Board acting up - red light, non-responsive

[jedbadda]

All of a sudden the card is not working. Battery was just charged so that isn't the issue. When I flip the 'ON' switch on the saber, the red light is on, it is silent and doesn't respond to the buttons.

After turning it off and on a few times, a few minutes later, it works, but then the blade doesn't turn on.

I tried copying everything to another SD card and put that in, thinking maybe my card was going bad... red light again. Gave it a few minutes, nothing happened.

Put the other card back in, red light again, non-responsive.

Only had this for a week.

[jbkuma]

It would help greatly to know what board you are talking about. Please include other details about your installation like what battery you are using, blade type, and photos of your installation if possible.

[erv]

pics indeed. Logging the board will also tell you where it is stuck.
Looks like a wiring issue or corrupted SD card contents

[jedbadda]

Sorry about that, it is a CFX board, new install. Neopixel blade.

Here are pics, and the contents of the SD card: Dropbox - CFX - Simplify your life

Can you please tell me where I can find instructions on how to 'log' the board?

I suspect the issue is SD card related, as my CPU was having trouble reading it temporarily. Would buying a new card and moving everything over fix it? What do I do if the contents of the card are corrupted?

[erv]

solder joints look extremely weak and exposed as well.

re log the board: I answered this in your other thread about the font signature sound issue you were having

[jedbadda]

This is what I see in the manual (p. 77) on how to debug with USB:

USB
For the USB serial port, connect the sound board with a micro USB serial cable. Make sure to use
a “full” cable and not a charging cable: those are sometimes provided with USB rechargeable
devices (portable speaker, power banks) and have only 2 wires instead of the 4 required to operate
a USB port. The board has to be powered from its positive and negative pads, we don’t use USB
powering. Upon insertion in the USB port of the computer, a new COM port should appear in the
device manager (Windows). No driver should be needed.

...then a paragraph on TTL/UART

...then a paragraph on Serial monitoring apps (Docklight)

Do I have to use Docklight to run a debug? I tried using the free trial version and have no idea what I'm doing. I hit the Play icon like in the instructions and nothing happens. Have never used this program before and am not familiar. Some features could be missing from the 'free' version.

On the other hand, I have heard you can run a debug from the CFX RICE app but I see no documentation here on how to do that.

[jedbadda]

Ok, I think I found the info on page 94.

Using RICE as a debug tool:

Your saber has issues; you don't know where it's stuck or why.

Manually edit the configuration file of the (expected) sound bank that is accessed when you boot the saber set 'debug=1' on the first line of the main configuration file: the board will be a lot more verbose during the boot process and will send out some useful debugging information.

To see the boot log, press 'Ctrl-M' to open the Max Window of the RICE program: that window receives all the serial communication from
the board.

Refer to the Board diagnostics & debugging paragraph for eventually stalling the boot of the board to have time to look at the logs.

---------------------

I will have to give this a shot tonight when I get home from work. However I think that booting with the SD card ejected, then pushing it into the slot may have caused some problems with my CPU recognizing the SD card when I was trying that last night.

[erv]

The board logs messages over the Serial port (USB). The Serial terminal app of your choice (docklight, cool term etc) allows you to read those. RICE app works just the same (exchanged serial text messages with the board over a serial port). RICE has embedded help as well. The messages exchanged with the board can be see on RICE console window available with Ctrl+shift+M if I recall correctly.
Select the COM port of the board as show in the manual (shown for docklight) and turn the communication on with the play icon. The trial version does everything you need.

Using RICE as a debug tool *is* indeed described in the manual.

[jedbadda]

Saber started working again, so thank God for that. It does get a little buggy when hooking it up to RICE. Sometimes the program will go (Not Responding) for a minute or two, the remote button actions won't work (although the red light on the board activates) and even the buttons on the saber even are unresponsive for a few minutes. Eventually everything starts to work but it takes a while.

I tried running a debug just for the heck of it and here's what happened:

-changed Debug value to 1 in main config.txt file

Docklight (trial version):
-went to Project Settings, chose 'Send/Receive' option
-plugged in Saber via USB and turned power on
-chose correct COM port (COM6-USB Serial Device)
-hit 'Play' button
-error message: 'The communication port COM6 could not be opened. Windows error #5 - Access is denied'

CFX RICE:
-opened up Max Runtime window (Ctrl-Shift-M)
-plugged saber in via USB
-turned power switch on, then quickly hit the port, and Connect
-did this a few times, and here are some logs:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sgd8s62wpyxvxab/debug-1.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4yu0o4vio86w2z9/max-runtime-log.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e77ue8bm02qzjou/debug-serial%20port%20map.jpg?dl=0

Do you detect any problems based on this info?

[erv]

it seems that the port is use elsewhere. You need to close the communication (close COM port) before using it in another software (like RICE)
Some messages seem to get in, but ideally, you need a full log of the board from boot (see how to stall the board). Docklight is probably better to do this compared to RICE.

in the current firmware, there's a combination issue with debug=1 + sleep enabled leading eventually to buttons not responding (fixed in upcoming update). That is only related to the fact you're now trying to debug and doesn't seem to be connected with your other issues though.

[Prestwn]

Hey everyone, I saw this thread since my saber is going through the same issue...red light, no buttons work.  I know my USB card works since I can open it and access the files when plugged directly into my PC, but when I try to use the microUSB port on my CFX card with the RICE program, I get the "error opening serial port" message. 

I'm stuck.  Any advice on how to get my saber working again? 

It was working perfectly fine and then it just stopped turning on after I set it down for a few minutes.

Thanks

[erv]

I would check the SD card structure, red light means not finishing booting. USB port seems to be working, but you might need a driver if you don't have windows 10

addon : red light and stuck boot is most of the time a font numbering that is wrong on the SD card