So you didn't solder the sd card in? But your work around looks good.

Correct, just a small notch/hump for the space for the sdcard. The unit just shut down itself and was operating/logging between 08:30-17:10 today. So 8.5 hours on a single (small) battery of 1200mAh. I think for most of us this is sufficient. My own body is already broken way before I reach that point .

Select to expand quote

Rolz said..
hello all,
one of my new units seemed to freeze on boot, it's just locked on this screen.
I haven't seen this before, so wondering what the recommend process is?
Leave it as is for a week+ so it totally drains flat?
Then charge and see what happens?
Issue happened Sunday so I still have a few more days I think until properly flat as the device was apparently full charged.

I get this too. When i still have access a connection to the micro usb fixes it straight away. Not sure how to fix it when its all full off epoxy except the wait a see method ?

Select to expand quote

Alhop said..

Rolz said..
hello all,
one of my new units seemed to freeze on boot, it's just locked on this screen.
I haven't seen this before, so wondering what the recommend process is?
Leave it as is for a week+ so it totally drains flat?
Then charge and see what happens?
Issue happened Sunday so I still have a few more days I think until properly flat as the device was apparently full charged.

I get this too. When i still have access a connection to the micro usb fixes it straight away. Not sure how to fix it when its all full off epoxy except the wait a see method ?

This must be a power supply issue : @boot, the current peaks can be >300 mA (Wifi try to connect), and this causes a power fail. It can be the protection in the lipo, when the lipo has a very low voltage (<3V). When connecting to usb, the supply voltage rises to 5V, and the power supply is again OK.
Another issue could be the (weak") fuse protection in the circuit of the batt connector : sometimes this fuse blows, and the battery supply over the batt connector will not work anymore. A easy fix is to directly solder your bat to the "Vbat" connection and GND.
My advice : test the assembly for a complete drain of the battery. Then, try to start it up with only the inductive charging, but the coil already installed in the housing !!
There is a chance that the coil is to far away from the charging coil, and that the charging power is not strong enough to start the charging.
Good luck !!!

Select to expand quote

rp6conrad said..

Alhop said..

Rolz said..
hello all,
one of my new units seemed to freeze on boot, it's just locked on this screen.
I haven't seen this before, so wondering what the recommend process is?
Leave it as is for a week+ so it totally drains flat?
Then charge and see what happens?
Issue happened Sunday so I still have a few more days I think until properly flat as the device was apparently full charged.

I get this too. When i still have access a connection to the micro usb fixes it straight away. Not sure how to fix it when its all full off epoxy except the wait a see method ?

This must be a power supply issue : @boot, the current peaks can be >300 mA (Wifi try to connect), and this causes a power fail. It can be the protection in the lipo, when the lipo has a very low voltage (<3V). When connecting to usb, the supply voltage rises to 5V, and the power supply is again OK.
Another issue could be the (weak") fuse protection in the circuit of the batt connector : sometimes this fuse blows, and the battery supply over the batt connector will not work anymore. A easy fix is to directly solder your bat to the "Vbat" connection and GND.
My advice : test the assembly for a complete drain of the battery. Then, try to start it up with only the inductive charging, but the coil already installed in the housing !!
There is a chance that the coil is to far away from the charging coil, and that the charging power is not strong enough to start the charging.
Good luck !!!

I'm already on VBat / Ground so that rules that out.

Hot off the press. Fingers crossed it works ok.

Looking awesome Al...Is that a Resin print?

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Flex2 said..
Looking awesome Al...Is that a Resin print?

Normal PLA but I covered it in that flexible clear resin . It's come up really smooth and shiny. Super happy with it.

Looking very nice, popping candy red!
Did you continue pooring until it started to flood over the edges in a single go, or did you treated the case with resin first? I'm waiting for my resin to arrive as well. Will post some pictures later this week.

That looks awesome!

Select to expand quote

Freezer said..
Looking very nice, popping candy red!
Did you continue pooring until it started to flood over the edges in a single go, or did you treated the case with resin first? I'm waiting for my resin to arrive as well. Will post some pictures later this week.

Yep that's what i did. Just kept pouring in the top until it went over the sides. I was going to use a polycarb screen but just filled it with epoxy instead. It sets super clear and rubbery so should protect the e-paper quite well.

Printing box two at the moment so will take some snaps of my process next time.

Select to expand quote

Alhop said..
Hot off the press. Fingers crossed it works ok.

I am very impressed with that shiny finish. Looks great!
Is that potting epoxy or something else?
I just hope the E paper will be sufficiently protected from knocks.

Select to expand quote

Alhop said..

Freezer said..
Looking very nice, popping candy red!
Did you continue pooring until it started to flood over the edges in a single go, or did you treated the case with resin first? I'm waiting for my resin to arrive as well. Will post some pictures later this week.

Yep that's what i did. Just kept pouring in the top until it went over the sides. I was going to use a polycarb screen but just filled it with epoxy instead. It sets super clear and rubbery so should protect the e-paper quite well.

Printing box two at the moment so will take some snaps of my process next time.

Out of interest what brand of epoxy did you go with? I've seen some go yellow and if I do go down epoxy path I want to be sure I get that super clear look like you've got going

I used this epoxy and also used a heat gun to help get the bubbles out when I filled it up.

riot.com.au/products/clear-and-flexible-epoxy-resin-500ml-1-1-by-volume?dfw_tracker=107798-39637671149645&gclid=CjwKCAiA_6yfBhBNEiwAkmXy58o6sdm6v53Dg34EK-p-h3k73sIV7S9BqAFwZWzTFd8U2g7LbvKdjxoC0SIQAvD_BwE

For the next one i am going to insert the poly carb screen then cover with epoxy. Will test both for a while and see if they both survive.

FYI. The epoxy has lifted / bubbled slightly where the battery / charging coil heats up a bit when charging. No big deal I don't think as its all still sealed really well. Might need to print the the case a bit rough rather than smooth so the epoxy sticks better ?

First sail will be on Friday. Fingers crossed.

Select to expand quote

Rolz said..

Alhop said..

Freezer said..
Looking very nice, popping candy red!
Did you continue pooring until it started to flood over the edges in a single go, or did you treated the case with resin first? I'm waiting for my resin to arrive as well. Will post some pictures later this week.

Yep that's what i did. Just kept pouring in the top until it went over the sides. I was going to use a polycarb screen but just filled it with epoxy instead. It sets super clear and rubbery so should protect the e-paper quite well.

Printing box two at the moment so will take some snaps of my process next time.

Out of interest what brand of epoxy did you go with? I've seen some go yellow and if I do go down epoxy path I want to be sure I get that super clear look like you've got going

I checked with Flex and you need to ensure a few things: Needs to be of the pooring type, ultra clear, slow curing, low-heat, being able to fill the right thickness level. The UV resistance is important, as it will not turn yellow over time. However Flex had no problems while it was not listed as UV resistant.
I went for the following: www.mrboat.nl/epoxy-giethars/epoxy-giethars-ultra-clear-75/
I printed a frame that will keep the case nicely level. I already received the pooring epoxy, but will likely start doing the first pore on Friday. Fingers crossed.

Select to expand quote

I checked with Flex and you need to ensure a few things: Needs to be of the pooring type, ultra clear, slow curing, low-heat, being able to fill the right thickness level. The UV resistance is important, as it will not turn yellow over time. However Flex had no problems while it was not listed as UV resistant.
I went for the following: www.mrboat.nl/epoxy-giethars/epoxy-giethars-ultra-clear-75/
I printed a frame that will keep the case nicely level. I already received the pooring epoxy, but will likely start doing the first pore on Friday. Fingers crossed.

Don't think you should take my word as gospel how to do things, I was just the first to make the unit from Jan's design and pot it using cheapest and most available resources. There is always a different/better way. Just love the open source nature of this project so others can build on what has gone before.

Beitian added several M10 chips (ubx M10050) to the assortiment !! They are marked as the BE-series. Again in different sizes : BE-180, BE-220, BE-250, BE-280. There is even a BE-126, but without Antenna. I ordered 2* BE-180. Price is the same as the BN series (ubx M8.)
nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005004756134206.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.3c7e79d24KLnwL&gatewayAdapt=glo2nld
I received 3 16GB micro SD cards from Ali, first tests look good. Read/write speeds even better then the Sandisk Ultra 16GB.
nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005004274548931.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.10.3c7e79d24KLnwL&gatewayAdapt=glo2nld
Greetings, Jan.

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Alhop said..

Rolz said..
hello all,
one of my new units seemed to freeze on boot, it's just locked on this screen.
I haven't seen this before, so wondering what the recommend process is?
Leave it as is for a week+ so it totally drains flat?
Then charge and see what happens?
Issue happened Sunday so I still have a few more days I think until properly flat as the device was apparently full charged.

I get this too. When i still have access a connection to the micro usb fixes it straight away. Not sure how to fix it when its all full off epoxy except the wait a see method ?

interestingly I have another unit with a frozen screen... again with the wake up screen, also with 5.71
Will let this one run down before putting on charge again to see if it comes back to life.
The first one I had frozen was def the board, but to freeze at the same spot makes me wonder...

How long is a general rule of thumb to wait for the battery to go flat before trying to put on wireless charger?
This Sunday will be a week.

Select to expand quote

Rolz said..

Alhop said..

Rolz said..
hello all,
one of my new units seemed to freeze on boot, it's just locked on this screen.
I haven't seen this before, so wondering what the recommend process is?
Leave it as is for a week+ so it totally drains flat?
Then charge and see what happens?
Issue happened Sunday so I still have a few more days I think until properly flat as the device was apparently full charged.

I get this too. When i still have access a connection to the micro usb fixes it straight away. Not sure how to fix it when its all full off epoxy except the wait a see method ?

interestingly I have another unit with a frozen screen... again with the wake up screen, also with 5.71
Will let this one run down before putting on charge again to see if it comes back to life.
The first one I had frozen was def the board, but to freeze at the same spot makes me wonder...

How long is a general rule of thumb to wait for the battery to go flat before trying to put on wireless charger?
This Sunday will be a week.

Maybe slightly differant but had the same happen with two units I am putting together at the moment, lucky not potted so using Arduino plugged them back in to unfreeze.

Interestingly I first loaded the Firmware via USB and everything worked fine unit starts, stops, sat okay etc but when I went to change the config file via connecting it via wireless and using the new web interface is when the issues started, exactly like your frozen screen.

The issue seems to have resolved itself by first pluggung in the USB to unfreeze, connect via wireless and then load the firmware via the new Web Interface this then solved the issue when changing the config file via web interface no longer freezing the screen.

The units booted as per normal, seems if you load the firmware via the USB then try to change the config file via webinterface it freezes the unit on the above screen, might not be whats happening with your units Rolz and it could be I'm doing something wrong.

Select to expand quote

Rolz said.. How long is a general rule of thumb to wait for the battery to go flat before trying to put on wireless charger?
This Sunday will be a week.

Just because the screen is frozen, doesn't mean the processor has stopped running.
The battery probably went flat in 10hrs. Even if it hasn't you don't put much energy in it by a quick charge to see if it wakes. That's what Anita found anyway.

Select to expand quote

decrepit said..

Rolz said.. How long is a general rule of thumb to wait for the battery to go flat before trying to put on wireless charger?
This Sunday will be a week.

Just because the screen is frozen, doesn't mean the processor has stopped running.
The battery probably went flat in 10hrs. Even if it hasn't you don't put much energy in it by a quick charge to see if it wakes. That's what Anita found anyway.

The first one that froze and was unrecoverable the battery was still full charge, I'm currently using it to test on my 4th build... so between my first one that is still just amazing and why I'm persisting and the bad luck on the others, I'll figure out whats going on

A full battery after a week, sounds like an open circuit, no power to the processor at all. Maybe a bad solder joint or broken wire.

This morning I decided to put the frozen one on the wireless charger and it came back to life... though initially it cycled through the screens, then turned off and back on... now after being on charger for an hour it sits on the esp32ap screen...

But when I connect to it, I get 2 ping responses and then shuts down, does save data screen and then reboots again back to esp32ap screen.

I'm leaning towards the reed switch in it has crapped out.

Will leave on charge a little longer and if no luck will have to crack it open

You may also want to double-check that you are loading the correct firmware. If the wrong firmware is loaded, it may look like everything is fine, but the units appear to freeze on some screens. I just had that happen after downloading and compiling the current firmware, and not realizing that the 5.72 sources on Github have the M10 chips set as the default, without checking if that is indeed the case.

To Jan: when supporting multiple chips that require different initialization or baud rates, it becomes essential to verify that the communication works as expected. For example, the firmware should check if it receives the "ACK" messages after setting anything. That way, it should be possible to automatically figure out the chip type and the correct baud rate.

Select to expand quote

boardsurfr said..
You may also want to double-check that you are loading the correct firmware. If the wrong firmware is loaded, it may look like everything is fine, but the units appear to freeze on some screens. I just had that happen after downloading and compiling the current firmware, and not realizing that the 5.72 sources on Github have the M10 chips set as the default, without checking if that is indeed the case.

To Jan: when supporting multiple chips that require different initialization or baud rates, it becomes essential to verify that the communication works as expected. For example, the firmware should check if it receives the "ACK" messages after setting anything. That way, it should be possible to automatically figure out the chip type and the correct baud rate.

Good one! I just flashed some new screens to the latest firmware (before connecting anything). I will connect some M10 chips but of you use still the older M8 ones (BN180, BN220, BN280) you need to comment out the 6th line in the Rto5.h:
#define UBLOX_M10 //indien ublox M10 wordt gebruikt, andere ublox init nodig !!!
into
//#define UBLOX_M10 //indien ublox M10 wordt gebruikt, andere ublox init nodig !!!

In the Ubloc.ccp it will check if this parameter is defined, otherwise it will use the M8 initialization.
It would definately be nice if the firmware would switch between the various gps chips, baudrates and epaper-screens instead of loading different bin files.

Just finished the first build with the Betian BE250 M10 chip. It works as expected. The height is a lot smaller and might be an advantage as well, mainly because of the ceramic antenna thickness. I stuffed some additional foam in the case to prevent it from moving. I used both settings UBLOX_M10 and ALI_M10 in the Rtos5.h to set it to M10 and baudrate 38400.
Next runner up is the BE220, I also have 2 of those. Then I can start some comparisons in practice on both accuracy and battery usage.

I got distracted with the chips and display delivery today, so did noy yet started on the pooring process

Select to expand quote

boardsurfr said..
You may also want to double-check that you are loading the correct firmware. If the wrong firmware is loaded, it may look like everything is fine, but the units appear to freeze on some screens. I just had that happen after downloading and compiling the current firmware, and not realizing that the 5.72 sources on Github have the M10 chips set as the default, without checking if that is indeed the case.

To Jan: when supporting multiple chips that require different initialization or baud rates, it becomes essential to verify that the communication works as expected. For example, the firmware should check if it receives the "ACK" messages after setting anything. That way, it should be possible to automatically figure out the chip type and the correct baud rate.

I'm just downloading the bin file, not compiling...
This was the one I've been using github.com/RP6conrad/ESP-GPS-Logger/tree/master/Bin_files_BN213
Will do a build and test later on today, once confirmed it's all ok compared to my existing esp32-gps and my mini-motion I will seal it up.
Fingers crossed that'll be my last bad luck one

Wow. You all are figuring this out. I think you guys should all form a co-op, or a corp, and go into business making and selling these things. This is excellent R&D.

That's what can happen with open source stuff. A small user base, makes specialised stuff uneconomical commercially. It only takes a handful of smart enthusiasts, to come up with the goods

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Freezer said..
It would definately be nice if the firmware would switch between the various gps chips, baudrates and epaper-screens instead of loading different bin files.

Figuring out baud rate and chip type should be straightforward, but I don't know how to figure our which screen is used.
The real problem is combinatorial explosion. Supporting 3 screens, 2 baud rates, and 2 different processor types would require 3x2x2=12 different versions the firmware. That, in turn, would increase the chances that users upload the wrong firmware for their unit, and then wonder why things don't work. When I had loaded the M10 firmware in error, the screen still showed 20 satellites, but then seemed to be stuck. I only noticed the wrong chip type when seeing the "M10" in the shutdown screen.