Axoloti Core Rev 1.2 Board DOA (powers up kind of I guess)?

#8

same cable at work and home? different usb port?

#9

My friend's axo was having a similar problem -dim red led, not being recognized in the patcher/laptop. We tried 2 laptops, multiple usb cables with no joy. But what did work was powering it with a separate supply in the dc socket. If we did that it worked fine and connected to the laptop. So it seemed to be a problem with the usb power.

Might be a separate issue, but thought I'd share in case it helped.

#10

Same USB cable at both locations. It's actually the same cable I use for my working Axoloti at home. I have some other cables I can try. When I noticed the faint/semi-regular flickering of LED 1, the Axo was powered using a different cable connected to the AC adapter/powerstrip though.

I tried 2 different USB ports on the home computer, although they were both located on the front panel. I can try one of the back panel ones this evening.

Hmm. I'd like to try this, but I don't know if I have the appropriate AC adapter laying around. Also, I'm not sure if it is actually a USB power issue as it works fine connected to the PC at my office.

I was successfully able to reflash the Axoloti at this office this morning again. I'm not heading back into work until Monday, so I guess I have to plan out what troubleshooting steps I attempt as I might only get "1 shot" if plugging the thing into my PC at home some how wipes the firmware. I have a start-up patch on an SD-Card, so my thought is to attempt to connect it just to a USB cable connected to an AC adapter first. If that works, then try connecting it to the PC again.

Keep throwing suggestions my way, I'm open to whatever.

#11

If you don't have the matching AC adapter around (it takes 7-15V tho!) just try a 9v block battery? I can totally imagine faulty USB power being the issue here.

#12

Minor update: Plugging it into a USB AC adapter at home just now worked fine. My fear is that it is somehow related to my home PC. Somehow plugging it into this PC (despite the other Axoloti working fine using the same cable/PC/etc) corrupts the firmware. The last time I plugged it into this same USB AC adapter (after plugging it into the home PC) I was met with the dim red LED.

Is there some kind of device conflict or something I can run into managing multiple Axoloti Cores with 1 computer? I'd like as much info as I can before I inevitably kill the Axo for the weekend before I can reflash it at the office again.

#13

Not much to add other than 'that's weird'.

Regarding the multiple axoloti thing - I have 3 that all work fine on the same pc, often with 3 patchers running at once connected to each one.

#14

do you have a patch saved to flash at startup? i had once a situation where an axoloti could not boot anymore because of a corrupted flashpatch. the solution was to jump over the startup patch (holding down s1 or 2 at startup) and then uploading an empty patch to flash.

#15

For those following along at home, I plugged the Axo into the same USB port on my PC that I tried at first using the same cable I've been using all along and it's working fine. I have no idea. The only thing I did different between the two attempts at flashing this thing was not transport it in the bubblewrap that it shipped in. The mystery may never be solved.

#16

I have shit like that happen all the time. something doesn't work, you go crazy tryingg to fix it for a day or two, then you just walk back in, turn everything on and it suddenly just works. never start questioning that, just be happy.

#17

as i said, did you check there is no startup patch on flash? just to be sure write an empty one to flash. as my axoloti did this is was intermittent as well, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't...

#18

Gotcha, thanks. As I purchased this Axoloti used, I have no idea if there was a start-up patch already on the flash. I uploaded a blank one just in case.

#19

There is thread about Windows 7 related issues. Maybe that could help.

#20

Hi @mypetrobot, I'm Matt's friend he mentioned. You're issue is almost identical to mine from what you have described.

Things I've tried to troubleshoot it:
- using different USB cables, makes no difference. Still intermittent functionality
- Try on Windows 7 laptop and a Mac OSX
- DFU start up and Flash rescue. Same problem as you where it comes out of DFU mode when I release S1. Managed to successfully complete it eventually but same issues persist.
- Disconnected all hardware from GPIOs. This made no difference but I'm actually happy about that. I was worried the knobs and LEDs I'd soldered together were the source of a grounding problem. Apparently not.
- Removed from Hammond enclosure

Some potential causes that I need to keep testing:
- I may have done some crappy soldering on the GPIO header and caused a short somewhere. I have a header strip soldered to the board and connect the knobs and LEDs with jumper leads.
- My board is bolted to a piece of perspex with rubber spacers between the board and the perspex. The perspex is then velcro'd to the hammond enclosure. I'm worried there is static building up on the perspex. Probably should have used wood instead.

Update:
In the 5 minutes while I've been typing this, the board no appears to have started working normally with a nice solid green LED. I'm so confused :smiley:

I'm determined to sort this out and would love to hear if you get to the bottom of it. Let me know if any of the info above is helpful or if you have any progress. I'll keep you updated from my side.

Good luck!

#21

I think if you don't just happily accept the fact that it works now, but instead try to "get to the bottom of it" you'll probably stir the wrath of the programming gods/devils and your axo board will just go up in flames. Just leave it as is.

That being said, i definately fried a STM32F4 board from a different platform with these shitty little dupont jumper cables. Shorts on shorts on shorts. Imagine all these little electrons travelling down the wire, and then one of them sees it and is like is "fuck guys we are doomed theres a dupont ahead. Pray to the gods so at least half of us will make it through. Ahhhhhrrrrrr its not connected at aaaaaaaalllllllllll" and falling off the voltage cliff. or something like that.

#22

Hey @steveo, thanks for the reply. At least we're not alone here.

So I haven't really messed around with this Axo since last weekend. It appeared to be working fine for awhile until I left it powered up for an indeterminate amount of time and walked away. When I came back, it looked like it was in a constant reboot cycle. It definitely seems like it has a mind of its own. Sometimes it'll work for awhile, other times it will go into the reboot cycle any time I plug a USB cable into it to power it (either via a computer or one of those USB AC adapters). I've been too frustrated with it to really dig in and troubleshoot since my last post when I thought everything was solved.

I haven't seen the unresponsive dim red LED since last post, but again, I got frustrated with it and haven't spent too much time with it since.

I ordered a 2.1mm 9V AC adapter a few days ago to try and see if it would be stable using something other than USB power. It came today and I've had it powered on for about an hour without issue (just powered running whatever start-up patch I had loaded onto the thing). I briefly attempted to hook it up to my PC to see if it would communicate successfully with the patcher (and it appeared to work fine). In the meantime I plan on just leaving it powered via the new AC adapter for a few hours and see if it goes into the same weird reboot cycle and reevaluate my troubleshooting strategy depending on what happens.

#23

I think you may have a point with your dupont theory. Seems to be quite literally the weakest link. I won't be using them again in future Axo projects

#24

Hey !

How are your axolot mypetrobot since last year?

I've the same problem describe on this post.

The fact i've conclude is when my house is too hot like now (30degres cel ) , axoloty not working.

I've checked other post that describ this problem on the forum , and they have in common that they are posted during summer...

Like you said : When i put it on the fridge, he work a little bit then... disconnect.

Heat is it a problem for all axolot ? or a consequence of something else ? Ho can we protect them ?

#25

I haven't had any heat-relatied issues as far as I know, but what I did notice is that the usb-power from my computer is barely enough to power 1 axoloti, but starts having trouble when connecting two. So I can imagine that the usb-power is often the limiting factor in connecting the axoloti to your (old?) computer. Mine is starting to be a bit old and the usb hardly even reaches 5v. I think the best you can do is to use an externally powered usb-splitter between the computer and the axoloti's to make sure there's more then enough power to run them all.
Also, what I did, was to write arturia to ask them to sell me their usb-y splitter seperately. This one allows for seperate connections for power and computer/usb device. Works perfectly and you can daisy-chain your axoloti's without them having them to power each other.

#26

Y-splitters are readaly available..
Found this one over here
I have used some in the past for other purposes (external HD enclosures) and they worked for me. I always check if the grounds are connected though.

usb2haubyx.main.jpg600x600 20.3 KB

#27

I think it was the laptop USB power. I'm using a fairly old Macbook and it seems to cause problems when the battery is low, or going below about 20%.

I can imagine @Skurtim 's problem could have something to do with heat making the CPU fan stay on and using up extra power.

I think it's some kind of dumb Mac "design" feature to ensure I "always get the best performance experience". Anyway, I always use external power these days and this particular issue seems to have resolved.