Lloyd Henning

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8 years, 10 months ago.

BBC micro:bit Stuck in MAINTENANCE

Hi

Managed to get a BBC micro:bit stuck in maintenance mode?

Tried flashing new firmware at https://developer.mbed.org/platforms/Microbit/#firmware to no avail.

The file on microbit says it is version 0230, which is not the latest one from the site.

Any help would be welcome.

Thanks,

Lloyd

I had 2 micro:bits get stuck out of 17 in my middle school class within the first 1 week of instruction, did a Google search, and found this discussion which turned out to be my best lead - which is why I posted here. Micro:bits were in cases, so the smd parts were protected. On this lead I ended up downloading the schematics and BOM for the micro:bit posted to github.

In both my cases it was not the capacitors. but diode D1 (P/N BAT60AE6327HTSA1) behind the reset switch. The left pad didn't have enough solder to tack it down, so it moved off the pad and then the micro:bit got stuck in maintenance mode. I simply straightened the diode, then added solder with my pencil soldering iron and that fixed it!! Unfortunately on my 2nd micro:bit the diode flew off the board as I tried to straighten the diode over the pad, and I never found it. So I have an order at Mouser.com for a bunch of these diodes.

+1 vote for better quality control. With a 12% failure rate, I may be victim to a bad production run.

posted by Ben McLuckie 26 Nov 2019

1 Answer

Drew Anderson
7 years, 9 months ago.

We have had a few of these issues, there is a capacitor that will go 'bad' so the micro:bit thinks it is in reset when turned on. Unless you have the equipment to reflow this, it may not be an easy job to do at home. If you are based in the UK, our team can diagnose and repair this issue.

Accepted Answer

Been a while since I was facing this problem (ended up getting a replacement).

Thanks for the answer, hopefully will help others in the same situation.

posted by Lloyd Henning 31 Jan 2017

Hi Drew

Can you share which cap to fix, we are reseller and having one similar issue. If you can share how to fix issue then we can try. The customer's microbit is stuck in maintenance mode. Cheers

posted by Pathik shah 13 Aug 2017

The capacitor in question is next to the edge of the board, next to the crystal (the capacitor is brown in colour) - looks to part of the reset circuit, so any almost any value should work.

posted by Drew Anderson 14 Aug 2017