I think my PC 3.5 is not right

[Noyl Wendor]

So I just finished getting my LED set up to connect to my new SB. I'm using a tri-cree RRW. When I turn on the saber the only LED to come on is the White die. As well when I hit the button for the FOC that same white die flashes.
I've been down my own list on this, mainly looking at the way the led is wired. I even looked at the SD card for an answer. So I formatted it and put a copy of the same info from a different SD card and nada, nothing.
So....any suggestions? :D

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Check the override configuration files.

[Bark]

Yes, comment out the color profiles in the override file.

[Noyl Wendor]

No joy on that. I did wipe down (format) the SD card and put a copy on it. The copy is the default set up when you pull it out of the package, same set up works just fine on my other saber with the same board :) I've been through wiring, both on the board (magnifying glass) and to all the extras battery, RC port, speaker.
Still I have sound, I have light, but its just the FOC die all by its lonesome. It flashes when the switch is triggered. But I have no other dice lighting up. I'm thinking this one is a job for some one with a higher pay grade than me :D

[cvsickle]

Please post your override file. It is almost certainly the color profiles as mentioned above.

[Noyl Wendor]

Here's my override file
## Override File
vol=4
beep=40
valsnd=1
switch=2
offp=0
offd=200
lc=400
hs=200
ls=67
i=55
swing=200
clash=150
lockup=150
## Color profiles

color0=0,740,0

fcolor0=740,230,0
color1=0,0,740

fcolor1=700,0,740

color2=740,0,0

fcolor2=0,430,200
color3=0,630,200

fcolor3=500,740,0

color4=640,0,430

fcolor4=0,0,740

color5=740,230,0

fcolor5=0,740,0

color6=540,730,0

fcolor6=0,740,400

I've gone through and disconnected and reconnected my wiring. NOW the FOC and main are back wards. That is to say that the FOC are the two RED dice, and the MAIN is the white die.

[cvsickle]

As stated before, the problem is the color profiles. If you delete all the lines in the override file below the "##color profiles" line, then the led currents will be defined using the LED parameters in the config files like you're expecting them to be.

[Noyl Wendor]

Okay so here it is, I did delete all the lines below the "## color profiles" now my two red dice for the LED (main) are up and running. The white die however for the FOC is not.

[cvsickle]

Are your wires still backwards? Could you also post the config file of the bank you are using now that you have deleted the color profiles from your override file?

[Noyl Wendor]

no not backwards any more. The two Red LED's I have wired in series (RRW, white for FOC) are working fine, and ridiculous bright. The white LED is the one that is not working when the clash, blaster, lockup button is pushed. Here is a look at my current override file
## Override File
vol=4
beep=40
valsnd=1
switch=2
offp=0
offd=200
lc=400
hs=200
ls=67
i=55
swing=200
clash=150
lockup=150
## Color profiles

I think what I need to do is put in the first two lines after the "##color profiles" line for the FOC die to work.

[cvsickle]

You can do that, if you want to define the color with the first color profile, but as it is your color is being defined by the LED parameter in your "config.txt" file, which is the one I was requesting you post.

[Noyl Wendor]

here it is (bank 3)
// PCv3 config
led=1500,0,0
fled=900,0,0
focmix=010
resume=0
shmrd=72
shmrp=6
shmrr=12
shmr%=0,50
focd=200
focp=10
focr=10
foc%=0,50
qon=0
qoff=0
fade=0
flks=2
flkd=12
idlepulsing=1
idleled=0

[Noyl Wendor]

okay so here is a look at the config.txt
// PCv3 config
led=1500,0,0
fled=900,0,0
focmix=010
resume=0
shmrd=72
shmrp=6
shmrr=12
shmr%=0,50
focd=200
focp=10
focr=10
foc%=0,50
qon=0
qoff=0
fade=0
flks=2
flkd=12
idlepulsing=1
idleled=0
Are you saying the "FLED" needs to be turned to "0"?

[Madcow]

I suggest your change each bank to have the first few lines like this...

// PCv3 config
led=1500,0,0
fled=900,1000,0
focmix=111

[Noyl Wendor]

:D I did. only I came up with
led=1500
fled=300, 300, 200
focmix=100
It worked out pretty well. Though I may take you up on your suggestion, once I have my chassis back together.
All that said, I have the same board with the same (original configurations) set up in another saber. I did not encounter this sort of issue. It makes me want to go back through the SD card in that one to see what I missed there.
LASTLY :D
Does any one miss when a SB was just a SB? Don't get me wrong the tech for what we have these days is much better than even five years back, let alone ten. Really makes my head hurt having all the "extras" to account for. However the payoff is well worth the work ;) so there is balance :)
Thank you gentleman for your help, one and all

[Bark]

Don't forget the last step: Backup the good configuration files! :D

[Noyl Wendor]

:D done and done ;)

[Noyl Wendor]

So I raising this thread again.
It seems that now when I swing the saber I get a beep then the saber itself reboots. So I've been through the config file, and the override file. Wiped down the SD card and re-loaded it with the original set up (exact same that runs in my other saber) erased the color profiles in the override file, and it still beeps then shuts down and re-boots.
Here is the funny part. Just to see what would happen, I took the SD card from the saber that runs just fine, and put it in the board that I've had issues with. In this board the FOC runs (like the main) and the main has become the FOC. Like the wiring is backwards. but its not. Strange.
Any suggestions or ideas?

[Silver Serpent]

The FoC/main swap is most likely in the configuration files.

The beep/reboot could be a low battery. That's the first thing I'd check.

[Noyl Wendor]

The FoC/main swap is most likely in the configuration files.

The beep/reboot could be a low battery. That's the first thing I'd check.
The low batt could be the reason, I looked over the config files. They match what I have seen in the file I downloaded from plector. So I'm guessing that's a miss on that one. I'm charging atm, funny thing the battery went dead during my testing last night.
The last thing I went back to was that the SD card could be bad. So I took it out and loaded new software on a new SD card, of course the batt died. When its up to full I'll mess around and see if it reboots again. I'll chime back in when I have more to go on :)

[Noyl Wendor]

Ok so after a bit more trouble shooting I came back to re-wiring, and going over the board once more. A fully charged battery, and a fresh SD card and it seems that I have what I want....so it seems. I'm pretty sure that after all this go around, I have a bad SD card.
Incidentally this card may have been part of the issue on another board as well. So I've ditched the card and pulled a backup out of my reserve pile.
Now I am on the look out for a 2GB SD card for my PC 2. According to the manual 2GB or less is what to use. However I am pretty sure a 4GB has done the trick in a PC 2 in the past. I may be wrong. Or getting old and thick...or..both ;)

[DarthMace]

Just a quick question: did you solder on the board with the SD card inserted?

[Noyl Wendor]

Just a quick question: did you solder on the board with the SD card inserted?
Nope. Never do, never have. I've not ever done it, but I have heard of what takes place when someone does wire work on a board with the SD card in. Apparently its really bad not just for the SD card, but for the board as well.
In my case here, this was a combination of a bad SD card, software tweaking, and ultimately learning more in depth how to trouble shoot issues during a build. I'm still a "novice" builder in most respects, more over because I treat this is a hobby. Not as though I can make a living. All that said I'm really still learning, my pov in being a novice is knowing the basics and moving up from there.
Of course from time to time I am a bit rusty and do need to get a refresher by doing a bunch of reading ;):D

[Noyl Wendor]

So there is another member with a similar issue with the FOC/main LED's. The bank(s) config files and the override files. As I was reading his post I thought I might haul out my saber and give it a few spins. Turns out that "bank 2" is some how bad. My other two banks don't shut down my saber and reboot it. Only this one. So I recharge the battery.
I made a copy of "bank 1" in a folder, that is after making two copy's of the contents of the SD card in two separate folders (one backup just in case). In one of these folders I have the original contents. With my copy of "bank 1" I replaced it and named it bank 2.
Here's what bank 2's config file looks like
// PCv3 config
led=2000,0,0
fled=900,1000,0
focmix=111
resume=1
shmrd=72
shmrp=6
shmrr=12
shmr%=0,50
focd=200
focp=10
focr=10
foc%=0,50
qon=0
qoff=0
fade=0
flks=2
flkd=12
idlepulsing=1
idleled=0
I'm a little miffed this happened again. So I may be back to square one.

[Noyl Wendor]

So now here I am again with the results of my little experiment.
As it turns out the new "bank 2" also does exactly the same thing as the old bank2. In the middle of a swing the saber shuts off and reboots that sound bank. It does not do this on the other banks.
So.
I took the same file folder with my new copy of bank 2 and formatted a whole different SD card. Then copied all that info to the SD card. So far so good. I don't get a shut off and reboot to speak of at the moment. Of course I will play test some more on my days off. ;) I will reply if I have any new developments.
EDIT: So here is the update. As soon as I was done typing the above line and hit enter. I turned on the saber, took a few swings and guess what? Shut down and reboot of "bank 2"
Is there any thing that any of you have heard of that would make one bank not work correctly while the others are okay?
Hardware?
Software?

[Silver Serpent]

Does Bank2 draw more current than the other banks? Do you have a specific color combination that could be drawing enough current to cause issues with your battery pack? If the pack is low or weak, or the PCB is getting tripped from a higher draw on bank2, then that could be a possibility. Try giving bank2 identical settings (color, flicker, everything) to a known good bank. If it still causes problems, you could have one or two glitchy sound files. It's possible one of the swing files is corrupt.

You've already swapped SD cards, so no sense trying that again. It's unlikely you have two cards bad in the exact same way.

[Noyl Wendor]

Does Bank2 draw more current than the other banks? Do you have a specific color combination that could be drawing enough current to cause issues with your battery pack? If the pack is low or weak, or the PCB is getting tripped from a higher draw on bank2, then that could be a possibility. Try giving bank2 identical settings (color, flicker, everything) to a known good bank. If it still causes problems, you could have one or two glitchy sound files. It's possible one of the swing files is corrupt.

You've already swapped SD cards, so no sense trying that again. It's unlikely you have two cards bad in the exact same way.
True by this time I've eliminated the possibility of two SD cards being the same kind of "bad".
As for my sound bank. I'm running a Tri-cree BBW. So I decided to keep my sound bank settings all the same. So bank 2 should not be drawing any more current than the others. Also I've used two or three different fonts and had the same result. That's how I've pinned the issue to bank 2.
It did occur to me that a bad battery could be the cause, I've tested it with the meter on full charge and no charge. Though I'm thinking of testing the run time to see if the battery dies out sooner than it should.
Other wise I'm right back to thinking its a fault in the board ;)

[Silver Serpent]

Hrm. Unless there's something screwy in the override.txt file, I'm kinda stumped here.

I'm sure you remembered to reformat the card before changing the fonts around, so that shouldn't be an issue.

[Noyl Wendor]

Yeah SS, I'm stumped as well. So I gutted out my hilt and I'm prepping to send it off to have it looked over.
The way I see it, if it is the board then it gets fixed and I finally find out what is wrong. If its not the board he's pretty good at his trade and I don't mind having him do the extra and me putting up some dough ;) for gaining the knowledge that the board is fine.
On the other side, if it is in fact the battery, well I'll just order a new one and hope for the best LOL :D there's no way (just like SD cards) that two of them can be the same kind of "bad".
This one was a bother, and I will accept defeat....this time.
Thanks for all the help. I'll drop an update when I get the board back.

[Noyl Wendor]

Okay so here is my up date on the board I sent out to get looked at. I apologize for digging up an old thread ;)
I wired it back up (the board) and charged up the good battery I have. Put it on the chassis and installed it. After a few swings or more it shut down rebooted and I was able to start it back up like nothing had happened.
I again went back through the process of making sure the battery was charged, new RC port, recheck of the wiring. It still did it. During the process I found that I had to comment out all but the top two lines of the color profiles sections in the "override" to make it so my Main LED's (tri-cree GGW) would work and my FOC would also function. As it turns out that did the trick.
As a side question...If I were to raise the values in my last two lines (color profiles) in the "override" file, would that make the main LED brighter? This I ask because I'm thinking the green is still a bit dim.
Now for the saber rebooting and shutting down, it seems that I have fixed the issue. I would like to make note that in all three of my banks config files I have the "resume" set to zero, as you see below.
// PCv3 config
led=2000,0,0
fled=900,1000,0
focmix=111
resume=0
shmrd=72
shmrp=6
shmrr=12
shmr%=0,50
focd=200
focp=10
focr=10
foc%=0,50
qon=0
qoff=0
fade=0
flks=2
flkd=12
idlepulsing=1
idleled=0
Each bank is set exactly the same, each with a different font in it. In all three banks when I had the "resume" set to 1, is when I experienced the issue that started this thread. So I really can't say for sure if that was the problem. It is the one thing that I have done different in this entire venture.
If any one has any more thoughts or theory's I'm up for any/all discussion :D So I'm off to paste this thread link to another member who seems to be having the same issue.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I see you're running 2000ma to the main led, so I assume you have the two greens in parallel on channel 1? Try putting them in series and running them at 1000ma. If both are being driven off the main channel, changing the other numbers in the override file will not make it brighter, since just the first number controls channel 1. Also, remember anything in the override.txt file will cancel out the settings in the config.txt file in all three banks, so if you want the config file in each bank to control each banks' settings, you need to remove the override.txt file's "color profiles" section.

[Noyl Wendor]

I see you're running 2000ma to the main led, so I assume you have the two greens in parallel on channel 1? Try putting them in series and running them at 1000ma. If both are being driven off the main channel, changing the other numbers in the override file will not make it brighter, since just the first number controls channel 1. Also, remember anything in the override.txt file will cancel out the settings in the config.txt file in all three banks, so if you want the config file in each bank to control each banks' settings, you need to remove the override.txt file's "color profiles" section.
On the main LED I am 2000ma, the two greens are in parallel. You are correct ;) I had not tried running them in series at 1000ma, I may give that a go.
I was going for using the config file in each bank to control their settings. When I removed the "color profiles" in the override.txt, the only LED I got to fire up was the FOC white. When blaster block, or clash was engaged my two green LED's would activate.
I have a separate PC 3.5 that still has the color profiles in the override file, and everything works as it should. Very odd.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

You didn't put a resistor on them did you? ;) That sounds like you have the numbers reversed in the config file for your main led's and the FoC led, but it doesn't look that way by the config you posted. When you have fled=900,1000,0 you are feeding 900ma to channel 1, 1000ma to channel 2 and nothing to channel 3....I'll guess your FoC led is on channel 2, so it should be working. Only other thing i can think of is you have wires crossed somewhere.

[Noyl Wendor]

You didn't put a resistor on them did you? ;) That sounds like you have the numbers reversed in the config file for your main led's and the FoC led, but it doesn't look that way by the config you posted. When you have fled=900,1000,0 you are feeding 900ma to channel 1, 1000ma to channel 2 and nothing to channel 3....I'll guess your FoC led is on channel 2, so it should be working. Only other thing i can think of is you have wires crossed somewhere.

Everything in the config file has not changed. I've rewired and checked the board twice. Nothing bridged or backwards. No resistors on LEDs that's the boards job;-)

[Noyl Wendor]

What if I were to wire each LED on the pad separate? One on channel 1, and the other on channel 2? In the config file I would have to do LED=1000, 1000, 0. Correct? Each LED is able to go to 2. So when you wire each LED separate and comment in the config 1000ma for each, each LED would run independently.
Just an idea, if I'm wrong let me know :D

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

You can do it that way, just make sure you have the correct resistor if you use channel 2 or 3.

[Noyl Wendor]

You can do it that way, just make sure you have the correct resistor if you use channel 2 or 3.
Well I think before I go doing resistors, I'm wondering if there is a way to tell if the channels are backwards in the bank files. With all the color profiles commented out in the override file, the only led that works at all is the FOC when the aux button is pushed.
EDIT: I have commented out the color profiles in the override, what I get now is the FOC on constantly (as if it was the main) and the two green (wired parallel) only come on when the aux button is pushed (FOC, blaster, lockup).
So now I'm really confused. As I have a blue,blue,white (same led) wired to a PC 3.5 (exactly the same wiring) the color profiles are commented out. Exactly the same as on this green, and it works like a dream.
In fact here is a pic to show comparison in brightness
http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/a408/noylwendor/waypointsabers/100_1956_zpse4uu3q6k.jpg (http://s1032.photobucket.com/user/noylwendor/media/waypointsabers/100_1956_zpse4uu3q6k.jpg.html)
The blue is on the right, the green the left. That is if my camera is any real good. The thing is to me the green should be equally bright as the blue. Nothing said for color or saturation of light through the tube. Simply that the two boards are set to the same parameters in their individual banks. With the exception of the green, which seems only to operate well with all the color profiles intact in the override file.
I'll be honest this whole experience is getting a little frustrating, I feel as though I'm simply running around in circles.

[FXOBI]

Well I think before I go doing resistors, I'm wondering if there is a way to tell if the channels are backwards in the bank files. With all the color profiles commented out in the override file, the only led that works at all is the FOC when the aux button is pushed.
EDIT: I have commented out the color profiles in the override, what I get now is the FOC on constantly (as if it was the main) and the two green (wired parallel) only come on when the aux button is pushed (FOC, blaster, lockup).
So now I'm really confused. As I have a blue,blue,white (same led) wired to a PC 3.5 (exactly the same wiring) the color profiles are commented out. Exactly the same as on this green, and it works like a dream.
In fact here is a pic to show comparison in brightness
http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/a408/noylwendor/waypointsabers/100_1956_zpse4uu3q6k.jpg (http://s1032.photobucket.com/user/noylwendor/media/waypointsabers/100_1956_zpse4uu3q6k.jpg.html)
The blue is on the right, the green the left. That is if my camera is any real good. The thing is to me the green should be equally bright as the blue. Nothing said for color or saturation of light through the tube. Simply that the two boards are set to the same parameters in their individual banks. With the exception of the green, which seems only to operate well with all the color profiles intact in the override file.
I'll be honest this whole experience is getting a little frustrating, I feel as though I'm simply running around in circles.

Was this ever resolved? What is your config file for the B/B/W?

[Noyl Wendor]

Was this ever resolved? What is your config file for the B/B/W?
I did resolve this issue. The config file for the BBW was exactly the same as mentioned earlier in the post. As it turned out the battery itself was the issue. I'm sure a bad pcb is what was giving me the issue I had with the shut down/restart. I ordered a new battery, and installed it. No issues since. My hilt gets regular use, and I've not had the shut down restart problem at all. When the battery is drained it just shuts down.
Its also been said that the board itself will let you know when the battery is not at full charge. It will beep at you ;)
As an additional note, I did set the resume value to "0" in my file. As of now I have it set back to "1" with the new battery. Again no issues to speak of.