Coollvse OLED issue

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Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

Hi there. I bought one of those dinky 'Coollvse' ER9X boards (+1.3" OLED) about a year ago, and recently it rose to the top of my 'to do' pile.

TERRIBLE soldering on the board :o , I had to re-solder some of the microscopic resistor arrays in order to get all the switches working. Good for my microscopic soldering, but perhaps it was production quality that seems to have killed it for most people - I can't see them actually for sale anywhere now. A shame, as it's proved very easy to wire up into a slightly sub-Devo 7E-sized transmitter case. Also a shame, since I can't find any updated firmware for it beyond that which it came with! There is a compile of OpenTX that works with the board and display, but sadly not with several of the switch assignments.

Anyway, here's the odd thing:
ER9X splash screen on 1.3" OLED + Coollvse board
ER9X splash screen on 1.3" OLED + Coollvse board
what the display looks like. Apologies for a not pin-sharp pic, but hopefully you can see that the left hand of the display lacks a few columns of pixels, which I think are instead down the right hand of the display.

When I tried the limited-function OpenTX firmware, this problem was not affected, which of course suggests there is something dodgy about the OLED board firmware, rather than it being an ER9X or OpenTX issue.

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions about how to get the OLED image moved over a few pixels to the right, I would be grateful.

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by jhsa »

You probably got an "Ar9x" board.. Er9x is a firmware, not a board :)
AR9X boards run Ersky9x and OpenTX as firmware.
Not sure OpenTx fully supports the Oled display.
You can try Ersky9x, which supports much more hardware on this board, so it will be probably work with that display.
You can find ersky9x at www.er9x.com.
Latest version of Ersky9x is r221. You need to install "ersky9x_rom.bin". also you should update the bootloader..

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by MikeB »

Ersky9x supports a "Optrex Display" option that moves the display over by 4 pixels!

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

Nope! Do google 'Coollvse ER9X' RCGroups coollvse, it tends to be named 'Mini ER9X' or similar. I suspect it is, as you say, named after the firmware loaded on it.

I could keep trying firmware compiled for other different boards at random, but since these boards are now, as far as I can tell, not on sale any more, I am concerned that loading firmware not compiled specifically for this board might brick it (e.g. allocate different pins for IO). So I guess I'm hoping there's someone out there who knows something about this particular board.
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by jhsa »

Ahh, i didn't know about this.. it uses an atmega128A.. why the heck do they call it the name of the firmware?? :(

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Kilrah »

Because Chinglish.
They mean ER9X-compatible, but that's too hard to say...
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by jhsa »

lool :D
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

MikeB wrote: Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:26 pm Ersky9x supports a "Optrex Display" option that moves the display over by 4 pixels!

Mike
Sounds like the sort of option that might work. Is there a 'reference schematic' for boards supported by Ersky9x, so I could check which pins are used for I/O (so if I try flashing my board with Ersky9x I don't risk bricking it)?
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by jhsa »

That's the think, that board does not run Ersky9x as it has an atmega128 processor. It runs Er9x. Not sure if er9x supports that display.. You need Mike to confirm that..
we thought you were talking about another board..

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by MikeB »

Can you compile er9x from the Github sources?

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

I'm sure I could try, if I can find the right OLED display driver option.
Presumably I could then define everything just the way I wanted it.
What could possibly go wrong? :lol:
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by MikeB »

One thing to try, go to the Display menu and tick the "Rotate" option an see if the display is then OK (just upside down).

Do you have a datasheet for the display?

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

Current ER9X version (V1.2259-hermenj) doesn't have a 'Display' menu that I can see.

I am also a bit suspicious of the firmware. Okay, my soldering is as dodgy as the next person's, but I struggle to understand some other behaviour in terms of intermittant connections:
- in the Radio Setup menu, when I hover over 'Contrast' the item flickers between 255 and 10, with nothing in-between, and no effect of pressing buttons. When I move on from it, I get 255 or 10, like flipping a coin (and the brightness is much less when it has chosen 10).
- sometimes (it's doing it at the moment!), on switch-on I get the Splash Screen, and if I press 'Menu' I get the name of the first model memory, then the Splash Screen again. I can get into the main display by pressing the 'Right' button, but if I press 'Menu' I again get the name of the first model memory then the splash screen again i.e. it seems to be locked into that 'switch-on while holding down Menu to auto-load the first memory' - but continuously.
Last time this happened, it eventually stopped doing this, but of course I'm unlikely to take this to the flying site if it's going to suddenly refuse to let me use anything other than Model 1.

Both these feel to me like firmware rather than hardware, on the basis that in every other respect all the buttons and functions work fine. As I mentioned above, there is an OpenTx executable available that works with the OLED, but unfortunately the switch mapping is different so not all the controls work.

For that reason, I am interested in having a go at compiling an alternative firmware.

The display is referred to as 1.3" OLED SSD1306, for which I can find datasheet: https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheets/SSD1306.pdf
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by MikeB »

Here is a build of er9x for the '128 processor with the SSD1306 selected as the display (there is a single define in lcd.cpp to select this display).

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er9x_128_ssd1306.zip
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by jhsa »

Mike, the model 1 / splash screen problem looks like it is rebooting?
This could perhaps indicate an hardware problem somewhere?

The Er9x firmware is more than fine installed in radios it was design for, the 9x radio. If someone build a radio from scratch, and wants to use Er9x or OpenTX, has to make sure the hardware is compatible. In this case, er9x offers more hardware possibilities but still, the basic stuff must be exactly the same.
One cannot connect for example controls to any pin of the processor the way He/She likes, and expect the firmware to work. You need to dig into the firmware programming and check what connects where, or at least get the schematic from the 9x radio..

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

Hi, thanks for the .hex. I flashed it apparently without problem, but the OLED just remained blank (power on or off).

(The only observation I can therefore make is that the one you supplied is about twice the size of the orginal!)

I agree with jhsa that it looks like it is rebooting when I press 'Menu' -but why? The push switch is a long way from the Pwr switch, and there isn't a 'Reset' pin brought out as far as I can see; given the other inconsistencies in the firmware I still suspect firmware... although since it is an intermittant fault that does make hardware more likely. Given the appalling quality of the soldering on the board as supplied, it wouldn't surprise me if it's a dodgy/bridge on the PCB itself. I just can't see one.
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

Oh, and having done a bit more Googling, I fear that 'SSD1306' is a rather generic specification, and therefore that .pdf may have nothing to do with the OLED supplied - sorry about that. This page
https://der-frickler.net/technik/9xown
has some interesting links, although I couldn't identify the OLED further.
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by jhsa »

Doofer wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 6:21 pm given the other inconsistencies in the firmware I still suspect firmware...
Very unlikely. There are probably thousands of radios running Er9x without problems, so if yours is not working as it should, it is probably a problem with your radio's hardware, not a problem with the firmware. As I said, your radio´s processor connections should be totally pin compatible with the normal 9x radio. Otherwise the firmware won't work with it, unless you change it of course.. :)

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

Well so far the only firmware which works with this board (and it's connections) is the one supplied with it, and who knows what the devs did to it to get it working on this cut-down board.
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by MikeB »

My build before was probably not correct, I didn't add the SSD1306 code tp er9x so I'm not familiar with the compile settings needed and I think I missed a couple.
Try this build.
I don't know whether the LCD on this board is parallel or serial, I've guessed at serial.

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er9x_128_ssd1306.zip
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

Good news! This version works! Clearly a more recent version, lots of fun stuff to explore.

Okay, being a complete bore, it still has the pixels lit down the right hand edge... and I can't find 'Rotate' as an option in the display menu!

(Eee, asking for the world, me... I do apologise)
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

Good so far - all the switches are mapped 'correctly', and 'Menu' just does what it is supposed to do.
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

And I'll ask - although I appreciate the warning about non-standard hardware from jhsa -

Given that this is in a mini case, I'm not using some of the control inputs.
Tx & Rx would be really helpful!! (I could then control my 4in1 Multiprotocol RF board, and get Telemetry data*).

Any chance pins (e.g. Gear, Trainer) could be re-allocated?

*(I think I can't use the MISO/MOSI interface for this)
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by MikeB »

Try this one, it should sort the display.

For the multi module, the "normal" CPPM signal sends serial data to the multi module if the protocol is set to "Multi".

For telemetry, pins 2 (Thr switch) and 3 (Ail switch) are the Rx and Tx serial signals. These 2 switches are normally wired to PC6 and PC7 (41 and 42) in order to free up pins 2 and 3.

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

So I connect THRsw & AILsw to PC6 & PC7 (currently not connected to anything), and take Rx off pin 2 and TX off pin 3?
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

If so, it's going to be a lot easier to use ELEsw & GEAsw to substitute for THRsw & AILsw. Is there any sense in which ER9X considers THR to always be T-cut, or am I right in thinking any switch can map to any switch function?
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by MikeB »

Any switch will map to any function.
To use the serial connections you need to go into the "Hardware" menu and set "FrSky Mod Done". The hardware menu is protected from accidental access and to enable it you need to power on holding the left horizontal trim to the left (assuming you have trims!). ALternatively, use eepe to read the EEPROM contents, set the option in eepe and write the EEPROM back.

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by jhsa »

You can do anything you want with any of the switches..

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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

Okay - new .hex works. Give me a bit of time to confirm/deny the CPPM/RxTx stuff works, but I can confirm:
- the column, two pixels wide, is now visible down the LHS of the screen instead of the RHS. It has moved! Progress!

Occasionally when it switches on, the OLED briefly flashes a 'white noise' screen before initialising to the Splash screen. Perhaps the columns are just pixels left un-initialised, from screen that is otherwise never addressed?

Anyway, have now returned to trying to get ID1 & ID2 to work - probably more bad soldering on the PCB. I guess that, in ER9X, there's nothing you can do with ID0/1/2 3-way that you can't do with another 3-way that just uses two other switches, but having lost two switches to TxRx, I'm running out of switches!

Oh, and that dratted 'Pressing Menu just restarts ER9X with model one' problem is back. Apart from Menu somehow jogging a pwr connection, or mysteriously toggling Reset, any other way of resetting ER9X I should look for? I guess it could just be one of those 'running ER9X on something else' issues jhsa referred to...
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Re: Coollvse OLED issue

Post by Doofer »

Ah... another thing occurs to me. I have 'cleverly' fitted a USB to MISO/MOSI interface in my Tx, so I can just plug it in.
I found that if I left all the programming pins connected to this interface, it was very unhappy when just switched on normally (nothing connected to the USB input). This unhappiness seemed to be cured by putting a diode in each power lead (+ & -) between the interface board and the Tx board. A diode in just one lead didn't seem to help. Anyway, with a diode in each lead, all seems well: If I plug laptop into the USB, Tx board powers up and I can use EEPE etc. fine. If it is unplugged, Tx board seems to behave as if nothing is there, with the two diodes, one in +ve and one in -ve, stopping the interface board from getting any power.

However... MISO, MOSI etc. are still connected, perhaps importantly, in some way together, via the un-powered interface board circuitry. Can anyone think of a reason to suspect this might be causing the 'mystery restarts' when 'Menu' is pressed? Does pressing 'menu' cause anything to appear on any of the pins in the programming interface, which could then leak to another pin via some un-powered components, and cause a re-start?

(Okay, rationalisations aside, I'll also go and disconnect the interface and see if it stops!)

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