Seemingly DOA Neotrellis Boards - 8x8 NeoTrellis Feather M4

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wuzlay
 
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Seemingly DOA Neotrellis Boards - 8x8 NeoTrellis Feather M4

Post by wuzlay »

Order: 2842687-1274404241

After sending a detailed email about the seemingly dead boards I received with my kit, I was told to post a forum thread, so I created an account and will share the same information here.

I recently ordered the 8x8 NeoTrellis Feather M4 Kit Pack. Upon receiving the kit, per instructions, I loaded a simple test sketch on the Feather M4 and started testing out each of the 4 driver boards. Only one of them worked as expected, the other 3 did not.

Code: Select all

import time

from board import SCL, SDA
import busio
from adafruit_neotrellis.neotrellis import NeoTrellis

# create the i2c object for the trellis
i2c_bus = busio.I2C(SCL, SDA)

# create the trellis
trellis = NeoTrellis(i2c_bus)

# some color definitions
OFF = (0, 0, 0)
RED = (255, 0, 0)
YELLOW = (255, 150, 0)
GREEN = (0, 255, 0)
CYAN = (0, 255, 255)
BLUE = (0, 0, 255)
PURPLE = (180, 0, 255)

# this will be called when button events are received
def blink(event):
    # turn the LED on when a rising edge is detected
    if event.edge == NeoTrellis.EDGE_RISING:
        trellis.pixels[event.number] = CYAN
    # turn the LED off when a falling edge is detected
    elif event.edge == NeoTrellis.EDGE_FALLING:
        trellis.pixels[event.number] = OFF


for i in range(16):
    # activate rising edge events on all keys
    trellis.activate_key(i, NeoTrellis.EDGE_RISING)
    # activate falling edge events on all keys
    trellis.activate_key(i, NeoTrellis.EDGE_FALLING)
    # set all keys to trigger the blink callback
    trellis.callbacks[i] = blink

    # cycle the LEDs on startup
    trellis.pixels[i] = PURPLE
    time.sleep(0.05)

for i in range(16):
    trellis.pixels[i] = OFF
    time.sleep(0.05)

while True:
    # call the sync function call any triggered callbacks
    trellis.sync()
    # the trellis can only be read every 17 millisecons or so
    time.sleep(0.02)
This seems like an unreasonably high number of dead boards, so I decided to check the REPL for additional clues. All of the boards that aren't working give me "No I2C device at address: 0x2e", so I tried changing the addresses in the test sketch thinking maybe the address jumpers might be shorted.

NeoTrellis(i2c_bus, addr=0x2E)
NeoTrellis(i2c_bus, addr=0x2F)
NeoTrellis(i2c_bus, addr=0x30)
NeoTrellis(i2c_bus, addr=0x31)
etc.

Lastly, I tested continuity between all the edge pads and connector pins. Everything seemed to be in order. Next, I checked that pin 1 on the IC itself was indeed connected to other contacts labeled "3v". This also seemed fine. Pin 2 also checked out to GND. Short of trying to reflow these myself with my hot air station, I'm out of ideas. I feel like I have gone well out of my way to request help... first emailing support, now creating a forum account and thread to prove that this kit seems to have shipped with some duds.

Any additional diagnostic suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, it would be great to get replacement boards for those that seem to be DOA. I'm impatient and may just end up ordering them myself at this point. Maybe I'll order 10. I see a lot of similar threads regarding these boards...

Photos linked below, thanks!

-Wesley

Feather board wiring + 1 good driver board
https://mega.nz/file/88YBgKja#XVzz-9lH8 ... kzfXpvOcgs

Seemingly DOA boards:
https://mega.nz/file/4lh1RCwJ#QdNbAIa0w ... yz77Fw2a1s

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dastels
 
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Re: Seemingly DOA Neotrellis Boards - 8x8 NeoTrellis Feather

Post by dastels »

You haven't set the address on any of the boards. If you have multiple boards connected, they each need to have a different address set using the A0-A4 jumper pads. See https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neo ... 3002974-11.

Dave

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wuzlay
 
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Re: Seemingly DOA Neotrellis Boards - 8x8 NeoTrellis Feather

Post by wuzlay »

That's right. I have not set the addresses on any of the boards, so they should each individually function using the test sketch, correct?

I have only plugged them into the feather one at a time for testing. Only one of them worked, so I messed around with addresses hoping these weren't duds, but no dice. Any other ideas?

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dastels
 
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Re: Seemingly DOA Neotrellis Boards - 8x8 NeoTrellis Feather

Post by dastels »

ok.
NeoTrellis(i2c_bus, addr=0x2E)
NeoTrellis(i2c_bus, addr=0x2F)
NeoTrellis(i2c_bus, addr=0x30)
NeoTrellis(i2c_bus, addr=0x31)
Threw me off.

OK. Yes, they should each work individually out of the box at address 0x2e.

Have you done an I2C scan with them? See https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitpytho ... -2837704-1

Dave

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wuzlay
 
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Re: Seemingly DOA Neotrellis Boards - 8x8 NeoTrellis Feather

Post by wuzlay »

Thanks for the direction!

I tried that first with the confirmed working board and it returned

Code: Select all

[46]
The other 3 boards all returned simply

Code: Select all

[]
so I assume the I2C device isn't being seen by the Feather at all.

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dastels
 
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Re: Seemingly DOA Neotrellis Boards - 8x8 NeoTrellis Feather

Post by dastels »

Odd, but they do sound DOA. Please email [email protected] with a link to this thread, your order number, and request the replacement of three "Adafruit NeoTrellis RGB Driver PCB for 4x4 Keypad".

Dave

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wuzlay
 
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Re: Seemingly DOA Neotrellis Boards - 8x8 NeoTrellis Feather

Post by wuzlay »

Thanks Dave! Replacements on the way.

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rushdesign
 
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Re: Seemingly DOA Neotrellis Boards - 8x8 NeoTrellis Feather

Post by rushdesign »

I have the same issue: only one of 5 of the neotrellis new boards appears to work... I have 4 others from another batch that also work fine.

When I do an I2C scan only the one working board shows up... I have traced the i2c all the way to the SAM IC and it is fine. The main thing I noticed is that on the good board I see marks on the test points from the Pogo programming fixture but on the other 4 I see no such marks... I think the boards are not programmed.

I am in a crunch on my project and have burned over a week on debugging this issue. Can I have programming instructions? or get 4 more sent out overnight

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dastels
 
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Re: Seemingly DOA Neotrellis Boards - 8x8 NeoTrellis Feather

Post by dastels »

rushdesign wrote:I have the same issue

Please make a new thread.

Dave

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