CAN connectivity: Duet 3 MB6HC to EXP3HC

dc42

@kroybal said in CAN connectivity: Duet 3 MB6HC to EXP3HC:

Upon restarting the boards (via toggling the power switch) the 3HC was connected in under 10 seconds. I am a fan of repetition so I tried again and now its connection time is in the bracket of 30-45s following power-up.

Thanks. I'm sorry to hear that it is still taking a long time for the 3HC to connect. Does the LED on the 3HC start blinking rapidly as soon as it is powered up, but then take up to 45 sec before it blinks slowly to indicate CAN sync? Or does the LED remain off for up to 45 sec from power on; but having started blinking rapidly, it then establishes sync within a couple of seconds? Or something else?

The lack of functioning endstops suggests that during that period of up to 45 seconds, the EXP3HC was not receiving the commands to configure the endstop inputs in response to the M5784 commands in config.g.

I can authorise a warranty exchange of the 3HC if you wish. Unfortunately it will take some time for your board to reach me here in UK, so this won't help me to diagnose the cause in the short term.

kroybal

@dc42 said in CAN connectivity: Duet 3 MB6HC to EXP3HC:

Thanks. I'm sorry to hear that it is still taking a long time for the 3HC to connect. Does the LED on the 3HC start blinking rapidly as soon as it is powered up, but then take up to 45 sec before it blinks slowly to indicate CAN sync? Or does the LED remain off for up to 45 sec from power on; but having started blinking rapidly, it then establishes sync within a couple of seconds? Or something else?

The light is not on for the 45 sec duration, then flickers for about 3 seconds before syncing up with the MB.

@dc42 said in CAN connectivity: Duet 3 MB6HC to EXP3HC:

I can authorise a warranty exchange of the 3HC if you wish. Unfortunately it will take some time for your board to reach me here in UK, so this won't help me to diagnose the cause in the short term.

Sure thing, do you think this issue is unique to my board or is this issue common at this time? If it is not necessary, we could hold off on exchanging the board. If the problem does persist and/or is unique to my board, then we may have to go that route . So we can eliminate the possibility of this board slipping through a crack in QA and being unfixable for my purposes.

dc42

@kroybal said in CAN connectivity: Duet 3 MB6HC to EXP3HC:

The light is not on for the 45 sec duration, then flickers for about 3 seconds before syncing up with the MB.

Thanks, that confirms that either the new firmware does not fix the slow crystal oscillator startup issue on your board, or the built-in on-chip RC oscillator is way out of calibration. If it's the oscillator startup time that's causing the problem then I should be able to fix it in firmware.

I would like to try one more firmware change before we swap your board. As you are US-based, I will work on this tonight, so that I should be able to send you updated firmware before the end of your day.

kroybal

@dc42 Sure thing, I will be leaving the lab today in 15 minutes so I will likely get back to you by tomorrow. Hope that is not too much of an inconvenience.

dc42

@kroybal said in CAN connectivity: Duet 3 MB6HC to EXP3HC:

@dc42 Sure thing, I will be leaving the lab today in 15 minutes so I will likely get back to you by tomorrow. Hope that is not too much of an inconvenience.

OK, no problem. Thanks for your patience.

dc42

I've updated just the EXP3HC firmware at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qr98k8fbkj5ue0k/AABPawUF99QVzDrheBQBDSxia?dl=0. The M115 report for this version is:

Duet EXP3HC firmware version 3.3beta (2021-02-01 22:29:11)

Please install this firmware, verify the build time using M115, then check whether it solves the power-up issue. To be clear:

Once power is applied to the EXP3HC and its green 3.3V power LED illuminates, the red status LED should start flashing within less than a second, even if the CAN bus is not connected;
If the board is connected to a running Duet 3 main board via CAN running firmware 3.3beta, then the fast flashing should persist for one to two seconds before it changes to the 1Hz blink that indicates time sync with the main board has been achieved.

If this doesn't solve the problem, then please let me know who you purchased the board from so that we can arrange a replacement and a return shipping label.

kroybal

@dc42
IMG_2245-2.mp4

I verified the build time. Following the firmware update the reset worked my first go at it, the second go at it took about 10 seconds before the LED powered on.

The attached video is capturing the third and fourth attempt at resetting the board. I had to reduce quality and cut the video short but the fourth attempt was about 50 second connection, and I tried once more after that and it was immediate.

If firmware updates have an effect on the behavior of the LED/connection, could that be suggesting that the board has the potential to work? I have have seen an improvement, we started at the range of 10-30 minutes to connect and now we're down to the range of immediately to 50 seconds tops.

dc42

Thanks, @kroybal. I think this board has potential to work, but you've suffered long enough. So I'd like to get a replacement sent to you, and the original one returned to me for further investigation. Who did you buy it from?

kroybal

@dc42 I will get in touch with my boss and owner of the machine. I believe he got it from filastruder.

dc42

@kroybal, was this resolved by exchanging the EXP3HC board?

kroybal

@dc42 I do not believe I was ever put into contact with filastruder, I suppose I was awaiting a response.

At any rate, I am back simply due to the same reasons stated above. We have made do with the bug (I am actively waiting for the sync LED as we speak) but I was curious of the latest Firmware updates, I believe I checked your account and checked the latest post that I could find in regards to firmware updates was your post from January 5th, 2021.

I am currently working with RepRapFirmware for Duet 3 MB6HC 3.2.2 (2021-02-11), I will have to uncover the EXP3HC firmware once its sync'd, however likely not necessary, it is still the same (if stated above.)

Anyways, I could attempt another firmware upgrade before going through the process of an exchange.

Phaedrux

3.3 final was released not long ago, and 3.4 beta2 was released just the other day.

https://github.com/Duet3D/RepRapFirmware/releases/download/3.3/Duet2and3Firmware-3.3.zip

If that has no improvement, please send an email to warranty@duet3d.com and CC your reseller. Include a link to this forum thread and the details of your original purchase. You'll receive a reply with a form to fill out. We will make a note to have the board redirected back to DC42.

kroybal

Update:

I got in touch with Filastruder, turns out my warranty on the board was out of date. Not a problem, I purchased another MB6HC and its still encountering the same 30seconds to 45 minute sync time with the EXP3HC board.

Both are up to date firmware wise. Could it be the oscillator on the EXP3HC? I had a few other boards installed (now have been removed) so my serial port is 15 I suspect its not a problem regarding performance, but if it is I could dial that down now I have no other boards beyond the two stated.

M122 B0
=== Diagnostics ===
RepRapFirmware for Duet 3 MB6HC version 3.4.1 (2022-06-01 21:09:01) running on Duet 3 MB6HC v1.01 or later (standalone mode)
Board ID: 08DJM-9P63L-DJ3T8-6J1D6-3SJ6L-1A73A
Used output buffers: 3 of 40 (15 max)

M122 B15
Diagnostics for board 15:
Duet EXP3HC rev 1.01 or earlier firmware version 3.4.1 (2022-06-01 21:15:27)

jay_s_uk

@kroybal what bootloader is on the 3HC? It's reported as part of M122

dc42

@kroybal this will most likely be resolved by updating the bootloader on the 3HC.

kroybal

@jay_s_uk

Thanks for the guidance! It was out of date.

@dc42 said in CAN connectivity: Duet 3 MB6HC to EXP3HC:

@kroybal this will most likely be resolved by updating the bootloader on the 3HC.

This resolved my issue, when I updated the firmware and forgot to do the bootloader as well.

Appreciate the help!