My Duet has an appetite for destroying MicroSD cards

I've lost two of them today - the first was the "new" one I received with my Replikeo order, and the other was an older one I scrounged up in a closet to continue working. I'm working on a Mac to write the config. I've always been careful to unmount and eject the card before mounting it in the Duet. Just yesterday, I wrote the config to the USB and came back this morning to find it dead after inserting it into the card. The printer was unplugged overnight, and my attempt to connect this morning was not responsive over USB or the network.

I suppose it's possible that two MicroSD's would fail in a single day, but has anybody else come across this problem? What can I do to troubleshoot the issue? I'm hesitant to shell out money for a brand new card if the Duet is going to fry it so quickly.

I find it hard to see how the Duet would fry an SD card without frying the atsam chip too, or at least failing to read any SD card that you inserted. I had one SD card fail on me, caused I think by me applying too much bending force on it while trying to insert it when it wasn't properly aligned with the socket.

These days I rarely remove the SD cards from the sockets of my Duets, except when speed-testing different SD cards. I do all file updating over the network.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2016 06:26AM by dc42.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

The only failure I had was a problem with the filesystem itself. Mainly after my two Duets burnt out, but both cards were working afterwards.
The only reason could be that you have some kind of writing process for what reason ever and during this write process you switched off the power.
Maybe the old card was indeed too old and failed.
Maybe you have a problem with one internal power supply.

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Slicer: Simplify3D 4.0; sometimes CraftWare 1.14 or Cura 2.7
Delta with Duet-WiFi, FW: 1.20.1RC2; mini-sensor board by dc42 for auto-leveling
Ormerod common modifications: Mini-sensor board by dc42, aluminum X-arm, 0.4 mm nozzle E3D like, 2nd fan, Z stepper nut M5 x 15, Herringbone gears, Z-axis bearing at top, spring loaded extruder with pneumatic fitting, Y belt axis tensioner
Ormerod 2: FW: 1.19-dc42 on Duet-WiFi. own build, modifications: GT2-belts, silicone heat-bed, different motors and so on. Printed parts: bed support, (PSU holder) and Y-feet.
Ormerod 1: FW: 1.15c-dc42 on 1k Duet-Board. Modifications: Aluminium bed-support, (nearly) all parts reprinted in PLA/ ABS, and so on.

Quote
dc42
I find it hard to see how the Duet would fry an SD card without frying the atsam chip too, or at least failing to read any SD card that you inserted. I had one SD card fail on me, caused I think by me applying too much bending force on it while trying to insert it when it wasn't properly aligned with the socket.

These days I rarely remove the SD cards form the sockets of my Duets, except when speed-testing different SD cards. I do all file updating over the network.

Dave

A Quick question re this Could the fact that the SD Card was written on a MAC make any difference (i.e. different file system) don't know much about MAC's yet though I am getting there having got one just before Xmas?

Doug

Quote
dc42
I find it hard to see how the Duet would fry an SD card without frying the atsam chip too, or at least failing to read any SD card that you inserted. I had one SD card fail on me, caused I think by me applying too much bending force on it while trying to insert it when it wasn't properly aligned with the socket.

These days I rarely remove the SD cards form the sockets of my Duets, except when speed-testing different SD cards. I do all file updating over the network.

Once I get the printer configured I'm hoping I never need to eject the SD card, but I'm currently trying to get through commissioning and calibration so it happens a lot. The SD cards I've been using seem to be completely hosed - they can't be read in any computer I insert them in. It's like they're not there at all, such as when I look on Disk Utility. What are the symptoms of a fried chip? Would any of the LED's on the Duet light up?

I always power down printer BEFORE removing the SD Card, only takes 30secs to flick a switch and saves card/data corruption

When I need to do config.g changes, I edit the file on my laptop, then upload via the web interface, then power down the printer, pause, power back on.
As the duet reads the config as it boots up, thus putting the values in memory

Testing for failed duet board, I suggest remove the board totally from the printer so you can place it on the bench, place it on a non-consecutive surface
Then plug in a mini usb lead from a computer/laptop, you should get a red light. If not, you might need reset the board, reload the firmware.

Details here about initial set-up of the board using Arduino IDE sotfware
[reprappro.com]

Details about the pin layout
[blog.think3dprint3d.com]

With it connected via USB, use voltmeter to check if voltage is correct at points shown, input voltage is 12v, duet needs/has 3.3v or 5v rails.
One of the voltage regulators might have fried stopping the chip from booting up

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Supporting 3D Printers with Parts and Build services.
Printer: Ormerod 2 (528.4) Duel extruder set-up with Aluminium X-Rib, RRPro Firmware v1.11-ch (2016-04-08)

Using it on the Mac shouldn't be a problem. You may want to look for the disk cleaner utility for the Nac so that the extra Mac stuff is removed from the SD when ejected but that's just for space consumption reasons.

It's more likely that you are pulling the SD without properly ejecting it from either the Duet or the Mac. Make sure you always eject the drive on the Mac and wait for it to finish before pulling the SD card. For the Duet make sure you power down first. I've seen many SD cards get corrupted just because they were pulled before the OS had made then safe.

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dougal1957

Quote
dc42
I find it hard to see how the Duet would fry an SD card without frying the atsam chip too, or at least failing to read any SD card that you inserted. I had one SD card fail on me, caused I think by me applying too much bending force on it while trying to insert it when it wasn't properly aligned with the socket.

These days I rarely remove the SD cards form the sockets of my Duets, except when speed-testing different SD cards. I do all file updating over the network.

Dave

A Quick question re this Could the fact that the SD Card was written on a MAC make any difference (i.e. different file system) don't know much about MAC's yet though I am getting there having got one just before Xmas?

Doug

Is the main ARM processor getting warm/hot? We’ve had a couple of people report that the SD card has shorted out the processor, due to manufacturing defects. Unfortunately, this is usually terminal.

Turns out my processor is exceptionally hot (60+ C)... I wonder if this is also the cause of my SD card failures

Possible as it seems that your Duet is not working a little bit. As one of my Duets burnt out, the filesystem was damaged. Both were some sort of calm damaged that means that they are looking good. You cannot see any damage. One board was still working except for the analog inputs.

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Slicer: Simplify3D 4.0; sometimes CraftWare 1.14 or Cura 2.7
Delta with Duet-WiFi, FW: 1.20.1RC2; mini-sensor board by dc42 for auto-leveling
Ormerod common modifications: Mini-sensor board by dc42, aluminum X-arm, 0.4 mm nozzle E3D like, 2nd fan, Z stepper nut M5 x 15, Herringbone gears, Z-axis bearing at top, spring loaded extruder with pneumatic fitting, Y belt axis tensioner
Ormerod 2: FW: 1.19-dc42 on Duet-WiFi. own build, modifications: GT2-belts, silicone heat-bed, different motors and so on. Printed parts: bed support, (PSU holder) and Y-feet.
Ormerod 1: FW: 1.15c-dc42 on 1k Duet-Board. Modifications: Aluminium bed-support, (nearly) all parts reprinted in PLA/ ABS, and so on.

Still no word from Replikeo... one week later they have yet to follow up on any of my emails. Is it possible to troubleshoot this board myself and perhaps repair it? I've tried plugging it in over USB once a night with nothing else connected - the main processor gets scorching hot and it won't respond to any commands. I've had a good look with a magnifying glass and haven't seen anything burned, but admittedly I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I have ordered a new one from Think3DPrint3D, but it's be great if I could fix this one and keep it around as a spare.

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0x0000
Still no word from Replikeo... one week later they have yet to follow up on any of my emails. Is it possible to troubleshoot this board myself and perhaps repair it? I've tried plugging it in over USB once a night with nothing else connected - the main processor gets scorching hot and it won't respond to any commands. I've had a good look with a magnifying glass and haven't seen anything burned, but admittedly I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I have ordered a new one from Think3DPrint3D, but it's be great if I could fix this one and keep it around as a spare.

The design of the Duet print controller is open source and the files are in Think3Print3D git hub page [github.com] So that could help you fix the broken one.
Replikeo are based in China so where likely to be affected by the Chinese new which runs from the 1st to 15th Jan

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Supporting 3D Printers with Parts and Build services.
Printer: Ormerod 2 (528.4) Duel extruder set-up with Aluminium X-Rib, RRPro Firmware v1.11-ch (2016-04-08)

It sounds like the processor has failed. I tried to replace the processor on two boards that Treito kindly sent me, but so far without success. Particular issues are:

1. When removing the old processor, you need to make sure that the solder has melted all the way round and lift it very gently, otherwise it pulls up PCB traces with it. The problem is that there is nowhere to grip the processor. Ideally I would glue as piece of wire to the top to lift it off, but I don't think epoxy will stand the 300C or so hot air temperature.

2. I haven't yet found a way of heating the new chip up sufficiently evenly to solder it all the way round without overheating it. What I think I need to do is make a jig to hold the board with my hot air tool vertically underneath it, in order to heat the board from the underside.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

To point 2: Is this a generally problem with soldering by hand? or only because of replacing?

---

Slicer: Simplify3D 4.0; sometimes CraftWare 1.14 or Cura 2.7
Delta with Duet-WiFi, FW: 1.20.1RC2; mini-sensor board by dc42 for auto-leveling
Ormerod common modifications: Mini-sensor board by dc42, aluminum X-arm, 0.4 mm nozzle E3D like, 2nd fan, Z stepper nut M5 x 15, Herringbone gears, Z-axis bearing at top, spring loaded extruder with pneumatic fitting, Y belt axis tensioner
Ormerod 2: FW: 1.19-dc42 on Duet-WiFi. own build, modifications: GT2-belts, silicone heat-bed, different motors and so on. Printed parts: bed support, (PSU holder) and Y-feet.
Ormerod 1: FW: 1.15c-dc42 on 1k Duet-Board. Modifications: Aluminium bed-support, (nearly) all parts reprinted in PLA/ ABS, and so on.

Quote
dc42
The problem is that there is nowhere to grip the processor. Ideally I would glue as piece of wire to the top to lift it off, but I don't think epoxy will stand the 300C or so hot air temperature.

You could maybe try a vacuum SMD lifting tool - a selection here [www.amazon.co.uk]

They range in price from under £5 to over £100. I sometimes use this at work [uk.rs-online.com] The suction caps are silicone so are OK on hot chips, but don't hold in the airflow of the hot air gun.

Alternatively I have had success by quickly flicking the chip off the board once all the solder is molten by using a jeweller's screwdriver under a corner. Then solder-wick and a high-wattage iron to quickly clean up the pads, paint the pads with liquid flux, position the new component & tack corner pins, then use a sparsely wetted screwdriver soldering iron tip on groups of pins without adding any solder. Press the iron tip into the base of the inside "knee" of the pins and the tin on the pins melts into the residual solder of several pads at once without bridging. The key is having a hot iron with a large bit (to transfer heat fast) and working quickly so the PCB pads do not lift. Trying to solder one pin at a time with a fine tip seldom works well, and reflowing with a hot air gun only works well if you can apply solder paste to the pads, because without having the pressure of the soldering iron pressing down on the pins there will usually be several pins that are not touching the pads and so the solder does not fuse.

Dave