Axe027

Arthur Hawick

New Member
Hi,
Since getting a new computer with windows 10, I am having great difficulty downloading the programme to the project. keep getting the message "Hardware not found on port 4 " I downloaded the drivers and followed the instructions but when it came to update driver it said " the most recent drivers are installed "???:?:
It still didn't work. I am wondering if I should buy a new axe027 download cable.
Any of you experienced guys got any idea?
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
"Hardware not found" indicates that the PICAXE chip is not responding to a download initiation rather than the AXE027 being faulty or the drivers needing to be reinstalled.

When the PICAXE is busy it sometimes will not respond to downloads and you can get the "Hardware not found" errors. This can happen when the PICAXE is waiting for data input, is executing a long 'pause', and sometimes when running test programs.

The solution is to download using the "Hard Reset" procedure. This is described in PICAXE Manual 1 and consists of the following steps -

Turn the PICAXE power off
Wait a few seconds
Initiate the download
Wait for the "Searching for hardware..." report
Turn the PICAXE power back on

The download should then proceed as expected.
 

Arthur Hawick

New Member
"Hardware not found" indicates that the PICAXE chip is not responding to a download initiation rather than the AXE027 being faulty or the drivers needing to be reinstalled.

When the PICAXE is busy it sometimes will not respond to downloads and you can get the "Hardware not found" errors. This can happen when the PICAXE is waiting for data input, is executing a long 'pause', and sometimes when running test programs.

The solution is to download using the "Hard Reset" procedure. This is described in PICAXE Manual 1 and consists of the following steps -

Turn the PICAXE power off
Wait a few seconds
Initiate the download
Wait for the "Searching for hardware..." report
Turn the PICAXE power back on

The download should then proceed as expected.
Hi,
Tried Hard Reset procedure several times, tried restart computer then tried again but still get hardware not found. After pressing download there is no small window showing the progress bar like it did in the old computer. tried replacing the 08m2 chip but it made no difference after a hard reset.
Immediately after pressing the download button, there was no window showing wait for the "Searching for hardware... report,
it just went straight to "Hardware not found", Tried reinstalling drivers - no change. Maybe I should trying re-installing Picaxe Editor 6 as I cannot think of anything else.
Anything else I could try?
 

lbenson

Senior Member
If you look in device manager with the axe027 unplugged, and then plug it in, does the device appear under "Ports"? Is that the COM port you are trying to connect to? (Trying to dot "i"s and cross "t"s.)
 

Arthur Hawick

New Member
If you look in device manager with the axe027 unplugged, and then plug it in, does the device appear under "Ports"? Is that the COM port you are trying to connect to? (Trying to dot "i"s and cross "t"s.)
If you look in device manager with the axe027 unplugged, and then plug it in, does the device appear under "Ports"? Is that the COM port you are trying to connect to? (Trying to dot "i"s and cross "t"s.)
Hi,
I tried plug and unplugged both ways showed picaxe com 3. The problem is trying to download the programme to the project. I have tried hard reset several without success. I have also tried reinstalling the axe 027 drivers. All I get is "Hardware not found on Com 3".
Driving me up the wall!
Any ideas would be appreciated.
 

lbenson

Senior Member
I tried plug and unplugged both ways showed picaxe com 3.
Not sure how Device Manager could show the COM port as COM3 if the axe027 cable was not plugged in (meaning the USB end not plugged into the PC). I don't have an AXE027, so can't say for certain about that, but if I unplug my picaxe programming USB/Serial module, the COM port disappears from Device Manager, and when I plug it back in, it reappears.

As far as I know, if you plug the cable in and nothing changes in Device Manager under Ports, then you likely have a bum cable (or a bum PC USB port--have you tried plugging the cable into a different USB port--or even better, into a different PC?).
 

Arthur Hawick

New Member
Not sure how Device Manager could show the COM port as COM3 if the axe027 cable was not plugged in (meaning the USB end not plugged into the PC). I don't have an AXE027, so can't say for certain about that, but if I unplug my picaxe programming USB/Serial module, the COM port disappears from Device Manager, and when I plug it back in, it reappears.

As far as I know, if you plug the cable in and nothing changes in Device Manager under Ports, then you likely have a bum cable (or a bum PC USB port--have you tried plugging the cable into a different USB port--or even better, into a different PC?).
Hi again,
I have been given a present of another used axe027 in which I installed the drivers. I tried loading the programme but got the same result: "Hardware not found on com3". I then went into device manager plugged it in and it showed com3. when I unplugged it disappeared, then appeared when I plugged in again. This seems like you said should happen. So the axe027 seems to be ok, This computer originally had windows 7 installed and I took advantage of the free upgrade to windows 10. Do you think that this could be the cause of my problem? I am also thinking of uninstalling Picaxe Editor and reinstalling it then downloading the drivers again, or maybe buying a new 08m2 chip. Have you got any further ideas?
 

lbenson

Senior Member
Looks like your (new) cable is probably good, but there's one more test you could do to confirm that the cable and hardware on the PC side are good--a "loopback" test. On the PC, with the axe027 cable plugged into the USB port but not the picaxe board, open a terminal program like putty. Any baud rate should do, but maybe try 4800. Then short the TX & RX pins on the axe027 mini-stereo plug (pins a and b in the diagram). (Use an alligator clip or even tinfoil--making sure not to short to 0V--pin c.)
download circuit.jpg
Then when you type on the PC keyboard, what you have typed should appear in the terminal window. If it does, then your cable and PC hardware are ok, and the problem would appear to be on the picaxe side.
 

Arthur Hawick

New Member
HI,
Did what you said,, re shorting pins a & b and typing some rubbish in the bottom transmitter and lo and behold it did appear at the top section. What do you think of my idea to uninstall and re install Picaxe Editor and start all over again?
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
What do you think of my idea to uninstall and re install Picaxe Editor and start all over again?
That probably won't get you any further than uninstalling and reinstalling AXE027 drivers will. The problem is probably not with the AXE027 or PE6.

One test you can try is, with the AXE027 plugged in and connected to the PICAXE board, the PICAXE board powered up, select Terminal from within PE6 as you did for the loop-back test earlier.

Does the Terminal show anything when 4800 baud rate is selected ?
 

BPSmith

New Member
Had this problem yesterday with a win 10 laptop on a course I was running, no matter what was done to the board ie powering down etc it wouldn't be seen by the laptop, but the same board worked perfectly with another three different laptops. But here a thing the check PIC type option can see and read the chip type and report it correctly. I'm seeing issues like this cropping up quite regularly on the courses I'm running - it can be very off putting for delegates and generate a negative reaction to the kit.

One thing to check is the USB p;ower settings if it's set to power saving they will power down, this can cause timing issues.

Time to drop the COM port and integrate the USB comms into PE, I think as you don't getb this issue with other systems.
 
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