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An S2 died - probably self inflicted - resurected! — Parallax Forums

An S2 died - probably self inflicted - resurected!

mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
edited 2014-01-20 07:46 in Robotics
I was curious if anyone had seen this behavior.

I'd been playing with one of my S2s (the one that I had opened to put a 3 wire cable to the outside world form the hacker port) and when I turned it on one time, it did nothing. Swapped batteries and it did nothing. The batteries are good (tested in place with DVM) and the wires to the connector on the rear board are good. I thought they may have gotten "pinched" with the disassembly and reassembly. The dissasembly was over a year ago and it's worked fine since then.

Now, it's just dead. Turned it off once and when I turned it back on (a matter of moments between), it just never came to life. I haven't gone any further with testing (the operating room is full).

Under test at the time was a Trendnet USB to RS232 cable that worked fine for programming when usign the Propeller Tool but wasn't recognizing the Propeller on teh S2 when using the S2 GUI.

Just curious if this has been seen by anyone or if anyone had any quick fix suggestions. I'll dig out the schematics and start pulling it apart when I have the time.

In the mean time, there are other robots calling my name.

Comments

  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2014-01-19 08:37
    In scuba diving when there is an incident the standard order for checking is "breathing, bleeding, and bones". In the case of micros that would be "power in, clock, and communications".
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-01-19 08:46
    kwinn wrote: »
    In scuba diving when there is an incident the standard order for checking is "breathing, bleeding, and bones". In the case of micros that would be "power in, clock, and communications".

    It's also good to check for sharks in the water before you jump in. I was just checking to see if anyone had the experience before. Once I get it to a workbench, I'll start probing further to see if is breathing or bleeding! :lol:
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,255
    edited 2014-01-19 13:22
    Bummer. TTYTT, I haven't opened up an S2 yet. S1, many times, and there are numerous connectors in there too. Any chance an internal connector wiggled loose and you might restore function by opening up and reseating?

    You have nothing to lose, il mio amico...
  • GarethGareth Posts: 278
    edited 2014-01-19 14:36
    There is a fuse (strange small brown chewing-gum shaped thingy) close to the on/off switch ...... my money is on that devil.....

    Just for info I have removed my S2s sunroof circa 99+ times.... the wiring has a good gauge and plugs high quality, it would take a lot of force to dislodge its intestines...
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-01-19 14:46
    Gareth wrote: »
    There is a fuse (strange small brown chewing-gum shaped thingy) close to the on/off switch ...... my money is on that devil.....

    Just for info I have removed my S2s sunroof circa 99+ times.... the wiring has a good gauge and plugs high quality, it would take a lot of force to dislodge its intestines...

    I wasn't aware of the fuse (thanks!) but as I've been pondering it during the day, I was wondering if it was something like that or a simple switch failure. When you switch the switch, it has no indications of life. Yes, all the connectors seem to be of high quality and actually are hard to remove when you want to. There are a couple places where I have to be careful of wire pinching but "open sunroof" is not a problem.
  • ratronicratronic Posts: 1,451
    edited 2014-01-19 18:50
    Rick are you able to reload the firmware? When I have programmed my S2 in the past it acts like it's dead when you hit the power switch without the firmware installed.

    Edit: It does what I program it to do but unless I program the speaker, motors or LED's it sits there dead when you hit the power switch.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-01-19 19:20
    ratronic wrote: »
    Rick are you able to reload the firmware? When I have programmed my S2 in the past it acts like it's dead when you hit the power switch without the firmware installed.

    Edit: It does what I program it to do but unless I program the speaker, motors or LED's it sits there dead when you hit the power switch.

    Dave,

    YOU ARE A GENIUS!!

    That was exactly it. It appears completely dead but you press ahead, plug it in and reload the firmware from the S2 GUI. You get a message about downloading...and a bit later, the blue light comes on and it beeps at you!!

    Thank you! This is a good one to remember!
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,933
    edited 2014-01-19 22:16
    Funny, I have a similar scenario with my daughter's S2. After using the "monitor sensors" feature in the S2 GUI, it seems to be brain dead. I figured it just needed the program reloaded since I assume the sensors feature downloads code to work and for some reason the default code was hosed.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2014-01-19 22:21
    Guys, one thing to remember is that the blue "power on" LED is not hard-wired. It's programmable. And if the program that's running does not turn it on ... well, you get the idea.

    -Phil
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,387
    edited 2014-01-19 22:33
    And I was ready to proclaim "warranty opportunity - I'll cross-ship an S2 right away!" but I also didn't know about this kind of behavior, and that the power light was really a programmable LED.

    Got me all excited about a customer service opportunity for nothing. . .

    Ken Gracey
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,933
    edited 2014-01-19 22:52
    Thanks for the reminder Phil! I actually came across that note in one of your other posts on an old S2 thread, but had forgotten that. In regards to my scenario, does the monitor sensors feature in the S2 GUI download a different program to the S2 to work? I'll check it out further tomorrow when I work on my S2 project.

    Hey Ken,
    That reminds me. I sent the details to you about my S2 project. Did you have any feedback?
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,387
    edited 2014-01-19 22:56
    WBA Consulting wrote: »
    Thanks for the reminder Phil! I actually came across that note in one of your other posts on an old S2 thread, but had forgotten that. In regards to my scenario, does the monitor sensors feature in the S2 GUI download a different program to the S2 to work? I'll check it out further tomorrow when I work on my S2 project.

    Hey Ken,
    That reminds me. I sent the details to you about my S2 project. Did you have any feedback?

    Andrew, no, I didn't see the message. Could you send it again?

    Turns out I haven't done a very good job keeping up with basic communication lately at Parallax.

    Ken Gracey
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,933
    edited 2014-01-19 23:30
    No problem, it did not slow me down, my procrastination is self inflicted. My PM has been resent.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2014-01-19 23:36
    WBA Consulting wrote:
    In regards to my scenario, does the monitor sensors feature in the S2 GUI download a different program to the S2 to work?
    Yes. It overwrites the default program and does not load it back when finished.

    -Phil
  • GarethGareth Posts: 278
    edited 2014-01-20 07:46
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    blue "power on" LED is not hard-wired.-Phil
    ...ah haaaa... that explains the delay when the blue (power) led illuminates..... i put it done to the mechanical on/off switch being a bit slow and layed back :tongue:.
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