Orbshield Not Working :cry:

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adamh128
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Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

Postby adamh128 » March 10 2011, 15:10 PM

[quote="adamh128"]I just bought a second-hand orb on ebay with firmware version 4.34 - so once it arrives I'll be able to tell for sure if the issue is down to my original orb (and the old firmware) or if it's a problem with the shield.[/quote]
Well, the orb arrived but I have the exact same problem when trying to use the orbshield. Both orbs work fine with libOrb and a simple GL test application so it's not a problem with the orbs and I don't think it's the Uno hardware as that seems to work ok by itself (I tried some of the test sketches and they are fine).



So it's definitely either the orbshield or the software :(

vputz
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Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

Postby vputz » March 12 2011, 10:04 AM

I'm inclined to agree with you, particularly since the orbs are clearly working and the Uno is programmable.


[quote] I'm wondering why the older firmware orbs don't work with the hidsporb drivers?[/quote]

If I recall right, it had to do with them sending the correct PNP string when they were plugged in and the serial port was fired up. The hidsporb drivers were keyed to the device's PNP id, which was just a string sent on the serial port. From what I remember, the "bad orbs" would work fine with liborb etc (because by then everything was initialized and you just had to deal with orb communications).



The problem with hidsporb is that if WinXP never got that initialization string (or didn't recognize it) it would never even LOAD the drivers. The communications code worked fine--the driver was just never loaded (in the beta of the driver we had a different method for loading things and it worked much better--problem was the unloading didn't work so if you unplugged the orb your system crashed--obviously not good).



What I'm guessing is that somehow the interrupt line isn't getting triggered or something. The reason it's dropping offline is probably that the USB port is asking for an update or keep-alive and the shield isn't sending it. So either the shield/uno isn't receiving the interrupt or there's some delay so that it's not responding fast enough.



Have you tried the OrbSerialTest sketch? Is it communicating with the device OK?



We'll try a couple more things and then I'll ship you a known working shield and/or Arduino; you can ship the broken one and we'll see what's what.

adamh128
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Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

Postby adamh128 » March 12 2011, 11:35 AM

[quote]Have you tried the OrbSerialTest sketch? [/quote]
I do not seem to have this, all I have is:
[list]
  • [*]BasicJoystick
  • [*]GainDemo
  • [*]WASD
  • [/list]

    vputz
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby vputz » March 12 2011, 13:55 PM

    Ah, sure--I probably took it out of the distribution because I figured all was well :(



    Here it is. Just a Real Simple test program; load it up and then turn the serial monitor on (Tools->Serial Monitor). You should see data flow whenever the orb does something.



    If you see that data, the orb comm is working. But what I'm betting is that the orb comm is working just fine and it's something in Interrupt Land. Hey, any chance you accidentally got the zener diodes in backward? The stripes (black edges) should be toward the edge of the board, not the middle. (I'm sure you got 'em right; was just something I thought we could check).



    If it's not that, shoot me your address in a PM and I'll lob a shield over. There exists a chance it still won't work, but it's easy enough to try.
    Attachments
    orbserialtest.zip
    (467 Bytes) Downloaded 721 times

    adamh128
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby adamh128 » March 12 2011, 14:26 PM

    [quote]Here it is. Just a Real Simple test program; load it up and then turn the serial monitor on (Tools->Serial Monitor). You should see data flow whenever the orb does something.[/quote]
    Yea, I get lots of data that changes when I press the orb buttons or ball.


    [quote]Hey, any chance you accidentally got the zener diodes in backward? The stripes (black edges) should be toward the edge of the board, not the middle. (I'm sure you got 'em right; was just something I thought we could check).[/quote]
    I checked the soldering and the orientation of the diodes - all looks fine to me, although my eyes aren't what they used to be :wink:


    [quote]But what I'm betting is that the orb comm is working just fine and it's something in Interrupt Land.[/quote]
    Is there anything else I can try before you go to the trouble of sending me another shield?

    adamh128
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby adamh128 » March 12 2011, 14:57 PM

    I've just put a multimeter across the diodes (I'm not sure this is a valid test with all the components on board).

    Using the test points as shown in the attached image (this is my OrbShield BTW), I measured the resistance across D1 and D2 with the following results:



    (-) probe on A, (+) probe on B: 300K

    (+) probe on A, (-) probe on B: 15K

    (-) probe on C, (+) probe on D: 17K

    (+) probe on C, (-) probe on D: 13K
    Attachments
    OrbShield.jpg
    Diode test points
    OrbShield.jpg (41.9 KiB) Viewed 23876 times

    vputz
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby vputz » March 12 2011, 18:05 PM

    Well, we may be on to something, but damifIkno what.



    - A, +B : 11M

    + A, - B : 31M

    -C, +D : 17k

    +C, -D : 17k



    So that's interesting. Not sure what's up with that diode... on my prototype (long ago), I got



    -A, +B: 30M

    +A, -B : OL (higher than it would measure).



    So I wonder if something's up there...

    adamh128
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby adamh128 » March 13 2011, 6:05 AM

    If I connect the shield to the Uno, I get the following:



    -A, +B : 15K

    +A, -B : 3K

    -C, +D : 11k

    +C, -D : 3k



    Unfortunately I don't have access to a scope otherwise we could have a stab at fault-finding.

    adamh128
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby adamh128 » May 05 2011, 7:09 AM

    Hi Victor,



    Not sure if you're busy - I sent a you PM a while ago, but maybe it didn't get delivered, so I'll reproduce it here...




    [quote]Well the shield arrived...

    but it behaves the same as my original one



    However, all is not lost - I've been playing around uninstalling drivers, trying different ports, even different machines. Occasionally (and I mean very occasionally) it seems to register with the OS ok and I can bring up the joystick panel but this only works for a very short time (usually less than 1 minute) before it disappears again and the yellow warning icon appears in the device manager (same behaviour for both your shield and my original one).



    When it is working, in the joystick panel, moving the orb and pressing the buttons only seems to be reflected in the display every few seconds, like it is only receiving data from the device now and then.



    Maybe it is a timing issue, maybe the Uno is the problem?



    Anyway, I'm going keep fiddling for a few more days. If I can't get any further, perhaps I could send the whole lot back to you (including the Uno) and you can see if you have the same problem.



    Thanks,

    Adam[/quote]

    vputz
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby vputz » May 09 2011, 7:24 AM

    Adam:



    I got an Uno a week ago, so I'll test at some point. Things have gone pretty well south with my marriage (she basically ambushed me with a separation and intent to not come back) despite all efforts so while I've got a lot more free time than I want, I'm suddenly disinclined toward tech projects for a while; apologies.

    adamh128
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby adamh128 » June 17 2011, 12:59 PM

    Just wondered if you'd had any luck reproducing my problem with your Uno?



    Also, please PM me your address so I can return your shield!



    Thanks,

    Adam

    silentguy
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby silentguy » March 26 2012, 12:37 PM

    Wanted to post my experience with Orbshield for others.



    I used this message board, and some other links to get information, but I ended up doing a lot of trial and error.



    Short summary of what I was able to do.



    Ordered Orbshield V1.0 from seeedstudio.

    It took about 2 weeks to arrive from Hong Kong.

    I built it in about 1 hour, but spent the next day trying to get all my serial 3D input devices to work.



    I used the Arduino Duemilanove Board based on the ATmega328.



    I was able to get the following serial-RS232 devices to work with the OrbShield/Arduino combination.



    I am using a Windows 7 Professional, 64 BIT PC, but I've also got it to work on Windows 7 32 BIT PC.



    I successfully used these devices in WASD and MOUSE mode, also with extra Keys mapped.



    SpaceOrb 360

    Spaceball 4000 FLX

    Spaceball 5000

    Magellan Space Mouse Plus XT.



    I had problems which were mostly due to COM port conflicts, and Joystick conflicts.



    Also I had to remove all 3DConnexion drivers, which are drivers used with the Spaceball.



    Also Blue Tooth conflicted with some COM ports, so I removed bluetooth, then once I got the OrbShield working, I reinstalled it, but was careful about what COM ports it used.



    For the SPACEBALL devices you have to press button 1, or * on the Magellan, it's in Vic Putz notes, but I had to read a bit to discover this info.

    At first I thought my spaceballs were broken.



    The order in which you connect USB , disconnect USB, and use DIP switches, is important.

    When things dont work, you sometimes need to reboot, to clear up any USB conflicts.

    Sometimes the PC would think it had old version of the OrbShield USB devices still installled, and this would cause problems.

    Other times my keyboard would stop working, as it was being mapped to OrbShield keyboard.



    However, I finally got things working and I am very happy.



    I am using Spaceball 4000 FLX to play Skyrim, and it is great.

    I can control my character using only 1 hand, but I use both the spaceball and a trackball for menus and finer aiming.



    The 3D control is great, very much like controlling a puppet by moving its head.



    I have also used the spaceball to play Saints Row 3, which is good control too.



    I think for First Person Shooters, it might not be as good control as a mouse and keyboard,

    but I really hate WASD key control, so I succeeded in my goal of eliminating keyboard from gameplay.



    If I think of any other tips I will post more.



    I have keys mapped for the spaceballs, this was a bit tricky, becoz if you have a mistake in your key assignment it wont work.



    Also Spaceball 4000 is diff than Spaceaball 5000 and Magellan Space Mouse.

    Spaceball 4000 can use all 12 keys, for Spaceball 5000 and Magellean Space Mouse you really only get 9 keys, even though there are physically 12 keys on the 5000 and it looks exactly the same as a 4000.







    I played with SpaceOrb 360, which is good, but its a 2 handed controller.

    with Spaceball I can play with 1 hand if I want, and use Trackball with other hand if I want.

    I also use a Bluetooth Number Keypad for number keys, and other key mappings.



    I play mostly sitting on couch, and I dont want a keyboard on my lap, so my goal was to eliminate keyboard.



    I have 2 side tables which I use for Spaceball on left side, and Trackball and Number keypad on Right side.
    Last edited by silentguy on March 26 2012, 18:12 PM, edited 3 times in total.

    silentguy
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby silentguy » March 26 2012, 12:53 PM

    I thought of some other tips.



    I had to use Arduino018 software installation.



    I couldnt get the OrbShield libraries and sketches to work with 016, 017, 019, 020, 021, 022, 023





    I used the OrbShield 1.1 Libraries, and the 1.0 Sketches.

    silentguy
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby silentguy » March 26 2012, 13:02 PM

    I am going to post the links I used.

    While this may be old info for some, it took me a while to find all this.





    Here are the links I used.



    This the one that got me started. However he used Arduino 019, which I couldnt get to work.... I had to use 018.

    http://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheBestControllerForFPSASpaceTecSpaceOrb360ControllerWorkingWithWindows7UsingArduinoAndOrbShield.aspx



    SeedStudio Orbshield

    http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/orbshield-v10-kit-p-671.html?cPath=132_134





    Building the OrbShield

    http://orbduino.sourceforge.net/building.html





    This one is important for the Spaceball 4000, 5000, and Magellan Space Mouse Initialization sequence.

    http://orbduino.sourceforge.net/programming_and_use.html

    adamh128
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    Re: Orbshield Not Working :cry:

    Postby adamh128 » March 26 2012, 13:57 PM

    I'm beginning to think my problems are down to my use of the UNO - I'm tempted to buy a Duemilanove and give that a try.

    Where did you get yours from - the places I can find it online all look rather dodgy.


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