Possibly defecttive Xbee Series One Modules

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johnl148
 
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Possibly defecttive Xbee Series One Modules

Post by johnl148 »

I recently purchased two Xbee Series One modules INVOICE NO. 432124 DATE ORDERED: Friday 07 February, 2014. When they arrived I plugged them into my USB Explorer and opened XCTU Ver 5.2.8.6. Insured that the correct Serial USB port # was selected, that the baud settings were correct (9600,8,0,1) and attempted to do a Test / Query on the first Xbee module. XCTU came back with this window
XCTU dialog box
XCTU dialog box
Image1.jpg (8.85 KiB) Viewed 990 times
which states that the module is not responding. Then after a second or two it pops up with the ACTION REQUIRED dialog box. When I press the reset button on my breadboard it does not clear the ACTION REQUIRED dialog box in fact it does not seem to do anything. This same scenario happens with the other Xbee module (I purchased two). Although I am not an Electrical Engineer or anything like that. I am not a brand new newbie. I own two other Xbee Series One modules that I purchased from Adafruit last summer, and a whole lot of other neat Arduino toys/gadgets. I am not getting these results with either of the older Xbees. I currently use the older two Xbees in a vs1053 decoder board MP3 player (by the way thank you Bill for the help you gave me on that) and wireless remote project I finished last month. I have quite a few projects under my belt and have learned so many things along the way. If I am missing something (and I probably am) maybe you can help me out. I have seen the Reset solutions on the Adafruit Xbee pages of the forum, but I hesitate to do them as I don't know if it would void my warranty. If these two modules are defective I would like replacements, and maybe I could pay for a different shipping method if it would help (Idk - maybe these received a bad static shock while in transit with the USPS). I understand that the shipping costs for returning the defective modules (if defective) is on my dime also and I have no problem with that. Thank you Bill :( :( .

waltr
 
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Re: Possibly defecttive Xbee Series One Modules

Post by waltr »

Things to try:
1- Check the power pin on the XBee to ensure it really is powered.

2- Change the Baud rate in X-CTU. It is possible (I've seen this) that the Baud rate is not 9600. You may need to try every Baud rate available in X-CTU.

3- Check/un-check the API box and try the default Baud rate. If not working then again go through all the available Baud rates.

4- Last chance: Go to the programming Tab in X-CTU and update the firmware using the "un-bricking" instructions.

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johnl148
 
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Re: Possibly defecttive Xbee Series One Modules

Post by johnl148 »

waltr wrote:Things to try:
1- Check the power pin on the XBee to ensure it really is powered.

2- Change the Baud rate in X-CTU. It is possible (I've seen this) that the Baud rate is not 9600. You may need to try every Baud rate available in X-CTU.

3- Check/un-check the API box and try the default Baud rate. If not working then again go through all the available Baud rates.

4- Last chance: Go to the programming Tab in X-CTU and update the firmware using the "un-bricking" instructions.

Thanks waltr for the reply.
Step 1 above: With my meter I get 3.3 V at pin 1 & pin 10 of the Xbee module itself.

Step 2: I should have stated it in the first post I have tried that with both of the new modules always comes back as Unable to communicate with modem.

Step 3: Although I tried that with a couple of the baud rates the first time, this time I started with setting XCTU - API unchecked, set 1200 baud 8,0,1 - , then windows device manager set port baud rate to 1200,8,0,1 - then hit Test / Query in XCTU. I then checked API enable in XCTU - back to windows device manager did a scan for hardware changes - back to XCTU and hit Test / Query. I did this same routine for all 9 available baud rates in XCTU with the same results, XCTU returns with Unable To Communicate With Modem.
XCTU dialog box.
XCTU dialog box.
Image3.jpg (24 KiB) Viewed 969 times

Step 4: Plainly - I'm afraid to do any thing that will void my warranty without speaking to an Adafruit Rep. This does not happen with my other two Xbee modules. If "un-bricking" them is the answer then I'll be happier then a cat with a ball of yarn to do that, but I need to know it's not going to be a problem with any type of warranty that Adafruit honors.

waltr
 
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Re: Possibly defecttive Xbee Series One Modules

Post by waltr »

Ok, I understand. I really surprised that some one from Adafruit tech support hasn't posted.
Maybe the XBee person is out of the office this week.

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johnl148
 
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Re: Possibly defecttive Xbee Series One Modules

Post by johnl148 »

It's been over a month and I've yet to hear from somebody at Adafruit. I understood from your website that the way to handle this was by posting the problem on the appropriate forum. If I am on the wrong forum then please tell me and I will repost in the right place. I need to get some kind of closure on this. the modules do not work. My USB Explorer works fine with all my other Xbee modules. I have had other geeks check them and they can get nothing from either of the two modules. My only conclusion is that there is something not right with these modules. Please contact me, if we can at least try to find out if there is someway to take care of resetting or 'unbricking' them I will be glad to attempt it. I really like your store and do not want to stop purchasing my equipment from you. Thank-you.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Possibly defecttive Xbee Series One Modules

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Hi John. Sorry that this thread got overlooked. It sounds like you have done due-diligence on diagnosing these. If you contact [email protected] with a link to this thread we'll replace these for you.

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johnl148
 
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Re: Possibly defecttive Xbee Series One Modules

Post by johnl148 »

Thank-you Adafruit for what became a very fast and BANNED response to this problem. I love your store and it's fast and convenient service.

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