What happened to my 14M?

[Tzi]

I was in the middle of programing, and pressed F3 to do a search (as in any other self respecting program).. and the programing bar flashed up on my screen. I didnt think much of it.. though oh well. obviously I've just uploaded the program to the picaxe.. nevermind.
It wasnt until I finished coding, and went to Run the picaxe to test my code that I found that it was no longer responding... and wont accept a new program. Comes up telling me that nothings connected to the com port.
A quick search tells me that F3 cleared the memory.. shouldnt be a drama

So what happened??

 

[Technical]

Try a hard reset - see the manual for details. You cannot damage the 14m firmware by doing a clear hardware (F3).

 

[gengis]

I've seen something like that. For some reason it dumps the com port - after an incomplete loading of the picaxe. Sometimes the program runs or runs with faults, sometimes it doesn't run at all. I'm blaming it on gremlins - or a noisy battery connector - highly likely. I have to go back to the View - Options, reselect #5 com port, then go back and reprogram it.

 

[Tzi]

Hard reset didnt work... any more suggestions?

Have i got this right?.. a hard reset is done by pressing 'run' (with some code loaded) just waiting for the progress bar to come up.. and apply power to the picaxe?

 

[hippy]

Yes, but make sure that the pop-up shows Connecting to hardware... before connecting power, don't turn power on before then. There's a few seconds in which to turn power on so it's not a 'mad dash' to do so.

If the 14M hasn't fully powered down this may not work. The easiest solution is to turn the power off, leave for a few minutes. If you have 'smoothing capacitors' in your power supply it can take a long while for power to go away. A LED+R across the +V and 0V not only shows when powered but also helps drain away residual power and the LED going off indicates when it's nearly all gone.

Make sure power is applied cleanly, so it doesn't glitch off again in the download attempt.

Also, if you're still having problems. Try using View->Options->Firmware? to see what that shows up. The Hard Reset may also be needed to get a result there.

Firstly though, make sure the download cable hasn't simply fallen out, and that power is actually getting to your 14M.