CPX behavior with USB in OSX

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sharbergerSummit
 
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CPX behavior with USB in OSX

Post by sharbergerSummit »

I am using CPX in the classroom with a few dozen in use.
The behavior when attempting to connect via USB is very inconsistent.
I've gone through and updated the bootloader where possible but some units aren't accessible in order to do that, even from a Windows machine.

There are currently five modes of behavior -
1) Everything works as expected
2) takes two clicks on reset button to enter programming mode
3) appears to go into programming mode but no CPLAYBOOT on desktop
4) executes previous program but won't go into programming mode. responds to button presses while executing program. no response to reset button.
5) doesn't respond at all

(1) and (2) are fine, I am hoping there are solutions to get the units with behaviors (3), (4) &(5) back into service.
They represent approximately 25% of my total.

Other posts on this forum have provided things to check and I've tried to eliminate those before posting this.
I've tried known good cables, different PC's and Macs, etc.
Some of these may not have the updated bootloader since I can't see to access those files.
We use these stand alone in the plastic "bubble" cases, nothing external wired to the pads, so it is unlikely students have damaged them through mis-wiring something.

Thanks for any help!

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: CPX behavior with USB in OSX

Post by mikeysklar »

@sharbergerSummit,

In the case of 3/4/5 scenario of serious communication problems with the CPX can you describe what is happening further.

1) What version of OSX is being used? Can you confirm that a good CPX still works on that system?

2) Which USB ports are being used? Is it consistent across the environment that you select the same USB port location on the different OSX machines?

3)  -> About This Mac -> More Info... -> System Report... Look at the USB devices before and after plugging them in.

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sharbergerSummit
 
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Re: CPX behavior with USB in OSX

Post by sharbergerSummit »

Thanks for the reply-

1) 2) - I can confirm that that other CPX devices will work as expected on the mac systems where these units fail.
This behavior is consistent regardless of the whether on OSX 10.15.6, 10.14.6 or 10.13.6.
Or on Win or ChromeOS machines.

3) I'll look into the system info to see which USB ports are being used.
When we're troubleshooting a connection issue we usually try a different physical port on the machine & known good cable, but I haven't opened the system info window to see what is actually happening.

I should have more time to work on this in the coming week.

Thanks again

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sharbergerSummit
 
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Re: CPX behavior with USB in OSX

Post by sharbergerSummit »

Following up on the question re: USB ports .

I connected each of the misbehaving CPX devices to the same Mac using the same USB cord and the same physical port on the Mac.
Looking at the USB info tab in system report, none of these devices show up.
With the same setup and a normal CPX, I see it show up under the USB3.0 Bus as CPlay Express.

Are these devices dead? Is there some way to force them to connect?

Thanks

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: CPX behavior with USB in OSX

Post by mikeysklar »

The misbehaving CPX sound as though they have a bootloader that is not responding at all. Thank you for the clear summary of trying both types of CPX (working and non-functional) on the same mac/port/cable.

You have two options:

1) re-install the bootloader by using the SWDIO and SWCLK ports. You can do this by using another M0 processor or a J-LINK programmer. This is a somewhat advance procedure, but we have guides describing the process of unbrinking.

https://learn.adafruit.com/programming- ... an-arduino
https://learn.adafruit.com/how-to-progr ... ootloaders

2) Toss these boards out.

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sharbergerSummit
 
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Re: CPX behavior with USB in OSX

Post by sharbergerSummit »

Thanks! I think I’m up for the challenge. May even task a student with it if I can make it work.

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: CPX behavior with USB in OSX

Post by mikeysklar »

Excellent. Please let us know if encounter any difficulties.

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: CPX behavior with USB in OSX

Post by mikeysklar »

Excellent. Please let us know if encounter any difficulties.

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