[Solved] Kickstarter digispark, Mac OS X 10.8, > Device search timed out

[raldrich]

I purchased 5 digisparks as part of your kickstarter, and finally got time to do something with one of them today.

My problem is, I can't get Mac OS X to recognize any of them (I tried two separate computers, running different versions of Mac OS X, and tried with a USB extension cable).

3 of them, when connected, light the power LED, delay 5 seconds, and start blinking the activity LED

1, when connected, lights the power LED, but never blinks the activity LED (on close inspection, two of the surface mount resistors are out of position, and undoubtedly causing problems), photos at https://dl.dropbox.com/u/77735649/IMG_0220.JPG and https://dl.dropbox.com/u/77735649/IMG_0221.JPG

The fifth was loaned out, and I've no idea if it works.

None appear in the USB section of the System Information application.

None appear in IORegistryExplorer.

Attempting to upload a test sketch in Arduino nets the following:

Binary sketch size: 758 bytes (of a 6,012 byte maximum)
Running Digispark Uploader...
Plug in device now... (will timeout in 60 seconds)
> Please plug in the device ...
> Press CTRL+C to terminate the program.
> Device search timed out

What should I try next?

[digistump]

raldrich






Do you have a hub, especially a powered one, but even a non-powered one - that you could test with?


Some have also had luck with removing other devices from the USB ports while attempting and trying different ports.


What types of Macs? Macbooks, mac mini, etc?


Thanks,
Erik

[raldrich]

Just tested one of them through a USB 2, powered hub, and through a USB 3 powered hub.


Same behavior as before - the device does not appear in system information.


Two computers - one iMac (iMac11, 1), and one MacBook Pro (MacbookPro5,1)


With the MacBook Pro, the digispark was the only device connected.


Also, you probably should take a look at the photos of the one DOA digispark that I linked in my previous post.  I suspect you'll be replacing that one at the very least.

[digistump]

The image of the bad one wasn't up yet when I responded - agreed, certainly a defective one, we'll get it replaced as soon as we get the rest figured out.




Can you try wiggling them in the USB connector on the extension cable and with the USB 2 hub? See if anything appears on the system info. Take a look at the contacts on the USB end and see if they appear centered.


The failure rate is about 0.02% and there were no other failures reported around your shipment (we do keep track) so it seems extremely unlikely that they are all bad.


It seems strange nothing is showing up on system info - this suggests that a connection likely isn't being made. Tons of them (thousands) running on iMacs and Macbooks like yours - so I don't think that is an issue.

[raldrich]

I've gotten them working, in limited circumstance.


1) When they work, they appear in IORegistryExplorer, for 5 seconds, before disappearing from the USB bus.  I expect that this is because the "blink" program doesn't support USB.  They only would show up in System Information if you scanned the system right after plugging it in.


2) They work when plugged directly into USB ports on the MacBook.


3) They work when plugged into a USB 2 hub on the iMac.


4) They don't work when plugged directly into the iMac.


5) They don't work when plugged into a USB 3 hub.


6) They don't work when plugged into an (admittedly random, and probably crappy) USB extension cable, either on the MacBook, or the iMac.


One of the projects I have in mind for them will require compatibility with USB 3 hubs - hopefully you'll be able to resolve that soon.


As for the replacement digispark - no hurry, whatever shipping is cheapest will be fine - please email me for shipping info.


- Ron

[digistump]

Re: replacement - send us an email at support@digistump.com with your full name and/or order id and we'll get it out to you.


Re: USB 3 - at this point, other than a few USB 3 hubs/devices/motherboards that don't seem to play nice not matter what - the only other USB 3 issue that we've seen is generally that USB 3 sockets are bit deeper and the pins just don't make contact - often a good extension cable can solve this. The next revision of Digisparks will have slightly longer USB ends to help with this issue as well.