Brandon Ray

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10 years, 3 months ago.

mbuino all lights on dimly

Hello. I got my mbuino a couple days ago and only had time to solder the battery connector on today. looks great, LEDs running their little blink sequence programmed by default. OK, so I'm ready to try to load a new program... nothing... oh ok, I find a page that says "hold reset while plugging into USB" I did so, and instead of the regular pattern, all LEDs switch on dimly and I got a pop up showing the firmware. so I tried to copy the .bin file, but it says there isn't enough space. OK, so I need to find more help anyway. so I reset it. nothing. unplug and re plug it in. still just the steady dim LEDs. even with battery.

so.... did I fry it on my first attempt? there wasn't anything in the package other than the ESD bag, so I don't know how I was supposed to know the correct starting procedure anyway.

Question relating to:

Last updated: 17 Jun 2014
Cortex-M0, kickstarter, LPC11U24, mBuino

2 Answers

Maxint R&D
10 years, 3 months ago.

Don't worry, your mBuino is not fried, mine has the same behaviour, so I guess this is normal. The dimmed LEDs indicate it is in disk-mode. Normally I keep the reset pressed only for a second or so, until I hear my Windows computer beep to indicate the USB device is seen.

Showing the firmware.bin with no space left and not allowing a replace seems normal too. All you need to do is first remove (delete) the old firmware.bin prior to saving or copying the new one onto the device.

Note: after placing the new .bin file, the name you gave will not be retained. Even after you placed a 10KB "mygame.bin" on the device, it will show as the 32KB firmware.bin. Strange but appearantly normal too...

Once the new firmware is placed you can test it by pressing the reset button again, which will detach the USB drive and put mBuino back in normal mode.

Hav fun with your mBuino!

Thanks! I think I deleted the original .bin and had an issue with the new one, so staying dim was the mbuino's response to having no firmware? it works fine now, thanks!

posted by Brandon Ray 04 Sep 2014

I think so. In my first attempt I uploaded the default mbed blinky. That one didn't work and the leds remained dimmed too. I guessed that to be caused by having the wrong pins initialized.

posted by Maxint R&D 04 Sep 2014
Werner Terreblanche
10 years, 3 months ago.

When you delete the binary file, or the mBuino is in disk mode, then you have the dimmed LED's. But if you put your correct binary on it and reset by cycling the power or pressing the reset button, then it will start executing and flash the correct LED pattern. Also important to note that after a power cycle the name of your binary is changed to firmware.bin when it starts to execute. So next time you connect in disk mode, you will no longer see your original file name anymore. (This confused me a bit at beginning). The OutrageousCircuits will be posting more info and examples in the coming weeks.