Author Topic: Problem with using the Particle website for flash code  (Read 2927 times)

ScottM

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Problem with using the Particle website for flash code
« on: May 18, 2016, 06:30:30 pm »
My OAKs are showing up on the dashboard, so now I should be able to flash code to them. After several unsuccessful attempts using Arduino IDE, I try with the Particle build site

1. I power up an OAK
2. I run OAK.EXE and select the OAK I powered up from the list
3. I go to the Particle dashboard to verify that the OAK I powered up and selected using OAK.EXE has a flashing blue icon next to it.
4. I go to the build site and call up a simple blink example (see below)
5. The code fails to verify, even though it verifies just fine in the Arduino IDE. The message is "Error: Could not compile. Please review your code."

Does anyone see a problem with this sample code? If I ignore the verification error and try to flash it anyways, it is always unsuccessful (which I expect I guess). BTW, during flash, the message "Flashing code...if it does not flash magenta, verify your code and try again." shows at the bottom. What exactly should we see flash?

Also, I have tried with most of my 9 OAKs and none will accept uploads.




int i = 0;
void setup() {
  pinMode(1, OUTPUT); //LED on Oak
}

//
void loop() {
  for (int thisPin = 1; thisPin < 6; thisPin++) {
    digitalWrite(1, HIGH);
    delay(1000);
    digitalWrite(1, LOW);
    delay(1000);
  }
 i++;
 delay(5000);     


I even simplified it to the following and it still won't verify.

void setup() {
  pinMode(1, OUTPUT); //LED on Oak
}

//
void loop() {

    digitalWrite(1, HIGH);
    delay(1000);
    digitalWrite(1, LOW);
    delay(5000);     
}

PeterF

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Re: Problem with using the Particle website for flash code
« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2016, 08:27:37 pm »
Unless you have heard something I haven't, the answer to your question is that the Particle Build environment is not ready for Oak yet. It was scheduled to be up by now, but I have yet to see any sign of progress on that front yet. They do appear to be doing some work on their side as there is the new integrations tab, and the dashboard tab has had a minor cosmetic change, but that is all I can see on the public end of things. Erik will hopefully be able to tell us soon if he has received any updates as to whether/when they are finally ready to enable support for compiling code for the Oak.

btw, the code you have posted looks fine (both versions). The Arduino IDE is the currently working/supported method of compiling/loading code to the oak until Particle Build support goes online. What issues are you having with the Arduino IDE? Bar one or two failed flashes that just needed doing again, I haven't had any uncrackable issues with it so far ;)
« Last Edit: May 18, 2016, 08:32:02 pm by PeterF »

ScottM

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Re: Problem with using the Particle website for flash code
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2016, 04:03:20 am »
Have you ever sat down to type in a long reply in this forum, only to get some stupid error about permissions that wipes out your reply? That just happened to me PeterF, and I can't remember everything I said.

Suffice to say that I wish that this product had been further along when I received my 10 boards weeks ago. I spent an inordinate amount of time just getting the initial firmware updates to them. I'm still only 9 for 10. I've spent too much time trying to get the Particle IDE uploads going and I wouldn't have tried so many times had I known that it is simply not ready yet.

As for the Arduino IDE, I will post details of my attempts in a new post and hopefully they will shed light on what I may be doing wrong or what I'm missing. I'm using IDE 1.6.8 and board manager 1.0.1.

PeterF

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Re: Problem with using the Particle website for flash code
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2016, 01:56:23 am »
Ouch! No, I can't say I have had any permissions errors, but there's always a first time!

Sorry to hear you've been having so much trouble... there have been some teething troubles with the initial firmware update process which didn't surface until the Oaks were out in the wild and exposed to many more network and hardware environments which Erik hopes will have been mostly resolved in the next factory firmware batch. This is still a very new and green product, especially since being a kickstarter project rather than a retail release.

It's funny you say time spent trying things... I spent quite a while re-shoeing some stable working code to show some data from weather underground, and now the darn thing keeps crashing doing four or five of the weather underground updates... the json parser code is doing my head in, and I'm gonna nuke it now, so that was a complete waste of time! Back to the drawing board :(

I've been using 1.6.7, 1.6.8 and now 1.6.9 of the IDE, and haven't had any issues with the 1.0.1 Oak board package, other than one failed upload the other day that I just needed to do again.  Hopefully we can get to the bottom of the issues you're having on that front.


ScottM

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Re: Problem with using the Particle website for flash code
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2016, 04:53:47 am »
Don't get me wrong. I love technology. I've worked full time in the high tech industry since 1981 and I'm currently a senior test engineer at Zebra Technologies. I love hardware and software and even though I'll never know enough, I still keep trying. This weekend, I will run another series of Arduino tests to see if I can finally use an OAK to monitor my two garage doors. Sometimes they open up on their own and I want to be able to know when they do that. I just wish that my OAKs were working by now. I have another Kickstarter reward, the 7-bot robotic arm, sitting next to me here and I haven't touched it yet. I'll post an update when I get a chance PeterF.

dougal

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Re: Problem with using the Particle website for flash code
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2016, 01:36:43 pm »
Have you ever sat down to type in a long reply in this forum, only to get some stupid error about permissions that wipes out your reply?

I've had that happen to me here before. I think it usually happens when I preview my message first. I've generally gotten into the habit of copying my messages to the clipboard before I try to post, just in case.

I wish these forums were running on something a little more friendly and modern (Discourse is all the rage now). But I'm sure that trying to migrate all the existing posts would be a major undertaking.