Reef Angel Forum

Hi All-
Just got a new PWM dimming module, now its doing the same thing as my old one I thought was fried....

Error is cannot comm to board when I try to upload.
Arduino Serial list is only bluetooth cu. or tty. no USB anywhere

through console
ls /dev/tty.*
/dev/tty.Bluetooth-Modem /dev/tty.Bluetooth-PDA-Sync

no USB there either.

USB cable to Dimming has been swapped, does not solve problem.
Reinstalled Curent ReefAngel package 2x as well as FTDI drivers and even went to FTDI and installed another version, still no joy. Any clue whats up.

Plug into Dimming module with mini USB yields green light... but I never can see it.

Tried on two different MacBook Pros one running Mountain Lion The Other SnowLeopard. Even tried on Parallels install of XP all yield same error... its like somehow my USB is dead on all the computers... but its not- for any other purpose.

Very odd. 3 computers (2 physical) all same error.. could board be bad???? OUt of the box?

Strange cause when I plug in the old one that I have sorta rescued to function the serial port appears and I can upload to it... so its for sure the new board thats causing the issues

Very odd.
There should be more than that on your list of tty.
Can you upload codes to your RA?

I can upload to my old PWM board.. just did it. Same computer, literally unplugged it and walked 5 ft to the tank, plugged it into the old board with the pin out connector (USB to flat pin connector) and it worked fine... walked back plugged in new one and the serial port USB type that I had just selected, was gone. Its almost certainly hardware?? Tried another USB cable I KNOW works... no joy.

Just double checked- also can load to main... so its the new PWM dimming board.

Old PWM dimming board is semi functional, I can load to it and it runs but something got fried with the salt water and either memory or time is and has been odd... so I still need a new board I believe

Any quick way to reset time on the PWM processor... just to double check its not fixable what with the new one DOA.

Also- opened up PWM box... internal "Alert" Light flashes maybe 2-3 times very briefly on USB connect then goes dark.... Power light is green always when plugged in. Unsure what Alert light is suggesting, probably normal but even plugged in I get only...

ls /dev/tty.*
/dev/tty.Bluetooth-Modem /dev/tty.Bluetooth-PDA-Sync

Where as if I plug in main I get

ls /dev/tty.*
/dev/tty.Bluetooth-Modem /dev/tty.usbserial-A900F1FW
/dev/tty.Bluetooth-PDA-Sync

which is also pretty much what happens when I plug in the old presumably partially broke PWM board.


Send it back? Let me know.

The 3 flashes is the same thing as the head unit. When powered up or to upload codes, the unit gets reset and flashes 3 times to indicate that the bootloader is being kicked in.
The strange part is how your serial port seems to disapear when you plug it into the PWM module.
Do you have the black wire into the GND pin?

perhaps this is my error, I have it sitting on the counter with nothing wired to it but for the USB and the transformer.... Does it need wires to the dimming circuit to work?

It's not that it disappears, the serial port is only present with the main or old Pam board plugged in, as son as they are unplugged it goes away...plugging in the new dimming unit simply does nothing, I.e. the serial port does not appear..

The serial port as far as I know should show up with nothing connected to the USB-TTL cable. At least that´s how it works for me on my virtual machine.
The PWM module is supposed to be programmed with nothing connected to it but the USB-TTL cable. The 12vdc power supply is meant to boost the signal and does not power the processor.
The USB-TTL cable is supposed to feed power to the processor for programming purposes.
The black wire of the cable goes to the GND pin on the module.

All that is exactly what I am doing, but for the fact that your new design of the PMW dimming has a case with the mini USB connector and the power supply is just a simple 2pole round plug so there is no need to connect any wires to ground as I assume that is done internally. did not yet look up the pin out diagram but I assume its at least similar to old version that used bare wire to power and USB that was plugged into the board directly requiring you to remove cover.... Given all this, unless you can highlight something I am doing wrong here... It's not figuring for me. I should test a bare wire to see if it pulls a USB port up, maybe there is an issue with the mini USB and recognition of the serial USB.


just tested this... I can plug in the old cable, USB to flat pin designed to plug into controller or early PMW dimming expansion board and see a serial USB port pop without having the processor on the other end, just the cable does it. But nothing happens on the USB serial end when I plug in a USB to mini USB cable.... So we found the problem I guess... But what the heck is it?

The external pinout is almost the same with exception of the +12VDC.
What I was asking is if you are plugging in the USB-TTL cable correctly.
The black wire of the USB-TTL cable needs to be in the GND pin.
You don't need the mini usb cable to upload codes.
In fact, it is even better if you have just the USB-TTL cable connected to the PWM module when uploading codes to it.

I am the cause. Should be all good. Had been a while since my last Board went bad and I simply started using the new one as if it was a std USB interface, like I have been doing with a piece of equipment at work.... Which is not a PMW board. Just pure lack of attention and habit from working on something else for a few months straight. Thanks... Back to being productive here... Should be coding again for comm and minimum day length etc.