NXT clicking, no fw download possible

[HaWe]

hey,
although I already had some issues with clicking NXT bricks before, this time it turnes out to be a little more complicated:

- when I insert the 6 batteries, the brick immediately starts clicking (about 2x/sec.)
- the display is off/shows nothing
- when I plug the USB cable, Windows does not recognize the brick (other bricks are recognized well)
- when I start BCC, the brick cannot be found
- when I start BCC-tools -> firmware download, a pop-up window for fw download appears and a progress bar starts growing from 0 to 100%
- when the progess bar reaches full 100%, another pop-up window appears and says "firmware download failed, move RCX (!) closer..."

I repeated the whole procedure several times, no change.
I pressed the reset button underneath for >20 sec but the brick continues clicking, repeating the procedure: again no change.

what else could I try?

[afanofosc]

It is possible that your brick has reached the lock bit worn out state. There were reports ages ago about some kind of operation involving shorting a couple pins on a chip inside the brick which got a brick back into a functional state on lugnet (news.lugnet.com). This person's symptoms sound a bit different from yours so it may not help. http://news.lugnet.com/robotics/?n=26831

Do you have any idea how it got into the clicking state? Do you have the very latest FANTOM drivers installed? Are you sure the reset button was pressed

I think that a slightly newer test release would say "Firmware download failed. Please try again after checking configuration." instead of what you see with the version you are running.

John Hansen

[HaWe]

first I have to correct the clicking speed: it's 1x/sec.

BCC is from 2013-02-20,
fw from 2013-02-25

Fantom drivers are working well with other bricks, and I meanwhile checked it by BCC from 2 different PCs.
And yes, I'm quite sure that I hit the reset button underneath the USB plug correctly.

I have no idea so far how it happened because it didn't happen to me personally.
Actually I'm afraid to open the brick and manipulate any pins like described in the article because I'm afraid to damage anything which then afterwards can't be fixed at all any more.

[HaWe]

any more ideas?
something like a system diagnosis tool? Possibly flashing temporarily a different OS for a more direct hardware access?

[gloomyandy]

Hi Doc,
so have you been able to flash any sort of firmware? have you tried using the Lego software to install the standard firmware? If you are not able to download anything to the NXT then perhaps a call to Lego is in order....

Could just be a cunning plan by Lego to encourage users to buy an EV3! Arrange for all of the old NXTs to stop working just after the new one comes out

Good luck

Andy

[HaWe]

the Lego Software NXT-G 2.0 says that the NXT device could not be localized for fw download and so it not even starts downloading at all.

[HaWe]

no NXT system diagnosis tool or maybe sort of low-level flash-format or clean reflash possible?

[mattallen37]

Maybe I missed it in an earlier post, but you're using Windows, right? For this post I'm assuming you're using Win 7.

Do you have the Arduino IDE or Arduino drivers installed on your PC? If so, I can try to recall what I did to remedy a similar situation. Either way, I still recommend trying the following.

This probably won't change anything, but it's easy, so it's worth a try. You could uninstall all the non-present NXTs on your PC (using the device manager).

Originally posted by Xander for a slightly different purpose:

1: Open a command prompt as Administrator
2: Type "set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1", followed by Enter
3: Type "start devmgmt.msc"
4: In the "View" menu, click "Show hidden devices"
5: Uncollapse the "Lego Devices" branch
6: Remove the old entries (with uninstall - do not click "delete driver")

I would just remove all the NXT entries. Now when you connect an NXT to the PC, the PC will need to find the drivers (takes a minute or two usually) for any NXT not on the list.

Next I would hold the orange power button while I removed the batteries, and continue holding for 5 seconds more (with the hope of discharging any capacitors that might keep it powered), put fresh batteries in the NXT (or a fully charged battery pack), hold the reset button for 30-60 seconds, plug it into the PC, and see if Windows recognizes it.

Again this probably won't make a difference, but if I were in your situation, it's something I'd try prior to opening the NXT.

[HaWe]

hey Matthew,
I'm using Windows XP32 but I'll check your hints! Thank you!

[HaWe]

edit: the proceeding you described worked the same way on XP, too.
But unfortunately I had no success... clicking but NXT not founf and no fw download possible...