frustrating Universal Controller Board issue

The data sheet for the motors I am using is at [www.sherline.com]. I used a large ceramic 1.8ohm resistor wired in line with each coil (so 2 resistors per motor). I can get you the exact Mouser part# for the resistor later if you need it. I will also be putting up more details later this week on how my setup is wired.

I am using windows XP and I checked the cables from the Max 232 to the pic pins 7 and 8 and my pin8 tx go to tran in on the max 232. If I pull the pic and short pin sockets 7 to 8, the stepper exerciser comes up. How do I poke a signal with windows XP?

I used cygwin.

>> How do I poke a signal with Windows XP?

> I used cygwin.

Right. I think we can package and release just the poke.exe and cygwin.dll, for people to run under Windows without having to install a full Cygwin installation just so they can "poke"!

I need to test this, but all the Windows machines I have access to (other than systems at client sites, and servers at work, which it would best not to use for my Reprap testing!!) already have Cygwin installed!

Meanwhile, Englewood: see the [www.cygwin.com] and [www.reprap.org] for setting up a full Reprap firmware development environment, which should get you a poke.exe in the firmware/tools directory once you are done.

Jonathan

Could I communicate with the PIC with hyper terminal? I tested the comm lines with it. I keep getting this, so the PIC isn't speaking! The programmer verifies stepmotor.hex is in the pic and the diagnotic led is on. I tested and cable connection too.
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte
0->8: 0
Receive error, re-sending: Timeout receiving byte

the problem you're having there is that the token ring is not connected properly.

double check to make sure that you have the tx on the board connected to the rx of the next board, etc. also, make sure that you flipped one of the connectors as per the universal board instructions.

I read through to the pins on the chips, Pin8(TX) of the pic is connected to pin 11 (T1 in)of the max232 and pin 7(rx) of the PiC is on pin 12 (R1 OUT).. I reflowed the solder connections and I am checking ground. If I remove the
PIC and short pins 7 to 8 , I get loopback with hyper terminal, so the hardware up to the PIC is ok

I pushed hard on the pic is the socket and got this error. fooWhat is home, Bob and foo? I feel FOOlish! I think it is saying error, terminal 1, (0X1 hex for Computer or is the computer terminal 0) I have my stepper attached and I am for some turning action!

ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(482): Incorrect fun
ction.

Error 0x1 at /home/bob/foo/rxtx-devel/build/../src/termios.c(2714): Incorrect fu
nction.

If you are connecting Tx on one board to Tx on the other, it won't work. You need to connect Tx on one board to Rx on the other.

Pin 12 of the max 232 in T1 in, receives TTL and inverts it and raises the voltage level to RS232 (+- 20 VDC or so) and sends this RS232 to the computer port through T1 out. Pin11 (R1out) Sends TTL logic signals to the PIC and through R1in receives RS232 from the computer. The R pin of the two pin header on the comm board goes to Pin 12 and the T pin of the other two pin header goes to pin 11 of the MAx 232 chip. The MAX232 is just a dual inverting voltage pump that raises and lowers the level to RS232 standards. Besides I did try inverting it just for the heck of it and no change! My pic is silent, The voice of electronic democracy has been silenced!!!

englewood... if you tested the comms board by shorting rx/tx and were able to get it to work, then that board is known to work and is good. the next step is to wire up the comms board to the stepper controller board.

wire the tx on the powercomms to the rx on the universal board and the rx on the powercomms to the tx on the stepper controller. take care to wire the grounds to the grounds and the data pins to the data pins. if you are using keyed connectors, and have the headers oriented right its a simple matter of plugging the cables to the right connectors. if not, the grounds are easy to identify as they are connected to each other.

good luck.

They are, pin 11, (T1in) receives TTL data from the pic pin 8 tx. Pin 11 of the Max232 connects tp "R" of the comm board. Pin 12,(R1out) of the Max232 connects to "T" of the comm board and sends TTL data to the pic , pin 7 Rx, By checking continuity between pin 11 of the Max 232 and pin 8 of the Pic, (with the cables attached to the Comm and UC and then checking continuity between pin12 of the max 232 to pin 7 of the pic, you verified the receive and transmit path.My pic isn't talking and I checked the firmware and it verified. I checked voltage levels on pin 7 and 8 of the pic and they were 5.23Vdc and 5.18VDC respectively. If data was sent, the voltage would be between 0 and 5, depending on the data rateI will measure pin 12 of the Max 232 with and without the Pic attached.

1. check that the pic is inserted properly. does the LED come on when you power it up?

2. try swapping the rx and the tx lines. its worth a shot, perhaps you traced something wrong or some easy mistake like that.

3. double check all the other components on the board. with no silkscreen, it may have been possible to miss a component, or to solder it in the wrong place. follow the universal instructions from the first step and pay close attention.

I actually shorted Pin 7 to 8 live while using hyper terminal and the typed characters appeared on the screen. This tells me the cables and pathways from the COMM board to the PIC on the UCB are fine. This leaves two causes, A) My program really isn't sending Data, The Pic isn't listening. I might have to dig the 20 MHZ scope out of the garage. Maybe I can use my old laptop to receive the data, like a PIC emulator. I am using JRE 1.5.0_11

I have a RS232 cable with Rx and TX crossed. I hooked one laptop to another and I set both ports to 19200 baud, 8N1 and no flow control. When I brought hyper terminal on both machines, I could send ASCII characters. I stopped Hyper and started Reprap and then the stepper exerciser. I can see a close Vertical lines followed by TQ, (capital letters). I am looking up the ASCII chart. The Characters T and Q and represented by 54 and 51 Hex and the Double vertical lines are Character 186 represented by BA hex
The computer is sending BA, 54, 51 Hex over and over again in binary
10111010 1010100 1010001, assuming They are ASCII characters. My reprap is sending something!

Does anyone else out there have a 9 pin D shell double female null modem cable and two computers with windows to see what they are getting in hyper terminal from the stepper exerciser initiation routine? I am going to check the PIC program again

englewood, please follow the suggestions i posted earlier. its obvious that your powercomms board is working correctly. we've isolated that part out of the system, so dont change anything with that.

now, we need to find out what exactly is going wrong with your universal board. the first step is to verify that every component required is in place and correct. do this first. most likely its a missing component, a connector in the wrong place, or something like that.

if all the components are in the correct place, and the firmware is reporting that it has been flashed successfully, then the likely culprit is the connectors. you need to be absolutely sure that they are connected properly. i would suggest labeling them with a marker so you dont have to keep checking them.

if that still doesnt work, please take some pictures of your boards and post them on the forums. perhaps someone will be able to spot whatever problem it is that you're having.

by shorting pins 7 to 8 of the pic wired to the comm board and getting loop back means all connections are good. I also checked continuity between the R on the comm and the T on UCB and T on Comm and R on the UCB. I used the pictures posted on the build file to place components (no silkscreen). The pic is receiving 5VDC between pin 14 and pin 4 (ground). The debug LED lights, there ain't a heck of lot more hardware. The reprap sends some bytes and the pic gets them and returns a signal. The reprap program is sending something, I saw it on the hyper terminal over and over again. The question is, what should the reprap send and is the Pic responding?
I just checked continuity between Ground pin on the UCB and pin 4 of the Pic, no problem. I am going to check the C program to see what the PIC is looking for and how it acknowledges it.

Where can I get the C source code? The firmware zip only has the compiled Hex files

englewood,

You can get the source code via SVN, it's in the firmware directory when you check it out. But maybe you can try to find the error first by looking at what works.

The signals from the host application (java application) go through correctly, so that should be OK. The LED lights up, so that means the firmware is running. Have you tried to use the poke utility? When you run the java app from a command window and you open the stepper dialog does it (1) show? and (2) are messages printed in the window that it has found a device?

If you need help *now*, I'm on IRC right now on the #reprap channel - maybe we can figure out what goes wrong.

Joost

I used a null modem cable and another laptop, (windows) running hyper terminal. The rerap program going into stepper exerciser sent a three character code to hyper terminal. It was a T, Q and a double vertical charater. Where can I find this IRC, I haven't used it in years.

How can you use poke on a windows machine? I don't have the POKE command file. I rechecked the HEX program and it matches the 8K stepmotor.hex I have. I have to get on a bread and butter project right now.

englewood,

Download and install an IRC client; a list is here [en.wikipedia.org]

Connect to irc.freenode.net and join channel #reprap

Joost

I am there on channel #reprap and no one is home!

If you are verbose you will see what gets send back and with maybe some delimiting around the individual character values.