Help Please No Response from Dongle to Express

[Dholley]

HI DLA Members,

I am back from out of town.  I checked the solder joints  of the dongle as RJ suggested and touched up a number of them. Retested and have the following results:

Board 1 does not work at all, board 2 works inconsistently as follows; around 139 the LEDs come on dimly, at 144 the LEDs go off, come on dimly at 147 the off again at 160 this pattern of off and on continues until I get to around 176 where the LEDs come on and stay on. Also this is where the mini lights begin to light.

Would someone advise of what this inconsistent lighting pattern means, assuming it is the dongle can you tell what part of the dongle I need to replace. I believe I have thoroughly checked the solder joints and tired to touch up any that were questionable.

I did not make the cat 5 cable, but I have two cables that worked previously, I will be happy to test if someone would advise how.

Your assistance if greatly appreciated.

Danny

[Dholley]

I have been trying different combinations of usb cable and cat 5 and may have made some progress. It's too early to say for sure.

Would someone tell me a trust worthy name brand for cat 5 and usb cables. Also what is the best way to test a cat 5 or usb cable. I can tell you from experience; just because a usb cable will work your printer it does not mean you can rely on it to work your express.

Thank you!

Danny

[Dholley]

Okay, I'm losing my sense of humor. It stopped working again, no signal to the express. Why would would it work part of the time and then after approximately 5 minutes it stops working?

Any words of wisdom are greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Danny

[shaunkad]

Two thoughts are we sure the dongle is putting out data. There is a tread some were on here on how to build a easy simple data tester. Last idea it is a temperature issue. 

[smartcontrols]

Is your USB port going into sleep mode?

There is a thread on here about how to adjust the power settings for the different  operating systems.

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Edit: Added one of the links

[Dholley]

I disabled sleep mode for the usb root hub. No change.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Danny

[RJ]

The seqence your running isn't 5 minutes long and ending? I have had that happen and thought something was wrong. Where are you at? do we have a member close? A know good dongle and cable would really help. I rally think your express is working and it is a dongle/software issue. Not many issue on the controller will act like that. Normally it will or will not work unless moving it causes it to quit then I would say Express was the issue.

Does vixen keep running when it quits working or do you get an error from it like com port error?

RJ

[Dholley]

Hi RJ,

I am using the test all channels feature in vixen so I'm not really running a sequence. I tested with vixen and the Lynx DMX DECK.  The controller was working with both programs and then stopped.

I agree I think it is either the dongle or a cable. I'm going to buy a new USB cable. I am near Houston, if someone has a working Dongle I could borrower to verify the problem that would be great.

Thanks to you and all the DLA members.

Danny

[RJ]

So if you are in Houston, Are you going to the Lone Star Acadamy? If so, I and many others will be there with stuff that we can use to test and could get you going in a hurry. Even if you were not planning to might want to think about it. I can assure you I will be showing some stuff a number of our users will be very interested to see for the first time. 

RJ

[Dholley]

RJ,

I sent you PM regarding your post.

Danny

[Dholley]

Dear DLA Members,

The saga continues. I may have narrowed down the culprit, when I plug my USB cable into the dongle port the connection is a little loose. When I test with vixen I can get the lights to come on or go off by wiggling the cable. Assuming this is the problem what is the solution short of replacing the USB modular and hoping for a tighter fit.

It's like having a cord plugged into an wall outlet that does not have a tight fit and therefore poor electrical conduction.

Thanks!

Danny

[rm357]

Are you sure you have pushed the USB connector in all the way on the dongle. When I push the usb plug into the dongle it stops with about 1/4 inch of the connector still showing. Then I push it a little more, it goes in a little further so that only about 3/16" is still showing plus I get a solid feeling click.

RM

[Dholley]

Hi RM

yes, it's all the way in, it makes a little "click" sound and approx 3/16s" is showing. The connection is loose and the port itself moves ever so slightly.  I don't see a way to tighten the port. I have checked all the solder joints that hold the usb module in place and touched up any that were in question. Still the port moves a tiny bit.  I have tried with 3 different USB cables

[Dholley]

Here's the latest,

I bought a new USB cable connected it to board 1,  it worked with the vixen test for a little while then stopped all together, additionally the leds would shimmer on a slow fade.

Connect to broad 2, it worked for a moment and then the leds would not go out when unselected via vixen. I took the Dongle apart...AGAIN! Reinspected for questionable solder and joints soldered possible bad joints.. AGAIN!

Restested with board 2, it worked continuously and correctly while I was testing. Retested with board 1, best I can remember the lights worked continuously but would shimmer on a slow fade.

I purchased Board 1 from another member and was advised that some of the 3.3 voltage regulators for a particular  Coop had some issues, but would probably be okay unless using in extremely cold weather. At first I was undecided about replacing it but decided to change it out just in case. I don't know if the shimmering effect was directly related to the 3.3v regulator but I retested board 1 and it worked continuously and correctly (no shimmer on fades) while I tested.

As for as the dongle is concerned, at the moment it is working and it appears after all my travel it was a bad solder joint or joints.

May the hardest part be behind me. I would much rather see the lights work than work on them!!!

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions. I am truly amazed at the kindnest and willingness to help of the DLA Members.

Best Wishes and God Bless,

Danny

[Blackbeard]

One of the problems I'm constantly running into with USB is that China and Hong Kong  seems to have a different standard for the USB connectors than what the US has. Most of the cheapo stuff I get on EBay that originates in China or Hong Kong seems to always have loose fitting connectors or sockets.

It sort of mimics what you're describing. Not sure if you're using any of these foreign connectors, but even in today's standards, you can't guarantee that a locally purchased item wasn't made elsewhere.