"Please Cycle the Power and Try again" message

[terrierist]

Hello,

I am getting the message “Please cycle the power and try again” whenever I try to connect my SSC-32U to the sequencer. I am just getting started with this and am probably making a silly mistake.

These are the connections I have on the SSC-32U board:

-6V Battery connected to VS1
-VS/VL Jumper connected
-Two servos connected

I have tried power-cycling, as well as trying different baud rates as suggested in a similar thread. I have also downloaded the FTDI VCP drivers. Whenever I select the COM port it is connected to, “found” lights up and the A/B and RX lights on the board flash a few times, and then the message “Please cycle the power and try again” pops up.

Any ideas what I may be doing wrong?

Thanks!

Edit: The board shows up in Device Manager and I also tried setting the response rate there to 1ms. Didn’t work . I am using Windows 7 in a VM (although I’m pretty sure the VM part is irrelevant given that it does detect the COM port)

[scharette]

@terrierist

These are the connections I have on the SSC-32U board:

]6V Battery connected to VS1/:m]
]VS/VL Jumper connected/:m]
*]Two servos connected

/*:m]
Please remove the VS/VL jumper. It should not be connected in most cases. Also, for testing purposes, please connect only one servo. Also, ensure the battery is well charged (if checked with a multimeter, it should show an open voltage of 6.0 V or more).

What baud rate is your board set to right now? For testing purposes, please set the baud rate to 9600 (only the green LED on when you press the baud rate button once). You can find more details about how to change the baud rate in the manual on the bottom of page 34.

As mentioned in a previous thread, please try our free utility Lynxterm. Make sure to check the settings in the top left corner (setup button).

Once connected to the right port (at the right baud rate), please type “VER” following by in the black window in the middle. If the connection is working you should get a response from the SSC-32U with the firmware version on-board.

Let us know if this works.

Sincerely,

[terrierist]

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately I am still having the same issue.

I have removed the VS/VL Jumper so now all I have connected is:
-6V battery to VS1
-One Servo on port 0

I have checked the battery with a multimeter and it reads 6V+. It is also a brand new battery.

I have checked the baud rate – it was set to 9600.

I used LynxTerm and verified the port was correct and the baud rate was 9600. Typing VER yields no response. Clicking “VER Test” under “Timeouts” tells me “Bytes Received: 0”. Doing either causes the green “A” light and the RX light to flash once.

I’ve also included a photo of the board and screenshots of the Device Manager and the error I am receiving in Sequencer, in case they are of any value.

[scharette]

Hi,

Thank you for all the information and very clear pictures.

It does seem like you may have a defective product. The next step would be to open a support ticket through our support center (select Exchanges/Returns) so we can replace your product. Mention this thread in your message and either your order or invoice number.

Sincerely,

[terrierist]

Thank you for your help. I have gone ahead and submitted a ticket at the link provided.

[terrierist]

I have received the replacement board and experiencing the same issue as above. I also used the new cable provided, so I think we can rule out it being the cable as well, unless I have been unlucky enough to receive two defective boards/cables in a row.

I have also tried it with another Windows 7 computer to the same effect (this one was not a VM).

I tried it with Windows XP but kept getting “XXX dll is missing” errors, and whenever I installed that DLL it would just tell me another DLL was missing so I gave up on that.

Any ideas? I really wanted this to work but it honestly seems like a software issue.

[terrierist]

I also cannot get the following simple code to work on the botboarduino, with a servo connected to 0 on the SSC-232U and everything else hooked up as described in the SSC-232U manual.

Tried both connections:

-TX from the BotBoarduino to RX on the SSC­32U
-RX from the BotBoarduino to TX on the SSC­32U
-GND on the BotBoarduino to GND on the SSC­32U

and:
-I/O pin 13 on the BotBoarduino to SSC­32 TX
-I/O pin 12 on the BotBoarduino to SSC­32 RX
-GND on the BotBoarduino to GND on SSC­32 (black)

The code:

[code]void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
Serial.print("#");
Serial.print(0, DEC);
Serial.print(" P");
Serial.print(1500, DEC);
Serial.print(" T");
Serial.println(1000, DEC);

}[/code]

[scharette]

Hi,

When trying to use the BotBoarduino with the SSC-32U using the pins 12 & 13 for a software serial connection, you cannot use “Serial.begin(9600)”; you have to use the SoftwareSerial library. See the example below:

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

SoftwareSerial mySerial(12, 13); // RX, TX

void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600);
mySerial.begin(9600);
}

void loop()
{
mySerial.println("#0P1000T1000");
Serial.println("#0P1000T1000");
/*
Serial.print("#");
Serial.print(0, DEC);
Serial.print(" P");
Serial.print(1000, DEC);
Serial.print(" T");
Serial.println(1000, DEC);
*/
delay(2000);

mySerial.println("#0P1500T1000");
Serial.println("#0P1000T1000");
/*
Serial.print("#");
Serial.print(0, DEC);
Serial.print(" P");
Serial.print(1500, DEC);
Serial.print(" T");
Serial.println(1000, DEC);
*/
delay(2000);

mySerial.println("#0P2000T1000");
Serial.println("#0P1000T1000");
/*
Serial.print("#");
Serial.print(0, DEC);
Serial.print(" P");
Serial.print(2000, DEC);
Serial.print(" T");
Serial.println(1000, DEC);
*/
delay(2000);
}

Please try this example and see if it works. This example cycles through positions 1000 us, 1500 us and 2000 us, staying 2000 ms at each. In the case of software serial, pin 13 goes to the RX pin of the SSC-32U and pin 12 goes to the TX pin of the SSC-32U.

@terrierist

I have received the replacement board and experiencing the same issue as above. I also used the new cable provided, so I think we can rule out it being the cable as well, unless I have been unlucky enough to receive two defective boards/cables in a row.

I have also tried it with another Windows 7 computer to the same effect (this one was not a VM).

I tried it with Windows XP but kept getting “XXX dll is missing” errors, and whenever I installed that DLL it would just tell me another DLL was missing so I gave up on that.

Any ideas? I really wanted this to work but it honestly seems like a software issue.

On Windows 7 and with the SSC-32U connected to the computer, please open the Device Manager. From there, open the section Ports (COM & LPT). Then, double-click the item named USB Serial Port (COM??) (where ?? is the port number assigned to your SSC-32U). In the Properties window, go to the Details tab and under Property select from the drop-down list Hardware Ids. Please let us know what is the Value that you have there for your SSC-32U.

Concerning your attempt on Windows XP, would it be possible to tell us what DLLs were missing?

Sincerely,

[terrierist]

The .dll that is currently missing on Windows XP SP3 and I’m getting an error for is “msvcr90-ruby191.dll”. Previously it was giving an error about a missing .dll that installing the .NET framework resolved (I can’t remember the .dll name). I did try installing Ruby 2.2.2 and Ruby 1.9.3 (thinking it may want an older version given the “191” in the missing .dll’s file name) but that didn’t work so I gave up on the XP machine.

I used the code you provided to no avail. Nothing happened. I tried uncommenting the commented part and still nothing happened. I have attached a picture of the wiring I had when trying the code. You can see on the Botboarduino that TX and PWR are lit, and on the SSC-32U the A, B, and PWR are lit.

I have also attached a screenshot of what it says for device Hardware IDs, which is: FTDIBUS\COMPORT&VID_040&PID_6001
Not sure if that is what it is supposed to say?

I also tried doing Windows updates as a Hail Mary on the Windows 7 machine, which didn’t help anything. (This particular VM is otherwise a fresh install of Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, although I did try it on Windows 7 Home on a physical machine).

Thanks for the help so far, and I greatly appreciate any further help you may be able to give.

[scharette]

Hi,

The DLL msvcr90-ruby191.dll is a special DLL for FlowBotics Studio (and also used by FlowArm). This would mean it did not install properly on that machine (and therefore could not find it’s DLL).

Concerning the BotBoarduino <> SSC-32U, in the example code the software serial RX pin is 12 and the TX pin, but you seem to have the TX pin (BB) connected to the TX pin of the SSC-32U (yellow wire). Similarly, you seem to have the two RX pins connected together. You may want to try again with the red & yellow wires reversed on one side only such that TX <> RX and RX <> TX.

The hardware IDs represent the vendor and product. The VID 403 is FTDI and the PID 6001 is the virtual serial port. This indicates that the device is recognized properly by the computer.

Also, please note your jumpers on the SSC-32U are wrong if you are trying to share power between VS1 & VS2 (to power your BotBoarduino with). You will need to rotate the jumpers 90 degrees for this to work. If you do this, make sure to move the jumper on the BotBoarduino near the power connection to “EXT” instead of “USB”. This will prevent issues and allow the BotBoarduino to be powered by the VL or VS input since you have VS=VL jumper in place.

Let us know if this works and any other details you figure out.

Sincerely,

[terrierist]

Rotating the jumper and checking the RX/TX port worked – I am now able to manually control the servos through the use of the Botboarduino.

However, I have 26 servos on the robot so I really would like to be able to use the Servo Sequencer utility to be able to program them.

I’m confused by what you mean that the software did not install correctly on the machine. The servo sequencer is simple a .exe (SSC-32 Servo Sequencer Utility.exe) and has no installation. Am I supposed to have the actual Flowbotics installed? I have not paid for that, so I haven’t tried installing it.

[scharette]

For your Windows XP setup, the DLL would normally be already there or added by the application.

Typical places where it is normally found on modern Windows installations (vista, 7, 8 ) are:

]C:\Windows\SysWOW64/:m]
]C:\Users[user account name]\AppData\Roaming/:m]

You can find a copy of the DLL attached to this message. It is required for FlowArm to properly function. You can try adding it to the folder of the application on your Window XP machine or simply in *C:\Windows* and *C:\Windows\System32* folders. This may help having the utility run properly.

Sincerely,
msvcr90-ruby191.zip (560 KB)

[terrierist]

Thank you for uploading the .dll. Unfortunately it did not work – I put it in the C:\Windows and C:\Windows\system32, as well as in the folder with the application (because the error message indicated to do so) and still the same error. I also created a C:\Windows\SysWOW64 folder thinking it may look there. I’ve attached the exact error message.

It also says to try running as Admin, which there isn’t a run as admin option on Windows XP as there is on Windows 7, but the account is already an administrator account. I also copied the folder into C:\Program Files because it said to try putting it somewhere not under user access control. Still a no-go.

And of course, the “Please cycle the power and try again” message persists within Windows 7.

[scharette]

Hi,

We are unsure about the issue for Windows XP. We unfortunately do not have any machine on which to attempt to reproduce this issue. We may attempt it on a VM later and see how it goes.

Concerning Windows 7 (VM & physical), you may want to attempt changing the drivers to see if it helps connecting to the board. This will require a few steps:

First, you will need to connect the SSC-32U to the computer, go to Device Manager, right-click the device and select Uninstall. Once this is done disconnect the device. Please do the same for the BotBoarduino.

Then, you need to clean-up Windows 7’s cache of drivers for FTDI chips. To do so, run the Command Prompt as Administrator and type the following:

]pnputil.exe -e > drivers_list.txt/:m]Then, type:

]notepad drivers_list.txt/:m]This will show you a list of all the custom drivers installed. Search for FTDI and note down the names of the drivers (ex: oem6.inf).

Finally, for every FTDI driver found, type the following in the command prompt:

]pnputil.exe -f -d oem6.inf (where oem6.inf is the name of the driver)/:m]Once all of those are removed, download the drivers attached to this post and extract them to an easy to find folder on your computer. Reconnect your SSC-32U and do not use Windows Updates or automatic driver installation. Instead, choose to supply the files and browse to the folder where you extracted the new drivers to. Once selected, Windows should install the drivers without issue. You may receive a warning saying these drivers are not signed. This is normal as they were modified by us to prevent an issue with the FTDI chip.

Sincerely,
drivers fix FTDI 2.12.00.zip (619 KB)

[terrierist]

Thank you for the instructions and for your patience. I tried what you said – I was able to uninstall the drivers and selected for Windows update to not install the drivers automatically. When I plugged in the SSC-32U, it showed the dialog in the lower-right as if it were installing drivers then said “no drivers found”. It never asked me where to choose the drivers from, so I went into device manager and chose “update driver”.

Upon choosing the unzipped folder provided, it told me “Windows could not find driver software for your device.” This was when browsing to the folder manually, not telling it to search for it.

So apparently it thinks there are no suitable drivers in that folder.

The screenshot shows the setting for drivers not to auto-install and the error received.

[scharette]

Hi,

As for the drivers, once you clicked Update Driver and manually browsed to the folder of the extracted drivers (probably drivers fix FTDI 2.12.00), clicking next should install the drivers normally (make sure Include subfolders is checked). We suspect this is not happening due to an issue with the VID & PID of the device. Could you try the following again? It would be helpful to make sure it has not change.

@scharette

On Windows 7 and with the SSC-32U connected to the computer, please open the Device Manager. From there, open the section Ports (COM & LPT). Then, double-click the item named USB Serial Port (COM??) (where ?? is the port number assigned to your SSC-32U). In the Properties window, go to the Details tab and under Property select from the drop-down list Hardware Ids. Please let us know what is the Value that you have there for your SSC-32U.

Except this time it will be called FT232R USB UART. Please note you can simply right-click the value (ex: FTDIBUS\COMPORT&VID_0403&PID_6001) and select copy and then you can paste it in your reply.

Just in case, here is also a second driver version with a small fix for the PID 0000 issue on Windows 7.

Sincerely,
drivers fix FTDI 2.12.00 + PID0000.zip (619 KB)

[terrierist]

[font=Arial][size=2]I still have the old board – the one that was RMA’d but I haven’t mailed it back yet, as I wanted to ensure the second one worked before doing so. (Don’t worry, I will mail it back soon though.)

I ensured all the FTDI drivers were uninstalled by dumping the pnputil.exe file again and checking it. I plugged in the old board, and then instead of showing up as “FT232 USB UART” as the new one is doing, it showed up as Unknown Device under “Other Devices”. I WAS able to select “update driver” then select the folder then and install the drivers provided. However, the dialogue box showed up as they successfully installed but in the bottom-right it showed as UNsuccessfully installed. (See screenshot)

It did then show up as “COMPORT5” so I opened the sequencer and experienced the “Please cycle the power” message. Following the steps provided, that board showed FTDIBUS\COMPORT&VID_0403&PID_6001 for the hardware ID.

I then uninstalled all FTDI drivers again and plugged in the newer board but it automatically shows up as FT232 USB UART (as opposed to “Unknown Device” that the other showed) despite the drivers being uninstalled, and it will not let me install the drivers as described in the previous post.

This one shows two hardware IDs:

USB\VID_0403&PID_0000&REV_0600[/size][/font]
[font=Arial][size=2]USB\VID_0403&PID_0000

I did notice something interesting in the drivers_list before removing them though. The FTDI Drivers show up as:

Published name : oem10.inf
Driver package provider : FTDI
Class : Universal Serial Bus controllers
Driver date and version : 08/26/2024 2.12.00
*Signer name : *

Published name : oem11.inf
Driver package provider : FTDI
Class : Ports (COM & LPT)
Driver date and version : 08/26/2024 2.12.00
*Signer name : *

The date shows as 2024. I didn’t notice if it was like this before. I did double-check my computer’s date and you can see it is correctly set in the screenshot. I am not sure if the signing-date could have some effect on this issue.[/size][/font]

[scharette]

Hi,

We will contact you through our support center shortly to proceed with more troubleshooting.

Sincerely,