I have been trying to get my Jackpot working and I’ve run into a weird problem. If I use the USB connection to start FluidTerm, everything works. However, it isn’t connecting to the network automatically.
Originally I was just using AP mode, and before I started FluidTerm it would not broadcast the SSID. Once I started FluidTerm, the SSID would come up. I’ve check, and it’s retaining my settings. I just can’t seem to understand why it’s not trying to start in wifi mode.
I guess I’ll try wiping the board and reloading? I’m currently using the board as delivered from V1, except that I uploaded LR3 config instead of the MPCNC config. (Maybe I messed something up in switching the configs?
When I power it up with the power supply the motors are on I can feel the resistance, and the endstops all work properly. However, according to my router, the esp remains offline.
If I start FluidTerm, I can see it online and both a tablet and a 3rd computer can connect. I can unplug the USB at that point and drive the motors around, homing and whatnot. But if I do not start FluidTerm, I cannot see it anywhere on my network, even from the router.
Thanks for the help.
Followup question (edit) : Should I be able to see my config.yaml on the SD card? (I can’t). I’m wondering if somehow I uploaded it to my computer, and it takes me starting FluidTerm to configure the board. (Although I can’t explain why it then works when I unplug? Does it need the “file” or is it all in memory at that point?)
What does this mean? Are you using STA mode? If you are you need to dig into your router and figure out what IP address you can use or what conflicts might be happening. That is above my paygrade. I highly recommend AP mode for now. FluidNC only recommends STA mode on a router by itself.
Sorry I see you are using STA mode. Go back to AP mode and your issues should go away.
Only do this one device at a time. If you connect with three devices you will crash the esp. If you have the set to autoconnect they could be spamming the esp and crashing it.
Thanks again. I was unable to see the FluidNC SSID when on AP mode, unless I started FluidTerm by USB. So I tried STA mode, just so I could see if it was joining the network at all before I plugged the USB in. Answer was no. I can flip it back, but technically, I’ve been in STA>AP mode, and it isn’t falling back either. Weird problem.
Follow up: I’m going to go ahead and re-install everything. I tried bringing it inside with nothing attached, using FluidTerm to set the mode to AP. I then put the esp on a USB battery and I could see the SSID. I then went out and put it on the power supply outside, and no SSID is detectable for the AP.
If you are in STA > AP mode, but have a weak WiFi signal, it will act like this. I had the same issue before I extended my network.
Now that my network is more stable, using STA mode has had 0 issues for me.
I’m not sure it does a great job of falling back if it loses connection after the initial connection attempt, so it may connect to your router, not start AP, then lose connection.
It doesn’t need a super fast signal, but it does need to be reliable.
Consistently, the wifi chip broadcasts when powered from the usb, and consistently does not broadcast when powered only by the PSU. I’ve checked the PSU and it’s giving me 24V on the nose. 0.01 V drop if measured at the board inputs. I just can’t figure out what the difference between getting the power from the USB, and the power from the board.
Started fresh. erase.sh, then rebuilt it. Same behavior. I tried several things, in the end it just doesn’t seem like it’s booting to the point of broadcasting so I can connect. Everything else is good. No problems connecting via USB at all.
I did experiment last evening after the rebuild (but the behavior appears unchanged):
Put my power supply on the board and powered up. No SSID to connect is seen in 5 mins.
Connected to USB power. No SSID seen after 5 mins.
Disconnected USB power and connected to laptop. No SSID seen after 2 mins.
Started FluidTerm. SSID seen in < 30 seconds. All green on MSG_INFO.
Disconnected USB from laptop and left board on power supply. Connection stable for an hour. No issues.
Is there a way to get the BOOT or RST buttons to “re-boot” the system manually? I’m just trying to figure out if there is a way to get it to broadcast without having to connect my laptop. If it’s just pushing a button, I’m happy to do it. I did try pushing BOOT - no SSID. I tried push and hold (3 sec) no SSID. I also tried the RST button a short time after power up but no SSID seen.
Disconnect it and power down, wait 30 seconds, board power on, then it should have an SSID within 1 minute.
Not on the microusb version (it is missing a pull up resistor). But you should not have to do that.
If the chrome tool does not work I will want to send that back and swap you. I can’t imagine how that is happening, but if it is I want to know why. There are various boot states and it sounds like yours is booting into flash mode or something. (boot button stuck, or solder bridge somewhere).
Also make sure none of your devices are set to auto connect. To be safe you can change the ssid to make sure nothing is trying to log in immediately and making it freeze.
Connected to the FluidNC Web Installer from Chrome with your link above.
Gave Chrome permission to use bluetooth (not sure why it asked, it was before I even got to select the wifi installer.)
Selected for a Full Flash and Erase to 3.7.8
“Was not able to flash device”
Tried twice more, and realized it was waiting for boot loader.
Clicked for Full Flash and Erase to 3.7.8, then pressed BOOT until it was in the bootloader.
Waited with no progress visible on the Web Installer. (Installer says “Installing Package to Device” but the progress bar remains blank.)
“Was not able to flash device”
Tried holding the BOOT button for 10s after the Web Installer progressed to “Installing Package to Device”.
No progress, “Was not able to flash device”
So I thought about it, and want to eliminate variables. I swapped cables and retried first seven bullets above:
The warning that there is a problem with the bootloader flashes so fast that it is very easy to miss.
Without BOOT button press, won’t even start process.
With BOOT button press, it progresses to “Installing Package to Device”, but ends with “Was not able to flash device.”
In trying to eliminate the variables I could, the first cable was a relatively new USB-C (and it’s the one I’ve been using for FluidTerm.) I tried a second USB-C cable that is a high speed solid-state drive cable. The third cable I tried is one of the oldest cables probably only USB 2.1 or so. Just tried it to see if lower tech might work. All failed in exactly the same manner.
Tried to change more variables: I used an old gaming PC with a USB - A to USB - C cable. Downloaded the drivers you link from your docs and installed. Clicked the link above and it sent me to the Web Installer. This time the web installer got to the warning about the bootloader, but it did eventually start the install (I was just reaching to the board when it moved forward.) It said it completed. I confirmed with FluidTerm that the board was newly installed (I had the yellow message that no config.yaml was present.). I reloaded your files. But alas, no SSID is broadcast.
Also I have a basic microscope at home (long ago related to trying to get my kids interested in STEM.) So I scanned the board and I don’t see any obviously solder bridges. The buttons appear to work. Obviously I don’t really know enough to inspect the individual components.
I’m beginning to think this board may have an issue…
Ahhhhh another variable.
In chrome hit the the dot menu, more tools, developer tools. Hold boot until it just starts to flash and let it go. That should work just fine. You will see all the messages just like fluidterm.
LEDs look ok, but that power entry connector looks really askew to me. Can you get detailed front/back pictures of it? I’m wondering if there’s a bad/broken solder joint or something here.
