Have I bricked my PCB board?

1

I was attempting to perform a firmware upgrade and I think I bricked my board…Unplugged it, held down the black button, plugged it back in…light went solid green and now it’s not producing a wifi network nor connecting via USB cable…So I got no communications with the PCB board at all…

Any suggestions?

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2

Chulke wrote:

I was attempting to perform a firmware upgrade and I think I bricked my
board…Unplugged it, held down the black button, plugged it back in…light
went solid green and now it’s not producing a wifi network nor connecting via
USB cable…So I got no communications with the PCB board at all…

Any suggestions?

The instructions on how to install the 1.x firmware should still work.

David Lang

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3

@dlang is right, you should still be able to install the firmware that way. It probably just ended up with no firmware at all installed.

4

Ok! So a couple questions then…1.) how do I get communications re-established if my computer (a windows 11 laptop) if won’t even recognize it? No wifi found coming from it so my guess is I would only be able to do it with a USB connection…

2.) can the firmware flash be done on just the board not hooked up to the servos and motors?

Thanks,
Chuck

5

Hmm there should be a USB connection still available. This is with the power supply connected to the board too?

Yes, absolutely. All it takes is the power cord and a USB cord plugged in.

6

I am gonna try again with a different USB cable…probably not tonight but soon…thanks!

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7

Ok…this is what I get when I try to run the full install: I followed the video exactly…Held down the little button…Plugged in the power with it connected via USB…I tried changing the Baud rate, I changed to a USB-A to USB-C cable, I even tried a USB-C to USB-C cable…Nothing!

  • ------ Erasing flash- *
    win64\esptool.exe --chip esp32s3 --baud 921600 erase_flash
    esptool.py v4.6
    Found 1 serial ports
    Serial port COM3
    Connecting…
    COM3 failed to connect: Failed to connect to ESP32-S3: No serial data received.
    For troubleshooting steps visit: Troubleshooting - ESP32 - — esptool.py latest documentation

A fatal error occurred: Could not connect to an Espressif device on any of the 1 available serial ports.

  • ------- Installing filesystem *
    win64\esptool.exe --chip esp32s3 --baud 921600 --before default_reset --after hard_reset write_flash -z --flash_mode dio --flash_freq 80m --flash_size detect 0x5F0000 wifi_s3\littlefs.bin
    esptool.py v4.6
    Found 1 serial ports
    Serial port COM3
    Connecting…
    COM3 failed to connect: Failed to connect to ESP32-S3: No serial data received.
    For troubleshooting steps visit: Troubleshooting - ESP32 - — esptool.py latest documentation

A fatal error occurred: Could not connect to an Espressif device on any of the 1 available serial ports.

  • ------- Installing firmware *
    win64\esptool.exe --chip esp32s3 --baud 921600 --before default_reset --after hard_reset write_flash -z --flash_mode dio --flash_freq 80m --flash_size detect 0x0000 wifi_s3\bootloader.bin 0xe000 common\boot_app0.bin 0x10000 wifi_s3\firmware.bin 0x8000 wifi_s3\partitions.bin
    esptool.py v4.6
    Found 1 serial ports
    Serial port COM3
    Connecting…
    COM3 failed to connect: Failed to connect to ESP32-S3: No serial data received.
    For troubleshooting steps visit: Troubleshooting - ESP32 - — esptool.py latest documentation

A fatal error occurred: Could not connect to an Espressif device on any of the 1 available serial ports.

  • ------- Done *
    Starting fluidterm

FluidNC v1.2.0 using COM3
Exit: Ctrl-C, Ctrl-Q or Ctrl-], Clear screen: CTRL-W
Upload: Ctrl-U, Reset ESP32: Ctrl-R, Send Override: Ctrl-O

8

Ignore holding down the little button, the problem is as it says, it can’t find the device anywhere via whatever USB port you have the cable plugged into.

I get this problem regularly and I usually fix it first try by simply unplugging and then replugging in the USB cable on my laptop.

Sometimes it is plug it into a different USB port.

Overall the issue is about effectively resetting your USB connectivity.

You may also need to drop and reopen the terminal window you are using to get this to happen.

9

Yeah I tried all of that as well just trying to get it to acknowledge the connection…I’m thinking the USB on the PCB board is fried…Might be wrong but I guess its a good thing I ordered a new one the other day!

UGH…If not for bad luck I’d have no luck at all!!!

Cheers y’all!

10

Make sure the USB cable is a data cable and not a charging cable. Same issue and it was the cable. It was a charging cable and not a data cable.

2 Likes
11

Good recommendation to check.

Dano

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Yeah I made sure it was a data cable the second time around…still just won’t respond… to anything I do! I should mention I work in IT so I’m not a complete noob here…LOL!

13

My new PCB board is being delivered today! Hopefully its a 4.1 board…I just thought about that…It was the only PCB board in the shop? Bar? Is that what’s being sold in the shop…the 4.1 Board with the JST connectors instead of the RJ connectors?

14

When I was trouble shooting during my upgrade I had windows device manager open and ports expanded. Com3 for me existed before powering on Maslow. So my board then detected as com4.

I had considered temporary disabling com3 but the installer had the intelligence to try both ports.

You mentioned 4.1 replacement board coming.
Not sure if you have an old 4.0 board you could test with too.

Dano

15

Ok! So the PCB board arrived and it’s the old style! Not the rev. 1.10…now I’m pissed at myself for not paying closer attention when I placed the order! Damn it man! Ugh!

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Sorry about that! We do have both option in the store :confused:

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17

No worries I ordered the correct one on Saturday immediately after I realized I had ordered the wrong one…Not your fault at all…All on me! I was in a hurry the morning I ordered it and just didn’t look closely enough…Although I would say you may consider some way to better delineate the 2 different boards and anything that may be an upgrade to the 4.1…Like highlight it in yellow or something…LOL! Cause if I can overlook it…there’s probably more who can/ would on accident as well!

No worries!

Excited for the correct board to get here and get the parts replaced that needs replaced (got a belt that got chewed up during my first startup while trying to extend them) Overall, just ready to use it…

Cheers y’all!

18

You could use this board and test the v1.x upgrade while waiting for the other board to arrive.

I think you need only power and USB connected for upgrade to run.

But while typing I realized you cannot fully boot up post upgrade without all the motors connected.

Dano