fix for 'stuck' LEDs?

Get help and show off your TV-B-Gone kit!

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
Locked
adafruit
 
Posts: 12151
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

fix for 'stuck' LEDs?

Post by adafruit »

here's my attempt at possibly fixing the 'stuck on' bug

if you can, please program your v2 tvbgone with it and let me know if it works and/or solves the problem!
http://www.ladyada.net/media/tvbgone/tvbgone11b.zip

elliott2
 
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:03 pm

re: fix for 'stuck' LEDs?

Post by elliott2 »

I loaded the new firmware (V1.1b) and it's a big improvement, when I was running V1.1, I could get the error about 1 in ten cycles. I did have the 'stuck on' error 4 time so far but that was out of about 50 cycles. On two of the 'stuck on' errors, I had counted the green LED flashing 39 times where it normally flashed 46 times for what it's worth. I also measures the reset on one of the 'stuck on' errors and it had the 25 ms square wave on it with the voltage limits of 2.8, LEDs off and 2.7, LEDs on, pretty much like the last time. The third and fourth time, I was measuring some of the pins in the error mode and the unit reset and started over. The unit reset itself when it errored the third time after about 5 seconds (a guess at the time duration) and after it cycled through it errored again and after another 5 seconds it reset itself and the next time around it completed the cycle. The battery voltage at pin 8 is running 3.1 volts in the sleep state and pulses from 3.0 volts LEDs off to 2.5 volts LEds on. The reset pin, pin 1, has 2.9 volts on it in with LEDs off and 2.6 volts with LEDs on. I placed the V1.1 programmed chip back in and I can repeat the error as before. The only difference is the error seems to consintently occure at green LED blink 42 and the unit blinks 49 times. I ran the unit and I had 9 good cycles, then 6 bad, 2 good, 4 bad, 14 good and at this point my eyes started to blure staring at the flashing green LED. I put the V1.1b chip back in and the first cycle was good, second cycle errored, third was good, fourth errored and the next ten were good. I let the unit self reset on both errors and the following cycle was good so the unit is self correcting if it does fault which is good. I'll keep playing with the unit and let you know if I find anything else. I also plan on putting together the second board and see it the problem follows the chip or is board related. For what it's worth, this is a really cool wiget and quite a lot of fun at the malls, stores, resturants and bars. Keep up the good work. Hope this info is of some help or interest.

Cheers,
Tim

adafruit
 
Posts: 12151
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Post by adafruit »

one thing to check is that what i added was an 8 second 'reset' so if it seems to have a problem, it will automatically kick itself after 8 seconds of stuckness. so if it starts getting weird, wait 8 seconds and tell me if it -doesnt- fix itself

elliott2
 
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:03 pm

re: fix for 'stuck' LEDs?

Post by elliott2 »

It does reset itself after the 8 seconds (I guessed it was 5 seconds) and I've only had it loop thru twice (press button, cycle till stuck, reset, cycle till stuck, reset cycle till end then sleep mode) before the error was cleared, all the other times it cleared up after the first auto-reset (which has only been 8 time total counting the double loop through. So the stuck on forever clears eventually. If you would like I can pack up the unit and mail it to you with the V1.1 and V1.1b chips if you feel like playing with it, I plan on getting the second board loaded and soldered today to do some further checking.

Cheers,
Tim

adafruit
 
Posts: 12151
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Post by adafruit »

well its not good but its better than nothing. ill update all the kits in stock so at least they'll be 'mostly fixed'

User avatar
sup191
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:59 pm

Post by sup191 »

ladyada wrote:well its not good but its better than nothing. ill update all the kits in stock so at least they'll be 'mostly fixed'
Hey everyone!

I just got my kit today and had it up and running in about 1.5 hours. I have to say as a VERY amateur solderer, the step-by-step instructions made everything perfectly easy - even for me! :D

I noticed that a firmware revision was recently released. (1.1b) My order number is 15846. Do you know if the 1.1b firmware was updated on my chip before it was shipped, or am I running the 1.1 firmware? I don't have a reprogramming cable and I read how reflashing my unit after it's already built can make it work less effectively. (I also don't want to press my luck and unsolder and resolder things since it works at this point)

Thanks for any info you can shed and thank you for a great toy!

sup191

adafruit
 
Posts: 12151
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Post by adafruit »

if putting the batteries in doesn't turn it on (that is, you have to press the button to get it started) then its the fixed version

User avatar
sup191
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:59 pm

Post by sup191 »

Thanks for the quick response! It looks like it is the updated version. I got lucky and ordered it at the right time I guess. :D

Tomorrow seems like a good day for a trip out to Best Buy... ;)


sup191

krazydave
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:04 pm

Post by krazydave »

I just received mine last night, which I'm noticing today has stayed on about 3 times out of about 30 activations.
And it does turn on when I put in the battery.
So I'm assuming that this one is in fact v1.1 and not 1.1b.
Are there any instructions on how to update it?
I suppose you could say that I am PC literate, considering that I'm a Systems Admin by trade.

Thanks for the great product!

adafruit
 
Posts: 12151
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Post by adafruit »

updating it requires reprogramming the chip... there are a bunch of threads on how to reprogram it, you can read thru this forum for ideas. still, you'd need a programmer. :(

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “TV-B-Gone Kit”