Feather M0 LoRa 433 can't CircuitPython

[Wiregeek]

Howdy!

Just got my https://www.adafruit.com/product/3179 in, and on advice from a trusted pal I'm headed for CircuitPython. I got a Blink sketch running, and added an LED to D12, verifying my hardware and development environment are functional.

They are - good stuff! Last time I touched a micro was a Basic Stamp.

So I hit up https://learn.adafruit.com/welcome-to-c ... cuitpython and run the steps. It works. Micro reboots and comes up with a Circuitpy drive, then happily immediately reboots and comes up as FEATHERBOOT again.

Ohhhhhh K.

https://learn.adafruit.com/welcome-to-c ... stallation and there's my next step. Everything completes successfully, aaaaaand reboots as Circuitpy, then immediately reboots back to FEATHERBOOT

Back to zero, went to upgrade bootloader using Arduino IDE, got the following results, but no change in behavior.

Device : ATSAMD21x18
Version : v1.1 [Arduino:XYZ] Jan 15 2022 11:54:10
Address : 0x0
Pages : 4096
Page Size : 64 bytes
Total Size : 256KB
Planes : 1
Lock Regions : 16
Locked : none
Security : false
BOD : false
BOR : false
Write 10932 bytes to flash (171 pages)
[==============================] 100% (171/171 pages)
Done in 2.097 seconds
Verify 10932 bytes of flash
[==============================] 100% (171/171 pages)
Verify successful
Done in 0.177 seconds


So the board is back to UF2, but won't let me throw Circuitpython UF2 on it..

UF2 Bootloader v3.14.0 SFHWRO
Model: Feather M0
Board-ID: SAMD21G18A-Feather-v0


Any thoughts?

[danhalbert]

What is the exact name of the UF2 file you are copying to the board?

[Wiregeek]

adafruit-circuitpython-feather_m0_rfm9x-en_US-7.1.1.uf2

I also burned adafruit-circuitpython-feather_m0_rfm9x-en_US-7.1.1.bin
using BOCCAS and bootloader-feather_m0-v3.14.0.bin using Arduino IDE

same results after all of them. Well, not same, upgrading the bootloader just put me on normal Feather behavior. But copying the UF2 onto it didn't change the behavior then.

[danhalbert]

That is strange. Try the regular Feather M0 Basic CircuitPython, and see if it does the same thing: https://circuitpython.org/board/feather_m0_basic/

If the "fuses" were written to all one's, the board watchdog timer will trigger after a few seconds, but usually that just causes a restart to CIRCUITPY, not back to the BOOT drive.

[Wiregeek]

Thank you sir, I will give this a shot tomorrow evening once I'm setup in the BANNED - just packed up.

[Wiregeek]

Well, that m0 basic is stable.. weird. what went wrong?

[Wiregeek]

And now it's not stable. When I plug in to laptop USB it boots into circuitpython, and then reboots back into UF2...

But if I plug in to a USB charger, it stays running my code.py

almost feels like insufficient power from the laptop? What's the power draw on a Feather blinking an LED?

[danhalbert]

These boards draw about 25ma. It does sound like it might be a power issue. Try a different cable or a different USB port. Even a laptop USB port should supply enough current - I do that all the time

[Wiregeek]

Same behavior with a fresh Feather and a dofferent port. And of course the nearest other micro cable is at PD.. I'll check back tomorrow evening.

[Wiregeek]

Same behavior with a different USB cord (different manufacturer).

I am completely confused, and quite a bit disheartened. I'll pick this up again in another day when I'm at home with another USB port on a different machine to work with..

[Wiregeek]

Same behavior with a powered USB hub, behavior goes away when I redirect the USB device to an ubuntu VM on the same hardware - this HAS to be a windows driver issue in Win10 or an endpoint security issue.

I'm going to try and duplicate tonight on a Win10 machine without Sophos endpoint on it..

[Wiregeek]

Confirmed on Ubuntu 19.something, Ubuntu 20.04 in a VM on the 'bad' machine, and at home on a Win10 machine - It's Sophos endpoint garbage.

It's mentioned a couple times in the knowledge, and it should be mentioned a bit more - network security products don't like microcontrollers.

I can't even figure out HOW it's eating my lunch - but it's eating my lunch. Gonna have to figure out if I can spare 12gb of disk for Ubuntu on that machine :I

Thank you for your advice, Mr. Halbert!

[danhalbert]

Thanks for tracking this down! I have added Sophos Endpoint to our growing list of problematic utility software: https://learn.adafruit.com/welcome-to-c ... 3004181-10

I did some websearching and it does appear there are some USB security features that you can disable, but the material I found was not very helpful in suggesting what to turn off. Good luck!