I think my sound card died.

[TwinMill]

Ordered my MWS NBv2 on Halloween, surprisingly it was delivered on Mon. Nov. 03.
It worked almost flawlessly up until last night. I changed the battery as I normally do when it would get too weak.
(rapid swing sounds, saber turning itself off, etc.) Anyways, after installing the freshly charged battery & tucking
the electronics into the hilt, the speaker started to make this rapid bap-bap-bap kind of noise, just as fast as a
machine gun.

The switch was unresponsive, the led wouldn't ignite, so I completely dismantled the saber, laid the parts on my
table, and tried just connecting the sound card to the battery / speaker. Same result. :( I've not yet had a chance
to buy a T8 tube guard, as my only option is amazon or evil-bay. (No hardware store in my small town of 2K people and
I cannot justify buying a $2 piece of plastic when the shipping is almost 4x the cost of the item.) I've been getting
by with a makeshift tube I made by cutting open a 1L water bottle, trimming to size, and taping the seam to prevent
shorts/grounding.

----

When I said earlier that the sound card worked "almost" flawlessly, there was always one odd glitch where if the saber
had a particularly hard clash, it would shut itself off. But then I could just tap the power switch and it would come
back on as if nothing had happened.

The only change I've made in the config is dropping the volume to 2, as the default level of 4 was just loud enough to
almost hurt my ears.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Your original problem sounds like a short or ground within the hilt. Did you change the battery with the kill key in or out? I would also try backing up your SD card, reformatting it, and reloading the fonts (and everything else) onto it. It still sounds like you might have a wiring issue. Does everything work when everything is outside the hilt?

[goldsaberwarrior]

Like Forgetful was saying it sounds like a possible short or perhaps something grounding in the hilt. If you have a magnifying glass make sure that there are no little tiny pieces of solder or wire that could be causing a bridge and as such a short. Also I typically put a tiny piece of electrical tape on the back of my board to protect the solder points from grounding out against the hilt.

It could also be a short in the speaker itself. I had both speakers crap out in a double bladed of mine. like you i connected a fresh battery and heard a couple quick baps and the speakers fried. The rest of the electronics were uneffected. To eliminate the possibility of it being a dead/dying speaker, take it loose and see if it will power on without any trouble. If it does there could be a speaker issue. Try the sound card reformat first and if that doesn't work try testing the speaker itself like I said. If that still doesn't work then if you could, upload us a few pics of all the wiring and perhaps we might be able to spot something. Hopefully it's something simple though.

[TwinMill]

well, to answer Knight's first question, I don't have a kill key. I figured if I was charging my battery externally with the TR-001 Li-Ion charger,
maybe a kill key wouldn't be needed. If you're looking at my sig image, the thing on the pommel is my MS Paint attempt at showing the
D-ring part of MPS insert 12

The card is a pre-wired MWS, http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/MWS-Pre-Wired-Nano-Biscotte-Sound-Module-V2-P835.aspx
so no soldering on my part. I did clip a few wires shorter to make the electronics fit a bit better in my small-ish hilt design, but that only
required crimping on a couple new JST connectors.
Other info - MHS speaker and 2x AA battery holder http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/MHS-speaker-and-2x-AA-battery-holder-P766.aspx
Battery: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/TrustFire-Protected-37V-900mAh-14500-Lithium-Battery-2-Pack-P342.aspx (one + dummy cell)
2W bass speaker
royal blue rebel LED w/ 1Ω 2W resistor
16MM A/V blue ring long switch, Dyna-Ω resistor.

With the saber dismantled, and the innards laying on my table, I get the exact same rapid fire bap-bap as when it's in the hilt.
(PS, it only stops when I remove the battery)

I've tried connecting just the battery & speaker to the NB's JST connectors, no change.

Having the speaker unplugged doesn't change the inability to power up the blade. :(

The day the NB was delivered, I put 3M double sided foam tape on the solder points near the sd card because I wanted to avoid short circuits.

I have downloaded the Light & Dark meat + config NBv2 archive file from the plecter labs site, so a format and reinstall test shouldn't be a problem.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

The original problem you described before it quit working sounds to me like the battery losing contact in the holder during a hard impact. Spring contacts in the battery holders are notorious for that, which why we try to recommend using an 18650 and hard wiring it to the recharge port.

Your new issue of the saber not working at all sounds like something shorted when you put the assembly back into the hilt. Another possibility is you put the battery in backwards without realizing it at the time.

[goldsaberwarrior]

If it's prewired then that pretty much eliminates the wiring issues. There's for sure something screwy going on if you can't power up at all now. I strictly use battery packs now for the reason Jay-gon pointed out, losing contact, plus it seems like my battery packs last alot longer and just do better overall. If the speaker is making that noise still then I'm 95% certain you have a short somewhere. That's what my speakers did in my double bladed saber before both of them crapped out on me. Sometimes the speakers can get a bit squirrely, at least that's been my experience. Make sure as well you have everything connected to the right spotl. I'm sure you normally do already but I've messed up my connections before not paying attention and put something in the wrong spot. I would also go back over everything to make sure that you aren't possibly grounding against the hilt somewhere just to be safe and cover all your bases. If the reformat doesn't work, check to make sure that the SD card itself isn't damaged to be on the safe side. If you have another battery pack then you could try it on the saber as a test. Alot at once but I've seen strange little things mess up a saber before.

[Obi1]

If you already tried the reformatting, and does not help, please take a multimeter and measure the voltage between the batter + and -. Make sure you have the intended voltage there.

BTW, when you say you have a 2xAA battery holder, you want to say you supply the NB with 2xAA ? That will give you best case 3V, and exactly around that voltage the NB goes into undervoltage. This would explain the machine gun sounds...it tries to power up, Encounters UV, goes doen, tries to power up again, repeatively!!! NB Needs definitely more like >3.5V, you can go up to 5V even. But 2xAA is not going to do the Job.

[Silver Serpent]

He's using a single 14500 and a dummy cell. Undervoltage is unlikely if the battery is charged.

[TwinMill]

After removing the microSD card, I discovered a fairly significant problem...
It has a good size crack in it.
--- (See attached stock image, edited with MS Paint.)

I don't know if this would be the only cause of my troubles, but it does
feel like I'm on the right track because I swapped in a known good
(although blank) 2 GB microSD card, and after inserting the battery, I
hear a "boop - boop - beep" from the speaker and despite the switch
not igniting the led (probably since there's no files on the card) I can
say the LED clash flicker effect does work if I tap the NB ever so
carefully with something non-conductive like the tube of a bic pen.

Next step: download the font & config archive zip file from the plecter
labs site and try again.

[Obi1]

Good finding, I hope a new SD helps. And sorry for the quick draw, I just saw 2xAA...

[TwinMill]

No apology needed. I've occasionally been guilty of skimming thru a post and missing some info.

Perhaps I could work on how I structure my posts to be more easily understood...

------

Edit: So I downloaded the archive file from the plecter labs site, and while exploring inside the
.zip file (without changing anything) I noticed something that has me scratching my head just a lil bit.

There appears to be 2 folders in the zip file, each having exact duplicates of the files/folders
contained within.

folder 1: Nano Biscotte 2.0
folder 2: NanoBiscotte-2.0
(only a slight difference in name)

Each of these folders has a copy of prefs.txt, revision.txt, and also contain folders named
bank1 and bank2.

If I open any of the 4 bank* folders, I see the expected audio files and a config.txt.
(All 4 config.txt files have the following opening line: "//Nano Biscotte Dark Meat")

Is it normal/needed to have this duplication of files & folders? I also wonder why
none of the config files mention the Light Meat font, the wav files in bank1
definitely sound different from those in bank2.

[TwinMill]

Update, read the manual again, found that 3 beeps indicate a failure of the Nano to find a majority of files in the sound font.
(somewhat paraphrased, from troubleshooting & faq on page 22 of the manual)
I have 2 microSD cards available to use in the saber, a no-name 2GB, and a SanDisk 4GB (same type as was in the NB when
I bought it)

No amount of formatting the card(s) and re-installing the files seems to help. Only use long format, not quick format option.
I insert the SD (with dummy cell out of the holder to make sure there's no polarity problem that *could* happen *if* the
battery were put in backwards... and also because there's not supposed to be any power to the NB when inserting or
removing the SD card). Lastly I put the dummy cell in to complete the circuit, and still get the 3 beeps.

Before anyone asks, I have followed the guidelines seen in the manual and here on the forums, installing the fonts to the
card by navigating to the backup files on my hard drive, tapping Ctrl-A to highlight everything, Ctrl-C to copy, then
switching to the empty card's window and finally tapping Ctrl-V to paste the copied files to the card.

In a couple weeks I plan to buy a light meat loaded microSD card from the store here and put that in my NB. If I get the
same 3 beep error code, I can only assume that the original SD being cracked might have damaged whatever part of the
NB is responsible for reading SD cards. If that's the case, I will either have to downgrade my saber back to it's original
stunt form, or try to find out if it's at all possible to fix these little cards. At least the error beeps let me know that the
speaker isn't shorted out or otherwise damaged, which was suggested to me in an earlier post.

Also forgot to mention earlier, sometimes just inserting the blade would be enough to reboot the NB, like if I had it
turned on with the hilt plug, then powered it down to sleep mode, removed the plug and insert the blade, then just as
the blade hit the bottom of the holder I'd hear the boot sound.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Do your backup files include the config files? Did you make sure the new card was completely formatted as well?

[TwinMill]

The "backup" (if it can be called that) is what I downloaded from the plecter labs site, so yeah it came with config files.
after I unzipped the file, it had 2 folders, and in each folder was a bank1 and bank2 folder.
see previous post, #11 at top of this page for a bit more details.

The SanDisk microSD I have isn't exactly new though, it was previously used in a cell phone.

I did connect it to my netbook with an adapter and in windows explorer I selected the full
format option by unchecking the "Quick Format" box. It took longer, between 5-10 minutes,
but I wanted to make sure I did everything by the book.

[TwinMill]

Another update, I tried formatting (full type) once more and changed it up by removing the config file before doing the copy / paste.

Without the config, I get a beep followed by the boot sound when attaching the battery.

I click the (momentary) switch to turn the saber on, and the poweron.wav sound doesn't play, but the hum sound does work.

The LED still won't come on, and without the config file, the clash flicker effect doesn't happen.

The poweroff.wav file does play when I tap the switch again to shut the saber down.

------------------------
config file from the downloaded archive looks like this:

//Nano Biscotte Dark Meat
vol=4
drive=1023
fdrive=1023
offd=200
deep=15000
resume=0
lc=400
hs=220
ls=50
i=53
shmrd=210
shmrp=6
shmrr=13
focd=200
focp=10
focr=10
swing=200
clash=150
qon=0
qoff=0
flks=3
flkd=20


----------
Archive downloaded from this page: http://www.plecterlabs.com/catalog/article_info.php?articles_id=107
► Original archive - Nano Biscotte 2.x - Light Meat + Dark Meat + Configuration File


(the config file in both font banks claim to be dark meat, despite different sounds)

PS, I finally broke down and bought a T8 tube guard on amazon since so many people here say it fits inside the hilt
and is perfect for preventing shorts.

It was delivered today, and I've found the opposite to be the case, ie: the tube is so big the hilt fits inside it.

---
edit: the amazon seller shipped a T12 tube :mad:

[Obi1]

Sorry to hear this issue is still not resolved.
Did you try to make some measurements on the board? Like voltage between BAT + and - ? Or the LED+ and - when switched on and then on? Doing the latter with the LED's connected and disconnected?
The sounds coming from the NB seems quite fuzzy too...no pow-on but hum, then pow-off...

[TwinMill]

unfortunately, don't have a volt meter (fixed income saber builder, which is why it took me 5 orders / 4 months to build my beast).

I find it odd that some sounds work if I format the card and load the config.txt along with the sounds, but if I omit the config,
other sounds work.

Also strange that the main led won't turn on no matter what I try to do, but yet it will do the shimmer on clash flickering effect when the
config is loaded on the microSD.

I'm thinking one of the NB chips got scrambled when the original microSD cracked. In case I'm wrong or somehow messing something
up despite following the format / copy / paste directions in the manual, I figure my last resort will be buying a new pre-loaded microSD
from the store here in a couple weeks (payday).

If that doesn't fix it, I'm just gonna 86 the NB, and return the saber to it's original stunt format. There's no way I can afford to
replace it.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

If the LED won't come on, how do you know it does the flickering/shimmering effects? And are you sure you have the right files for the version of NB that you have. A lot of what you are saying doesn't add up.

Also, if the card is indeed messed it, it can be repaired by Zook, you just need to PM him. It'll cost you shipping both ways and the cost of whatever parts need to be replaced.

[TwinMill]

dunno if I can explain it any better... will try though. Maybe part of the problem is that I have
2 microSD cards and have been trying different tests with them and not specifying what
symptoms are happening with which SD card.

As far as if I have the right files, the link on post 15 will take you to the plecter labs page
where I got the .zip archive file. (small preview in the attached image)

when I said the led isn't coming on, I was referring to the constant / steady glow you expect
to see when you push the power button.

With all the parts connected, I tap the power button, and although the led doesn't do the
main lighting thing, it does flicker (rapid on/off) when I lightly tap the NB.

--------
I know it sounds strange, I'm not so sure I understand it either.
not exactly an electronics noob, my first experience with computers was in 3rd grade playing
games like Oregon Trail on the apple IIc back in the early 80's.

Maybe I can try to make a video with my 5 MP HP camera.

[TwinMill]

Finally figured it out, the cracked original microSD was causing the machine gun like pop pop from the speaker.

I thought I had backed up the files to my computer, but with as many usb thumb drives as I have, I never did
find the backup. I downloaded from the plecter site the archive for my card, but look at the attached pic for a
map of what I saw when I unzipped the archive.

I made the mistake of following the ctrl-a ctrl-c ctrl-v directions after a full format to place all this on one of
my (otherwise unused) microSD cards (4GB SanDisk).

According to the manual, the wavs and config.txt are supposed to be in a folder on the card's root folder. I just
didn't know it yet at that time. The archive from plecter labs site (link in post 15) had these files buried in
another folder (and duplicated, again, see attached pic) therefore the NB wasn't finding the files in the expected
location, so random malfunction type behavior was the result.

I thought the problem was something to do with the config.txt file, so I temporarily removed it from my backup
folder and formatted my other backup microSD (2GB no name) in order to copy the files to it. I also had a
moment of bright idea (I won't say genius) flash into my mind and asked myself "If the NB supports 2 sound fonts,
why does the archive file from plecter labs site contain 4 banks, 2 duplicate pairs, contained within slightly different
named folders?" So I navigated to one of the inner folders with the now missing config and just copied / pasted
the bank1 and bank2 fonts/folders. A couple malfunction behaviors went away, a couple new ones popped up.

Last night the final bulb lit up inside my head after a bit more reading of the manual. "The config.txt is necessary."
I went back to my 4GB SanDisk SD card and saw the 2 folders containing 2 fonts (4 fonts total) mess, formatted
it again, put the config file back into the backup folder where it belongs and copied the fonts to the SD card.

Finally the NB / saber is working the way it should once again (except the switch which kind of fell apart the last
time I took the saber apart). I've been testing with this switch http://www.dormanproducts.com/itemdetail.aspx?ProductID=30604&SEName=85980
purchased at my local auto parts store, but it's too big to fit in the hilt. A simple problem which will be remedied
next week.

[Obi1]

Yuppeeeee! Good thinking, good finding, a real flash of intuition!