Chainable LEDs[SOLVED]

Hi Karan,

Where you able to have a look at it?

Kind regards,

Freddy

Hi Karan,

Any progress?

Kind regards,
Freddy

Hi Freddy,
Sorry, we haven’t yet done a deep dive into this yet. A few other important things came in the way. We have not forgottent about this and it is in my list of things to try out. No ETA on this yet.

-Karan

Hi Karan,

It looks like this is an unsolvable problem…
Almost one year ago I submitted the problem and other people have found the same…
Is there any chance that this will be solved in the near or long future?

It is annoying, I know but I would like to know if I should abandon this or not.

Kind regards,

Freddy

Hey Freddy,
Just wanted to reach out. We’ve had a tech meeting to discuss this issue and we’re keeping it on our development list, but clearly we’re not able to solve the problem right now. After some investigation, we think this is going to require a new release of our firmware and a bit more work than we initially thought it would be.

We’ll be sure to come back and update this thread as soon as we have some progress; thanks for your patience with this!

Best, John

Spoke a little too soon. I think we received a pull request about this and we have a possible solution here: https://github.com/DexterInd/GrovePi/pull/247

Hi John,

Many thanks for your reply.
I checked the post from Mr. Tkumata.
It looks like you need firmware 1.2.6 for it together with a patch.
Furthermore it was only tested with one led from the chainable led system.

How can I implement those?
Will they not influence the other ports and sensors in my system?

Kind regards,
Freddy

Hi Freddy,
I just tested the code and pushed some newer examples for the RGB Chainable LED. You should update the local copy of GrovePi repo and switch to firmware_1_2_6 branch. Once you have done this, goto/Firmware/Source/v1.2/grove_pi_v1_2_6 folder and run the firmware and software update script. Instructions are in the readme here: https://github.com/DexterInd/GrovePi/tree/firmware_1_2_6/Firmware/Source/v1.2/grove_pi_v1_2_6.

Once this is done, you should see a message coming on screen showing that the firmware is 1.2.6.

Next head to Software/Python/grove_chainable_rgb_led folder where the new examples are. Try out grove_chainable_rgb_led_test.py and individual_led_control.py I have tested this with 4 LED’s. Do let us know how it goes for you.

-Karan

Hi Karan,

Soory to disturb you again.
It has been a wile since I used github.
How do I update the local copy of the GrovePi repo on my Rasp?

I know this is basic material, but I can’t remember how to do it.

My GrovePi folder is in my root directoy.

Kind regards,

Freddy

Hey Freddy,
The code is in another branch so this might be a bit more harder. I’ll try to help you out. It might be easier to download the latest version of the GrovePi from here: https://github.com/DexterInd/GrovePi/archive/firmware_1_2_6.zip and then unzip it, or if you are running the Dexter Industries image, just run the DI_update on the Desktop and the repository should be updated.

Next go to the GrovePi folder on the Desktop and switch to the branch which has the changes by using: sudo git checkout firmware_1_2_6 and you should be able to follow the directions in the last post after this.

Do let me know if this helps.

-karan

Hi Karan,

I was able to download the zip file and to unzip it on the desktop.
However when I supply the command sudo git checkout firmware_1_2_6, the following error appears:
fatal: Not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git

Indeed in my original GrovePi folder there is .git folder, but not in this one.
I tried to copy the new firmware folder to the old one and then entered the sudo command, but it failed as well since it does not recognizes the firmware_1_2_6.

Thanks for your assintance.

Freddy

Hey Freddy,
Did you enter into the GrovePi folder and then enter the command. Can you run git status in that folder and attach a screenshot of what you get.

-Karan

Hi Karan,

Here is the screen dump.

Kind regards,

Freddy

Not really sure why it is not working for you. Can you run this wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DexterInd/GrovePi/firmware_1_2_6/Firmware/Source/v1.2/grove_pi_v1_2_6/grove_pi_v1_2_6.cpp.hex in a folder, this will download the experimental firmware and run avrdude -c gpio -p m328p -U flash:w:grove_pi_v1_2_6.cpp.hex next, which will install the firmware.

To update the software, run cd /home/pi/Desktop/GrovePi/, then git fetch origin, then git checkout firmware_1_2_6 and then cd Software/Python/grove_chainable_rgb_led/ and you should be in the examples repository. See the screenshot attached. Do this on the Raspbian for robots image.

-karan

Hi Karan,

I am back again.
I am still unable to install t a new version.
I see that now it is 1.2.7
When I perform a firmware upgrade, I can see the folder [git checkout firmware_1_2_7].
However when I perform the upgrade following the guidelines of the web site, it performs as indicated but when I check the firmware it indicates 1.2.2.
Please advice…

Thanks,

Freddy

P.S. I will work on a new project this winter and need to purchase new hardware etc.
Do you recommend to upgrade the old raspberry to the new Raspbian Jessie so that I have both systems on the same level?

Hi @cluckers,

Can you try the Chain-able LED program with Firmware 1.2.2 and check if its working. If you don’t find it working then you can update the Firmware to 1.2.6 as 1.2.7 is still under testing. Our firmware update script updates the firmware to 1.2.2 only and so to have your firmware updated to 1.2.6 follow the instructions in this post.

I would recommend you to upgrade to our Raspbian for Robots Jessie image as our Software works best on this and we have customized the Raspbian image to make it more user friendly. You can install the Raspbian for Robots image following the tutorial here.

Please let us know if this helps,
-Shoban

Hi Shoban,

If you look at the history of this conversation, you will see that I had the problems with the chainable leds since October 2015. Yes I have tried it with the 1.2.2 and that is what I am currently using.
I will try the 1.2.7 firmware if I am able to perform the upgrade.

After that I will try to upgrade to the Raspbian for Robots.

Many thanks for your fast replay. I will keep you posted.

Kind regards,
Freddy

Hi Shoban,

Me again.
I do not know what I am doing wrong but the command https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DexterInd/GrovePi/firmware_1_2_6/Firmware/Source/v1.2/grove_pi_v1_2_6/grove_pi_v1_2_6.cpp.hex is not working. The system just put the word bash in front of it.

Kind regards,
Freddy

Hi Shoban,

I was to early.
I am now on 1.2.6 and I will keep you posted.

Kind regards,
Freddy

HiShoban,

I tested the Leds with 1.2.2 and 1.2.6 and it is not working properly.
Sometimes the color change command is ignored.
Some year ago Karan promised me to test it in your environment so that I am sure that nothing is wrong with my hardware.
I also have ramdom port reading errors… I also mentioned this in another threath, but it seems that I am not the only one.
Concerning the uggrade to Raspbian for robots, I need an aditional memory card, because I do not want to take the risk of loosing everything.
Kind regards,
Freddy