Problems connecting the Hydra to the PC
RedNifre
Posts: 84
Got my HYDRA today!
I connected it to the computer and downloaded a game (xracer) to the eeprom (F11). It worked, I could play the game with video and sound. But now the Hydra can not be found by the propeller tool (It says "No propeller chip found on any COM port.\n Scanned COM4." I'm sure that everything is correctly connected and I use the same USB-port I used when it was working. What can I try to fix this?
Thats what I have:
Windows XP 32 bit
USB 2.0
drivers from the CD (Windows installed two of them)
IDE from the CD
I connected it to the computer and downloaded a game (xracer) to the eeprom (F11). It worked, I could play the game with video and sound. But now the Hydra can not be found by the propeller tool (It says "No propeller chip found on any COM port.\n Scanned COM4." I'm sure that everything is correctly connected and I use the same USB-port I used when it was working. What can I try to fix this?
Thats what I have:
Windows XP 32 bit
USB 2.0
drivers from the CD (Windows installed two of them)
IDE from the CD
Comments
Dave
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Dave Andreae
Parallax Tech Support·
In the device manager the "USB Serial Port (COM4)" still shows up and Windows says that it is working. When I switch the Hydra on I hear that "ding ding"-sound windows makes when it successfully found a USB hardware.
Here is in detail what I did:
- Connect the Hydra and try that Asteroid game (worked)
- Disconnected the Hydra and connected it to the PC
- Installed the IDE and two drivers (windows installed them automatically when I connected the Hydra to the PC)
- Loaded XRacer in the Hydras EEPROM
- disconnected the Hydra and connected it to the TV (game plays, everything okay)
- rebooted the computer
Andre'
Post Edited (RedNifre) : 4/30/2007 7:16:37 PM GMT
> CABLE
> HYDRA
That's it.
Try it on another PC, if it works better then its something about your pc. Also, try other USB ports, etc. There's nothing to it really. If you leave the propeller tool running all night, sometimes it will have trouble communicating (I don't know if this problem has ever been fixed), but like I said, make sure to re-boot the computer. Make sure your connection is good. Also, give the Propeller chip and the XTAL above it a really good push into the board to make sure they aren't loose.
andre'
Try, if it fails:
reset
attempt
another attempt and see if it does not work on the second try.
- I don't know why it is so hard to get a connection
- when I connect the Hydra via USB it stops it current operation (the screen turns black, I guess it goes to wait mode). But the SPIN IDE says that there is no propeller connected (Instead of no COM found, which is the case when nothing is connected)
- I don't know how, but sometimes the Hydra continues its operation (demo still on the screen). Then I can load programs to it. During transfer the screen is black but when the transfer is completed the newly transfered program shows up on the screen
- After the first successful transfer no more transfer errors occur, but only as long as the Hydra is connected and switched on. When I turn it off an on, or remove and reconnect the cable the problem is back.
Is there anyone who has similiar problems? I tried it on two computers, it seems that only my computer has this problem :-(
The only thing that seems to work for me is picking up the Hydra and handling the area around the oscillator on the bottom of the board. I work on an anti-static table which I discharge to first so I'm not worried about static there. I haven't yet found the "magic" thing that sets it free, but like you once it starts working it works for hours and hours and never fails again until I shutdown the PC or disconnect the USB.
I've got a scope here and figured I'd go trying to trace the problem down one of these days but I haven't yet. I also have access to a USB analyzer, so I could try that one of these days too.
Changing USB pots, cycling power, resetting, plugging/unplugging all don't particularly seem to help.
For the moment I'm mystified.
Unless I’m misreading something most of what you posted sounds like normal operation. That is, when you connect the Hydra the USB chip is enumerated by the PC. When this happens it can cause the Hydra to reset numerous times until the chip has been enumerated and the VCP registered. This can take a few seconds. If you’re trying to do anything immediately after plugging in the cable it won’t work. You need to wait a few seconds. Once you disconnect it and reconnect it the same thing applies. Is there something else I am missing from your issue?
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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
I waited one minute, not working.
However, I found out that you can activate the Hydra by plugin things in or out! The expansion card has the best success-rate (worked 4 of 4 times), the controller is not that helpful (2 of 5 times).
So, this is how I activate my Hydra
Method A (card is already in)
1. connect everything and switch the hydra on
2. wait for the windows bell sound (hardware found)
3. remove the card
the screen should turn on now, the hydra should play the current software and you should be able to transfer something. If you want to transfer to the card you can just plug it in again
Method B (no card inserted)
1. connect everything and switch the hydra on
2. wait for the windows bell sound (hardware found)
3. insert the card
the screen should turn on now, the hydra should play the current software and you should be able to transfer something. If you want to transfer on the eeprom you can just remove the card.
epmoyer, does this technique work for you?
hope this helps if it all.
it's probably a totally different issue, but with you saying port 4, it rang alarm bells [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Baggers.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=660221
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