NFC + RFID Shield

[eomalley]

Hello,

I recently purchased Product 789 - NFC + RFID Shield

Full details are,

PN532 RFID/NFC Shield 13.56 MHz RFID v1.0

The prodcut shipped without any schematic details and when I visit,

http://adafruit.com/products/789

the v1.0 schematic is not reflective of this board. For exaple it does not include any details on the 5 V to 3.3 V power supply circuits that appear to be on the board and the 3.3 V to 5 V I2C level shifters.

When I connect a 5V supply to the board the LED 'PWR' came up green. However the 'BUSY' LED remains red even when the RDIF card is brought close the tag reader.

Any help appreciated in getting the v1.0 schematic/pcb layout files and/or any other docuement to get the board up and running.

[adafruit_support_bill]

When I connect a 5V supply to the board the LED 'PWR' came up green. However the 'BUSY' LED remains red even when the RDIF card is brought close the tag reader.

This is designed to be attached to an Arduino. Are you using the library and example code?

Board files: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-PN ... NFC-Shield
Library and examples: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_NFCShield_I2C
Tutorial: http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pn532-rfid-nfc

[Cowboyup65]

I too have bought this shield and when I go to the GITHUB page, the download button they keep saying is there in discriptions:

This is a library for the Adafruit PN532 NFC/RFID breakout boards
This library works with the Adafruit NFC breakout and shield
----> https://www.adafruit.com/products/364
----> https://www.adafruit.com/products/789

Check out the links above for our tutorials and wiring diagrams
These chips use SPI or I2C to communicate

Adafruit invests time and resources providing this open source code,
please support Adafruit and open-source hardware by purchasing
products from Adafruit!

Written by Limor Fried/Ladyada & Kevin Townsend for Adafruit Industries.
BSD license, check license.txt for more information
All text above must be included in any redistribution

To download. click the DOWNLOADS button in the top right corner, rename
the uncompressed folder Adafruit_NFCShield_I2C. Check that the
Adafruit_NFCShield_I2C folder contains Adafruit_NFCShield_I2C.cpp and
Adafruit_NFCShield_I2C.h

Place the Adafruit_NFCShield_I2C library folder your
<arduinosketchfolder>/libraries/ folder. You may need to create the
libraries subfolder if its your first library. Restart the IDE.


Never seems to appear. I am using IE on windows 7 ultimate, so I would hope I am up to date enough to view an website properly, but the fact I cant find anything to download is a bit frustrating.
I downloaded the free github yesterday thinking it was the download button talked about, however; it did not do anything more than put Repositories? on my hard drive, or so it seems. Sorry, but all this jargon seems a bit over my head as I am just getting into Electronical Engineering, I still need plain English to get the code to make the RFID card work, so if anyone could help, I would greatly appreciate it.

[adafruit_support_rick]

Please review our Guide to Installing Arduino Libraries. It features a step-by-step guide to downloading and installing libraries from github.

[Cowboyup65]

Ok so after having done all that, loaded the code, now my schetch tells me that there are about 50-60 lines of code I have to correct??
Is it really this tough to use an Arduino? I really don't know...just asking.

[adafruit_support_rick]

No, it's just a pain to get the libraries installed correctly. Post the text of the errors you're seeing - copy and paste them here.

[Cowboyup65]

I will have to wait till thursday afternoon or Saturday since it is back to school and work the rest of the week, hopefully this 90+ hours will go fast since I want to get this down so I dont run into this problem again. Thanks

[Cowboyup65]

ok, seem to have gotten the library to load , but now the card acts dead. The lights are on, busy light isnt blinking like it did last week, just one blink as program loads. Tried the Mifare, Mifare Classic and neither seem to activate the reader into reading when card is laid on device.
From what the video shows, that was all the was needed, however I am heading to see if there is a wireing diagram with it since it seems these instruction have been pretty vague up to this point, so will see if there is still more to do.
It wasn't until I read the text file in the zip folder that I got the library to load properly, since it does give you a specific name to use, unlike what the video said to "just rename the file", this one point is is what kept me from getting this far last weekend.

[adafruit_support_rick]

A bit late perhaps, but have a look at our tutorial on installing Arduino libraries.

The lights are on, busy light isnt blinking like it did last week, just one blink as program loads.

That is as it should be. Apart from startup, the busy light should only blink when the card is reading a tag.

I get the idea that your Busy light isn't doing anything when you try to read a tag?

it seems these instruction have been pretty vague up to this point

The video really isn't intended to be a tutorial. We have a full tutorial here.

Please post some clear pictures of your shield - maybe we can spot a problem.

[Cowboyup65]

I guess I need a tutorial for putting pics in post too since I cant copy and paste them. I have been at the page you posted reading it for some time this morning.
I have also noted in several different picture of the same board, some pins are missing in a hole or two, and in some pics, they are not missing. particularly the SDA, SCL holes, and the IDref above the reset button.

[adafruit_support_bill]

There is an "upload attachment" tab below the message editing window. You can use that for uploading photos. It is best to re-size them to about 800x600 before uploading.

The SDA, SCL and IDRef pins are new on the R3 Arduino boards. They are duplicates of existing pins added for compatibility between the different Arduino models. Those pins are not required with used with an UNO.

[adafruit_support_rick]

When you're posting, right below the edit window you'll see two tabs: "Options" and "Upload attachment". Select "Upload attachment" and click "Choose file". This will bring up a file dialog, where you can select a .jpg or .png file on your computer. It won't like really huge files, so if it complains, try resizing your pictures to be a little smaller.

After you choose the file, click the button labeled 'Add the file". Now you'll see a box labeled "Posted Attachments", where you can add a comment. Clicking the 'Place inline' button will insert the picture into your post.

I have also noted in several different picture of the same board, some pins are missing in a hole or two, and in some pics, they are not missing. particularly the SDA, SCL holes, and the IDref above the reset button.

I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to here. The Uno R3 has some extra pins compared with earlier Arduino models - Earlier models had an 8-pin header to the left of the reset button, where the R3 and Leonardo have a 10-pin header. Similarly, earlier models had a 6-pin header where the power pins are located, where the Uno and Leo have an 8-pin header.

[Cowboyup65]

resized.jpg (202.25 KiB) Viewed 182 times

resized2.jpg (184.43 KiB) Viewed 182 times

Hopefully this went right and you can see the empty holes, but by what your saying they arent important, so back to square one.

[adafruit_support_rick]

Does the busy led do anything at all when you try to read a card? Flicker/flash/blink?

The solders I can see on the header pins look a little light. The ones on the power side aren't in focus, so I can't tell anything about them. You've got power, so those are OK. The data pins you're interested in are digital 2, A4 and A5. Make sure those solders are solid. They should look like this:

Solder%20Joint.gif (7.78 KiB) Viewed 174 times

[Cowboyup65]

K, got them resoldered. Not sure they look as good as the diagram, but they look solidly better than before.