librelist archives

Re: [atreus] Do I have a bad controller?

From:

Joe Schonbok

Date:

2015-05-23 @ 04:14

Okay - so I can now confirm I had a bad controller.  I tried connecting to
it on 4 computers, 3 different OSs - all failed to properly detect the
device after the drivers had been installed.  I ordered a new one which
arrived today - I plugged it in and it connected immediately and I was able
to identify the port and upload the firmware.

So I replaced the bad one with the good one - not an easy task after all
they keys are soldered in (I was pretty optimistic!).  I ended up cutting a
hole through the key plate so I could access both sides of the controller.
There is room under the little nose on the top plate so the hole won't
show.  It might be a good option to put an official hole there so a person
can more easily get to the controller.

But now I'm facing the same issue Jason did - the entire top row is not
responsive, but all the other keys are... so I'll see about tackling that
tomorrow.

On Tue, May 19, 2015 at 7:13 AM, Jason Crump <admin@workordermachine.com>
wrote:

> Sorry Joe,
>
> I’m not at my shop computer and won’t be for about a week and a half,
> going on vacation, so I can’t look up the location of that file.
>
> I am on Yosemite but had the same issue with mavericks and the solution
> was the same for both.  I’m sorry you haven’t had an luck yet.  The
> controller is arduino compatible and there is a lot more support for
> arduino devices, you might try installing the arduino IDE and getting that
> working as there are a lot more resources for arduino.
>
> Good luck
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 19, 2015 at 6:01 AM, Joe Schonbok <joebok@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Jason, are you on Yosemite or Mavericks?
>>
>> I've followed those steps on two different systems (both Yosemite) with
>> the same results - board is not recognized and I am not convinced that the
>> real FTDI drivers are being used.
>>
>> What I am seeing is that the FTDI drivers (2.3) install to
>> /Library/Extensions but everything else seems to be in
>> /System/Library/Extensions - including IOUSBFamily.kext.  I don't see that
>> they are ever loaded (using kextstat).  I seem to be able to manually load
>> them via kextload, but still when I plug the Atreus in and do the reset to
>> get the LED "breathing" to indicate the boot-loader state, it is not
>> recognized.  The expected ports are never visible in /dev or through the
>> Arduino app.
>>
>> When I look at the messages when plugging in the Atreus, they are all
>> about the IOUSBFamily failing to figure anything out.  I am wondering, do
>> the FTDI drivers, or a link t o them, need to be in
>> /System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/Plugins ?  That is
>> where the disabled Apple FTDI drivers are - why shouldn't the real FTDI
>> drivers be there?  I have no idea what I am doing so I don't want to nuke
>> my system accidentally - so I was curious where your
>> FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext ended up and if it or a link to it is in your
>> IOUSBFamily plugins folder?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Joe
>>
>> On Mon, May 18, 2015 at 7:22 AM, Jason Crump <admin@workordermachine.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> These are the instructions i used
>>> http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=198539.0
>>> to get rolling.
>>>
>>> Solution (as provided by the website above)
>>> Type the following commands into the terminal:
>>>     cd /System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns
>>>     sudo mv AppleUSBFTDI.kext AppleUSBFTDI.disabled
>>>     sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions
>>>
>>> Restart your computer
>>>
>>> Install the original FTDI Virtual Com Port drivers found here:
>>> http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm
>>>
>>>
>>> Per your data sheet GND and RESET are pins 2 and 5 (when viewed upside
>>> down).  Doesn’t matter as long as you can find them and get the light to
>>> begin breathing (not flashing)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, May 18, 2015 at 6:15 AM, Joe Schonbok <joebok@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thanks, Jason - but still no luck.
>>>>
>>>> I am not sure that the reset pins you described are correct.  I believe
>>>> I have the A-Star 32U4 - the labels on the card match the diagram which
>>>> matches the instructions - https://www.pololu.com/docs/0J61/all#3.1.
>>>> When I try to short 2-5 on the left there is no reaction.  But shorting the
>>>> last 2 on the right (RST and GND) gets a reaction - blinking and the OS
>>>> tries to identify.
>>>>
>>>> I've installed the Arduino utility, and I think that I've installed the
>>>> FTDI drivers.  These appear to be tricky in Yosemite - Yosemite apparently
>>>> comes with it's own version.  I've found a couple sites with detailed
>>>> instructions on how to disable and replace with the FTDI drivers - but I'm
>>>> not sure things are going the way they are supposed to be.  There is a good
>>>> page on it here:
>>>> https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-install-ftdi-drivers/mac#yosemite
>>>> 
<https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-insta%0D%0A%20ll-ftdi-drivers/mac#yosemite>
>>>>
>>>> The current FTDI drivers (2.3) is signed by Apple - all the
>>>> instructions seem to reference 2.2.  Anyway, I see the FTDI .kext entry in
>>>> /System/Library/Extensions and I don't see an entry for IOUSBFamily.kext -
>>>> but IOUSBFamily is what is reported be dmesg to be trying to link when I do
>>>> the reset.  So I kind of think that the apple provided IOUSBFamily is still
>>>> lurking around, but I have no idea where or how to stop it and let the
>>>> FTDIUSBSerialDriver.kext take over.
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, I believe I'm making a good-faith effort to get the FTDI
>>>> drivers installed - but I still can't connect to the board and I'm not
>>>> seeing any evidence of the tty.usbserial* or tty.usbmodem* ports anywhere.
>>>>
>>>> And I fully admit that I'm *way* out of my depth on trying to figure
>>>> this out.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, May 17, 2015 at 10:44 PM, Phil Hagelberg <phil@hagelb.org>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Jason Crump <admin@workordermachine.com> writes:
>>>>>
>>>>> > I'm putting one together this weekend and ran into the same
>>>>> > issues. First you need to install the ftdi drivers for Mac. Search
>>>>> > arduino Mavericks ftdi and you will find instructions.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for clarifying this. I've tested the process on Macs before, but
>>>>> I guess there are a lot of different OS combinations, and I don't think
>>>>> I ever got a chance to test on a fresh install. I'll see if I can get
>>>>> this into the docs for the firmware.
>>>>>
>>>>> > Second the pins to put the controller into boot loader mode are not
>>>>> > described correctly in instructions. With the keyboard face down and
>>>>> > the cable facing away from you, short out the second and fifth pins
>>>>> on
>>>>> > left twice. The yellow light will then begin to breathe.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for the heads-up on this; I've corrected the assembly
>>>>> instructions.
>>>>>
>>>>> -Phil
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

Joe Schonbok <joebok@gmail.com> writes:

> Okay - so I can now confirm I had a bad controller.  I tried connecting to
> it on 4 computers, 3 different OSs - all failed to properly detect the
> device after the drivers had been installed.  I ordered a new one which
> arrived today - I plugged it in and it connected immediately and I was able
> to identify the port and upload the firmware.

Yikes; I'm sorry to hear that. Send me an email and I'll get you a
refund to cover the cost of the replacement controller.

It sounds like now you're on the right track. If you have trouble
or if the same steps outlined in that other thread aren't doing the
trick just let me know and I can step you through further debugging.

-Phil