Hi,
I have a Feather M4 Express that has been working correctly. But yesterday the CIRCUITPY disk did not appear as expected right away, and when it did appear, it was erased. Attempts to write my files (code.py plus some libraries) caused frequent, but intermittently appearing, freezes when copying files to the disk. In other words, the macOS progress bar stopped, with the mouse locking up briefly sometimes. Eventually, I was able to restore everything by using storage.erase_filesystem() from Safe Mode and copying my files to the CIRCUITPY disk. The Feather worked for a little while after that.
But today the Feather is again unable to mount the CIRCUITPY disk without me first erasing it in Safe Mode, and attempts to copy files to it soon fail anyway. This really seems like a hardware failure. Is there any way for me to verify this, or learn what other software tricks I might employ to revive it? The Feather is about a month old, is running the 3.13.0 boot loader and Circuit Python 7.0.0.
Thanks,
John
Feather M4 Express CIRCUITPY disk malfunction
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Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
- johgibso
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 7:51 pm
- roncase
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:25 pm
Re: Feather M4 Express CIRCUITPY disk malfunction
I'm experiencing the same problem.
It has been operating since July.
Running 3.10
The board is failing to open the CIRCUITPY Drive (G: on my Windows10 directory)
I have tried all three of my USB ports.
I do have Putty installed and operating, however it doesn't recognize any COM ports.
A double-click on the reset button will open the FEATHERBOOT(G:) drive.
From:ron
It has been operating since July.
Running 3.10
The board is failing to open the CIRCUITPY Drive (G: on my Windows10 directory)
I have tried all three of my USB ports.
I do have Putty installed and operating, however it doesn't recognize any COM ports.
A double-click on the reset button will open the FEATHERBOOT(G:) drive.
From:ron
- johgibso
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 7:51 pm
Re: Feather M4 Express CIRCUITPY disk malfunction
Thanks for responding, @roncase.
Nearest I can tell, I must've torched the board somehow (ESD, bad multimeter use, etc.). I pointed adafruit support to this thread, but as you can see, nobody has responded. I actually hope I did something stupid, because I would hate to rely on these boards if the flash RAM disk is prone to disappearing suddenly.
I was also able to mount the FEATHERBOOT drive reliably, and I replaced the firmware a few times, before realizing it didn't help.
Did you try reformatting your CIRCUITPY disk in safe mode, using "import storage; storage.erase_filesystem()"? That will erase everything on it!
John
Nearest I can tell, I must've torched the board somehow (ESD, bad multimeter use, etc.). I pointed adafruit support to this thread, but as you can see, nobody has responded. I actually hope I did something stupid, because I would hate to rely on these boards if the flash RAM disk is prone to disappearing suddenly.
I was also able to mount the FEATHERBOOT drive reliably, and I replaced the firmware a few times, before realizing it didn't help.
Did you try reformatting your CIRCUITPY disk in safe mode, using "import storage; storage.erase_filesystem()"? That will erase everything on it!
John
- danhalbert
- Posts: 4687
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2017 12:37 pm
Re: Feather M4 Express CIRCUITPY disk malfunction
We fixed a problem post-7.0.0 which made it more likely that CIRCUITPY would get corrupted if it were reset or unplugged a few seconds after reset. Could you try 7.1.0-beta.0 and see if this problem appears to go away?
- johgibso
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 7:51 pm
Re: Feather M4 Express CIRCUITPY disk malfunction
Thanks, @danhalbert, that really does seem to make a difference! First I had to wipe the CIRCUITPY disk again using storage.erase_filesystem(), but after that, I have had much better luck getting simple things to run (blink, neopixel, etc.). Also, before this new cp version, copying the adafruit_midi library directory to the CIRCUITPY disk would invariably hang and upset the host computer. But now it works fine.
I will keep trying this and write back here if I discover unexpected things happening.
Any idea when this version will come out of beta?
Also, sorry for adding the following, but I don't know if it's relevant to the problems I was having. On this feather, I notice that pin D5 is shorted to gnd. That's not true of the other pins or of D5 on another feather. Is that a software issue, or did I destroy that part of the hardware?
I will keep trying this and write back here if I discover unexpected things happening.
Any idea when this version will come out of beta?
Also, sorry for adding the following, but I don't know if it's relevant to the problems I was having. On this feather, I notice that pin D5 is shorted to gnd. That's not true of the other pins or of D5 on another feather. Is that a software issue, or did I destroy that part of the hardware?
- danhalbert
- Posts: 4687
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2017 12:37 pm
Re: Feather M4 Express CIRCUITPY disk malfunction
D5 should not be shorted to ground. Can you test controlling its level with DigitalInOut set to output? Double-check your soldering too.
- johgibso
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 7:51 pm
Re: Feather M4 Express CIRCUITPY disk malfunction
Soldering looks okay to me, but that pin alternates between 4 and 45 mV when I run a program that sets the pin high and low with 4 second intervals between each. The other digital and analog pins all alternate between 0 and 3.2 volts, as you would expect. So I think I fried it. Live and learn. :)
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.