Wave Shield SD Card Init Error

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Fizzlenik
 
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Wave Shield SD Card Init Error

Post by Fizzlenik »

I've been working on a Halloween project that I unfortunately left to the last minute. It looks like I won't quite make it based on the state I've got things in right now and the few hours left tomorrow to make things work but I want to finish the project up anyway for next year at the very least.

This is my first soldering project (ambitious I know), but I THINK I've got things done okay. The error I'm getting when uploading the Cardinfo sketch is that init failed and the error code is 6. I had an initial problem where when I applied power to the board the LED on the Arduino would blink rapidly and wouldn't communicate, I resoldered a few connections and found one that was clearly shorted and after fixing that I'm at least able to get it to communicate and attempt to init.

Any suggestions of things that look wrong with my hardware would be appreciated.
WaveShieldTop.jpg
WaveShieldTop.jpg (226.51 KiB) Viewed 403 times
WaveShieldBottom.jpg
WaveShieldBottom.jpg (196.85 KiB) Viewed 403 times

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Wave Shield SD Card Init Error

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The photos are a little dark, so it is hard to judge the soldering. You should have better light next to a window or even outside in the daytime.

But time is short, so we'll work with what we have. At least 90% of all SD card reading issues are due to soldering problems. Some of your joints look a bit lumpy which can indicate a 'cold' joint, Others look like they may not have flowed well onto the solder pad. Take a look at this guide and re-touch any that look suspicious: http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guid ... n-problems

For SD card reading problems, the joints that are essential are:

The SD card holder
The buffer chip next to the card holder.
Digital pins 10,11,12,13

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Fizzlenik
 
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Re: Wave Shield SD Card Init Error

Post by Fizzlenik »

Thanks Bill! Knowing exactly what to look for to correct helped a lot and now it's working!

Things I learned so far:

1) Know what it should look like when the solder joints are right.
2) Invest in a decent soldering iron!!!! I did most of the work using an iron that came with a Radio Shack electronics toolkit that I bought. It was having a hard time heating up consistently. I replaced it yesterday with a dedicated one from their ProLine series, tinned it well, and this morning fixing the bad joints was a piece of cake compared to my first go at it.

My next challenge is wiring up the distance sensor I bought and then updating the software. The software is the easy part thankfully.

-Jeremy

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Wave Shield SD Card Init Error

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Glad tht worked out for you! Good tools make the job go smoother, don't they. :)

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