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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Explore64 (Geoff’s MM+ module)...
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palcal Guru  Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
@Grogs I'm using XP and never had a problem before Paul "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
Yeah, then with XP I would expect it to just work - odd..... Watch this space. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2944 |
As Grogster says, I can supply the Fully Assembled Explore 64 Module for £29.95 each plus shipping. To USA it is around £5 Airmail (untracked with limited insurance) OR around £10 fully Tracked & Insured. If you just want the PCB then these are £3.25 each. I offer part-built as well. 
Drop me an email, or PM me if you need anything regarding the Explore 64. It is available for immediate shipping (Note: I am not putting it on MicroMite.org until Grog's site is up and running) WW |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
@ Grogster All now OK. I checked the usb connector under the microscope and the joints looked fine, but I touched them with the iron again and all works. Funny it could read the chip and know it was the Micromite plus. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
Excellent. 
I suspect that the Vbus 5v from the USB may not have been making correct contact then - that or ground or something. Those sockets have pretty recessed pins for soldering - you really do need flux to make the solder flow to those pins correctly. The 1C board, which is under revision now for the SC article release, will employ the more standard longer USB socket, which has pins that are not quite so recessed and will therefore be a little easier to solder. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
I don't suppose there is room for a 5v regulator, it's OK when a usb port is available otherwise the power supply is a bit of a problem. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2944 |
Paul, do you not have access to a standard phone charger power supply? These are available virtually everywhere (including component suppliers) and the best ones come with a USB socket at the mains-plug end allowing you to plug your own USB lead into them. This will power your MM+ via the USB socket for when you don't have a USB port available (i.e. a laptop). Two words of warning: 1> use a USB charging lead for best results (cheap USB leads have thin wires in them and some don't carry even the specified minimum of 100mA)!! 2> don't buy a cheap import PSU from eBay as these are not always switch-mode-power supplies. Some have proved to be VERY dangerous/lethal with no more than resistors in them directly from the mains pins to provide an unregulated voltage around 5v. My preference are the 2.1A variants - more than enough for the MM+ and any peripherals. I have assumed this is what you meant by 'otherwise the power supply is a bit of a problem'?? WW |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
@WW Yes I have plenty of places to PLUG IT IN I'm thinking more of being away from a power source and running it on Li-ion or gel cells. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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atmega8 Guru Joined: 19/11/2013 Location: GermanyPosts: 724 |
Why loses MM+ connection to Terraterm after reset, when powered over USB and the Terminal uses also USB for Connection to Terraterm via silicon chip USB Driver ( virtual com port) ? |
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TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6283 |
That is a problem with any USB-serial device. Doing a reset is the same as unplugging and reinserting. Windows seems to detect the new device but it will never work. The only option is to shut down teraterm, unplug and reinsert (or reset) then start teraterm again. You will have the same problem if you unplug any USB-serial device while it is still communicating to a program. Sorry there is no easy answer. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
@ palcal - You can feed it from LiION or Gel-Cells - just connect your input voltage to the 5v_OUT terminal and ground, but do not have the USB cable connected at the same time. the 5v_OUT pin, is actually the input to the 3v3 regulator - it is routed directly from the USB 5v supply. 1C of the board will address this issue, and include a protection diode. @ atmega - This is a Windoze issue. Bill(Gates) is not releasing the VCP when you reset the MM+, and is holding onto the port. The only known fix for that at this time, is to unplug the MM+ from the computer, then plug it in again. Close TT first, as if you unplug and replug with TT running, TT will no longer want to see the COM port. It's a pain in the bum, but there is not much you can do about it, as it is a Windoze VCP issue. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
@ Grogster Yes I know I can do that but depending on the input voltage the 3.3v reg gets very hot If I need to I will make up a separate 5v supply. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| atmega8 Guru Joined: 19/11/2013 Location: GermanyPosts: 724 |
@Grogster, Tassiyjim, Linux does not have this problem? |
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| TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6283 |
In Linux, you are more likely to have the OS give the MM+ a new port name each time you plug it in. There are ways of stopping this (sometimes). I haven't tried it to see what happens if you unplug while in use. I do have another device that has just as many problems with linux (RPi) so I am not very confident with the MM+. If you do need to do a lot of resetting, using the Console on a serial port and have a separate USB-ttl device that can stay on all the time does work. I had to go to great lengths to automate a reset on my Maximite powered data acquisition system because of this. It use to fail when I was 5000kM away. Since I put the remote reset in place, it hasn't missed a beat - about 2 years. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2442 |
well, technically... you could ask the authors of teraterm to add a 'reset connection' button to the GUI, that when clicked closes the serial port, waits a short period of time, then reopens it. it may also be possible to program this as either a teraterm macro or custom key sequence. it has been a couple of years since i did any programming with teraterm's macro language, but i do remember it being quite powerful. i was using it to communicate with a power supply and benchtop dmm to do data collection. cheers, rob :-) |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2442 |
right, i've found a solution. you need to do TWO things. first, go to the directory where teraterm is running from (on windows this will be "C:\Program Files\teraterm") and edit the file called KEYBOARD.CNF so that near the end, instead of reading: ;Example of user key definitions. ;[User keys] ; Ctrl + F1 key: character string ;User1=1083,0,telnet host ; it now reads: ;Example of user key definitions. [User keys] ; Ctrl + F1 key: character string User1=1083,2,reconnect.ttl ; that is, you are removing the ";" from the start of two lines, changing a "0" parameter to "2", and replacing 'telnet host' with 'reconnect.ttl'. this will cause the macro file reconnect.ttl to be executed whenever you press ctrl-f1. second, create a file in the teraterm directory called... reconnect.ttl and into this file place the following commands: dispstr 10 13 'closing connection' 10 13 disconnect pause 2 connect '/C' dispstr 'reconnected' 10 13 sendln the pause 2 command causes a 2 second delay between closing the port and reopening it. i found that 1 second was insufficient, but 2 was ok on my XP machine. sendln just sends an 'enter' keypress to the maximite, causing the command prompt to be redisplayed. provided you've saved the com port settings (Setup -> Save setup...) you will reconnect to the same com port as the one you have just closed. cheers, rob :-) |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2442 |
forgot to add the last step... 1. press the reset button on your micromite+ 2. press ctrl-f1 on your keyboard |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2442 |
and here is a slightly more robust reconnect.ttl dispstr 10 13 'closing connection' 10 13
disconnect do mpause 500 connect '/C' loop until result = 2 dispstr 'reconnected' 10 13 sendln it will loop trying to reconnect every 1/2 second until a connection is established. cheers, rob :-) |
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| Chris Roper Senior Member  Joined: 19/05/2015 Location: South AfricaPosts: 280 |
Thanks Rob, Very useful, I have needed that many times and had to do it the hard way. I will implement it post-haste :) Cheers Chris http://caroper.blogspot.com/ |
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| TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6283 |
Excellent macro Rob. It will save a lot of head banging.... Jim VK7JH MMedit |
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