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)
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