Hardware not detected
- Thread starter fizzit
- Start date
Well, that makes two hijackings, and still unresolved. I checked the placement of the resistors and my breadboard contacts and it's all good with resistance values checking out and everything. I'm pretty sure that the serial in and out were reversed because the LED on serial out would go on when the power was disconnected from the picaxe and the serial in would still give a close-to-zero voltage, despite that I have checked and double checked the 1/8th jack wire placement (?!)... Anyways, I switched them, it still doesn't download. The LED is always off on serial out but it blinks for a second or so when I try to download. Making progress, I guess.
Yikes, this has been going a month!
Well, you might have a zapped chip with inputs and outputs being transposed. minus 12V into an output - I'm not sure what that might do. After trying for this long, is it worth getting a cheap and cheerful 08 and testing that? At least this will help isolate the problem.
Also, could you post a photo of your current setup? It is ok if it is messy - my protoboard is messy++ and yellowed with age but it works. In the past it has been amazing what people have spotted from a simple photo.
Well, you might have a zapped chip with inputs and outputs being transposed. minus 12V into an output - I'm not sure what that might do. After trying for this long, is it worth getting a cheap and cheerful 08 and testing that? At least this will help isolate the problem.
Also, could you post a photo of your current setup? It is ok if it is messy - my protoboard is messy++ and yellowed with age but it works. In the past it has been amazing what people have spotted from a simple photo.
hippy
Ex-Staff (retired)
It's surprising there can be so many problems with such a simple circuit but it is notable that the overwhelming majority of problems arise when people have built their own circuits or are using non Rev-Ed supplied cables.
I would recommend getting both an official cable, a pre-built prototype board or prototype kit and a 4V5 battery pack which when assembled should be guaranteed to work. An 08M and a protoboard is low cost and can save many hours of frustration and reduces the risk of damaging more expensive PICAXE's. While replacing the PICAXE will be necessary if it has been damaged it may not solve whatever the underlying problem is.
It is easier to replicate a working system than build one from scratch ( though the majority do not seem to have problems doing so ) and a known working system allows comparative tests to be performed. If a home-built cable works as an official cable does then it's almost certain that cable is built right. When everything is home-built there are so many places an error could be ( computer connection, cable wrong, wires crossed, socket miswired, wrong PICAXE pins connected, etc ) it is hard to tell where a problem may actually be. There may be more than one problem to solve and it won't work until all problems are solved.
It's also essential to follow-up on suggestions and report back exactly what the situation is after making changes to help people help yourself. A circuit diagram and photograph can help quickly solve wiring problems ( as was the case with monkeydust ). Repeating the Serial Port Test and reporting voltages read may seem a laborious task but really can help others to identify what is wrong. A detailed "this is what it does currently" is far more useful than, "it didn't work, I changed this, it still doesn't work".
For example, you report the Serial In voltage was 0V when the Serial Port Test on-screen LED was on, 5V when off - the opposite to what would be expected - what voltages are you reading on Serial In now you have swapped the cable wires ?
I would recommend getting both an official cable, a pre-built prototype board or prototype kit and a 4V5 battery pack which when assembled should be guaranteed to work. An 08M and a protoboard is low cost and can save many hours of frustration and reduces the risk of damaging more expensive PICAXE's. While replacing the PICAXE will be necessary if it has been damaged it may not solve whatever the underlying problem is.
It is easier to replicate a working system than build one from scratch ( though the majority do not seem to have problems doing so ) and a known working system allows comparative tests to be performed. If a home-built cable works as an official cable does then it's almost certain that cable is built right. When everything is home-built there are so many places an error could be ( computer connection, cable wrong, wires crossed, socket miswired, wrong PICAXE pins connected, etc ) it is hard to tell where a problem may actually be. There may be more than one problem to solve and it won't work until all problems are solved.
It's also essential to follow-up on suggestions and report back exactly what the situation is after making changes to help people help yourself. A circuit diagram and photograph can help quickly solve wiring problems ( as was the case with monkeydust ). Repeating the Serial Port Test and reporting voltages read may seem a laborious task but really can help others to identify what is wrong. A detailed "this is what it does currently" is far more useful than, "it didn't work, I changed this, it still doesn't work".
For example, you report the Serial In voltage was 0V when the Serial Port Test on-screen LED was on, 5V when off - the opposite to what would be expected - what voltages are you reading on Serial In now you have swapped the cable wires ?
Re "I'm pretty sure that the serial in and out were reversed..."
I'm sure that would destroy a picaxe. Not 100% sure because I don't want to do the test and lose a chip, but it would destroy most low voltage ICs. Actually, come to think of it, I did lose a picaxe a few years back when -12V touched another pin.
Solutions:
* Get a new picaxe (s)
* Standardise your plugs. Reved like the stereo plug. My personal choice is the D9. It doesn't really matter so long as you then build boards in the same way.
* Buy pre-made boards/cables as Hippy suggests.
In addition to all this, when I'm prototyping I'm now paranoid about what connects to a picaxe. So, I wire up a picaxe on a protoboard, then I get the wire that I think is the right one that will go to the 10k/22k resistors. Then I get out the multimeter and test the volts on that wire. If it reads minus 12V, I know I have the right one.
I'm sure that would destroy a picaxe. Not 100% sure because I don't want to do the test and lose a chip, but it would destroy most low voltage ICs. Actually, come to think of it, I did lose a picaxe a few years back when -12V touched another pin.
Solutions:
* Get a new picaxe (s)
* Standardise your plugs. Reved like the stereo plug. My personal choice is the D9. It doesn't really matter so long as you then build boards in the same way.
* Buy pre-made boards/cables as Hippy suggests.
In addition to all this, when I'm prototyping I'm now paranoid about what connects to a picaxe. So, I wire up a picaxe on a protoboard, then I get the wire that I think is the right one that will go to the 10k/22k resistors. Then I get out the multimeter and test the volts on that wire. If it reads minus 12V, I know I have the right one.
OK. I apologize for the vagueness of my answers. I did take a picture of it a while ago, but now I can't get it off my camera 
so I'll take a new one. What I just did is I unplugged the two cables going to the breadboard from the 1/8th jack that aren't ground and measured their voltage levels. I believe now that I did have them reversed all along, because the one at 12v when I turned on the serial tester was previously connected to Serial Out. I guess I will order another Picaxe now... thanks for the help, guys.
so I'll take a new one. What I just did is I unplugged the two cables going to the breadboard from the 1/8th jack that aren't ground and measured their voltage levels. I believe now that I did have them reversed all along, because the one at 12v when I turned on the serial tester was previously connected to Serial Out. I guess I will order another Picaxe now... thanks for the help, guys.