Stuck at „searching“, no connection to Ultradrive

[Kaisendrei]

Hi Lasse!

At first i want to thank you for your great work, the Duino DCX Projekt looks amazing and i‘d really like to use it.

I have bought two different ESP dev boards, ttl adapters and nullmodem-cables, no combination is working for me.
Since the Projekt is a bit older, i think the new version of the Ultradrive could be the problem. I bought it in 2022 i think and its running the firmware version 1.18A.
If you know that this is the Problem it would be nice to tell me. i thought of flashing it with 1.17 but many people report issues with the epromm after using incompatible firmwares.

The Connection with both esp 32 boards works fine but it always sais „searching“. I changed the Tx/rx cables and did everything i read i other forum posts.

Tried a 1:1 nullmodem cable too, nothing works for me.

Tried it with android/macos/iphone.

Hardware:

https://www.pollin.de/p/joy-it-esp32-node-mcu-modul-810873

https://www.pollin.de/p/rs232-ttl-wandler-mit-max3232-810358

https://www.delock.de/produkt/86886/merkmale.html?f=s

The other esp dev board is from ebay, nothing special but works too, same problem with the „searching“

Thanks and best regards
Kai

[Kaisendrei]

And i tried connecting the cables to the „RX0/TX0“ on the esp32 too, nothing worked.
Also the Hardware test was positive, had the +/-5V on the end of my Nullmodem Cable

[Kaisendrei]

Now I tried to flash the ESP with core version 1.0.4 installed. Now I can't connect to the esp Wifi ;D

[Kaisendrei]

okay so now as I tried to flash it again it works fine with the 1.0.4 core. Suddenly I'm able to connect to the Wifi and to the DCX too. helped myself and dunno how ;D

[lasselukkari]

Ok. Sounds like there are issues with the latest core after all. I have not tested it myself but a user reported getting it working with a small change that was merged recently. I will try to find the time to investigate what is the problem. Any ideas @joshwapohlmann?

[lasselukkari]

Did you download the source code from the releases section? The latest changes have not been updated to to releases so that most likely is the problem. I completely forgot that the instructions point to the releases directly.

[Kaisendrei]

I installed the v. 3.3.4 esp core from espressif directly from the side-menu in the Arduino IDE software.
Switching to 1.0.4, installed from the same source, first made problems when trying to Upload the sketch to my Dev board. It needed Python to be installed on my MacOS, and took some more time because Arduino didn‘t find the path to the Python installation.
After reading in some other forums with the Python path Problems i had the Sketch upload working.
With a new Problem, that i was not able to connect to the ESP dev board‘s Wifi 😅
But that was a problem with the noname-esp board.
The board from „pollin electronic“ is working.
Big thanks to all that people diskussing their problems in any kind of forum, and especially to those who solve them.

And some more big thanks and regards to you Lasselukari for creating the Duino DCX and keeping it alive and updatet for so many years!

[Kaisendrei]

Ahh and i want to add, that the wifi Connection to the noname Board was working with the core v.3.3.4 but it wasnt able to find connection to the ultradrive

[noisyyneighbour]

Hi, gonna jump in here since i am having the same issue except it's the first time I touch arduino in my life.
I can connect to wifi but nothing happens, its stuck on the loading.

After Installing 3.3.4 should I re-upload the code to the board?

I see there have been some edits to the DuinoDCX.ino (add manual uart2 pin definition) Do I need to download it again and replace what is in the source file folder?

Also my ESP board only has RX and TX pins (while the code says RX2 TX2), would that affect it's functionality? Do I need to change the name of those pins in the code?

Thanks and sorry for my shameful ignorance on the topic haha

[lasselukkari]

@noisyyneighbour and @Kaisendrei

You most likely followed the instructions and downloaded the latest release, that is not yet up to date with the latest changes and the docs. My bad.

Could you try if it starts to work if you replace these files in the Arduino IDE with the latest changes. You can just copy paste the content of these files and build and upload again.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lasselukkari/DuinoDCX/refs/heads/master/DuinoDCX/Config.h
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lasselukkari/DuinoDCX/refs/heads/master/DuinoDCX/DuinoDCX.ino

I will try to get the latest version released soon, but I have been busy. I currently do not have the hardware set up so I haven't been able to test those changes myself.

[noisyyneighbour]

@lasselukkari thank you so much for taking time in assisting! I haven't had any luck but it is most likely because of me.

1. I downloaded and inserted Config.h into the DuinoDCX folder since it wasn't present after extracting it.
2. copy pasted the two codes in their respective sections

3)uploaded.

Nothing changes, i tried reversing tx/rx cables, with and without nullmodem, setting the port to every option available on the behringer.
Bottom left corner says Indexing 27/60 and stays stuck there. Chatgpt says eventually it should reach 60/60.
Serial monitor displays this

I have no idea what to do or what other info I can provide.
I will try making a video where i start over from scratch and maybe you can tell me if I am skipping or missing something if you have some time, or am I asking for too much baby sitting... :')

Thanks a lot!

[krischinfo]

Hi, I tried the latest tip from @lasselukkari from the 26th or 27th nov. and it works perfectly. I mean the config.h tab. i saved the sketch and i am going to pin it on this comment. i dont know, if it will help, but at least you can try.

thanks a lot by the way! this project is really helpful for me:)

aWOT.cpp
Ultradrive.cpp

[lasselukkari]

Hi, I tried the latest tip from @lasselukkari from the 26th or 27th nov. and it works perfectly. I mean the config.h tab. i saved the sketch and i am going to pin it on this comment. i dont know, if it will help, but at least you can try.

thanks a lot by the way! this project is really helpful for me:)

aWOT.cpp Ultradrive.cpp

Thanks. I will update the release soon to include these latest changes.

[Kaisendrei]

I tried the new config.h and the changes in the DuinoDCX.ino with my noname-board I have left...don't want to crash my Joy-it board that is working at the moment :D It didn't work with the noname one. I think the problem is the board. I ordered a second Joy-it ESP32 board and when it arrives I will try the new way again and tell you.
Thanks for the work!

[Kaisendrei]

Today my second "Joy-It" board arrived and I used the Espressif Core v. 3.3.4 to flash it with the changed Code of the "DuinoDCX.ino" and the new "config.h" tab. Everything works perfectly and I did it with my first Joy-It board too. Both are working and I'm really looking forward to use it when setting up my PA the next time (:
Thanks a lot for the update!