Problem

[spider236]

i assembled the express board and tested it by plugging it in prior to installing the chips and both the 5 volt and 3.3 volt green leds lit. at that point it appeared the build was going well.

i installed the chips, hooked up 2 power cords and plugged them in. i do not get a PRG code on the leds. they dont light at all. when i press the mode button, nothing happens.

there is one led (#6) that always has a faint glow to it when the board is powered up. i can see no bridge on any solder joints, so im not sure why its doing that. if i press RESET, it goes out, then comes back on when i release the button.

if i press the SELECT button, led #16 lights up, then goes out when i release it.


the board will power up when the left side ac cord is the only one attached. it will not power up when the right side ac cord is the only one attached.

the board is terminated.


i dont know whats wrong.

[rrowan]

Was the pic programmed and with the correct firmware?
Are the Seven Segment LED display in correctly?
Remove the large chip to the right of them and check the pins
Did you miss a small capacitor?

Rick R.

[RJ]

i assembled the express board and tested it by plugging it in prior to installing the chips and both the 5 volt and 3.3 volt green leds lit. at that point it appeared the build was going well.

 This is good

i installed the chips, hooked up 2 power cords and plugged them in. i do not get a PRG code on the leds. they dont light at all. when i press the mode button, nothing happens.

      Not so much need to post some pictures for us.

there is one led (#6) that always has a faint glow to it when the board is powered up. i can see no bridge on any solder joints, so im not sure why its doing that. if i press RESET, it goes out, then comes back on when i release the button.

      This sounds like a firmware load issue

if i press the SELECT button, led #16 lights up, then goes out when i release it

    It should so this is normal


the board will power up when the left side ac cord is the only one attached. it will not power up when the right side ac cord is the only one attached.

    also normal

the board is terminated.


i dont know whats wrong.

   Thats Ok we will get it working.

RJ

[spider236]

shouldnt the numeric leds light up when the board is powered up, or does all the firmware need to be installed as well?   how can i install firmware if the board itself has issues? i cant get it to go into program mode.

my dongle now has a red led lit. it did have a green led lit. does that mean i need to reinstall the firmware for it as well?

[spider236]

Was the pic programmed and with the correct firmware?
Are the Seven Segment LED display in correctly?
Remove the large chip to the right of them and check the pins
Did you miss a small capacitor?

Rick R.

the pic on the express is not yet programmed
the numeric leds are installed correctly
i removed the large chip; no pin issues.
all caps are installed.

i will post  a picture asap.

[spider236]

Here are some pictures of the board:

[smartcontrols]

The Pic will need to be programmed before the displays will work.

Assuming you are using a picKit to program it. With the board powered off, connect the pickit to the 6 pin header on the express (be sure to match the arrow to pin 1) and download the correct hex file to it. The pickit can supply the power needed to do this. Then remove the pickit, repower your express and report back to us.

-Jeff

[RJ]

Yes if the pic is not programmed then what you have described is totally normal. Program the current firmware in the pic and things will change for the better. 

RJ

[spider236]

The Pic will need to be programmed before the displays will work.

Assuming you are using a picKit to program it. With the board powered off, connect the pickit to the 6 pin header on the express (be sure to match the arrow to pin 1) and download the correct hex file to it. The pickit can supply the power needed to do this. Then remove the pickit, repower your express and report back to us.

-Jeff

i downloaded the lynx express firmware lnt from the wiki page via the pickit 2 to the pic, repowered unit - no change. now what? 

[rrowan]

Did you get the firmware from the correct location? Reason I ask is you created a new post which makes it hard to follow whats going on.

After you get the firmware you need to start up pickit2 software and then load the firmware and write it to the pic

Once that is done remove the pickit from the LE and power up the LE

Rick R.

[spider236]

yes. i did that, but i still cant get the board to go into program mode.

[RJ]

Ok,

 Let me explain, we are not able to see what you are doing and what is happening. This requires you to give us much more info so we understand what is happening to help.

So answer some questions so we understand.

You posted that your display was not working and do to some good questions from rick we found out you had not loaded your firmware.

So now you say you have loaded the firmware. Did it verify OK ?

When you turn on the express now do you get the led displaying anything or is it still blank?

The leds for power both 3.3 and 5 volt are on correct?

When you say you can not get it to go into program mode what do you mean you can not? What are you doing to get there? what are you seeing when you do it?

Why are you trying to go to program mode? It would be best to test it first as the firmware is set to channel #1 and the Default curves are loaded.  The unit should work as it is.

Remember we do not have the info you do about the issue.

Biggest thing is to not worry we will get you going with enough information. 

RJ

[spider236]

problem solved. 

initially what i did was open the pickit2 software, clicked "file" > "import hex" > selected the hex file > downloaded it > the pickit2 software said "download successful". i could see the hex code changes in the "program memory" window. it looked like the file loaded successfully, just as the software message window indicated, however i could not get it to "verify". i started clicking buttons, and when i clicked on the "write" button, the program loaded the pic AND would then verify it. not sure what happens, but it looks like the first "downloaded successfully" message means the software was successfully downloaded to the pickit2 software making it available for download to the pic itself. so, to make a long story short, you gotta click the "write" button to get the pic to load. didnt know that.

thank you all for your help with this.

[RJ]

Yep!

Thats why I asked if it verified.

 It does tell you the import of the firmware is successful but you do need to hit write to load it into the pic chip. I hope you are working now.

If not please let us know how to help.

RJ

[spider236]

i just found the instructions for flashing the pic in the express manual. some how i missed that.    sorry.