MCP2166 Dual 160A Windows COM Port Driver will not start

[dCentralized]

Hi, I have recently received the 2x160A roboclaw and after several attempts to get Windows 10 to recognize the device and start the virtual COM port, i have run out of ideas. Ion studio can not find the controller ofcourse, because the virtual COM port is not started (see below)

I have read the manuals, readme in the driver install folder, and have installed the 64 bit ATMel driver to no effect.

Please refer to the attached images for Device Manager screen shots.

I am connecting the device using a USB cable to my windows PC running latest 64 bit Windows 10. I have tried two different "PC"s (a laptop and a virtual machine, running same OS version)

1) The device is connected to a 12V Lithium battery charged to 13.2V
2) its STAT2 LED is on
3) The Windows Virtual Com Driver , from the ionmc website is downloaded and installed .
4) When the USB cable is plugged to the PC, Windows loads the default USB serial driver and displays a USB Serial Device (COM3) entry. So i know the device is enumerated at the USB level.
4) There is a yellow warning triangle on the device entry which means something went wrong
5) Clicking on details the error message is "A device can not start (Code 10). A device that does not exist was specified"
6) by default, even if the ATMel virtual com port driver is installed, windows picks the built in usbserial driver, and usb.inf.
7) By selecting Update Driver and manually forcing windows to load the Atmel driver,using the "Communication Device Class ASF example" INF entry, i still get the "device can not start error"

at this point i believe i have ruled out user error and am thinking a recent Windows 10 update might have caused this usb serial issues. Or, my controller was bricked from the start.

note this is the 2x160A device: there are NO exposed pins, dip switches, etc etc

i have used Sabertooth motor controllers over USB+TTL serial, from linux, MacOSX and Raspberry PI so i dont think I am missing anything obvious

please let me know if you need any other details

[Basicmicro Support]

The Atmel driver, if installed should be used by Windows. The fact Windows is trying to use the built in driver instead indicates a problem.

Was the unit working on the computer before a Win10 update?
Have you tried using the unit on another computer(preferably not Win10) to determine if it is something specific to this computer or Win10?
When you plug the USB cable in does windows give an error stating the device failed? have you tried a second USB cable?
Are you powering the unit from an external power supply/battery? What voltage? It must be at least 10v.

As a starting point I recommend you completely uninstall the Atmel driver, fully reboot your computer(you may need to disable Win10s quick boot function to produce a true reboot), then reinstall the driver and plug the unit back in.

[dCentralized]

thank you for the reply.

to answer your questions

1) i have already tried two different USB cables. the windows USB enumerator does find the device at the USB level, so the cables are fine
1a) i have tried rebooting, complete shutdown after uninstalling the atmel driver, etc
2) when the device is plugged in, after completing un installing the atmel driver, and then re-installing, the same issue happens: Windows finds the device, but the device fails to start the USB serial driver.
3) i dont have access to a non WIndows 10 machine: windows 10 is the latest windows (and last, since its just released online with updates). Has ION tried Windows 10? Note, i did try two completely different windows 10 machines
4) I mention in my original post that the device is powered by a LiFePO4 battery, 90Wh, with a voltage of 13.2. So it should meet the specs. And, since windows and the USB bus does find the device, i think it does have proper DC power input.

personally, i dont want to use windows at all, since i plan to use the motor controller from a Mac and Linux machines.
so to work around this, can I connect the device to MacOSX or linux, and set the mode i want, through serial?

I would like the device to go into simple serial mode. How do i do that? Remember this is the 2x160A unit so there are no dip switches, exposed headers, etc etc. I looked at the manuals for the 2x160 but they seem out of date: the connectors are not the same size on the device, as in the data sheets: the device has a much larger female connector.

is there a way i can send a serial command to the device that puts it in simple serial? no matter what its current mode is ?

thanks
g

[Basicmicro Support]

I see the problem. You need to use the MCP driver, not the Roboclaw driver. Go to the product page(not general downloads) for any MPC controller. The download section on the product pages has the MCP specific USB driver. MCP does not use an Atmel device. It uses an ST Micro device which uses a different driver.

Had a brain fart I guess. I should have noted that in your original message.

[dCentralized]

thanks, we are getting closer

I used this link:
Product page:
http://www.ionmc.com/MCP2163-Dual-160A- ... _p_38.html

Drive link:
http://downloads.ionmc.com/code/MCP%20V ... driver.zip

indeed, after i downloaded the MCP driver (STMicro) the device now gets picked up the ST micro INF / driver. The default usb serial driver is no longer used, which is good news.

However, it *still* does not start. See attached image.

Now it fails to start because:
"An invalid parameter was passed to a service or function".

at least the right driver is loading for the USB PHY.client chip. Any ideas why it will not start?

[Basicmicro Support]

1. Could be because it is coming up on Com3. Try changing the comport(Right click Properties/Port Settings/Advanced, change comport then ok out). Reboot.

2. Could be left over garbage from when the wrong driver was installed. This is harder to deal with. I would suggest try removing the driver(check the check box that says to remove all files as well). Reboot and reinstall the driver.

3. Make sure you are powering the MCP from an external power source.

[dCentralized]

thanks for the additional guidance, unfortunately, the problem persists:

1) i changed the com port, verified it was assigned a new com port (i tried, 6, 10, 12, etc) but the device still will not start

2) i removed the MCP driver, plus all files, un installed the device in device manager, re-installed the MCP drivers using the files from ionmc, the device was plugged in, recognized as MCP etc, but still, failed to start

3) as i mentioned a couple of times before, the device *is* powered externally by a Lithium battery, 13.3V DC input. its the same battery that has powered other motor controllers and 4WD robots in near past, with no issues. It has full charge

4) note while user error is possible, i have built and deployed multiple high amp motors in the past, controlled by USB, using other motorcontrollers, including older versions of the roboclaw. So again, i think its unlikely its user error at this point.

At this stage, given it has been more than a week, and i have tried everything suggested, plus multiple computers, is it possible to return this unit, have IONMC configure it for simple serial, then send it back to me?

I will be happy to pay for shipping both ways. It will be nice to use my $550 motor controller after all this wait

please send me a private message on this forum and we can arrange for the return or send me other instructions.

thanks

[Basicmicro Support]

Sorry. I missed you said the battery you used. Its a standard thing I mention to make sure there isnt confusion since USB can power most USB devices. Its not safe for USB to power something like a motor controller so we dont allow it.

Yes, you can send the unit in. We will retest it to see if something is wrong with the unit. If we dont find anything we can set the unit up however you like and send it back to you.

Send it to our contact address. Include your contact information and return address on a note inside the shipment. Email support with the tracking and we will turn it around as soon as it comes in.

[dCentralized]

great, thank you. i will mail the unit.