F48v4 Build 16 Board Borked?

[KinzuaKid]

I've had increasingly erratic symptoms with a pair of F48v4s over the last few days. Just for this first board:
I can't configure anything but the most basic of settings like network, E131, and the basic settings page.

On the pixel outputs page I can configure a basic string and a virtual string underneath it, then save and the settings will take. But if I try to convert any port to a smart receiver, the "save" button no longer does anything- as though I haven't tried to make a change at all. When I am trying to configure a smart receiver port, it doesn't update the "end channel" count, either. Again, like I haven't made any changes.

Other weirdness includes the banner reminding me to upgrade to build 16, even though I'm already on build 16 (probably a red herring); the temp sensors going nuts, swinging from -25F to 510F (I know to ignore this, but the board goes into 5% brightness mode on the pixel output ports when the temp swings high), and, when it did at one point allow me to save some config info, regularly freezing up after I hit save and wiping out most of the board's port configurations along the way.

At this point the board is basically a brick, since I can't get any of the port config data to save. Happens whether I'm using 12v or 5v, on a dedicated network link (point to point cable with fixed IP), using multiple browsers, and after having both reset the board and reloaded the firmware to v16 multiple times. The debug log doesn't tell me anything revealing- as in, there's nothing that looks like an obvious error in there. The board won't allow me to downgrade to v15, unfortunately, so I'm out of options unless there are better triage ideas to try.

Anything else come to mind to try?

I've got another board that seems to be behaving similarly I'm going to poke at in an hour. Any thoughts on something I haven't tried?

[jnealand]

Do these symptoms also occur if you configure it manually?  If not it is something with xliights doing the config or communications with xlights.

[KinzuaKid]

I have been manually configuring the board from the outset. No xLights control over anything. This board will no longer take or save any configuration of the ports. If I wipe the configuration back to factory defaults, the moment I convert a single port to a smart receiver type, the board won't save any port configuration data. It's a brick.

I was able to get its twin partially working by restoring a configuration backup that used only 8 of the 12 ports as smart receivers. As soon as I convert the 9th port to a smart receiver type, the board won't save any further configuration information and has to be reset. This one is running build 14, while the other is running build 16. So the second board is partially working and I can reliably break it in the same way every time by simply configuring one more port.

Anyone seen anything like this before?

[tbone321]

It may be helpful if you could post a screen image of the input and output configurations that you are trying to save so that we can see what you are attempting.  It may be as simple as an invalid configuration and the board is unable to save it that way.

[Poporacer]

I have been manually configuring the board from the outset. No xLights control over anything.

This will typically cause problems for new users. xLights does a wonderful job of not letting you configure something incorrectly and will give you warning messages explaining what you have configured incorrectly when you do. But there is nothing wrong with manually configuring it (but it does take a LOT more time and management to do so)

the moment I convert a single port to a smart receiver type, the board won't save any port configuration data. It's a brick.

How about some screenshots of your E1.31 and port configurations showing what is happening.

[KinzuaKid]

Sorry for the delay in keeping this thread alive. Travel for work and Transworld; just got back. Here are some screenshots of the E1.31 and port configurations tab showing what's what. Let's take xLights completely out of the equation and work on the board completely reset to stock with just the board interface as our guide:


Here we've got some universes setup using E131. I can edit this CI without issue. Next up, some pixel outputs:



After hitting "Clear All" to remove the junk data the firmware pre-populates, I choose my addressing mode and add some pixels to the first channel. At this stage, everything is still functioning as expected. Now let's convert that first port to a Smart Receiver by clicking the little blue + :



It's at this point we're completely hosed up. The only button that works now are the Clear functions. Cone String, Save, and Visualize no longer do anything at all when clicked. They don't even send a message to the board, only to return an error. They do nothing. Note the lack of any value in the "End Chnl" column. I'm guessing this is an important symptom.

Adding a description, changing the start channel, pixel count, or group count has no effect on the functionality of the buttons. The configuration cannot be saved.

Just for grins, let's look at the Status page:


Since most of the information on this page is bunk, it's probably not helpful, but I'll run though it anyway. Maybe there's a clue here.

First error: the temp. We know to ignore that, but the firmware doesn't. Right now, it's chilling out, but that temperature reading will swing to +500F/260C at the drop of a hat and nerf the brightness output of the pixel ports to 5%. Don't care, not using the pixel ports.
Second: It's telling me to upgrade the firmware while reporting the firmware has already been upgraded. Probably nothing here, either.
Third: The Voltage 1 reading of 5.2V is way off. The measured voltage at the input terminal is 4.9998V. There is no load on the board. I expect this measurement to be within 0.1V to be useful. Since I can measure it directly, no big deal.
Fourth: Obviously, the fan, since there is no fan, but we ignore that because it's irrelevant.

You might criticize me for not pointing out the time is wrong, but I didn't set the clock and time is relative.

I hope this helps give some insight. It's got me completely baffled.

[Poporacer]

Your pixel output screen looks suspect. Red usually indicates an error and there isn't anything there that looks like it should be incorrect. Try a factory reset and see if things look better.

[KinzuaKid]

Your pixel output screen looks suspect. Red usually indicates an error and there isn't anything there that looks like it should be incorrect. Try a factory reset and see if things look better.

I really didn't make it clear in my reply but "work on the board completely reset to stock" was me resetting the board to factory defaults before I started the screen captures. I did that several times during the process to make sure I could replicate the problem each time. That's why I had to remove the junk data on the outputs tab with the "Clear All" button.

As for the "red" bits, I had that misunderstanding when I first started working with these boards, too. The red, green, and purple section breaks on the left indicate the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd banks of ports, respectively. For example, you won't see the purple/lavender group if you have the board configured for only 8 Smart Receiver Chains, just the red and green. The red warnings you are thinking about are in the text. The font will change from black to red if you have an invalid CI, like too many pixels for the port, invalid start channels, wrong universe, and the like.

[jnealand]

You started this thread on Mar 12.  IMHO I would have contacted David Pitts many days ago and not wasted so much time posting here.

[KinzuaKid]

You started this thread on Mar 12.  IMHO I would have contacted David Pitts many days ago and not wasted so much time posting here.

You're probably right, though I think sharing the symptoms is useful for the larger customer base, so if it comes up again, some kind of knowledge is left behind and the community can see how various triage attempts either did or did not lead to new information about the issue. I consider that time invested.

[Poporacer]

The Factory Reset is difficult to do, it requires pushing 4 buttons and powering on at the same time, is that what you did? The guys in the Zoom room might be able to help several of them are in volved in the testing so know the controller very well.

[KinzuaKid]

The Factory Reset is difficult to do, it requires pushing 4 buttons and powering on at the same time, is that what you did? The guys in the Zoom room might be able to help several of them are in volved in the testing so know the controller very well.

I have been using the web interface for the factory reset, per the manual, mainly because a physical reset is a two-person job unless you have 3 hands. I did try that approach an hour ago, though, as the manual is also pretty clear on the process, depending on what state you want to reset it to. The board no longer boots and is completely bricked.


Thanks, everyone, for the triage ideas. Looks like this one is just going back.

[Poporacer]

mainly because a physical reset is a two-person job unless you have 3 hands.

LOL, I agree, I had a few that got bricked/convoluted and had to factory reset them. It definitely is difficult. I had my wife help a couple times but I ended up figuring out how to do it myself and it brought them back to life!

[KinzuaKid]

Update and resolution: the board is back up and running after a complete wipe to the bare bootloader and a reload of the firmware, along with a long email chain back and forth with the support mailbox. That was...annoying and enlightening, but it looks like the root cause had multiple sources, one of which was an unreliable PSU, and from there it snowballed.

[rayster]

People do not realize that a cheap or used power supply can cause a whole lot of problems. On the 5 volt equipment a 5 volt read of a power supply not under load looks great but put a load on it and it drops to 4.8 volts and things do not play well.