identify but can't download?

[Brietech]

So I have an 18X that will identify its firmware (8.6, btw), but then it gives me a "Error -memory verification failed (Byte 511)" message when I try to download. Any thoughts? I'm working on a kind of last minute project, so help is appreciated =)

 

[demonicpicaxeguy]

make sure you ahve the positive and negative on the correct pins
along with serial in and out

 

[Brietech]

I do. I'm pretty sure my chip is hosed. Now it will erratically download a few bytes and then halt again (same message, error on a different byte). I was trying to use it for a project for one of my upcoming school finals, and it was my last 18X, so i'm debating what to do now . . .hmmm.

 

[inglewoodpete]

Hmm. "Hosed..." Must be a dialect I don't understand. Can anyone translate: is that good or bad? ;o)

 

[Technical]

Normally a sign of a faulty power supply - try removing any noisy outputs and powering from 4.5V from 3xAA batteries.

 

[Brietech]

Every time I tried it I was either powering it from a 4.5V (3x1.5V) or 3V (2X1.5V) battery pack.

 

[demonicpicaxeguy]

i've also gotten similar errors caused by a range of things supply voltage too low
if you connect the serialin to the worng pin
also the positive to the wrong pin

 

[demonicpicaxeguy]

another thing too is that if you've built the download curcuit and the picaxe stuck into a breadboard if it's a breadboard that has been used a lot then in some of the holes you can get a bad connection so try a different area of space on the breadboard

and if you're using a zif socket somtime they can give you a dodgy connection as well

Edited by - demonicpicaxeguy on 30/04/2007 09:25:44

 

[Brietech]

So I tried using an 18X and 3 different 08M's, on 3 different breadboards and in multiple positions, using a 4.5V battery pack (just checked the voltage with a brand new multimeter), and now all of the chips are giving me the same memory verification errors. All of these had previously been thought to work, so did I just have an incredibly bad string of luck? Maybe my room got hit by an EMP blast =(

 

[Brietech]

So i think i figured it out. The "receive buffer" on my serial port had been set down to 1 byte, instead of 14-bytes, for a different project I had been working on. For some reason this apparently causes the verification to fail when it is downloading.

 

[inglewoodpete]

Thanks for the feedback on the resolution. I'll add that one to my list of cause/effects.

Now, if I can just work out if that means you have got it 'hosed' or not.

 

[hippy]

"Hosed" is I believe primarily an Americanism, the most polite definition I could find was "in an extremely unfortunate situation", and in context, "not working any more". Probably what I'd call stuffed, buggered, or worse. I'm not sure what its origin is.

 

[lbenson]

Here's a quote re "hosed" from a googled site which confirms vague memories of mine from the Vietnam War era: "The term was popularised by fighter pilots refering to being hosed by machine gun fire". Also, and clearly a late attempt to make an acronym for its frequent use in U.S. computer circles, "HOSED, Hardware or Software Error Detected". Web sites which have been taken over by malicious outsiders may be said to have been "hosed". Definitely not a good thing.

 

[Brietech]

Although I've never actually heard someone use the term "stuffed", i imagine it's on par with that =) My actual project this is for (which is now sort-of working!) is a magnetic anomaly detector array. I can try to post some more details when I get it done, as I have to have it finished by tuesday for the end of the semester!