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USB not detected at all

Pixy Software
#1

Hello,

first I want to say that I already read through all the USB related posts in this forum and unfortunately none of the proposed solutions worked for me.

Second, my problem is that when I connect pixy with the USB cable to my computer it does not show up in the device manager. No device with a yellow warning sign and no Pixy devices at all.
I already used 3 different micro-USB cables (with 5-pins), one of them is from my Canon camera and the other two have already been used to program ARM7 LPC23xx microcontrollers.

When I connect Pixy to USB the white LED turns on and the LPC gets warm within seconds. If I press the button while connecting, it does not change the behaviour at all. Also only the white LED shows up.

The board has a “tested ok” sign underneath and I’m not sure what is the problem.

I tried it on my Macbook Pro MacOS 10.9, Windows 7 PC and even on my Windows 8.1 x86 tablet with USB-host controller. Always the same behaviour.

#2

Hi,

Sounds like you’ve been pretty thorough. What happens when you power Pixy and then hold the button after powering it? Does the LED change colors about once every second?

Scott

#3

Hi,

I’ve just gotten my PixyCam two days back and hooked it up for the first time today - no go. I’m using Mac OSX 10.9.2.

The instant i hook up Pixy, I get a long flash, then a few quick burst then a really dimmed RGB glow. Please view Vine clip for clarity - https://vine.co/v/MvZtabb3BEP

When I fire up Pixy, it says “error: No Pixy devices have been detected.”

Holding the white button does switch color signatures though.

Another important question - how do one update the firmware on Mac?

#4

Hi,

thank you for your response! I didn’t knew that it should change color while holding down the button so I tried it now. Unfortunately there is no color change of the LED! It simply remains white.

I took a look at the schematics and when you press the button the logic level should change from LOW to HIGH. I tried to check this and measured the voltage: It raised from 0V to 0.25V which is way to low as it should change to 3.3V. So there is something wrong with the hardware. There is no 3.3V voltage at the input of the button before pressing it. I think the power regulator is broken. I will try to locate it and measure it’s output.

But when there is no 3.3V output - why does the LPC get hot? Looks like the “tested ok” sticker is a hoax…

#5

There is a short circuit somewhere in the 3.3V section. Probably underneath the MCU - so no chance for me to fix it! :frowning:

#6

Sorry for your troubles, stranger.

Just to verify, you pressed the button down after powering it, correct? And have you tried other USB ports on your machine?

If the “tested ok” sticker is on there, then it had to have passed our inspection and software tests before leaving the production line. Something must have been damaged during packing or shipping.

Thanks.

Scott

#7

Hi Wee Keat,

Please try the new Mac build “here”:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9hNWd6bDWpiWTFwOHBYSHBlWmc.

Have you seen the instructions for uploading firmware “here”:http://cmucam.org/projects/cmucam5/wiki/Uploading_New_Firmware?

Hope this helps.

Scott

#8

Hi Scott,

Thanks for getting back to us.

I’ve already tried the new Mac build. Found it while going through the forum threads.
I’ve also used the older build just in case - no go either. It always says “error: No Pixy devices have been detected.”

Not sure if I can even update the firmware if PixyMon is not detecting it at all?

#9

Hi Wee Keat,

What exactly happens when you plug in Pixy in DFU mode (hold down the white button as you’re connecting it to USB)?

Thanks.

Scott

#10

Hi Scott,

Thank you for your response once again!

Well I tried different USB-ports, cables and even different PCs and MACs before starting to debug it by myself with a multimeter.

The result of my debugging efforts were that there are no 3.3V available on the board. Analyzing the schematics the button you mentioned should rise voltage level from LOW to HiGh (3.3V) on a GPIO of the LPC. I tried to validate this and measured that there are no 3.3V available at the input of the button. I was unsure and checked it against the 3.3V pin at the 4pin serial debug port. Again no 3.3V. The same result at the output pin of the power regulator.

I’m a kickstarter early bird and very sad as it took a month for shipping it to Germany and get it through customs.

I will contact [email protected] with a link to our communication.

Thank you,
Marco

#11

Hi Scott,

When I plug Pixy into DFU mode, the LED turns bright white, constant as described in your firmware update doc.

I then fired up PixyMon (0.1.48):

  • PixyMon’s log pane showed “error: No Pixy devices have been detected.”
  • Pixy’s LED still in constant bright white

As I mentioned before, it seems like it’s not detected even at USB level as it doesn’t show up in my USB profile.

What can I try next?

#12

Im haveing the same problem. I get a bright light and servo twitch when plugging in and am able to cycle through the led colours but no matter what usb cable I try and uninstalling and trying diffrent installs I cant get it to work :’( waaaaaa

#13

Hi Shayn Smith,
It sounds like you’ve tried different cables(?)

Have you tried (for debugging purposes) to unplug the servos from Pixy?
What about trying (also for debugging purposes) using different USB ports on your computer?

thanks!

#14

Hi there,

Any assistance on what I should do next? I’d really love to get this started.

Much appreciated.

Thanks.

#15

ugh. “The new Mac build”…

This is the “new new Mac build”, version 0.1.49 :slight_smile:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9hNWd6bDWpiR0FMOUJjNDU5TE0

Mr. Wee Keat Chin, please give this a try. This version tweaks the enumeration of the DFU device and I expect it to fix your issue (fingers crossed).

thanks!

#16

Hi Rich,

Thanks for getting back to me. I left my Pixy at home - at work now. :frowning:

Will try it out as soon as I get home.

QUESTION:
I’m on Mac OS X - should any device show up in my USB tree when I plug Pixy in? See attached screenshot.

Thanks again.

#17

Thank you for the quick reply. Yes Ive tried diffrent usb slots and cables. Ive tryed removing the servos as well as switching them just in case. My task bar tells me pixy is working but pixymon program wont pick it up. Ps I love the purle Dyno for the program! If I get an arduino do you think that will help me? Is the Uno the best to get? Also I will try on a mac when I can to see if I can get anywhere to try and reduse what the problem could be. Ill also purchuse a new mini usb cable. What should I be looking for for compatibility?

#18

Also I tried running it with the servos detatched.

#19

Shayn I’m sending you an email… two parallel threads are hard to parse.

#20

Hi Rich, Scott,

Just tried it. Again - it says “error: No Pixy devices have been detected.”

Can I just re-iterate what I said before:
MY MAC’S USB DEVICE TREE DID NOT DETECT PIXY.

  1. When I plug in my Nexus, my USB devices shows ‘Nexus’ being connected. Please refer to attachment “nexus.png”
  2. When I plug in my Pixy, my USB devices shows NOTHING. Please refer to attachment “pixy.png”

Again, we keep looking at the software. But how can the software (PixyMon) connect to Pixy when Mac’s USB can’t even detect it?

==== Previous notes =====

When I power up the Pixy via USB and hold on the white button, Pixy does cycle the LED colors. So, it seems Pixy is functioning fine on its own. Something has gone wrong on the USB side of things.