EtherDongle programming

[MrChristmas2000]

Is there anybody you know on this board?

If not you might ask RJ about sending it to either him or someone that he recommends where it could be checked out for errors or component failure.

Sometimes after you look at something for a long time you may just be overlooking something that someone else might be able to locate.

[TAdamsOK]

Well I tried to post this earlier but I guess my phone was hungry and ate it...  Get a good flashlight and shine it from the underneath side on the pic32 on the side nearest the 8.0 MHz chip and look for bridges on those legs.  If you can manage to take a few pictures of it please post.  It may need the solder reflowed on those legs.  Don't start picking at it with an exacto though if you see something as some of the legs are supposed to have a trace connecting them, but its been a long time since I put my originals together so I don't remember exactly where they are now without looking.

[mmciver]

I  glad this got posted.  I have flashed many expresses, wireless, dongles, etc. And have never had any problems.  Now I cant get the bobcat dmx testee, my pixlenet hub, or either of the etherdongeles I have built to program.

I am very interested in the outcome of this thread.

Mike

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

[drlucas]

Can you go back to a known working device that you flashed and see if you can still flash it? I'm wondering if something common like a Windows Update is causing problems? I can't imagine if you've built all those devices and never had a problem that now all of a sudden your mad skills at putting together these devices has gone to hades in a hand basket.

I  glad this got posted.  I have flashed many expresses, wireless, dongles, etc. And have never had any problems.  Now I cant get the bobcat dmx testee, my pixlenet hub, or either of the etherdongeles I have built to program.

[keitha43]

I  glad this got posted.  I have flashed many expresses, wireless, dongles, etc. And have never had any problems.  Now I cant get the bobcat dmx testee, my pixlenet hub, or either of the etherdongeles I have built to program.

I am very interested in the outcome of this thread.

Mike

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

Make sure to check the box for power. Make sure you are using the v1 standalone utility (not beta). Try different usb port. Try the pushbutton on the programmer. The etherdongles won't display a checksum after flashing.

[ghethco]

Hi guys,

Segull, did you get your EtherDongle from the latest coop?  I did.  I also attempted to program the PIC, but unlike you I'm a total noob at this so I chalked it up to user error.  Can anyone tell me for sure whether or not the PIC absolutely *needs* to be programmed before it will work?

I'm also trying to get mine to work.  I have it hooked up to a 10baseT switch with normal Cat5 cables, no joy yet.  I'm trying to use it with Vixen3.  Good info on this thread, I didn't know the solder had to flow all the way to the front surface of the board.  Need to check that out.

I don't see a lot of info on PC & software configuration for EtherDongle.  Should you be able to just plug in a switch, connect the EtherDongle to the switch and have it just work?  That's what I've done and so far the ED is not even seeing packets.  If someone knows how to configure the network for EtherDongle (or there's a post somewhere that I didn't find), would appreciate a pointer.

Gary

[rrowan]

Hi guys,

Segull, did you get your EtherDongle from the latest coop?  I did.  I also attempted to program the PIC, but unlike you I'm a total noob at this so I chalked it up to user error.  Can anyone tell me for sure whether or not the PIC absolutely *needs* to be programmed before it will work?
Yes, the pic needs to be programmed before the ETD will work. There is a green led inside the ETD that will only light up when the ETD is properly flashed.

I'm also trying to get mine to work.  I have it hooked up to a 10baseT switch with normal Cat5 cables, no joy yet.  I'm trying to use it with Vixen3.  Good info on this thread, I didn't know the solder had to flow all the way to the front surface of the board.  Need to check that out.
Normally nothing needs to be be configured on your network. Except if your router doesn't support multi-cast or has been turned off. Make sure the silver RJ-45 connector is being connected to your network.

I don't see a lot of info on PC & software configuration for EtherDongle.  Should you be able to just plug in a switch, connect the EtherDongle to the switch and have it just work?  That's what I've done and so far the ED is not even seeing packets.  If someone knows how to configure the network for EtherDongle (or there's a post somewhere that I didn't find), would appreciate a pointer.
Like above you need to find out if your router supports multi-cast and is enabled.

There are many examples how to configure the sequencing software for etherdongle use.
one example = You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
For a quick test you can try some test software in the wiki that has little configuration to setup.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Hope that helps or points you in the right direction.
Rick R.

Gary

[ghethco]

Thanks for the tips Rick.  I'm afraid I'm getting nowhere programming the PIC.  I've never done this before.  I bought the PICKit 3, downloaded the software for it (just the stand alone programmer app, I've tried both version 1 from the DLA wiki and version 3.1 from the Microchip website.  I was able to get version 3.1 to connect to the PICKit 3 (see attached), but version 1 wouldn't even get that far.

I downloaded the pixelnet hex file and tried to do a "File -> Import Hex" in the app, but I think that's premature.  Notice it says "no device found".  So, looks like I'm in the same situation as Segull.  Frankly I'm surprised there isn't at least a short tutorial on how to do this.  It doesn't look straightforward or self explanatory at all.  I looked at the PICKit 3 User's Guide from Microchip, but it talks mostly about debugging, not much there on how to simply program a device.  Is the app supposed to recognize the device right away?

I tried "Device Family -> PIC32", and then got what you see in the second attachment, "No device detected.   Ensure proper capacitance on VDDCORE/VCAP pin."

The app will not quit gracefully, when I try to exit it throws an exception and refuses to quit.  I have to kill it by force. (Ctrl-Alt-Delete, End Task).

Adventures in DIY eh?  :-)  Oh well, this is why I got started in March for next Christmas :-)

BTW in case it matters I'm running Win7 Home Premium, Version   6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601, x64 version
Processor   AMD A8-3500M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics, 1500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

I'm pretty sure I've got good solder joints, though a few of them did 'frost' a bit.  Does that mean a cold solder joint?  Those that did this, I tried heating longer, reheating, etc but the result was the same.  I've successfully soldered a DIY drone board set before, so I don't think I've done anything fatal.  That device worked just fine and it was a lot smaller and harder to solder.  I did make sure I got solder on the pads on the top side of the board.

The last three attachments are of the board and setup.

Thanks in advance, you guys are great.  I'm really excited and I know this is going to be awesome when I get it working.  I have my smart strings already and the SSCs are on the way.   Right now I'm just hoping to get basic blinky flashy with the LE I built.

Gary

[ghethco]

BTW, as you can see in the picture, the green LED is lit on the EtherDongle.  Does this mean it doesn't need to be programmed as Rick indicated?

I've seen conflicting info on whether the PIC needs to be programmed right away.  I saw on another post that they were programmed as part of the coop before shipment.  Which is true?  I looked back at all the communication from the coop, but saw no mention of programming the PIC either way.

Gary

[tbone321]

These pics are NOT programmed before shipment as there is currently no way to do that.  I remember reading somewhere that in the future, some of the chips for one of the devices will cme preprogrammed from MicroChip itself but I don't believe that is happening yet.  Even if the PIC were programmed, the Picket3 would still be able to see it so the problem here still needs to be determine and corrected.  The Picket3 does NOT auto-detect what it is connected to.  It needs to be told what family it is working with and frm there it will determine which PIC in that family it is working with.  If you pick the wrong family, in most cases it will NOT be able to identify the chip and will report "No Device Found".

[drlucas]

what happens if you connect the pic direct to the board vs using the ribbon cable in-between?  make any difference?

Thanks for the tips Rick.  I'm afraid I'm getting nowhere programming the PIC.  I've never done this before.  I bought the PICKit 3, downloaded the software for it (just the stand alone programmer app, I've tried both version 1 from the DLA wiki and version 3.1 from the Microchip website.  I was able to get version 3.1 to connect to the PICKit 3 (see attached), but version 1 wouldn't even get that far.

[ghethco]

> what happens if you connect the pic direct to the board vs using the ribbon cable in-between?  make any difference?

Same result.  Thanks for the idea though.  It's a brand new PICKit 3, BTW.

Gary

[rrowan]

> what happens if you connect the pic direct to the board vs using the ribbon cable in-between?  make any difference?

Same result.  Thanks for the idea though.  It's a brand new PICKit 3, BTW.

Gary

Have you done the firmware/OS update of the pickit3?

in the pickit programmer software v1.0 under the tools menu "Download Operating System"

If that doesn't work then try to do it with the mplab program.

Rick R.

[rrowan]

BTW, as you can see in the picture, the green LED is lit on the EtherDongle.  Does this mean it doesn't need to be programmed as Rick indicated?

I've seen conflicting info on whether the PIC needs to be programmed right away.  I saw on another post that they were programmed as part of the coop before shipment.  Which is true?  I looked back at all the communication from the coop, but saw no mention of programming the PIC either way.

Gary

The led is only on because of the pickit3 being attached. The info of the led not working without the pic being program comes from RJ. Since its his board and firmware I think the info is correct.

Rick R.

[jnealand]

Your screen shot of the pickit 3 programmer does not look like mine.  I have never selected anything from the menus except for file, import hex.  Here is a screen shot of mine connected to my conductor.  Where it says device I have to click the drop down list and select PIC32MX795F512L.  Fortunately it is the last on in the list so it is easy to find.  Any way it makes me wonder if you have set something it your programmer by using the menus and that something is wrong, but don't ask me anything more.  I have now shown you the only thing I know.