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Unable to connect to Mini - computer freezes


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#1 Frode

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Posted 31 March 2014 - 07:14 PM

Hi guys, I received my Netduino Mini today, and have some trouble getting it to work.

 

First some information about my setup;

- I've already got Netduino 2 and Netduino Plus 2 working using the 4.3 version.

- Using Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 on Windows 8.1.

- I've got this cable - an FTDI Cable 5V VCC-3.3V I/O.

 

My wireing is like this:

Cable Black => Pin 23

Cable Red => Pin 21

Cable Orange => Pin 12

Cable Yellow => Pin 11

Cable Brown => (not connected)

Cable Green => (not connected)

 

Pin 17 is connected to a blue LED, then a resistor and then back to ground on pin 23.

 

The cable shows up in Device Manager as COM3.

 

Using Putty I've opened a connection to COM3, and the first time I could press ESC and I then choose 1. I could see debug data flashing by. In Visual Studio I selected serial as the transport.

 

Then my computer froze.

 

Rebooted and fired up putty. This time nothing happened when pressing ESC. Pulled the power from Pin21, and put it back. Saw some debugtext in Putty, before my computer froze again.

 

Now I've opened up MFDeploy from the v4.3 folder, and try to ping serial COM3, but it says "NoConnection".

 

Any idea what's going on here?



#2 Frode

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Posted 31 March 2014 - 08:26 PM

I got one step further - if I do not start up Putty or MFDeploy then Visual Studio seems to be able to communicate with the device.

 

The next problem then is that VS2013 says: "Cannot deploy the base assembly 'mscorlib', or any of his satellite assemblies, to device - Serial:COM3 twice. Assembly 'mscorlib' on the device has version 4.1.2821.0, while the program is trying to deploy version 4.3.1.0".

 

Ok, so I figured I'd follow this thread to update the firmware on the Mini to 4.2. I first installed Visual Studio 2012, and then tried to install MF4.2 QFE2, but it says I need Visual Studio 2010. Do I really need to go all the way back to VS2010 to work with the Mini?



#3 Frode

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Posted 31 March 2014 - 08:51 PM

OK - new question. I've confirmed via MFDeploy v4.2 that the Mini has firmware version 4.1.0.6.

One of the first steps for upgrading the firmware is to "Flash TinyBooterDecompressor.bin using SAM-BA v2.12+".

 

According to Chris' guide it seems like this can be done both via RS232 and TTL, while the Wiki says it needs to be done via RS232.

 

I've got Samba 2.12 installed, but when I try to connect I get a "Communication error". Do I need to have a serial cable?



#4 baxter

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Posted 01 April 2014 - 06:36 AM

I use COM2 for deployment and COM1 for regular communications. Com2 is RS232 and COM1 is TTL. The logic levels of these two ports are inverted relative to each other; RS232 idles low and TTL, high. You can use your FTDI cable for both if you invert the TX, RX signals from your FTDI cable before connection to the Mini RS232 port. Otherwise, if you want to use  COM2  you must buy a USB to RS232  cable. Most of these come with a DB9 connector which is inconvenient for breadboarding. More information here,

 

http://forums.netdui...x232-interface/

For some reason the original formatting of the code boxes has been lost in this post.



#5 Frode

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Posted 01 April 2014 - 03:03 PM

Thanks for the reply, but I have to admit it's not exactly crystal clear for me yet.

 

I don't think I have the right components here for inverting the TX/RX signals from my FTDI cable. Do I HAVE to get a USB-to-RS232 cable to upgrade the firmware?

 

Also, can I skip the "TinyBooterDecompressor.bin" step, and go straight to flashing the Mini with MFDeploy? What does the "TinyBooterDecompressor.bin" do?

 

Sorry for posting what might be basic questions, but the Mini got me kinda stumped right now.



#6 Frode

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Posted 01 April 2014 - 06:26 PM

Can this adapter be used to upgrade the firmware?



#7 baxter

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Posted 01 April 2014 - 07:09 PM

This is what I used for my last Mini firmware update,

http://forums.netdui...-v420-update-1/

Specifically, NetduinoMini_Firmware_4.2.0.1_RS232.zip

 

With this, you deploy on COM2 and COM 1 is free to do whatever you want with it. The term RS232 is used very loosely when marketing USB serial cables. The one you linked is not RS232. It is TTL.  This is a USB to RS232 serial cable,

http://www.ebay.com/...=item3a8cf35728

Others are here,

http://www.ebay.com/...cat=0&_from=R40

To get at the RS232 pins,

http://www.ebay.com/...dboard&_sacat=0



#8 Frode

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Posted 01 April 2014 - 08:38 PM

Thanks, I've just ordered this cable, and this breakout board.



#9 Chris Walker

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Posted 13 April 2014 - 11:50 AM

Hi Frode,

Did you get your Netduino Mini updated successfully?

Chris

#10 Frode

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Posted 13 April 2014 - 02:14 PM

Hi Chris, no - not yet.

 

I received this adapter in the mail today, but haven't tried using it yet. Unsure if it will work or not.



#11 Chris Walker

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Posted 13 April 2014 - 04:14 PM

Hi Frode,

Okay, please keep us updated.

Also--you can just change the "target framework" in Visual Studio to 4.1. And then you can deploy to your Netduino Mini.

You don't have to upgrade the firmware unless you want to. On the Minis, I usually use 4.1.

Chris

#12 Dr Who

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 05:14 AM

And I did and everything works perfectly.

 

But what do I do if for some strange reason I want build my own purely experimental stuff to mount on a Mini, not necessarily the one I have now.



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