9Xtreme not working after flash

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thinepa
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9Xtreme not working after flash

Post by thinepa »

Greetings - I'll preface by saying that I'm fairly new to the RC world, so please bear with me.

I recently upgraded my Turnigy 9x with the 9Xtreme board, and when I first installed it and turned it on, everything appeared to be functioning normally - though I never did bind it or use it on my quadcopter.
I then connected it via USB to my Mac and attempted to update the firmware (ersky9x9XT_rom.bin) using eePe. After the process was complete, I disconnected from my Mac and when I turned on the transmitter, the LED flashed different colors and there was a moaning sound coming from the speaker. When I plugged the 9Xtreme into the USB, however, the erSky9X splash screen came up and the transmitter seemed to function normally (again - I didn't bind it) and I was able to access all of the menus and confirm all controls were registering as functional.

Thinking something may have somehow lost connection between the 9Xtreme and my 9X (I now realize that doesn't make sense), I uninstalled, then reinstalled the 9Xtreme board and when I plugged it in again to my Mac, there was no connection signified on my Mac and no drives were available. I connected to my PC, and the computer did signify a connection (2 tones), but again, there was nothing visible on my computer to indicate a connection. The USB cord works for data transfer on other items I have.
Now that I've re-installed the 9Xtreme, when I turn it on, nothing happens aside from a slight humming sound from the speaker - no more flashing from the LED even. I did notice a nick in the silicon shielding of one of the wires connecting the 9Xtreme to the USB port, but the wire remains intact (hence the electric tape in the pic).When I plug it into the USB, it displays "9Xtreme" in the center of the screen with "r00.3" in the left lower corner, but it still does not register at all on my Mac, and only makes the tones when I plug it into my PC, but neither one shows that something is connected to the USB otherwise.

I did try putting the firmware file into a folder titled "firmware" on my SD card when I was adding the voice files, but this did not seem to solve the problem.

I did discuss this with Steve, and we are going to try replacing the USB port & cable, but he also suggested that I appeal to you good people to see if anyone may have an idea as to whether this could possibly be a firmware problem.
At Steve's advise, I did uninstall the 9Xtreme again, and when I turned the 9X on, it just displayed "9Xtreme" in the center of the screen with "r00.3" in the left lower corner, but is otherwise non-functional.
Any and all help will be most appreciated.

Again - my apologies for anything I may have missed in explaining, as I am new to this world, but I am excited to learn more and suspect I'll learn something from this - one way or another.

Not sure if it'll help, but I'll include pics of my install.
installed
installed
closeup of installed 9xtreme
closeup of installed 9xtreme
with 9xtreme installed and USB connected
with 9xtreme installed and USB connected

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MikeB
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Re: 9Xtreme not working after flash

Post by MikeB »

What happens when you hold the two horizontal trims inwards when you power on?

The display of "9Xtreme" with the "r00.3" comes from the original processor to indicate that is working.

Mike.
erskyTx/er9x developer
The difficult we do immediately,
The impossible takes a little longer!
s_mack
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Re: 9Xtreme not working after flash

Post by s_mack »

After reading your post here, I think I misunderstood what you were saying originally in our email discussion. From that discussion, I believed your firmware was corrupted as it sounded like the USB connection failed mid-update. But that's not what it sounds like you are describing here.

I still suspect the USB header and/or cable is a problem. By far, that is the most common defect I've seen with this kit. They didn't do a very good job of soldering the headers, most likely because it is a very small surface mount board and probably didn't work well with their machines. We're still taking < 10% but that's way higher than my products normally see. As you know, I've got a new USB cable and header on the way to you.

Meanwhile, put the 9Xtreme back in (as per the installation instructions) and power it on without any connection to a computer. I *thought* you told me that in this case you would see a blank screen with the LED showing some color. If that is the case, then we're back to potentially corrupted firmware. If you see "9Xtreme" and "0.03" then you MAY have a defective board/corrupted firmware, but this is commonly caused by a poor connection between the 9Xtreme and 9X (check the spring pins for damage/missing/bent; clean all pins and the pads they join with using 99% alcohol; make sure the screws are fully tightened but don't overtighten). If you can see the splash screen and then use the menus, etc, then it is likely just the USB.
thinepa
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Re: 9Xtreme not working after flash

Post by thinepa »

MikeB - when I use the "pinch" method, nothing happens. At one time, it caused the LED to change colors (I believe from orange to light blue), but now, there is no LED light at all and nothing on the screen when the 9xtreme is installed. The screen only displays "9Xtreme" when I remove the 9Xtreme board.

Steve - I may not have conveyed it ideally too - my apologies if that was the case.
I did clean all contact pads and the push pins on the 9XT board, and that's actually when I stopped getting any LED response when I turned the tx on. I've tried re-installing it 3 times, and I no longer get any response from the TX when turning it on aside from a low pitched whine from the speaker - regardless of whether the USB is plugged in or not.
The only time I see "9Xtreme" now is when I remove the 9XT board completely.

I'm not sure if that's helpful, but I truly do appreciate the help you've already offered.

I do enjoy a challenge, and am hopeful to get this board up and running to I can send the replacement one on to the next person.

Thanks guys!
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MikeB
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Re: 9Xtreme not working after flash

Post by MikeB »

With power OFF, what happens if you plug the USB in to the computer?
You should get the 9Xtreme starting in DFU bootloader mode.

Mike.
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The difficult we do immediately,
The impossible takes a little longer!

s_mack
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Re: 9Xtreme not working after flash

Post by s_mack »

thinepa wrote:Steve - I may not have conveyed it ideally too - my apologies if that was the case.
Apologies not necessary.
thinepa wrote:I did clean all contact pads and the push pins on the 9XT board, and that's actually when I stopped getting any LED response when I turned the tx on./quote]Ok, so that leads me to a question... did you use anything other than 99% alcohol for cleaning them? If you used water or a lower % alcohol (which has a higher % water) and turned it on before it was completely dry, that may have shorted something. I only ask because the timing that it stopped working after cleaning.
thinepa wrote: I've tried re-installing it 3 times, and I no longer get any response from the TX when turning it on aside from a low pitched whine from the speaker - regardless of whether the USB is plugged in or not.
The only time I see "9Xtreme" now is when I remove the 9XT board completely.
OK, so it isn't operating normally, thanks for clarifying.
thinepa
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Re: 9Xtreme not working after flash

Post by thinepa »

thinepa wrote:I did clean all contact pads and the push pins on the 9XT board, and that's actually when I stopped getting any LED response when I turned the tx on.
Ok, so that leads me to a question... did you use anything other than 99% alcohol for cleaning them? If you used water or a lower % alcohol (which has a higher % water) and turned it on before it was completely dry, that may have shorted something. I only ask because the timing that it stopped working after cleaning.


I did use 99% alcohol for the cleaning. It was completely dry before I plugged it in again. No magic smoke either.
Thanks for the thought Steve.
Last edited by thinepa on Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
thinepa
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Re: 9Xtreme not working after flash

Post by thinepa »

MikeB wrote:With power OFF, what happens if you plug the USB in to the computer?
You should get the 9Xtreme starting in DFU bootloader mode.

Mike.
Mike-

When I plug it in via USB, but leave the power off (with battery in or out), the screen displays "9Xtreme" in the center with r00.3 in lower left hand corner. No LEDs.
I'm not sure if that's what's supposed to happen or not, but my computer does not indicate that the device is connected when I plug the USB in.

Brian
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MikeB
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Re: 9Xtreme not working after flash

Post by MikeB »

The 9Xtreme board should respond, even if it is not in the 9X.
If a new USB adapter is on its way, we may need to wait for that to arrive.

Mike.
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The impossible takes a little longer!
thinepa
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Re: 9Xtreme not working after flash

Post by thinepa »

MikeB wrote:The 9Xtreme board should respond, even if it is not in the 9X.
If a new USB adapter is on its way, we may need to wait for that to arrive.

Mike.
I'm confident that'Il do the trick, but if not, I'll post back.

Thanks Mike!

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