Pic Problems

[John_W._Couvillon]

The pic on a previously functioning core outputs a reset every 2-3 seconds. Pic was programmed with mios, midio128. The pic doesn not return the F7...F0  ready to upload string when powering up, only the reset plus two odd outputs.  The bad pic was replaced with a new one on the same core, programmed with the correct ini file, and is working fine.

Has the core lost mios, or has it been corrupted?  Can you reset the core in order to reload mios and apps from scratch?

Thanks,

Johnc

[moebius]

Could this be a power problem? As strange at it seems (with one PIC working and another not). Which MIOS versions?

In MIOS V1.8 the "Brown Out Reset" is set to 4.5V (see http://www.ucapps.de/mios_changelog.html)

One thing you could try is removing other modules connected to core and see if this stabilizes core operation.

M

[John_W._Couvillon]

Pic problem continuing:

mios 1.8

voltage:  5.07 vdc on J2

Connections:  All connections removed, core isolated.

Software loaded:    Bootstrap by Smashtv

                          Mios 1.8

                          midio128 Main

                          midio 128 ini file

Midiox Display:

timestamp  IN  PORT  STATUS  DATA1  DATA2  CHAN  NOTE  EVENT

                2    --    FF          --          --      --      ---  System Reset              2    --    EO          78          40      1      --    Pitch Bend                2    --    EO          41          7F      1      --    Pitch Bend

                2    --    FF          --          --      --    ---    System Reset

              (repeats same thing over again every two seconds)

Core seems to be working.  How do you reset the core back to just the bootstrap loader so that mios and apps can be reloaded, or is that possible. Tried reloading midio128 and the .ini file and got several strange outputs then it settled back down to the display above.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

johnc

[John_W._Couvillon]

Sorry about that!  The color didn't do what I hoped it would do. The system reset is yellow and the two pitch bend messages were dark pink.

The display was:

Timestamp IN PORT STATUS  DATA1  DATA2  CHAN  NOTE 

                2  --    FF          --      --        --    ---      System Reset

                2  --    EO          78      40        1    --        Pitch Bend

                2  --    EO          41      75        1    --        Pitch Bend

                2  --    FF          --      --          --  ---      System Reset

  ( Repeats same output over and over, incrementing the timestamp) 

Thanks,

Johnc

[TK.]

You can always upload MIOS again with the 1st level bootloader, and any application (also test applications!) with the 1st or 2nd level bootloader.

When you are doing the update to MIOS V1.9, you will be on the most secure side that the system is up&running, because the update binary does a CRC check, and it sends some debug messages via MIDI. More details can be found in the README.txt of the update package.

So, I think it would be the easiest solution just to try this out.

From your posting it isn't clear to me, if MIOS ever has been uploaded correctly - if this doesn't work, the rest will also fail. So, did you ever use MIOS Studio, did you check the messages during the upload?

Best Regards, Thorsten.

[John_W._Couvillon]

TK,

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, the core was working at one time with midio128 and the .ini file.  Had a problem with a dout pcb and it began doing as described.  I resolved the pcb problem on the dout, changed to a different pic, loaded the software and all is working so I know the hardware is ok. 

Having got the first core working with the douts and ULN2803's, I put the problem pic on a different core that was working before, removed all connections and the test results is as on my first post.  Yes, I used mios studio to upload mios and  the aps on both cores. I also tried to upload midio128 again, but the pic doesn't seem to accept the upload.

johnc

[TK.]

Hi,

ok, now it's more clear to me. Have you ever selected the to-COM option by using the change_id application? Because, if events like 0xff or Pitch Bender are received each 2 seconds instead of the upload request, then it seems that the baudrate is wrong.

Or maybe you have specified the appr. ID for the to-COM option during the SmashTV order, could this be?

This also means, that the upload of MIOS and the application was not successfull. MIOS Studio should notify this (no checksums).

Possible solutions:

If you own a PIC programmer, you could program the bootloader with ID 0000000000000000

If you own a LTC module, you could connect the module to the COM port of your PC, upload MIOS, upload change_id in order to set back the ID to 0

If both not available, somebody else who owns a PIC programmer, and who lives close to your location, could help.

Best Regards, Thorsten.

[John_W._Couvillon]

TK,

The pic was programmed by Smashtv and the id was set at that time. I do not have an LCD to connect, nor do I have access to anyone that has a programmer.

I located a pic that I thought was "dead" (id  00) and plugged in in to the core and behold, up came the clear to upload string. Hopefully it will accept the aps and ini files, if not I'll get a new pic from SmashTV.

Thanks for the help.

By the way,  the dout pcbs I am using are modified standard dout pcbs with the uln drivers installed in place of the resistors. My setup has 4 of them connected together to a core and are driving two ranks of pipes (128 total outputs) using the jorgan software. Works great! The new boards from Smashtv have been redesigned to accept the drivers and should be very attractive to all those forum guys that are interested in driving pipe magnets.

Thanks again,

Johnc