Firmeware upgrade crashed
Closed this issue · 5 comments
Dear adafruit-team,
I downloaded the latest version of your CC3k lib yesterday and tried the "driverpatch_1_13" firmware upgrade.
At a time (sorry forgot to copy the serial output) it hangs and the CC3000 started to making a quietly but god audible noise and the green LED on the module becomes less bright. I waited a while but it doesn't change anything in serial console and the noise still remain. So I decided to do a power cycle and tried again. Now the sketch hangs by "cc3000.begin()" and started making the noise and the LED become less bright again. I also tried the "buildtest" sketch with the same result.
I hope someone can help me bringing the CC3k back to live again.
Thank you in advance from Germany!
By the way: I'm using an Adafruit CC3000 WiFi Breakout with Onboard Ceramic Antenna brought by a Germany based distributor (exp-tech.de).
Wow that's odd, just to check a few small things what hardware do you have connected to the CC3000 (Arduino Uno, Leonardo, etc.) and how is the device powered?
Thank's for your reply. I'm using a Pro mini on a breadboard powered from a FTDI breadboard on USB.
The breadboard setup worded before properly for a couple of weeks. The only issue I had where some instabilities I tried / hoped to be solve with the firmware update.
I've seen the LED dim when there are power issues, like too low of voltage or not enough current when running off batteries. Is the FTDI board being powered from a computer or other device that might be limiting current? Just to rule it out can you try powering from a 1A 5V power adapter, like what you might use with a Raspberry Pi, etc.? If you have a multimeter handy can you measure the voltage on the VIN pin when it's in the dimmed/not working state?
Tony you made my day! Thank you.
Indeed it seams to be a power issue probably caused by the FTDI board.
If I'm powering the FTDI board on a iMac USB port, the power on VIN is about 4,98 V till initializing CC3k than the power drops to 3,41 V.
I also tried powering the FTDI board with an iPad power adapter (10W) with the same result. Power drops again to 3.4 V.
My last try was to power the breadboard with a micro usb breakout on the iMac's USB port and et voilà the power only drops by 0,5 V to 4,5 V and initializing runs through. With powering with the iPad power adapter it only drops by 0,25v to 4,75V.
After that firmware upgrade and the buildtest runs through smoothly.
Do you have any suggestion on how to powering the CC3k should be ideal / best? Some capacitors?
Ah, good to confirm it was just a power issue and is working now. I'll close the issue now.
Good question about power though, I would check the FTDI breakout you're using to see what the power limit is on its 5 volt output. The CC3000 can pull a few hundred milliamps or more of current for brief periods depending on the wifi radio needs, so that plus the Arduino might add up to 500mA or more which is right on the edge of what some small power supplies can handle. I would try to use a power supply that can provide at least 1A so there's plenty of headroom for the Arduino and CC3000.