Unstable Program uploading to M5Stack Fire



  • Hello M5Stack,

    I have bought now two M5Stack Fire modules from two suppliers and have issues programing them in a stable manner wit UI Flow.

    One of tham has a chance of ~10% to get programed, the other ~50%.

    I have read the common post related to that issue and the recomendations to put a capacitor on the EN / RESET Line.

    For me the issue is quite clear because every time I cannot program the board I see that the board got a reset. I have taken a osciliscope picture of the signal from the MBUS Plug and can see a pulse on the RESET line on each program attempt. If the pulse gets too low I have a reset and the programming fails.
    0_1588520844406_EN_Signal.jpg
    I had also a closer look at the PCB and recognized a "missing" component near the RESET button:
    0_1588520951408_PCB_Zoom.jpg

    Is this a hardware issue? Why two of the boards from different sources have the same issue.

    I hope you can clearify the issue. The baord seems to be a perfect fit for learning purposes.

    Best Regards

    Rafael.



  • I had also a closer look at the PCB and recognized a "missing" component near the RESET button:

    The part is C44 100nF.
    Removed on M5Stack Fire to prevent Nois.

    See below.
    Parts arrangement of M5Stack
    https://macsbug.wordpress.com/2020/04/01/parts-arrangement-of-m5stack/

    1. GPIO23 Radiation, Audio Amp
      Audio Amp:
      _ 2. C44 to U9-4: BASIC and GRAY are connected. FIRE is not connected.
      FIRE: Noise is reduced by removing C44 from U9-4.


  • Hello macsbug,

    thanks you for the detailed information, so the component should be missing on fire devices.

    Back to my problem I have additional information.

    I can confirm that the uploading is always working over internet. It only struggles over USB.

    Is there anything else I can check?

    PS: I have tried it on different USB ports and event machines (Mac and PC).



  • @rafael The USB drivers have always been temperamental and require a very specific installation method which requires shutting down and cold starting computers several times.
    Also the stock USBC cables are of poor quality and prone to braking. please use a high quality USBC DATA lead like those from ANKER and never ever fold the cables as that breaks the conductors inside.



  • Hi Rafael
    Apologies if I am stating the obvious (I am quite new to the M5Stack arena). I had the same problem as you (in fact, I still cant get the web integration to work), but I did manage to get the Windows UIFlow install to work as follows:
    (1) Installed the CP210x_VCP_Windows
    (2) Installed the M5 Burner software for Windows
    (3) Installed UIFlow for Windows

    I then used the M5 Burner software to download the v1.5.2 firmware for the M5Stack Fire which has a 'Setting' option of 'Switch Mode' in it (when installed/Burnt). Once the Switch Mode was set to 'USB Mode' , my M5Stack Fire then connected to the windows version of UIFlow with absolutely no problems (I also changed the VER option to BETA in UIFlow for Windows which sets the UIFlow to version 1.5.2 as a just in case).

    So far (fingrers crossed) it has connected everytime.

    Please note, (not wanting to state the obvious but I am not sure what version of the firmware you have) .... but the 'menuisation' on the M5Stack Fire only appears when you download the v1.5.2 firmware (unless I was installing previous versions of the firmware incorrectly).

    Thinking about it, maybe if I set my switch mode to 'Internet Mode' that will start working for me ......

    hope it helps,
    cheers
    Richard.



  • @ajb2k3 Hello, I don't know if its related to what is being described here but the connection between my Mac(I finally found a driver that seems to "kind of" work), however the communication is totally unreliable. Indeed I need to unplug the USB-C cable each and every time I want to download a program to the M5-Stack. Then I can do one download and subsequent connections are not possible, unless I unplug and plug again. To me it sounds like a hardware issue. The concept of the hardware in a 5 x 5cm "ready to go" series of modules is great. However it has a long way to go before it becomes a comfortable system to use. I am not sure it will ever be though, as the emphasis is to produce more hardware components to sell whilst neglecting loose ends. Cheers !