Ren64 power

[blake_l]

OK - I'm obviously missing something here...
I have a RenT for ZC and a PC PSU for +5 volts to a Ren64 that will have PWM.
What do I need installed / not installed?!?!

The drawing says "If you wish to supply +5V from an external power supply, Omit U1, U2, and D1, and install a connector in place of J1 to supply power." --> I did that. Except that when I look at the trace from J1, it goes to R1 and R2 - which are not installed because the Wiki makes it appear those are only needed for ZC option 2 or 3?! What am I mis-reading???

Also - since I have the per-port LED's installed, will the diagnostic firmware make use of the on-board LED's? Do those LED's dim with the output of the board?

Thanks again. One of these days I'll get this thing figured out!

[P. Short]

Looks like another typo...that should have read 'install a connector in place of U1'...let me find it and fix it.

As far as the LED questions go, the answers are yes and yes.

--

Phil

[blake_l]

OK - got that. Diagnostic PIC is up and running - I have blinking on 2 and 5 (solid on 1), but not on 6 (with PC connected and Vixen playing a sequence)

I started trying to trace it back and am having a hard time - things don't seem to quite match up to the drawing I have. Is there a more recent version of the drawing titled "Renard (64 Channel Coop)" I have Rev X1 dated June 30, 2007 and there have been a few things on the board so far that don't seem to match this drawing (J2 order comes to mind)

--Blake

[P. Short]

That is the latest schematic...it obviously needs to be updated. Since you are probably the only person who has looked critically at the schematic, I'll wait on updating it until you finish finding problems with it.

The only problem that I am aware of (now) wrt J2 is that the base resistor for Q1 (which comes from J2-2) is mis-labeled on the schematic. It should be R9 on the schematic, not R1.

--

Phil

[blake_l]

Thanks, Phil. I'll try and keep some more detailed notes. Least I can do to return all the hard work of actually getting this thing designed, tested, and produced that everyone else has done!


--Blake

[blake_l]

OK - I got through much of the first drawing before finding my problem. I was trying to make sure the board was working before I went and threw all my PICS on it. In doing so, I made the mistake of thinking the lowest numbered slot (U7) was the first in line - obviously, that's _not_ the case. The order is actually: U10 - U9 - U8 - U7 - U14 - U13 - U12 - U11. I believe the Wiki does say that a PIC with diagnostic code doesn't continue the chain, but it doesn't say where it starts. Oops! Hope this helps someone else out...

After that, I _think_ mine is working - I expected #6 to blink at a steady rate regardless of the data it was receiving, but it seems that it may be on if it's receiving data and off if it's not? And that Vixen only sends data when it's turning something on or off - not "maintaining" a data stream. That's all I can guess - with all channels on, it stayed on until the channels turned off. Then I randomly turned them on during the sequence and it seemed to blink in relation to that. I'll try it with some SSR's next.

Here are the errors I came across - someone please check these! I think some of this is already known, but I'll list everything i found to help anyone else that may find this post. Then again, maybe nobody else will make bonehead mistakes like me. :?

I only got through page 1 and the hook-ups to U10 before I found my problem.

First note - should read "install a connector in place of U1 to supply power"
J2 -> pin order is reversed - 1 is 3, 3 is 1 (2 is correct - go figure!)
U5 -> pin 4 has no connection
D4(right) -> actually D5
R1 --> the one off of Q1-2 is actually R9
Q1 -> pin order is reversed - 1 is 3, 3 is 1
U14 labeled H11AA1 -> actually U6
U3 -> OUT pin shows #5, but I believe it's actually #3 - not entirely sure how that package is numbered.


Thanks again!

[P. Short]

Thanks, I'll look into it tonight or tomorrow. The biggest problem may be finding the un-stuffed board.

--

Phil

[blake_l]

Argh. Still not working. I _think_ the diagnostic code works - I get 1 and 3 constant (haven't seen anything about this being good or bad???), 2, 5, and 6 flashing.

Vixen is set with 19200, 8N1. I've tried both protocol versions, but it doesn't seem to matter either way - which one is correct?

Any ideas???

Edit: Using PIC code: renard-pwm-20070430.asm
and diagnostic code: Ren-diag-20070815a.asm

[RavingLunatic]

Blake,

The firmware is hard coded for a baud rate of 57600, when I try any other setting it doesn't work with the normal firmware. So try that first.

On my Ren64 the diag firmware keeps LED 6 & 7 on all the time when data is sent. Vixen only sends data when there is a change in the event data. My test sequence has something changing every event (basically chasing from 1 to 8 constantly) so there is constant data. I know this is different from the wiki but since my regular firmware seems to be working I'm not worried.


Make sure that your power supply, Ren-T, and Ren64 are sharing a ground. My Ren64 didn't work til I did that.

Hopes this helps out!

[P. Short]

OK, I've updated the schematic with the changes that you've noted, as well as a few additions to the notes section. It's been uploaded to the wiki. Let me know if you notice anything else.

Thanks,

Phil

[blake_l]

Finally! It's been a long couple of hours, but I think everything is working - I have seen the light! Just thought I'd share the other things I found out in the course of my troubleshooting:

The baud rate was indeed the solution to my last problem.
Sharing a ground didn't seem to be a problem for me - I think the RenT and Ren64 share ground through the RJ45?
Seating the PIC seemed much trickier than I would have thought - I was trying to just gently seat them and got varying results. I had to press much harder than I would have thought, and they still don't seem fully seated to me.
Interestingly, my diagnostic results are different from RL's - mine does not have #7 on at all.

Other big thing I found - opto-isolators are important! I don't know if the requirements last year for the 595 weren't as stringent, or I just chose to make a substitution. In any case, when I swapped those out for the new batch I ordered this year, I saw the (dimming) light!!!

Now if only I could find the *)($#$&* cord I made for the 595 last year, I could see them working together!!!

--Blake

[RavingLunatic]

Glad to see that you figured it out. :D


Interestingly, my diagnostic results are different from RL's - mine does not have #7 on at all.



Then yours is working like the wiki. I might still have an issue, knowing how things have been going lately I probably won't know for sure til I setup the display. :?