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Lightcrafter Damaged?

Adrian Mariampillai
Prodigy 190 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: DLPC300

Hi,

I did something pretty stupid this morning...wasnt paying attention this morning and accidentally plugged the trigger connector block into the I2C port. Now the lightcrafter no longer boots up...I dont think the top board even powers up any more. On the bottom board an led next to the power input momentarily goes green and then turns red . Have i damaged the lightcrafter beyond repair? Is it possible that i can simply reset the DLPC300 somehow (if thats the problem). 

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,

Adrian

  • 0
    TI__Genius 9935 points

    Adrian,

    Very sorry to hear about your difficulty. Let's see if the LightCrafter is damaged. Do you have the switch next to the uSD card switched to the inside (towards the middle) position? When you apply power - nothing else connected - do you see any LED lighted on the top board? If so, is it red? Are you not seeing the splash screen?

    Best regards,

    Pascal

  • 0 in reply to Pascal DLP
    Prodigy 190 points

    Hi Pascal,

    Thanks for the reply. The switch is pushed all the way towards the middle. None of the led's on the top board turn on and i dont see the flash screen (none of the projection LED's power up). I am guessing i wrote something to MSP430? 

    Thanks again,

    Adrian

  • 0 in reply to Adrian Mariampillai
    TI__Genius 9935 points

    Adrian,

    OK. Let me see if I can come up with a way forward, then. I'll respond shortly.

    Pascal

  • 0 in reply to Pascal DLP
    TI__Genius 9935 points

    Adrian,

    Have you checked your 5V power supply? Are you inserting the power supply connector into the socket on the bottom board (not the top board). If all else fails, could you try connecting the 5V through the white connector, J11, on the bottom board (requires a different connector)? We are just trying to eliminate possibilities, even if it sounds silly.

    I don't think that you could damage the LCr by plugging the camera trigger cable into the wrong socket - the one on the side of the bottom board. I don't think that there are any voltages on the camera trigger cable coming from the camera. Which camera are you using? Does it have the opto-isolated trigger? If so, the voltage to drive that comes from the LCr, not the camera. So, the reason for your problem is still mysterious.

    Best regards,

    Pascal

  • 0 in reply to Pascal DLP
    Prodigy 190 points

    Hi Pasal, I am plugging the power supply into the correct port and my power supply (using the one recommended) is working. Ill try connecting the power to J11 shortly. I guess i didnt mention some some important details ... There would have 3.3V square wave signals going in on pin 2 of the connector from an arduino that i was using to trigger Lightcrafter. Pin 3 was connnected to two Flea3 cameras on one of the non-opto isolated inputs (I was using the non-opto isolated input to the cameras so i wouldnt have to mod the lightcrafter) and Pin 4 was ground.  Hopefully this helps clarify the problem.  Also as i mentioned in my first post there is a led on the bottom board which quickly turns red when i power up the light crafter, i believe this led being red indicates an MSP430 fault.

    Thanks again for your help,

    Adrian

  • 0 in reply to Adrian Mariampillai
    TI__Genius 9935 points

    Adrian,

    Please try the following: Remove the top board from the stack. Plug in the 5V power. Probe the labeled test points on the bottom board for the correct voltages. Especially, make sure that you are seeing 3.3V. This is the one which could have been affected by plugging the trigger cable into the i2c connector. If the MSP430 does not see the 3.3V (or any of the other voltages) it will stop the initialization and throw up a red LED.

    If all of the voltages on the lower board are correct, remove the power and plug the upper board in again. Then connect the power. There are some voltage test points marked on the upper board, also. Check these to see if they are correct.

    Then let me know what you find.

    Best regards,

    Pascal

  • 0 in reply to Pascal DLP
    Prodigy 190 points

    Hi Pascal,

    I get 0V at all the test points on the lower board.

    Thanks again,

    Adrian

  • 0 in reply to Pascal DLP
    Prodigy 60 points

    Hi Pascal,

    I have a similar problem. When trying to solder the jumper at position R295, I probably have caused a shortcut between the EXT_TRIG_VCC and the ground, i.e. a shortcut between pin 1 and pin4 of the trigger connector. I have removed the top board and measured the voltages between the test points and the ground as described above. I find correctly 1.0 V, 1.8 V, and 2.5 V at the related test points. However, I find only 0.12 V at the 3.3 V test point close to the connector which connects the bottom board with the top board. Furthermore, I find 0.12 V at the test points close to the white power connector and the boundary of the board.

    What is wrong with my Lightcrafter?

    Best regards,

    Rudolf

  • 0 in reply to Rudolf Haussmann
    TI__Genius 9935 points

    Rudolf,

    I don't understand how you could short between J7 pin 1 and 4 at the connector. The spacing is quite wide there, and you have to go over pins 2 and 3, or short to them also.

    From the top of the DLP LightCrafter system board you should be able to see R291, R292, R293, and R295, as well as C231, near the J7 connector. Zero-ohm jumpers should be placed at positions R292 and R295 to provide 3.3V to J7 pin 1. There should be no jumpers in positions R291 and R293. C231 should be mounted. If you probe at the junction or R291, C231, and R295 you should see 3.3V. If R295 is in place, you should also see 3.3V at J7 pin 1.

    If you have damaged the board, I suggest that you clean up as best you can (remove R292 and R295), and use "blue wire" to jumper the 3.3V (top of position R292) to J7 pin 1. If the board is damaged beyond repair, TI does not provide a repair option. I can only suggest purchasing a new DLP LightCrafter.

  • 0 in reply to Pascal DLP
    Prodigy 60 points

    Hi Pascal,

    thank you very much for your quick response. I know where the resistors R291 etc. are. This is not the problem. I am an expert in software development but not in SMD soldering. The fact that a jumper must soldered on R295 is a bottleneck for the development of mine and my colleague. In one case, the soldering succeeded and in my case the soldering has probably caused the shortcut because some of the green lacquer was removed after some trials of soldering. We have learned now that we should not do the soldering by ourselves but give it to a company. that is expert in SMD soldering.

    Nevertheless I have suggestion: If you redesign the Lightcrafter or if you develop a new system, please avoid that customers must do SMD soldering. One possibility to circumvent this problem would be to use a molex connector with more pins at the connector J7.

    From my measurements I guess that the lower board is defect. Is there a possibility to obtain both boards as replace parts and how much do they cost?

    To proceed with my developments, I have already ordered and received a new Lightcrafter. Unfortunately this new Lightcrafter has a hardware defect, the USB connector is probably defect because the computer does not receive any signal via USB. We have compared this problem with another brand new Lightcrafter of my colleague, so that this is a clear case of warranty. I have already contacted Divya Reddy via e mail in order to return my defect new Lightcrafter and obtain a new one.

    Best regards,

    Rudolf

  • 0 in reply to Rudolf Haussmann
    TI__Expert 4500 points

    Hi Rudolf,

    I am glad we could resolve your issue with defective LightCrafter and I am sorry for the difficulties you have been facing.

    We would keep your suggestions in mind while implementing our next generation platforms. Thanks for the feedback.

    Regards,

    Divya

  • 0 in reply to Divya Reddy
    Intellectual 515 points

    Hi there,

    I just had a similar problem after upgrading the firmware on the LC. When I rebooted, it got stuck at a page that said 'loading' at the bottom. I tried all sorts of things, but eventually noticed that the resolution had changed to a strange resolution. I think it was 1024 by 768 or something similar. I chose a differnt resolution from the list, and it fixed the problem and the erroneous resolution has now gone from my options.

    Gav

  • 0 in reply to Gavin Smith
    TI__Genius 9935 points

    Thanks for sharing this, Gavin. User experience is always helpful.

  • 0 in reply to Pascal DLP
    Prodigy 30 points

    I bought 2 DLP a year ago for optical system development.

    One of them is not working anymore. When plugging it to power, a green light flash on the bottom stage occurs then a red one.

    So I tried as above to measure check point voltage. I found 1.8V and 1.0V but then I measured 0.44V on the 3.3V point and 0.8 on the 2.5V.

    I also noticed that the board warms up to a very hot temperature. So I took back the power instead of burning out the board.

    Any suggestion ?

    Thanking you in advance.

    Obi

  • 0 in reply to Obi one
    TI__Genius 9935 points

    Obi,

    Sounds like something shorted, or failed in a high current mode. I can't say what. Could you say a little more about the LED you mentioned. Is it one of the annunciator LEDs on the board? Can you say more precisely where it is on the board? How long does it stay green? Does it alternate between red and green?

    Like you, I am concerned that letting it run while drawing too much current could burn up the board. Can you measure the amount of current being drawn?

  • 0 in reply to Pascal DLP
    Prodigy 30 points

    Hi Pascal !

    Thank you for your answer. Here is a snap of the LEDs that flashes when plugging the power cable (see the tip of the pen below). The green led switches on for less than one second, then the red one blinks each one second approximately.

    How can I measure the current being drawn ? Right after the power cable ? Is that what you mean ?

    Does it help ?

    Thank you.

    Obi

  • 0 in reply to Pascal DLP
    Prodigy 30 points

    Hi Pascal !

    Thank you for your answer. Here is a snap of the LEDs that flashes when plugging the power cable (see the tip of the pen below). The green led switches on for less than one second, then the red one blinks each one second approximately.

    How can I measure the current being drawn ? Right after the power cable ? Is that what you mean ?

    Does it help ?

    Thank you.

    Obi