Malfunctioning DIY OTGW

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Cariba
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Malfunctioning DIY OTGW

Post by Cariba »

Hi there,

I assembled my OTGW, and it doesn't work. It boots up with the diagnostics firmware but doesn't register input, and shows a lot of semicolons. See screenshot.

Does anyone have a clue about the problem?

Thanks!
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hvxl
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Re: Malfunctioning DIY OTGW

Post by hvxl »

Maybe it's putty that is malfunctioning. Please try with otmonitor. It was originally created specifically for the purpose of removing the quirks of any other software people might be using out of the equation.
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Cariba
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Re: Malfunctioning DIY OTGW

Post by Cariba »

I already did: otmonitor shows the same thing in the diagnostics window.
hvxl
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Re: Malfunctioning DIY OTGW

Post by hvxl »

How fast are those colons appearing? Do they stop after a while?

The diagnostic firmware will echo the characters it receives, so perhaps some other program is sending something to the serial port. Do you see any reaction when you press the enter key? Does it say "Invalid test" and refresh the menu? It's also possible that this other program is eating part of the serial output. Do you have another computer you can try the gateway with?

Another possibility is that the firmware was not loaded correctly into the PIC, or a bit didn't stick. How was the PIC programmed? If you have a PIC programmer, you can verify if the program is correct and reprogram it if it isn't. If you don't, you can attempt to reload the firmware via otmonitor. It looks like a large part of the firmware is working. So if the self-programming code is not affected, that might work.
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Cariba
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Re: Malfunctioning DIY OTGW

Post by Cariba »

They stop after a few (just like the screenshot).
It seems like the OTGW doesn't register my input.

Firmware upload doesn't work. I'll ask for a replacement PIC.
hvxl
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Re: Malfunctioning DIY OTGW

Post by hvxl »

I'm not yet convinced that the PIC wasn't programmed correctly. Unfortunately you skipped over some of my questions that could provide clues:
  • How fast are the colons appearing? If you get them at regular intervals of a few seconds or more, I suspect something is sending something to the gateway. If you get them very fast I would lean more towards a possible firmware program failure.
  • Do you have another computer you can try the gateway with? It is unlikely that the same interfering "other program" would be running on another computer as well.
Other questions:
  • How is the gateway connected to your computer? Real serial port, USB serial port, gateway without IC2 and USB option from the webshop?
  • If you disconnect the serial/USB cable on the gateway side and type something, it shouldn't be echoed. Then connect transmit and receive on the gateway side of the cable. Do you see any data appearing if you do nothing? If you type something in this situation does it get echoed now?
Schelte
Cariba
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Re: Malfunctioning DIY OTGW

Post by Cariba »

The semicolons appear all at the start and then it stops.
I have tested it on my desktop and laptop. There is no other program interfering.
The gateway is connected on my laptop through an Serial2USB device, and on my desktop directly to a serial port.
It doesn't echo. I don't ever see anything echoing.

I'm pretty sure it's a buggy programmed PIC.
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