Dead 6hc

jens55 · 19 Aug 2023, 14:36

I apparently have a defective 1LC toolboard. I installed a replacement tool board and set it's address. All good so far. I had communication. I then attempted to update the firmware with M997 B#23. Everything went dead, the status light on the 6HC is dim which seems to indicate a firmware problem. The first thing to try is to connect via USB. I use Linux and the suggested software to use is 'cutecom' so I installed that. When I run cutecom, I get a choice of two devices /dev/ttyACM0 and /dev/ttyS4 independent on if I am connected via USB to the 6HC or not.
No matter what I do in the cutecom window, there seems to be no action.
There are three possible reasons here:

I have an incorrect cable (my last 6HC board purchased did not have a USB cable in the box)
The 6HC board needs to be re-flashed with BOSSA (before I try this I would like confirmation that this would make sense)
I don't know what I am doing (most likely)

I would appreciate some help trying to get the 6HC going again.

Phaedrux · 19 Aug 2023, 17:10

I suspect you're having issues with either the cable or having the board speak USB.

Do you have a (gasp) windows machine or alternate PC or even different USB cable and port?

Sometimes using a hub between the duet and the PC is enough to get it talking properly.

jens55 · 19 Aug 2023, 17:49

@Phaedrux, I happen to have another printer with a Duet2 wifi and I used that to verify things. At this point it looks like Bossa is the appropriate tool for the job but I have not yet accumulated enough nerve to bring out that sledge hammer .....
I am in the process of backing up my memory card at the moment.
I still can't quite get over how 'M997 B23' is the equivalent to hitting the big red 'self destruct' button and how the 6HC didn't even bother to give me a countdown - EVERY movie I have seen has the computer tell me (and usually in a soft female voice) that self destruct will be executed in 10-9-8-..... seconds. Any kind of bomb will have a timer since most bombs are not smart enough to speak. This was totally against all rules of engagement

jens55 · 19 Aug 2023, 19:13

Before I use Bossa, can somebody please confirm that the file to upload with Bossa is Duet3Firmware_MB6HC.bin? (for a Duet3 6HC board)
It's the right file for doing a normal firmware upgrade but when the board is completely dead, do I need to load anything else first?

jens55 · 19 Aug 2023, 21:18

I decided to go ahead and flash the board. If I do M115 I now get back that I am talking to a Duet 3 MB6HC. I also get a normal status light (Flashing) and two out of 3 1LC boards are also flashing properly. Progress !

The board was still not on the network though. After some digging (maybe put a note into the recovery instructions that this will be a necessary step ?) I found that the magic key was M997 S0:1 sent via the USB port.

Also, the instructions for Bossa and cutecom did not mention that one might have to run them under 'sudo' (for Linux). Not a big deal but it would help if that is mentioned in the instructions

Anyway, the printer is back on the network and preliminary indications are that it is running properly. I will still need to confirm that all the firmware components are of the same version and that the update of the replacement toolboard was successful.

I also received an error/advise notice that I am almost out of memory (with a 32 gig memory card) so I went ahead and deleted some old jobs but they didn't amount to more than a handful of megs - is this expected behaviour? Should I increase to a larger memory card? Is a 128Gb card supported?

The last 24 hrs have been tough on my decrepit brain

jens55 · 19 Aug 2023, 21:33

I ended up having to upgrade the replacement 1LC again. A reboot brought up the same "first volume almost full" message and this is with 0.5 megs in the jobs folder. Where can I free up space ?

gloomyandy · 19 Aug 2023, 22:35

@jens55 Are you using the SD card that came with the Duet3? 32Gb should be more than enough. You might want to pop it into a PC and check how much free space there actually is and how the sd card is partitioned. I think that the SD card that comes with the Duet3 is setup ready for use on a rPi and so it only has a small fat32 partition and then a larger linux one, so that may be why you have no space. If you do not intend to run a SBC setup with a rPi you may want to consider backup your files and then formatting the sd card and just creating a single fat32 partition that uses all of the disk space. You could also just get another SD card and keep the supplied one in case you ever decide to go SBC.

jens55 · 19 Aug 2023, 23:23

@gloomyandy, thanks! I think the card is my own card although the original must be around here someplace in a really safe place
There are two partitions, boot and rootfs. The total file space used is only about 2.5 gig.

Looking a bit deeper with the Linux 'Disks' utility, I see the boot partition is 262 MB with 120 MB free, the rootfs partition is 3.6 GB with only 165 MB free (which should still be lots). There is also 28 GB of unallocated space and a tiny 4.2 MB partition of unallocated space.

I will look into the possibility of allocating the space that is not yet allocated.

Phaedrux · 20 Aug 2023, 04:34

@jens55 said in Dead 6hc:

I will look into the possibility of allocating the space that is not yet allocated.

I would probably backup the contents and then re-format the card to use all space as FAT32. Then put your files back.