MintyComm download?

[kuenrg]

So here's a minty from Canada (w/ the FM xmitter for those trips to the states ;) Got everything together and my computer recognizes the FT232 so at least that much is working.
Quick, silly question - I can't seem to find the MintyComm to download (that code that was clobbered together in 5hrs) - am I missing something? Software isn't my forte.

thanks - kuenrg

[Guest]

I think you can use the one for version 1...in the downloads section.

By the way, did you use the terminal software to see if the firmware is on there? If you did, what procedure did you use to do that?

[kuenrg]

ahh, so clever are you,
notice things I do not
(Episode III seen have I not)

Yes, there's the java code I was looking for - will test it this evening.

If you mean checking to see what it spits out on Hyperterminal, yes I tried it and then realized that I hadn't soldered in my switches yet so couldn't turn it on - oops. Will have to do that this evening yet too.

As you can see, I've still got some stuff to do, not the least of which round off the corners so I can jam it in my tin.
http://www3.mb.sympatico.ca/~kuenrg/bottom.JPG
http://www3.mb.sympatico.ca/~kuenrg/alt_top.JPG

[adafruit]

wow! nice work!

does it play music and everything?

[kuenrg]

nope it doesn't work :(
yet

as I mentioned before, the serial port appears so that's good.

I've got both switches in the "on" position - ie away from the audio jack.
(I don't need any other power besides USB - correct? - I should still get power out of the LDO as far as I can tell.)
toggle them and nothing appears on Hyperterminal. Programmed the PIC on a separate pic programmer so I think all the code is in there but now I'm not sure.

oh well, have to continue looking at it some other time

[ryder1650]

nope it doesn't work
yet

as I mentioned before, the serial port appears so that's good.

I've got both switches in the "on" position - ie away from the audio jack.
(I don't need any other power besides USB - correct? - I should still get power out of the LDO as far as I can tell.)
toggle them and nothing appears on Hyperterminal. Programmed the PIC on a separate pic programmer so I think all the code is in there but now I'm not sure.

oh well, have to continue looking at it some other time

Exactly!! I am at the same point as you, I plug it in and nothing shows up on the HyperTerminal. Do we have to connect any other power source to it? I also programmed the PIC directly and did not use the bootloader. How exactly do we use hyperterminal? Should the Minty Firmware thing come up as soon as we set the port?

Thanks

[kuenrg]

Interesting - yeah - from what I make of the code and Limor's instructions the Minty should spit out some basic boot text on start up.
My next step is going to be just checking power supply points (ie - do I have 3.3V everywhere or is something pulling the voltage down) Then I'll scope the crystals and check that they are putting out some valid frequencies. Finally I'll check some data lines to see if there is any action there.
Unfortunately I don't have a CF card reader otherwise I would just put some songs on the card, plug it into the Minty and power it up and see what happens.
Whew, if all that fails then I guess I'll look at making a little in circuit programer to reprogram the PIC serially.
What trouble shooting have you tried?

[luke]

same thing happens here. programmed the pic (no bootloader), usb is recognized, and nothing in hyperterminal.

oh, and i assume that you know this, but be careful when programming the pic in-circuit, because the programming is done at 5v and everything else is rated lower.

[kuenrg]

curiouser and curiouser

OK - well if three of us are seeing (or not seeing, as the case may be) the same thing and none of us used the bootloader then maybe that's the key. I'm going to pop the chip off (so I don't have to worry about the 5V issue) and program in the bootloader and then use the tinybld to load the Minty code. (No - I'm not an expert soldered, but we have people here at work who are so this should be no problem.)
ladyada - any suggestions? Have you ever run the minty without a bootloader in there.

[terpDriver]

Are you sure you don't need to have battery power hooked up when you hyperterm?

In the fabrication pictures she has those red and black wires connected that go to the battery pack, and says "Turn Minty off and on, and use a terminal program (at 1152Kbps) to make sure Minty firmware is loaded."

[luke]

Are you sure you don't need to have battery power hooked up when you hyperterm?

In the fabrication pictures she has those red and black wires connected that go to the battery pack, and says "Turn Minty off and on, and use a terminal program (at 1152Kbps) to make sure Minty firmware is loaded."

i've tried it both on/off, off and then turning on after connected...and pretty much every other combination, and it still doesn't work.

[adafruit]

hmm, it should be spitting out info. did you use the correct crystal? the bootloader will verify to you that the pic is running properly. chance are its not if you dont even get a "MintyMP3 ..." message over the USB com port. the fact that the com port is found is a good sign tho

[kuenrg]

Just for the heck of it I tried it out with 3.3V on the LiOn input but still nothing. (The USB voltage did show up on that input, just like it would if it were charging.)
Yes, before I do anything too drastic I'll check that the crystals are a'buzzin but after that I'll have the PIC removed and reprogrammed with just the bootcode.

[luke]

please let me know how that turns out. i've checked my crystals and they are operating correctly. i find it hard to believe that all 3 of us made the same mistake.

[Guest]

Yep - I'll keep you up to speed but it won't happen til next week some time.