Is my Quickstart DOA?

ctwardell · 2012-03-17 15:12

I bought a Quickstart a couple weeks ago, along with a GG Prop Platform USB and just got around to working with them yesterday.

The PP USB works fine, as well as the C3 that I already had, but the Quickstart is not being found by the Propeller Tool V1.3.

I tried on both my desktop and laptop running W7 64 bit, as well as a VM running 32 bit XP.

The blue and red LED's blink when first connected, the green power LED is on, and I measure 3.3V at the power pins beside the header.

Any ideas on anything to check or try?

Thanks,

C.W.

mindrobots · 2012-03-17 15:44

I put a 10k pull up from pin 30 to 3.3v on all my Quickstarts. Some are flakey when it comes to reloading on the serial port. This could help.

Rayman · 2012-03-17 16:51

Is it connected directly to a computer or through a USB hub or laptop? Since it's USB powered, you might need a powered USB hub...

tonyp12 · 2012-03-17 16:55

My QuickStart is flaky too,
sometimes I have to hit F10/F11 multiple times or unplug the usb connector and plug it back in.
I'm not using a hub.

jazzed · 2012-03-17 17:23

tonyp12 wrote: »

My QuickStart is flaky too,
sometimes I have to hit F10/F11 multiple times or unplug the usb connector and plug it back in.
I'm not using a hub.

If you put a 10K pull up on P30 like mindrobots suggested, does the problem go away?

ctwardell · 2012-03-17 18:32

Thanks, I'll give the 10k a try, I'll let you know what happens.

C.W.

ctwardell · 2012-03-17 19:06

Rayman wrote: »

Is it connected directly to a computer or through a USB hub or laptop? Since it's USB powered, you might need a powered USB hub...

It is connected directly.

C.W.

ctwardell · 2012-03-17 20:01

Tried the 10k, no joy.

Tried external power, no joy.

Checked for clock at XO, no joy.

I'm assuming at this point it was a DOA.

Bummer.

Thanks for help.

C.W.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) · 2012-03-17 21:46

ctwardell wrote:

Checked for clock at XO, no joy.

That's not necessarily indicative of a bad board. If the part is not specifically programmed to use the crystal, you will not see any output on this pin.

-Phil

Leon · 2012-03-18 05:15

Return it for replacement.

ctwardell · 2012-03-18 07:30

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »

That's not necessarily indicative of a bad board. If the part is not specifically programmed to use the crystal, you will not see any output on this pin.

-Phil

Phil,

I forgot about that possibility.

C.W.

ctwardell · 2012-03-18 07:33

Leon wrote: »

Return it for replacement.

Yeah, I think that is all that is left to do.

C.W.

stargazer2050 · 2012-03-18 09:08

Got quickstart bd 2weeks now. All was working till yesterday. getting a not found on com port 10 message
But...when ilook in hardware alas, com port 10 is in use and turning on and off with that bd

Also the blue and red board lights are a flashin.

Also the yellow box in the corner of the program software says it is verified and loaded

THEN the no propeller chip found on any serial port shows up with checked com port 10.

I removed the driver and reloaded it from site download
Tried the 10k ohm thing from 30 to 3.3
Nuthin but must be doable.

jazzed · 2012-03-18 10:01

stargazer2050 wrote: »

Got quickstart bd 2weeks now. All was working till yesterday. getting a not found on com port 10 message
But...when ilook in hardware alas, com port 10 is in use and turning on and off with that bd
...

Hi there. Welcome to the forum.

If the port is in use on your computer it's probably because a program has it opened.
Sometimes programs can get stuck even if they are not open on the desktop.
Check with your task manager in windows or top in linux for common program names.

Thanks,
--Steve

stargazer2050 · 2012-03-18 12:13

Hi.
Com port 10 is responding to the propeller!

When I plug it in, com &lpt shows a usb usage on 10
When I unplug it, device mn goes silent on use of 10.
Its the propeller! Then im told its not! Wrong answer by the error msg!

Verstehen?

stargazer2050 · 2012-03-19 07:47

This issue was discussed by parallaxes top software people six years ago and was never solved!

ctwardell · 2012-03-19 09:58

The USB socket evidently is the problem on mine.

I found that if I hold the board and push in on the USB connector while checking for the device, or downloading a program, I can get it to work.

I tried two different cables and get the same result with each. Both cables work for my C3 and GG Prop USB

C.W.

jazzed · 2012-03-19 10:37

ctwardell wrote: »

The USB socket evidently is the problem on mine.

I found that if I hold the board and push in on the USB connector while checking for the device, or downloading a program, I can get it to work.

I tried two different cables and get the same result with each. Both cables work for my C3 and GG Prop USB

C.W.

Ouch. RMA time?
Did you use the support portal? http://support.parallax.com/index.php?/Core/Default/Index

@stargazer2050,
Maybe you should visit the support portal? It's hard to understand what's happening just by forum posts.

ctwardell · 2012-03-19 12:46

jazzed wrote: »

Ouch. RMA time?
Did you use the support portal? http://support.parallax.com/index.php?/Core/Default/Index

@stargazer2050,
Maybe you should visit the support portal? It's hard to understand what's happening just by forum posts.

Yep, got an RMA, it's going back to the mothership for inspection.

C.W.

max72 · 2012-03-19 15:14

@stargazer2050: just random ideas...
try to change the usb cable.
moreover if you have another PC test the board with this second one.
You can also try the current pc with a linux live and bst.
Recently I also had a faulty hub giving a lot of troubles, not only with the propeller.
Massimo

lrtnorfolk · 2012-03-20 03:51

Misery loves company... I get the same error message as C.W on one of my QS boards. I have 2 QS boards... one controls a remote xbee, the other controls a base xbee. I reload each unit on occasion (program changes). The remote (com 12) works great every time I reload. However, the base unit (com 10) is flaky sometimes. I get the error messaged C.W. has described. I have tried several cables, but that doesn't seem to work. I found that shutting down and restarting propeller tool V1.3 usually fixes it. A few times, I had to shut down V1.3 and windows to fix the problem. Not sure what's going on, but I must say it is frustrating.

Never thought about using a 10k pull-up on p30. I give that a try.

Renee

stargazer2050 · 2012-03-20 13:25

Hi guys,

Went back to radio shack today and the guy swapped out my board and cable.
Hooked it up and worked good then froze again within five times.
Called tech support, they said it can be the cable but to change the latency (in hardware advanced) down below 16.
Also go to ftdichip.com and get latest com drivers.
Did all that and I put it to bed for the day working good.
Itll die tomorrow but were gittin somewhere and it doesnt hav 2be perfect.

Rayman · 2012-03-20 16:32

Definitely try stargazer2050's fix... I'm curious if there's something about Quickstart that makes the latency borderline...
Hard to imagine, but I've had "Not found" issues on a couple Quickstart boards recently on one computer...

tonyp12 · 2012-03-20 17:20

I changed latency (control panel, device manager, com port) to 12 and now the problems seems gone.
Though it was an intermittent problem before so it's hard to tell.

Does the QuickStart use a cheap mini-usb receptacle?, or what is the problem?

Rayman · 2012-03-20 17:44

I haven't tried it myself because it still works every 2nd or 3rd time with my one computer that has problems...
I had this problem before on this computer with all Prop boards with an old Prop tool...
Prop Tools since 1.2.6 or so fixed it... But, I have noticed the problem coming back with Quickstarts, which is really interesting...

No way the connector is the difference. Maybe there's a ns delay in the logic buffer the Quickstart uses that makes it borderline on some computers...
BTW: My current trick is to immediatly when I get the "Not Found" message, try again. If I'm fast enough the second time, it works...

BTW2: I also recently rebooted (which I don't do very often) at that also seems to have fixed the problem...
I'm having dejavu though, because this is exactly what used to happen to me on this computer with older versions of the Prop Tool...
I have a few other computers that have never had a problem with any Prop board.... Very strange...

David Carrier · 2012-03-20 18:30

The latest version of the Propeller Tool, version 1.3, allows you to modify the delay between the Propeller Tool resetting the Propeller and communicating with it to send the program. To change it, first bring up the "Preferences" dialog box in the Propeller Tool by either clicking on "Edit" then "Preferences..." or by pressing F5, then click on the "Operation" tab. The text box labeled "Post-reset Delay (ms):" sets the delay. The default is 90 ms, but a wide range works on most boards. The range that works depends on the Propeller board, the USB to serial converter, the computers operating system, the drivers, other programs running, and pretty much anything and everything. There is a chance that 90 ms is outside that range with your combination of software and hardware, so try different values to see if you can get it working.

— David Carrier
Parallax Inc.

Is my Quickstart DOA?

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