[GB] Beam spring USB-C xwhatsit + solenoid drivers; Displaywriter xwhatsits as well

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Weezer

27 Oct 2020, 01:18


Ellipse

04 Jan 2021, 21:05

As an update the remaining solenoid drivers, non-displaywriter beamspring controllers, and displaywriter beamspring controllers are on the second container shipment that left the factory last week and will be arriving to me in late February. The main reason for the delay was due to delays finishing up the second container shipment's other items (mainly the keyboards) - full details are available on the project web site updates page.

Quantities ordered as of last week:
Solenoid 193
xwhatsit solenoid driver 214
non-displaywriter beamspring controllers 17
displaywriter beamspring controllers 5

All these items are still available to order on the project web site.

vincent

27 May 2021, 00:04

Edit: I created a dedicated thread for a problem I’m trying to address with my non-displaywriter beamspring USB-C controller instead of asking for help in this thread.

Edit2: After the first edit, I realized I received a response in this thread, so I should revert my first edit. Here’s approximately what I originally wrote:

Hey all, I was wondering if you could help me troubleshoot my new controller not being recognized on my computer. The controller is the USB-C non-displaywriter beamspring controller from modelfkeyboards.com and the keyboard is an IBM 5251.

I could not get my computer to recognize the controller. I’ve tried shorting prog, plugging in, and quickly unshorting prog, as well as the other methods for entering bootloader mode as described on Ellipse’s website and in pandrew’s doc, but I still couldn’t get anything to show up in pandrew’s xwhatsit util (built locally and up-to-date) nor qmk toolbox. System Information -> USB on macOS doesn’t show any difference when the controller is plugged in or not. Even xwhatsit’s original documentation says that the computer should at least recognize something when the controller is plugged in. pandrew’s compact beamspring controller over micro usb shows up in pandrew’s xwhatsit util when I plug it in, so this should somewhat rule out the computer/OS being the problem.

I’ve tried using two of Apple’s official USB-C cables purchased directly from the Apple Store, so I know the cables are up to spec, and I’m plugging directly into one of the free USB-C ports on the MacBook Pro’s chassis (no external hub).

I read the warnings before doing anything. I did not connect anything to the expansion header as of yet (clarifying this to show that I have not damaged the solenoid nor the solenoid driver). I’ve observed ESD precautions. Hardware-wise, I’ve only seated the controller in my 5251 and grounded it and connected the controller to my computer over USB.

Is the controller DOA? I’ve spent hours scouring documentation and reading through forum threads and am at a complete loss as to what to do next. I have a multimeter, an LCR meter, and a full soldering station setup. Can anyone help me troubleshoot this or point me in the right direction?

Cheers,
Vincent
Last edited by vincent on 27 May 2021, 00:33, edited 2 times in total.

Ellipse

27 May 2021, 00:25

Thanks for your thorough troubleshooting notes vincent. Have you tried on another computer and on another USB port, with all other xwhatsit / QMK type controllers unplugged?

I load the old xwhatsit firmware on each beamspring controller so it is unusual that one would arrive nonworking.

vincent

27 May 2021, 10:03

On macOS:

I’ve tried every port on the MacBook and made sure no other xwhatsit/QMK-type controllers were plugged in.

On Windows 10:

And, today, I tried on an up-to-date Windows 10 machine and got the same results. That is, pandrew’s xwhatsit util.exe doesn’t show anything when I try to plug in the controller in bootloader mode and Device Manager doesn’t show any difference when the controller is plugged in or not plugged in. I also made sure to check if there was an “Other devices” entry in Device Manager with “ATmega32U2 DFU” under it, but I found no such entry. I’m plugging directly into a native USB-C port on the motherboard in the back of the PC in order to rule out any USB hub weirdness.

vincent

29 May 2021, 01:44

I got it to work! With pandrew's help. I guess genuine Apple OEM USB-C to USB-C cables are not compatible with the converter. I would have thought Apple’s cables are up to spec and are backwards compatible, but at least it didn’t fry the controller like some cheap out-of-spec USB-C to USB-C cables would have done. Or maybe this could imply that the controller is out-of-spec in negotiating the right protocol with the cable and host device? I don’t know the spec, but what I do know about it is that it’s a mess, which is why I’m always wary about using untrusted USB-C cables. I think I'll read up on the USB spec today. A little bit.

The cable that ended up working for me was a USB-C to USB-A cable. In particular, this cable came with my Logitech Brio 4K webcam and is branded with the “Logi” logo on the USB-C plug. The USB-A plug has a blue connector, implying that the cable must support some version of USB 3.x. The cable has an outer diameter of 5.0mm, which is quite thick. I did not measure the impedance of the cable.

So, I was able to enter bootloader mode via pandrew's xwhatsit util and erase the EEPROM and flash my customized QMK firmware to the controller using qmk_toolbox.

Much thanks to pandrew and Ellipse for helping me to get this to work!

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