Rambo not responding?

[truenorthtrader]

Hey Folks

I spent all day trying to get my Rostock Max doing some decent prints changing settings reprinting etc.

Now suddenly my Rambo isn't noticed in my Computer.
The Green light by the USB goes on but nothing else.
Repetier and Arduino can't connect.
Modem doesn't appear in the settings in Repetier anymore

I hope this thing isn't dead as I haven't had any real use out of it yet, and I need to eventually print large objects which means running for 8 or more hours per job.
I tried my printer USB cable, same problem so it's not the USB

Did the damned board fail?
Are there warranties on them? I've only been using it roughly a MONTH, this isn't good.

I hope it's fixable.

[untitled86]

Does the OS see the USB device? If Windows open the Device Manager. Unplug and plugin your device and see if something appears and disappears.

[untitled86]

I think you can reset it but doing something like, Vcc to Vcc pin, Gnd to Gnd pin ... and SCK to SCK pin on the ICSP 2560 pins. http://reprap.org/wiki/File:Rambo-conn-all.jpg

...But don't quote me on that. I'm an STM32 guy, not an AVR guy.

[Highcooley]

Did you try to switch the RAMBO on and off for several time and try to reconnect every time? I had this problem yesterday, trying to upload Repetier firmware with SD card support with Arduino 1.0.3. After a couple of tries, I was suddenly able to upload a functioning firmware again. As it seemed, Arduino crashed itself with the badly working firmware. If I managed to connect USB in the right moment between boot up and executing the firmware, Arduino stopped to execute it.

[truenorthtrader]

Hello

Thank you so much for your responses.

I tried all of this you mentioned MULTIPLE TIMES.
Except for untitled86, I'm not sure how to do all that for resetting.
I removed the POWER SELECT and changed it to power on with Power supply, but no difference.

Rambo still doesn't appear anywhere on the computer. I use Mac, but have Parallels ( Which is a full PC with Win 98 ) and it was noticed by the system, asked if device was to be used in Windows or Mac, BUT I couldn't install the driver so it's useless.
Tried it on a PC Laptop, same exact thing happened.

In Mac it doesn't even see it now. I actually installed Mountain Lion 10.8 the newest system just incase, and same problem, Rambo doesn't show up, and I have no option to connect Repetier to the board anymore.

untitled86 I can only frind the ISCP pins have to get a flashlight.

John is contacting Ultimachine I'll post the results if it's fixable incase it happens to anyone else in the future.

So far my machine is AWOL

[Highcooley]

Didn't try it, but this hopefully applies to RAMBO boards as well:

- Unplug the USB cable/switch off power if not USB powered
- Hold down Reset
- Plug in the USB cable/switch on power if not USB powered
- Upload Code from IDE
- Release the Reset Button after seeing the compile done message
- Now it should work again

Actually, that's standard micro controller procedure...why didn't that come to my mind before?

http://electronics.stackexchange.com/qu ... -definitly

One important thing is to reload a working firmware of course. It took me quite some time to figure out which change in the firmware caused the USB problem/ software freeze.

[truenorthtrader]

Thanks Highcooley!

My problem is I don't see it on my Mac ( On PC it shows up on the USB as a device "AVR DFU Bootloader #2", and SERIAL PORT settings is greyed out so I can't select )
Tried installing Rambo driver numerous times but it says that it doesn't work for that device.)

I can't upload any code as there is no connection.

I just tried holding the reset then powering up, still holding with other hand trying to see it in my settings but nothing.
It's a nightmare, I haven't used it for a Month yet and it's dead.

[grasshorse]

I'm having this issue now. Did you ever find a resolution to this issue? If so I would like to hear how you solved it.

Steve

[truenorthtrader]

Hey Steve.

SeemeCNC posted a video if you have an older board ( I got my Rostock from the Kickstarter campaign ) something was wrong with the way they were loaded...not sure about the details and a video on how to re-upload but you need certain hardware.

Contact them directly they'll help you with it. They said they guys supplying the boards are good with swapping them. I got a replacement back in a couple weeks after I shipped to rambo to them.

[grasshorse]

That's great to know. In trying to work around my issue, something resolved itself. I thought I was going to have to resort to working only with the SD card a while. I'm glad what ever happened did! Again, thanks for your reply.

Steve

[truenorthtrader]

Oh great! It sucks not having it working for weeks if you had to exchange.

I read that if you ever adjust motors to move them manually, disconnect the plugs for them after you unplug the machine as there can be static charge in the motors and zap the board. Not permanent just has to be reprogrammed but you need specific hardware to do that.

[Polygonhell]

For the most part moving motors by hand if the stepper enable line isn't set is harmless unless the speeds involved are very high. I do it all the tie FWIW.
The thing that can destroy a board is plugging or unplugging the motor wires with any power to the board, the drivers are extremely sensitive to even momentary voltage spikes and if you do blow one you'll need a new board.

[lordbinky]

For the most part moving motors by hand if the stepper enable line isn't set is harmless unless the speeds involved are very high. I do it all the tie FWIW.
The thing that can destroy a board is plugging or unplugging the motor wires with any power to the board, the drivers are extremely sensitive to even momentary voltage spikes and if you do blow one you'll need a new board.

This is true. If you run them fast you are turning your motor into a generator but reasonable speeds won't generate anything worrisome. It is also a little surprising the magnitude of the voltage spikes that can be generated plugging in something highly inductive like the motors while power is on the board, then again people usually raise an eyebrow when they find out that a static shock you can feel is at least 3,000 volts.