Xenon
Hi, newbie here.
I just received my first ez-b board. I'm going through the tutorials to get started, but am stuck on getting bluetooth working. I went through the diagnostics video steps with my voltmeter and it seems there are connections between the IC and the bluetooth board that have continuity that shouldn't. The video doesn't say what to do in that case.
I'm running Windows 8 on a laptop. I'm using the Windows bluetooth stack. I'm using a bluetooth radio dongle on my laptop that I purchased from ez-robot when I bought the ez-b kit. The red led flashes on the bluetooth board, and the blue led flashes rapidly (not pulsing.). Obviously I can't upgrade the firmware when I can't get bluetooth working.
The only thing that looked a little strange was, on the back of the ez-b board, one of the pins from the bluetooth connector had been soldered to the little +5 v pad next to it. Perhaps that is as it should be, it was only connection that looked a little funky to my eye.
So... what should I do? I tried to send an email via contact web link here but it was rejected saying that technical support is not accepted through email. So I'm turning to this forum.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Does you laptop discover or see the EZ-B board if you go into your bluetooth settings on the laptop?
Hi charleybot,
No,my laptop does not discover the EZ-B board. It does see a couple other devices so I know bluetooth is on and functioning on the laptop.
So I removed the bluetooth module, unseated and reseated the IC, reattached the bluetooth module and... bluetooth works! Just updated the firmware. I guess something got jostled loose during shipping. All good now.
Good, so your up and running!
I experienced the very same situation! When I opened the kit, I was not impressed with the blue tooth module attachment method! That piece of double sided tape was not doing it for me! I tried to connect for at least one hour (followed all the tutorials etc, but no luck), until I ended up on this post. I also removed the module, wigle, and reinserted but nothing. I just decided to get rid of the double sided tape underneath the blue tooth module and tried again and whala it is working. But this is annoying! I mean now the module is practically hanging without support! I just dont like it this way. This is going to mean unwanted disconnections.... I am contemplating to replace the connection with in between male/female connection. But for now, the latest firmware is updated and I am ready for the next step.
The connection for the Bluetooth module is a 4 pin plug, much like servo connections and every the connection for every electronic DIY kit available. The reason for using a plug is flexibility and expandability. The Bluetooth module can be removed to service the chip, which is replaceable in case it is damaged from mis use. The module can also be replaced to enable wifi or direct ttl connectivity.
The double side table holds the module from moving sound during shipping.
The largest problem with Bluetooth connectivity issues is not the seating of the module that you feel was the cause. Bluetooth is a little flakey in windows and some laptop hardware. In a day, I will experience 5-6 times I can't connect to anything. The solution is to either reboot my computer or cycle the power on the laptops Bluetooth setting (if available).
We make everything as easy as it can be - but it still requires a bit of fiddling because your computer hardware and software are not perfect.
Just an update on my own situation in case it helps anyone (still working fine by the way), I don't think my initial connection problems were related to the sticky tape as chemcool suspects, and it was not a bad solder as I suspected in my original post.
When I first tried to connect, the list of bluetooth devices didn't show EZ-Robot but did show something called 'livnor', which I assumed was a device belonging to a neighbor. But I saw in another thread someone also discovered 'livnor' instead of EZ-Robot so it looks like the EZ-B was being discovered after all, but the name was misleading me.
I don't know if anything I did actually fixed the problem, or if it's just the flakiness of bluetooth and Windows that DJ mentions, but here is what I did that seemed to fix things for me:
I pulled out the bluetooth module. I prised up the IC on the EZ-B board with a screwdriver, reseated the IC, and replaced the bluetooth module. I reused the original sticky tape. Then when I tried to pair bluetooth 'livnor' was gone, 'EZ-Robot' was now visible, I was able to pair successfully, update the firmware, and get started with ARC. I haven't had any connection problems since.
Also, just want to say how great this platform is. It's almost TOO easy to get something up and running, and my head is spinning with ideas for re-animating various toys and other household objects!
Since I have pulled out and re seated I experience no further connection problems.I will how ever use similar idea to stable the module. My windows did pick up linvor very first attempt, but I just could not connect, and that is when I removed the module as above. But, once again thank you to both of you gentlemen for a prompt reply!
Today we will explore more and more!