Trouble connecting Toolboards 1LC to Duet 3 6HC

MathV

@phaedrux
I just catched a connection with a toolboard, but only managed to send a M409 K"boards", which result is:

01/06/2021, 10:08:10:
m409 K"boards":
{"key":"boards","flags":"","result":
[{"canAddress":0,
"firmwareDate":"2021-05-26",
"firmwareFileName":"Duet3Firmware_MB6HC.bin",
"firmwareName":"RepRapFirmware for Duet 3 MB6HC",
"firmwareVersion":"3.3RC3",
"iapFileNameSBC":"Duet3_SBCiap32_MB6HC.bin",
"iapFileNameSD":"Duet3_SDiap32_MB6HC.bin",
"mcuTemp":{"current":37.5,"max":37.9,"min":28.7},
"name":"Duet 3 MB6HC",
"shortName":"MB6HC",
"uniqueId":"08DJM-956BA-NA3TJ-6J1DD-3S86T-KU9AS",
"v12":{"current":12.1,"max":12.2,"min":12.1},
"vIn":{"current":24.1,"max":24.1,"min":24.0}},
{"canAddress":121,
"firmwareFileName":"Duet3Firmware_TOOL1LC.bin",
"firmwareVersion":"3.1.0 (2020-05-15b1)",
"mcuTemp":{"current":0,"max":0,"min":0},
"shortName":"TOOL1LC",
"state":"running",
"v12":{"current":0,"max":0,"min":0},
"vIn":{"current":0,"max":0,"min":0}}],
"next":0}

dc42

@paulhew said in Trouble connecting Toolboards 1LC to Duet 3 6HC:

I am powering the toolboards with 24V from the OUT1 (1LC#1) and OUT2 (1LC#2).

That is not a valid way of powering the tool boards for two reasons;

The OUT ports are ground-side switched. As a result, when a tool board is not powered, its ground will be at +24V. This is likely to feed a common-mode bias back through the CAN bus, which may disrupt CAN traffic between other boards that are powered up.
The tool board has 100uF of capacitance connected between +24V and ground, and another 100uF connected indirectly between +24V and ground. There will be a substantial current surge when you turn on power via the OUT port. That will cause a transient and possibly a brownout. if repeated many times, it may damage the OUT port mosfet.

If you really want to be able to switch power to the tool boards, you need to switch the high side instead of the ground side, and use a slow turn-on to avoid a large current surge. After applying power to the board you will need to delay for a few seconds, then execute the commands to configure that tool board.

MathV

@dc42 Thanks a lot.
As I understand, it is going to be risky to perform this on the 6HC directly (unless I missed something).
I will connect the tools to the 24V PSU with external relays on the high side (in addiction with G4 S5, also suggested by @Phaedrux ). That way, the current surge while switching on the tools shouldn't be a problem anymore.

I have now plugged the tools directly on the PSU, and indeed, some strange behaviours disappeared.
The connection issue is still there, but I noticed the tools were running the firmware 3.1.0 while the 6HC was running on 3.3RC3.
I will downgrade the firmware to 3.1.0, and then try to connect again via the CAN bus.
Is there an update order to respect? (Tools first, and the 6HC at the end?)

T3P3Tony

@mathv said in Trouble connecting Toolboards 1LC to Duet 3 6HC:

but I noticed the tools were running the firmware 3.1.0 while the 6HC was running on 3.3RC3.
I will downgrade the firmware to 3.1.0, and then try to connect again via the CAN bus.

I would not downgrade the toolboards to 3.1.0 better to upgrade the 6HC to at least 3.2.2 and if possible 3.3RC3

MathV

@t3p3tony , Can the toolboards 1LC communicate with the 6HC, enven if their firmware version are different? (6HC-->3.3RC3 and 1LC-->3.1.0)
Just in case my explanation was not very clear:

the 6HC is currently in 3.3RC3
the 1LC are currently in 3.1.0 (I cannot communicate with them, so I cannot update the firmware)
the idea was to downgrade the 6HC to match the 1LC version, then, if the communication is back again, upgrade the 1LC to 3.3RC3 and finish with the upgrade of the 6HC to 3.3RC3.
But may be I am misunderstanding something.

dc42

@mathv said in Trouble connecting Toolboards 1LC to Duet 3 6HC:

Can the toolboards 1LC communicate with the 6HC, enven if their firmware version are different? (6HC-->3.3RC3 and 1LC-->3.1.0)

You won't get full CAN sync or motion if you mix 3.3 with earlier versions, however some commands will still work, in particular M115 and M997.

Version 1.1 tool boards will not run any firmware earlier than 3.3RC.

MathV

@dc42 @t3p3tony @phaedrux, Thanks a lot for your help and time. It is now much more clear.

I managed to catch a sync between toolboard and 6HC, I ran an M997 B121, and it is now working perfectly.

Just to know, is there a procedure to flash the firmware (I only found it for the bootloader) directly to the 1LC with an ATMEL ICE?

dc42

@mathv said in Trouble connecting Toolboards 1LC to Duet 3 6HC:

Just to know, is there a procedure to flash the firmware (I only found it for the bootloader) directly to the 1LC with an ATMEL ICE?

It should be possible to do that, although I've not tried that except for debug firmware that doesn't use the bootloader. Don't remove the the bootloader protection, leave it in place so that the Erase operation doesn't erase it. Tell the ICE to install the binary at address 0x4000.

MathV

@dc42 Thanks again.
I will purchase the ATMEL ICE and try this procedure keeping the bootloader.

dc42

@mathv said in Trouble connecting Toolboards 1LC to Duet 3 6HC:

@dc42 Thanks again.
I will purchase the ATMEL ICE and try this procedure keeping the bootloader.

There's no real need for an ICE unless you want to modify and debug the firmware.