I think my sound card died.

[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/a...rticles_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

[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/itemde...4&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.