltmeter. At my local hardware store they are in the "impulse buy" bin near the checkout for $8. I have several at that price.

    You really need to know the volts are correct at the propeller chip. With a 9V battery - it could be the battery is flat, it could even be the battery is connected the wrong way round.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    www.smarthome.viviti.com/propeller
  • Patrick1abPatrick1ab Posts: 136
    edited 2010-03-24 16:37
    Assuming that every demoboard is the same:

    - Is the green power LED on?

    - Are the red and the blue LEDs flashing when connecting the board to a computer?

    - My demoboard had a demo program running when I powered it up
    for the first time. Try to connect it to a tv and see if there is a signal.
  • ZymaZyma Posts: 10
    edited 2010-03-25 00:19
    the green power led is not on. but theres red and blue leds flashing when connected to the computer.
  • ZymaZyma Posts: 10
    edited 2010-03-25 00:56
    my hardware is working already!! thank you all for helping!! [noparse]:D[/noparse][noparse]:D[/noparse]
  • Patrick1abPatrick1ab Posts: 136
    edited 2010-03-25 01:02
    Okay wink.gif

    I was just about to write an answer, when I saw your post.

    But I'm curious now: Was it the battery?
  • ZymaZyma Posts: 10
    edited 2010-03-25 01:12
    it was the connection from the battery. the wires werent connected correctly. :S
  • yarisboyyarisboy Posts: 245
    edited 2010-03-27 20:18
    I'm trouble shooting a similar problem. I'm showing 3.306 volts at the propeller Vdd pins. It is a QFP-44 format. I always found the 40-pin dips before with this desktop unit but am unable to see the QFP-44 chip. The Propeller tool flashes the blue LED on the bottom of the hook-up once but the QFP-44 is not responding. On the 40-pin DIPs there was a lot more blue light flashes as the system verified proper operation. I've checked the routing of all my traces and have inspected my soldering with a 30x lighted microscope. I just washed my board with alcohol to remove all flux. I had to fix a problem with Tx and Rx traces being swapped but I have another problem somewhere. In accordance with the education manual I've double checked wiring on my EEPROM. Meter says EEPROM is getting 3.305 volts. I double checked the traces to the QFP to make sure I didn't also swap them, I didn't.

    Post Script: S-U_C-C-E-S-S. Turns out my Tx and Rx lines to the propeller clip were right as laid out. I put a second prototype together and loaded the do nothing object. The Propeller tool found the QFP-44 chip this time and successfully loaded the EEPROM. My surface mount soldering must be getting better.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    MOORE'S LAW: The capabilities of electronics shall double every 18 months.
    cloyd's corollary: Hardware is easy, software is hard.

    Post Edited (yarisboy) : 3/28/2010 1:45:41 AM GMT
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