My either my DS1302 or my brain just died on me :( .... or maybe both :( Please

Brann Fenix

I was making very good progress on my project over here at in my thread @ http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=5&m=140311

I hooked my Sensirion sensor and my DS1302 to my breadboard and everything was perfect. I also hooked the battery backup to the DS1302 with 2AA batteries and that also went 100% perfect. I ran tests all day on my schudle code and had LEDs turning on and off based on time, date, and air temp/humidity. I was loving it [noparse]:)[/noparse]

After I was happy with my code I decided to rewire the breadboard to make everything neater and save space. I cut the power to the BOE, then disconnect the battery backup on the DS1302 and start to move things around. I checked my wiring 3 times before power it on but something must of went wrong [noparse]:([/noparse]


I get this output in the debug window:
RESET Stamp to return to menu
00/00/00 00:00:000


To test the DS1302 I ran the demo code here http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=21&m=68522 which I have used 20 times before to set the time and test the Read/Write feature. I unplugged everything from the BOE but the DS1302 and hooked it up just like Chris posted in the thread... like I did 20 times before... but no matter what I do I can not get anything to output, set the time, or read/write to the DS1302. I used my multimeter to check all my connections and everything seems right... Any ideas? Or did I just get a bum DS1302 and need a new one?


Thanks in advance,
Brann

Post Edited (Brann Fenix) : 8/27/2006 4:14:36 AM GMT

PJAllen

Brann Fenix said...
either my DS1302 or my brain just died on me

You should have made this a poll.·
My vote is on the brain.

Get some sleep, go back to it tomorrow, because nobody can really say, definitively, it's this or it's that.

[noparse][[/noparse]The cry-baby emoticon never helps, wish they'd dump that thing.]

Brann Fenix

Yea a poll would of been nice heh... Sadly I wish there was more stuff to trouble shoot, but I think I just need to order a new crystal and DS1302 and swap something out... but who knows any input is helpful... th0 as I said I really can't see any [noparse]:([/noparse]


P.S I changed the emote [noparse]:)[/noparse] just for you heh

PJAllen

Well, I don't know what your skill level is.· You changed things, so something changed, something is different.· I have an oscilloscope, so that's what I'd be using in this situation.· In your case, I would leave all of the peripheral LEDs and stuff out and just get the 1302 going again.

· If you·re-situated the IC, you might take a look and see if you bent a pin in/under; I've done that where they look they're in the experimenter board good, but they're bent.· Maybe some your experimenter board contacts have gone soft (y'know, got loose.)· It could be a lot of stuff.

Robert@HCC

Very good advice from PJ - hook up only the 1302 and nothing else, then see what happens.
I have had the same problem in the past, and it was always a case of miswiring - either my wiring not matching up with the pins called in my code, or vice versa.
Check all your wiring bit by bit, and carefully compare the connections with your code to make sure everything agrees.

Checking it twenty times means nothing Its the one time that you check after walking away for an hour, or preferably , a day that makes all the difference

Kirk Fraser

Yep good advice. Similar to my thread -- you have to go back to the prototype board and redevelop your set up step by step with as few parts as possible then keep adding until it fails.

In my case it turned out to be a software "improvement" I wrote to make it more readable but I didn't inspect the rest of the code for consequences and it took an expert looking at the code to spot it as I had forgotten about it.

I've also had trouble moving from prototype to a clean board. It could be anything from software to a bad solder joint to something too close inducing a signal in another line to a part substitution that didn't work.

My device is currently suffering from a Radio Shack regulator not regulating at 5v and I'm having to get other brands that should work much better. I can definitely recommend avoiding Radio Shack 5v regulators -- the first one smoked literally and the second just failed to deliver anywhere near 5v with 12v input.

Kirk Fraser

Brann Fenix

I took everyone's advice and got some sleep and came back to it... I tried the follow:

1. 4 fresh AA batteries and then after that did not help any I went to a fresh 9v battery.
2. I took everything off the BOE breadboard and blew it out with some air incase something got in there like dirt.
3. I connected the circuit using the simplest way I could find from the thread by Chris Savage which I tried it with and without the battery on pin8 *drawing included in this post*
4. I used my multimeter to check and confirm the correct voltage on pin 1.
5. I used then use the multimeter in continuity test mode and tested the connections from each leg of the DS1302 to the BS2 itself sitting inside the BOE socket... All pins are connected perfectly to the BS2 and the test confirmed it.


I have also attached a copy of the code I am running to test with... It is unchanged and worked fine yesterday. I do not have an oscilloscope at this time and that is about the only thing I can think of to test with next [noparse]:([/noparse]

I guess I was looking for someone to post something on the lines of "OH! if you get that you must of mixed up the DATA and RST pin and blew the DS1302 out." or maybe "You put 5volts on the CLOCK pin and nuked it"

What types of things would kill a DS1302 or it's crystal? I'm 99% sure I did not put voltage on it pin it did not belong on... but at this point I would rather accept that I killed it or it is a bad IC rather than keep pulling my hair out. Before the end of the day I think I will order another DS1302 and Crystal just to be 100% sure it is or is not me. If I hookup a brand new one and it still does not work the odds of getting one DOA are pretty slim...The circuit does not get much simpler with one 1k resistor, a crystal and a few jumpper wires and I think that is what is killing me right now [noparse]:([/noparse]

PJAllen

· There is not one wire or one connection without which that circuit might even partially function.· It's all or nothing.· And you're getting nothing.

· Something that I found out early, and cause of some frustrationals, is that the HWB/BoE's I/O headers don't do so well with small gauge wires; as I see it, everyone should use #22 in them.· #24 and smaller just don't make good contact in them.· They're made to accept a square-pinned header, not round wires, and it's not the same situation as with the experimenter breadboard which is OK with as small as #26.

· You might try re-locating to another area using entirely different contact rows, or try using different STAMP I/O pins (maybe one of them got tweeked.)

· Or you can blame the IC.

· You insist that you did it all by the book, zero mistakes --·so why would an IC or a crystal just go flop-pot?

· Just trying to help.· OK, enough from me; go spend money.

Brann Fenix

Thanks for the speedy reply PJ [noparse]:)[/noparse]

I tried wire that was a little larger since my 2nd breadboard has slightly bigger holes and still no go. Same with the different pins on the BS2... heck I even went so far as to swap out the DS1302 for my SHT1x and using the same part of the breadboard had connecting to the same I/O pins of the BS2 and I got the SHT1x working 100% fine. This makes me thing more and more that something is wrong with the DS1302 and while I have the DS1302 isolated and hooked up correctly now maybe something went wrong when it was part of my bigger project that I was working on last night. I just have no idea how much punishment the DS1302 can take and if maybe something shorted that I did not notice last night could of tanked it...

I will report my results when I get the new DS1302 and crystal since at this point there is really nothing else to test. Thanks for the idea PJ it seemed like basic simple stuff, but sometime that is all it is [noparse]:)[/noparse] Also, it confirmed my thinking about the smaller wires not sitting too well in the I/O header. I had thought I just popped mine loose or something, but it is good know they are all like that.


I guess I will spend some time working on the other sensors and parts of my project to kill the time until the replacement shows up... If nothing else it will give me more time to spend refining my water level sensor code.


Thanks again,
Brann