12 replies to this topic

[Mikeo2721]

I recently bought my Netduino Pro and got to work programming LED lights. At first everything worked great for about an hour. I was able to program it and built a simple LED light controller. After an hour I started getting inttermittent drops of the USB connection. Windows 7 (64 bit) would chime that I lost connection. A few seconds later the connection would restore itself. This continued on for the next hour with the drops getting closer and closer together. I researched the issue and decided to reset the card by pushing the button while plugging in the USB. This wiped out my program but made the USB port no longer work. I keep getting a "One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it." I researched the problems on the forums and found the new USB driver supported under Windows 7 64. I tried to install this with no luck. It still will not recognize the board. I then went to Best Buy to buy a new USB micro cable figuring it could be a cable issue although the board clearly is getting power from the cable since the pwr and LED lights are lit solid when I plug it in. The only thing I can guess is that the USB controller on the card has gone bad. Any other ideas?

[willgeorge]

Not sure what your full issue is but look here for starters

http://wiki.netduino...ep-by-step.ashx

I had a similar problem but I had to modify my registry to get it working. I have Windows 7 ultimate but it is 32 bit not 64.

I have other PC's so I first made sure my Netduino was working on another PC.
Do you have a friend with a PC you could try yours on? I would doubt the USB port on the Netduino is bad.


I hesitate about posting the following but I got nowhere with my issue until I completely removed the USB driver info from the PC registry.
I could NOT load a new driver until I completely removed the old driver reference from the registry. In fact once the registry Key was removed windows loaded a new driver after plugging the Netduino in.


I will post what I had to do but please DO NOT take messing around in the registry lightly.
Maybe you have a friend that could do it for you if you are not experienced doing this?
I have no idea about what you can do, or not do, with regards to chanding anything in the PC registry.

I take no responsibility if things go wrong.

Anyway.. Here goes..

I 'fixed' mine by removing the KEY/Sub-Keys using regedit.
I removed the Key group, rebooted the PC and then plugged in the Netduino USB. It worked for me.


I found my USB port at: I have no idea if this is true in your case.

Be warned!
You can trash your windows installation if you do the wrong thing in the registry. I know from past experience.
PLEASE NEVER edit your registry unless you know what you are doing. Even if it is backed up.
Backups do not work if you cannot reboot to load it! Been there, did that.


My Netduino USB ports were found at registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\VID_22B1&PID_1000

I assume (without proof) that a 64 bit machine is similar.

Look for something like " MFG @oem28.inf,%secretlabs%;Secret Labs LLC " in the sub-keys under the main key shown above.
You may find several sub-keys depending on what USB ports you have plugged the Netduino USB cable into.
Each USB port you plug into you will find a new subkey listing.
(As far as I know this is true)

Good luck and the registry should be OK if this is the only Key deleated.

[Chris Seto]

Is this a front panel USB port? How much current are you pulling from the port? If you are pulling more than 500mA (USB max current spac), the USB controller is liable to turn off the port.

[Chris Walker]

Hi Mikeo2721, So sorry to hear that you're having troubles. The recommendations by community members here are all helpful, but let me see if I can pitch in some recommendations too... If you plug the Netduino into another computer, does it show up in Device Manager? If not, then your board is likely defective. It's rare, but it can happen. It's posssible that the USB connection is damaged on the board somehow--but that it worked well enough to pass a series of standard functionality tests on the assembly line. If that's the case, we can replace your Netduino under its 30-day warranty...no worries there. If you plug your Netduino into another computer and it works, then I suspect that there's something wrong with your USB port on your PC. I wear out a USB port on my computers just about every year. They're rated for thousands of insertion cycles--but it's amazing how many times I unplug/plug things around here testing engineering samples, etc. Anyway, let's make sure we get you up and running... Chris

[JonnyBoats]

Hi Mikeo2721,

I wear out a USB port on my computers just about every year. They're rated for thousands of insertion cycles--but it's amazing how many times I unplug/plug things around here testing engineering samples, etc.

Anyway, let's make sure we get you up and running...

Chris

Chris, If you wear out a USB port on a motherboard that can be an expensive fix ;-)

Have you considered using a USB extension cable (male on one end, female on the other) and leaving it plugged into the PC continuously? That way it would be the extension cable that would wear out, not the socket on the PC.

[Chris Walker]

Chris, If you wear out a USB port on a motherboard that can be an expensive fix ;-)

Have you considered using a USB extension cable (male on one end, female on the other) and leaving it plugged into the PC continuously? That way it would be the extension cable that would wear out, not the socket on the PC.

I know, especially on a laptop! Which is probably why I always buy Dell's CompleteCare service. The USB extension cable is a good idea.

BTW, a big part of why we build Netduinos to be fairly rugged...they have to pass the "Chris mistreating hardware" test

Chris

[AJB2K3]

I have a compaq laptop and get this occasionally. It has cost me 2 sd cards to date and a hard drive enclosure! I think you may also need to add a com port to the port list. Not sure why this virtual port exist but every now and then a device requires it even though the driver doesn't always it it!.

[Mikeo2721]

I appreciate it. I tried on three different computers in my house and had the same issue on each. I see the device in the device manager but the driver fails to load. I am going to back up my machine tonight, then change the registry as suggested (yes I will be careful) and also flash the card. We will see if any of these options work. I already contacted MakerShed for a RMA if I need to send it back but would love to get it fixed here to save time if possible. I will let everyone know what I find. Thanks, Mikeo

[Arron Chapman]

I appreciate it.

I tried on three different computers in my house and had the same issue on each. I see the device in the device manager but the driver fails to load.

I am going to back up my machine tonight, then change the registry as suggested (yes I will be careful) and also flash the card. We will see if any of these options work. I already contacted MakerShed for a RMA if I need to send it back but would love to get it fixed here to save time if possible.

I will let everyone know what I find.

Thanks,

Mikeo

Do you have a different cable you can try, I have this problem with one of the uUSB cables I have around here.

[Valkyrie-MT]

Yes, try another cable. Some of the cables that come with cell phones only have the power pins wired for charging. Data wires are absent. I have one and spent an hour trying to sync my WP7 before I figured it out. -Valkyrie-MT

[Mikeo2721]

Do you have a different cable you can try, I have this problem with one of the uUSB cables I have around here.

Yep - Tried different cables as well. I have now tired on 5 different computers and all can't find a driver for the device. I tell it I have the driver disk, point it to the driver, and it still comes up as unrecognizable.

I am thinnking more and more that I have a bad USB port on the device although I know that is unlikely.

[Mikeo2721]

Yes, try another cable. Some of the cables that come with cell phones only have the power pins wired for charging. Data wires are absent. I have one and spent an hour trying to sync my WP7 before I figured it out.

-Valkyrie-MT

Hummm - Actually the cable I bought from Best Buy was for a mobile phone. I am throwing money at this thing left and right to diagnose. I may just be better off buying a new card.

[Mikeo2721]

Well I tried everything and still no good. I am 99% sure I have a bad card. I edited out all the references in the registry. I updated all the drivers. I downloaded the tool and hard reset the board. I tried 3 differnt cables and 5 differnt computers Same problem as before. In addition the board is getting very hot to touch even though it is not doing anything. (Never a good sign.) I just think I got a 1 in a million issue with the USB and need to send it back for replacement. Luckily Netduino covers any problems with a 30 day warrenty. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. I appreciate it. Mikeo