PC Crashes
SuperNintendoFan
Posts: 2
Hi all - new to Parallax and robotics in general, and I am having an issue with my device. I hope you can help, and I thank you in advance...
In short, when I first plug in my ActivityBot, my PC crashes.
Details:
New ActivityBot, nothing connected to the board except the power pack
Windows 8 - ASUS laptop
SimpleIDE 1.0 RC2 for Windows (also have tried SimpleIDE 0-9-64 for Windows)
Parallax-USB-Drivers-v2.10.00.exe
Scenario:
Installed USB driver and SimpleIDE, connected USB cable to ActivityBot board, then into the USB port on my laptop. Within 2 seconds, the PC blue sceens (frown face, "your PC has run into a problem"). Never even see the USB device try to install.
Failed attempts to resolve - all result in memory dump on PC:
Changed USB ports
Tried with Bot powered on and off
Re-installed USB drivers
Re-installed SimpleIDE 1.0 RC2
Removed SimpleIDE 1.0 RC2, installed SimpleIDE 0-9-64
Tried with SimpleIDE open and closed
For what it's worth, I tried on a second laptop with SimpleIDE 1.0 RC2 and the latest USB drivers, and I recieve message stating the USB device was malfunctioning or not recognized.
Any ideas?
In short, when I first plug in my ActivityBot, my PC crashes.
Details:
New ActivityBot, nothing connected to the board except the power pack
Windows 8 - ASUS laptop
SimpleIDE 1.0 RC2 for Windows (also have tried SimpleIDE 0-9-64 for Windows)
Parallax-USB-Drivers-v2.10.00.exe
Scenario:
Installed USB driver and SimpleIDE, connected USB cable to ActivityBot board, then into the USB port on my laptop. Within 2 seconds, the PC blue sceens (frown face, "your PC has run into a problem"). Never even see the USB device try to install.
Failed attempts to resolve - all result in memory dump on PC:
Changed USB ports
Tried with Bot powered on and off
Re-installed USB drivers
Re-installed SimpleIDE 1.0 RC2
Removed SimpleIDE 1.0 RC2, installed SimpleIDE 0-9-64
Tried with SimpleIDE open and closed
For what it's worth, I tried on a second laptop with SimpleIDE 1.0 RC2 and the latest USB drivers, and I recieve message stating the USB device was malfunctioning or not recognized.
Any ideas?
Comments
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/10/ftdis-anti-counterfeiting-efforts-sit-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place/
Parallax is caught in the middle on this one. If it is a problem that can be resolved by a swap of Parallax product, customer service can help.
No, we're not, and neither are you. We purchase our chips directly from FTDI.
Ken Gracey
IDBruce brings up the issue of possibly a bad cord..... good point.
This is eerily familiar, oh I remember it was back in 1998....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjZQGRATlwA
-Phil
I'm sorry to hear of the problems you've been experiencing.
There are a few things that could be the source of the problem. The most likely in this case seems to be a bad USB cable or a bad USB circuit on the Activity Bot.
Please try a new USB cable on the laptop that reported the USB malfunction.
Also, look carefully at the USB ports on the each computer. Often, the USB 3.0 ports are distinguished by a blue plastic interior, whereas USB 2.0 (and lower) ports often have white, tan, or black plastic inside the jack. Some of the early USB 3.0 controllers seemed to fail to recognize our hardware, but I don't recall any blue-screen issues in this case, and the USB 3.0 ports on many computers work just fine. If you have any USB ports that are clearly USB 2.0, please try those connections.
If the new cable or known-USB 2.0 ports don't solve the problem, I'd suspect the Activity Bot's USB circuit is bad. This would be a surprise to us, but we'd be happy to exchange it for you and would like to diagnose yours if it comes to that.
Feel free to contact our Tech Support department and/or Sales department for this issue. You can tell them that a number of people, including me (Jeff Martin) have been in contact with you to try to resolve this problem.
On my laptop I was using the USB 3.0 port. Switched to the USB 2.0 on the other side, and it works as expected (no crash, COM3 shows up in SimpleIDE).
Disconnected and reconnected a couple of times, tried with and without the board power on...all good.
I also switched back to the USB 3.0 to verify - instant blue screen.
So thanks to all, and for reference, this is what produced the blue screen for me:
ASUS K55N Notebook
AMD USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0096
Microsoft driver, dated 6/28/2013
Version 6.2.9200.16656
Windows 8, 64bit
Weird....I can use USB 3.0 without any issues at all. Glad its fixed though!
Wow! Thanks for following our suggestions and reporting back the results! That's one we'll have to note as a potential problem. It's something that seems to be out of our hands... sounds like the controller had some difficulty with the 2.0-only USB chip. Very concerning that the result was so traumatic.
We really appreciate the details, now we can check on the exact host controller type in future tech calls.
Glad you're up and running now.
NOTE: I've been using USB 3.0 ports on my ASUS-based desktop for years. No problems. Different host controller though; Intel ICH10 Family, in my case. We've also tested on a few other random desktops and laptops with no problems in the last couple years.
Good to hear you got it sorted out.
I was going on memory about the USB 3.0 problem and newer windows. I run Windows XP, 7 and 8.1, but I do not have any USB 3.0 ports.
Never had a problem with the current FTDI drivers.