arduinome thread

arduinome

- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 9th 2008
finished my first pass at the soldering, all done, soldering the wires on the boards was much more of a pain that attaching parts to the boards (someone needs to make an 8x8 pcb for sparkfun with decent header connectors so people don't have to do all that crazy wiring).

Now I just need to work out the glitches - get some decent 16 pin connectors rather than hacked falling to pieces harddrive ribbons and work out the software side of things.

I'm assuming a scrolling bar when it's plugged in is a "good" sign, it didn't do that at first when I had all my cables back to front and upside down.

http://nomeist.com/lights-are-on-but-no-one-is-home/77
- CommentAuthorunsped
- CommentTimeOct 9th 2008
the scrolling bar is a good sign, its the startup test thingy majig
- CommentAuthorJordan Hochenbaum
- CommentTimeOct 9th 2008
Please see my response on your blog! Good luck, and let us know how it all pans out...
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 9th 2008
thanks unsped and jordan, I'll take a look at the suggestions tonight.
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 9th 2008
Anyone have a good online source for 2*8 idc cable with connectors, I can't find anything through google.
- CommentAuthorGrumpy_Mike
- CommentTimeOct 9th 2008
I don't think you will find 8 way it's non standard. Smallest I have seen is 10 way, that's two rows of 5. Try Farnell.
- CommentAuthorphsr
- CommentTimeOct 9th 2008
@jpsykes
http://www.allelectronics.com/ is where i got my stuff.

They dont have the 2*8 on a page, but if you look in the catalog and get the part #, you can find them. And I got the 20-conductor ribbon cable, which im going to trim down to 16.

2*8 IDC Connectors part #: RCSC-16
10 feet of 20 conductor(smallest amount, $4) part #: RCBL-20
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 9th 2008
Thanks phaser, order submitted.
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 10th 2008
Handshakes !!!

http://nomeist.com/handshakes-all-round/83

Now I just need to work out why my weird column is weird. Any great debug testing tips. I have meter at ready.

By the way - thanks to everyone who's ever had anything to do with this amazing project. I almost cried when the LED's came on after clicking on the grid in the test. This has been such amazing fun. I'm going to start recommending to everyone I know that they should do this as a voyage of discovery. :-)
- CommentAuthorxndr
- CommentTimeOct 10th 2008
Great to see your progress! Nothing is as cool as powering up a DIY project for the first time ;-)

About the weird column problem: If you're absolutely sure that you don't have any shorts or solder bridges you could try pulling the wires apart a bit.. it looks like it's a problem with cross-talk.. but it could even be the MAX chip that has been fried by static electricity... Did you order only one or do you have a replacement chip?
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 10th 2008
I need to go look at all the solder points again, that's were I suspect the issue will be.

Am I best looking at certain points for LED's that are being lit up when they shouldn't - is that the horizontals (the groups of 4 wires) or the vertical (the groups of 2 wires).

I'm fairly sure it's a solder or short issue, as the other day it didn't do it for a couple of minutes when you do the power up scrolling bar thing.

I guess I need to just systematically go through everything.

Yes I do have a spare chip - I brought two of everything, working on the assumption that at some point something would explode in a puff of blue smoke taking my dreams and hopes with it. :)
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 11th 2008
Down to one buggy row.

http://nomeist.com/just-one-row-to-go/89

The first of teh dodgey pair was a back to front 4 cable pairing to the breakl away board.

This last one I'm at a lose for, but I'll keep poking around later tonight.
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 12th 2008
More debugging on the last row, added a video showing some of the shorting issues.

http://nomeist.com/more-last-row-debugging/92

Anyone got any advice on where I should try to focus my attention? Does the video and the shorting lighting up the row help at all?

Many thanks.
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 13th 2008
Additional thing I just noticed. Nerdscroll is mirrored. It's scrolling right to left with the letters back to front.

All other apps so far seem to be working peachy.

My duff column/row still not functioning. The buttons work great, ity's just teh leds, and I know the LEDS are working since I can short the row out and they work (see above). I've de and resoldered a bunch of things but nothing. But I fear I'm making while stabs in the dark rather than anything educated.
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 15th 2008 edited
OK, super weird additional findings - boy this is a lot of fun ;-)

So I got my proper 16 pin IDC cables today, which I hooked up and now my duff column is working. But this seems to have exposed some awesome craziness. Now if I got into arudinonme serial and do the test, I get them all lite up - woot I said. Then I noticed that in my monome test that was in the background I was getting crazy button presses being fired. Not touching anything, but with monome test set to toggle, as I start lighting up leds eventually I hit critical mass and monome test starts fireing button presses and led's start turning off.

Out of curiosity I also fired up nerdscroll to see if my mirror issues was still occuring and it is.

Which made me look again at the break off board.

It seems I have the LED lights pin set upside down (the top one of the pair the one with the sets of 4 wires connecting to it..

I have mine...

bottom top...
8 - 1
16 - 9

Whereas looking at the diagrams again, I think it's supposed to be

bottom top
1 - 8
9 - 16

I'm assuming I can't fix that with turning the cable round since that will make the left and right sides switched as well.

So tomorrow evening I will resolder the break off panel and try again.

edit: as always here's a blog post with a video of my shorting arduinome playing music by itself --

http://nomeist.com/new-idc-cables-helped-but-still-no-cigar/99

-- maybe it's a feature ??? ;-)

As much as it's still buggy, I do feel closer than I was 2 hours ago. At least now all the lights light up. :-)
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 15th 2008
couldn't wait. Similar issues, just on the column on the far right.

That's got me thinking it's not my board, but back at the shield or breakpff pcb level.

First thing I'm thinking is my breakoff pcb header pins. Swap them out tomorrow.
- CommentAuthorunsped
- CommentTimeOct 15th 2008
one thing to check, when clipping the excess wire off of the diodes/leds once soldered, its very easy to break a trace on the board. that would easily knock out a row. use a continuity tester on the header pin, and check all the contacts that connect to it on the board.
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 15th 2008
Thanks unsped, you're help is invaluable.

OK, "continuity tester" I'm assuming the "ohm" switch on my meter?

The thing that makes me think it's not my board (although that has some cleaning up to be done) is the fact that it was the second from the left column. Now I reversed the soldering to the break off pcb so it follows the one on bricktable it is now the 2nd from the right column.

That leads me to think it's in my soldering in the breakoff, in the shield soldering or could one of my "chips" be faulty on just one set of pins.

Now the whole, turn all the LED's on and monome plays music by itself, that I'm at a lose for.

Recap Current Issues:

All LED's come on with LED test in arduinome serial
- 1 column buttons don't work
- When all LED's on other apps register button presses. It seems to be pretty random (I'll get some video, actually you can see it in the linked blog post above).
- Nerdscroll is still doing mirrored characters

Other than that it's all peachy.

I'm half tempted to start wiring up my second one and see if it's just something fundamental that I did wrong first time round. Get one working then try and see why the first one didn't work. 2nd time round it should only be an evening or two to get to where I am now with attempt 1.
- CommentAuthorxndr
- CommentTimeOct 15th 2008
>>continuity tester --> that's a special mode of your multimeter, if you short the probes (by connecting them through a trace on your pcb) you will hear a sound (or some models a LED will light up) indicating that there's a connection between the two points.

By the sound of your story I'm thinking that you might have switched a led connection with one of the switch connections...

But for now I'd rigorously check every single connection, wire, trace and connector with the continuity tester.. see if it beeps where it's supposed to...
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 15th 2008
"By the sound of your story I'm thinking that you might have switched a led connection with one of the switch connections..."

Where would that be though, on the button boards or back up on the shield?

The button boards, I have all my 4 connectors going to the same side of the break off pcb and all my 2's going to the other.

I think tonight I'm going to look at giving the board a good clean and tidy up. See where that gets me.

One of the guys at work suggested that maybe I was getting too much voltage and that is somehow triggering the button presses, since it only happens once I have X amount of led's lit up.
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 15th 2008
Looks like the backwards text in nerdscroll isn't just me. So maybe it's not a hardware issue. Anyone else with an OOTB arduinome who can also see if they have the same issue?
- CommentAuthorucacjbs
- CommentTimeOct 16th 2008
Hello,

I think the best explanation for backwards text nerdscroll is that your columns are connected backwards, so you probably need to swap the order of the wires. Hope that makes some sense.

Random button presses could be caused by intermittent connections, possibly by weak solder joints.

ben
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 17th 2008
http://post.monome.org/comments.php?DiscussionID=2529&page=1#Comment_28538

Everythings working. Need to sit down and try to verbalize how I got here now, so that it's easier for someone like me to repeat the process. Onto the enclosure.
- CommentAuthormaersk (dovemouse)
- CommentTimeOct 18th 2008
I had a mirroring problem, but i spotted it early on, so i reversed the 'BLUE' connections with the break-off board.

I too have random button presses. Did you manage to get that fixed?
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 18th 2008
Random button presses when?

When you're not doing anything?

- No idea sounds very weird.

When you light up LED's?

- Check that you don't have LED wires going to button connections or vica versa (my issue).

Or when you're pressing buttons?

- Shorts and loose wires (my other issue)
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeOct 18th 2008
Lets move this discussion to here, so we don't have this thread twice.

http://post.monome.org/comments.php?DiscussionID=2601&page=1#Item_4
- CommentAuthordanstork
- CommentTimeNov 16th 2008
i am using a macbook running windows xp in parallels. I am trying to flash my device but i am not sure how to install the drivers. the lights are on on my arduinome when i plug it in but the computer doesnt detect it or anything. anyone?
- CommentAuthorBlackEdition
- CommentTimeNov 16th 2008
quick question. what intensity should the led's be? i have seen a few parts list with 1000mcd leds, but, can you use less intense ones? what would you guys recommend?
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeNov 17th 2008
Danstork did you install the drivers that came with the ftdi app that you use in the windows... check the bricktable directions, I had that issue first pass through, I think Jordan made the text red after that. :-)
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeNov 17th 2008
also danstork, I just flashed my second onea few minutes ago, and took some screen shots as I went... h

http://flickr.com/photos/sykes/sets/72157609246273953/

May or may not help.
- CommentAuthordanstork
- CommentTimeNov 17th 2008
thanks jpsykes. was just an issue with drivers in parallels. went to a friends house and flashed it on his windows pc.

onward with bugs!!!

So now i have it registering in arduinomeserial. When i plug it in it does the initial scroll left to right however the lights all stay lit (except one which i suspect is a dud led or bar wiring). I tried using nerdscroll and instead of the text lighting up, everything else lights up and the text scrolls as the OFF leds (hope that makes sense).

x = lights on
o = lights off

to make the letter i it appears to do this in nerdscroll
xxxxoxxx
xxxxoxxx
xxxxoxxx
xxxxoxxx
xxxxoxxx
xxxxoxxx
xxxxoxxx
xxxxoxxx

as apposed to this (as i have seen in videos of working nerdscroll)

ooooxooo
ooooxooo
ooooxooo
ooooxooo
ooooxooo
ooooxooo
ooooxooo
ooooxooo

hope that makes sense.

Anyone have any ideas?!?!
- CommentAuthorJordan Hochenbaum
- CommentTimeNov 17th 2008
@danstork

when you say off, if you look closely, are the LED's actually on but very dim? You can test this by opening up the test patch in the mome base bundle and lower intensity to 0 also. If so, sounds like you are victim of the cable reverse syndrome, something I think all of us have battled at some point putting one of these together :)
- CommentAuthordanstork
- CommentTimeNov 18th 2008
@Jordan

Hey thanks heaps....so simple.....i should have tried that earlier...now i just have to fix my one dead LED. Should i just desolder it and replace it. I have about 50 spare. Could it also be the diode?
- CommentAuthorJP
- CommentTimeNov 18th 2008
Check all the existing solder points and it's orientation (it might be backwards). If they all look good, swap it out (should be easy enough, just two points).
- CommentAuthorJordan Hochenbaum
- CommentTimeNov 18th 2008
could be a dead LED or weak solder joint... Owen had one dead led building his-- it happens.. let us know how it works out.
- CommentAuthorscrubberfox
- CommentTimeNov 26th 2008
yo! I am ready for my soldering now! and I can see from reading this that LED's and everything must be soldered properly and the right way! so I was wondering what size tip you used to solder the diodes and LEDS's as they are so tiny! Its well daunting at first this project! ;)
- CommentAuthorbitbutter
- CommentTimeNov 26th 2008
Scrubber: i found that having a second sparkfun board nearby, and aligned with the one you're soldering to, was very helpful for testing each led before soldering. This also helped to make sure they were all going in the right way: http://basementleds.blogspot.com/2008/06/soldering-diodes-and-leds-to-sparkfun.html
- CommentAuthorscrubberfox
- CommentTimeNov 27th 2008 edited
cheers bro
Ive been trying to follow all the build logs lol!
- CommentAuthorsauce
- CommentTimeNov 28th 2008
Finished up my Monduino last night, pictures soon.
- CommentAuthorscrubberfox
- CommentTimeDec 3rd 2008
got all my diodes and LED's soldered and stuff! anyone got any tips for connecting all 4 boards together?

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