Centroid Community CNC Support Forum

Hello! This is my first time posting and I apologize for any lack of knowledge that I have as well as lack of information that I post to help solve my following problem: my BBG has no heartbeat when attached to the Acorn board.

I modified a Shapeoko setup with my Acorn board about 6 months ago. The CNC has been running without issue as recently as four days ago. Yesterday I tried booting everything up but was met with a looping "MPU reboot" message. Eventually the message changed to "Unable to establish communication with Acorn." I went through the process of checking ethernet cables, ensuring my firewall was off, restarting my computer, and power cycling my Acorn. At one point CNC12 successfully booted however all my limits and my probe registered as triggered. I modified things in Wizard because I thought they might have reset. After closing and restarting CNC12, it was once again unable to communicate with Acorn. At this point I still had a somewhat normal heartbeat: there would be 10 regular beats followed by a pause. Sometime throughout this there was also an update message telling me not to cut power to Acorn. I have not been able to re-establish communication with Acorn and at this point I have no heartbeat at all when my BBG is attached to Acorn. I did remove the BBG and test it with power and have a normal heartbeat. I did follow the instructions to debrick despite this (because I was at a loss of what else to do) and still have a heartbeat but only when the BBG is off the Acorn board. I have removed all leads except power from my Acorn and the problem persists.

TLDR:
- my Acorn/CNC12 functioned normally
- without notable change, my Acorn and computer could not establish communication
- after troubleshooting and debricking, my BBG has a heartbeat but only when off the Acorn board

For what its worth, I assume that I corrupted the software on my Acorn board by cutting power at an incorrect time.

I am unable to access CNC12 to create a REPORT.ZIP because my computer will not communicate with Acorn. (if I can somehow access this I am happy to post it)

I thank everyone in advance for their advice and help!!

i'd try a different BBG

Try and unplug everything except power to Acorn. Power up the power supply only and see if you get the power LED and the heartbeat. If you do, then power down, plug in the ethernet cable,power up Acorn and then power up the PC to see if you can establish communication with Acorn.

Everything except power is unplugged from Acorn. When given power, I get the power LED but no heartbeat. I removed the BBG again for certainty and connected powering using my computer's USB port. It shows both power LED and a heartbeat. I reattached the BBG but after doing so only get the blue power LED, no heartbeat.

PLEKK0 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 12:12 am Everything except power is unplugged from Acorn. When given power, I get the power LED but no heartbeat. I removed the BBG again for certainty and connected powering using my computer's USB port. It shows both power LED and a heartbeat. I reattached the BBG but after doing so only get the blue power LED, no heartbeat.

Not sure what to tell you.
Here is the warranty information on Acorn:
https://www.centroidcnc.com/centroid_di ... ranty.html

If the Beagle Bone Green has a heart beat off of Acorn then something on Acorn is preventing it from booting up.
Marty

By the way, you do not have to disconnect your wires from the plugs. Those plugs UNPLUG from Acorn...

martyscncgarage wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 1:28 pm By the way, you do not have to disconnect your wires from the plugs. Those plugs UNPLUG from Acorn...

Wow, I feel stupid but its all part of the learning process I guess. Your videos have really been the only thing leading me through all of this. I want to be sure I understand you: since my BBG has a heartbeat when off of Acorn, it means the problem is with Acorn. There is nothing left that I can do to diagnose or fix this problem and I should proceed with the warranty/return information you linked.

I appreciate the responses as well as your instructional videos.

PLEKK0 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 2:32 pm

martyscncgarage wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 1:28 pm By the way, you do not have to disconnect your wires from the plugs. Those plugs UNPLUG from Acorn...

Wow, I feel stupid but its all part of the learning process I guess. Your videos have really been the only thing leading me through all of this. I want to be sure I understand you: since my BBG has a heartbeat when off of Acorn, it means the problem is with Acorn. There is nothing left that I can do to diagnose or fix this problem and I should proceed with the warranty/return information you linked.

I appreciate the responses as well as your instructional videos.

If BBG is working when powered from its USB port and there is a heartbeat, then BBG when plugged into Acorn is protecting itself from a voltage that shouldn't be there. Check your Acorn for any whisps of wire, or any chance a pin on the underside might be touching metal or shorting.

You can take your Acorn completely out of the machine and onto the bench for a final bench test with ONLY the Acorn power supply.
Take a voltmeter and make sure you have 24VDC across the yellow and black wires at Acorn.

martyscncgarage wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 2:39 pm

PLEKK0 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 2:32 pm

martyscncgarage wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 1:28 pm By the way, you do not have to disconnect your wires from the plugs. Those plugs UNPLUG from Acorn...

Wow, I feel stupid but its all part of the learning process I guess. Your videos have really been the only thing leading me through all of this. I want to be sure I understand you: since my BBG has a heartbeat when off of Acorn, it means the problem is with Acorn. There is nothing left that I can do to diagnose or fix this problem and I should proceed with the warranty/return information you linked.

I appreciate the responses as well as your instructional videos.

If BBG is working when powered from its USB port and there is a heartbeat, then BBG when plugged into Acorn is protecting itself from a voltage that shouldn't be there. Check your Acorn for any whisps of wire, or any chance a pin on the underside might be touching metal or shorting.

You can take your Acorn completely out of the machine and onto the bench for a final bench test with ONLY the Acorn power supply.
Take a voltmeter and make sure you have 24VDC across the yellow and black wires at Acorn.

I took Acorn out of my machine and its on a wood bench top with only the positive, negative, and ground attached. My voltmeter reads 24.2 VDC across the yellow and black wires. There is no heartbeat. I took BBG off again and tested using USB power. It shows a heartbeat. Once back together, there is no heartbeat. I see no stray wires or points that could be causing a short. The machine was also running fine a few days ago and I have not changed anything in the wiring previous to the problem. Do you have any final suggestion before I begin a warranty process? I'm attaching pictures that look very normal to me but I didn't take any when I first received Acorn and have nothing to compare to.

Can you take a video of the BBG heartbeat and power LEDs off and on the Acorn board?