Stopped working!!

varnish5000 · Post by **varnish5000** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 9:18 pm

Was bench testing my MJLJ with TPS using 12V DC from a mains adaptor.

All fine. Config. of TPS went as planned. No problems.

Powered off. Fine

Came back to repeat test, and nothing. The software will not "see" the MJLJ!
I had changed nothing. I had not restarted the computer, anything!

I've tested the voltages as stated in the building guide and all are as they should be.
Re-installed the serial cable driver.
Tried to re install firm ware. Can get to the point were power needs to be applied, but when Power is applied nothing happens.

I about to throw it out the window!!

Help please.

Post by **brentp** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 9:40 pm

It is unusual that it stopped working without anything else apparently changing. However, some of the basic troubleshooting still applies.

* Try testing on a different computer, preferably with a standard serial port, as a test.
* Try powering with a fresh 9v battery instead of your 12V mains adapter.
* Check all of the solder joints, you may have one that is marginal.

Let us know what you find out.

varnish5000 · Post by **varnish5000** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 9:52 pm

There is no resistance between the +ive pin and -ive pin.

Not sure if this is usual.

Will try what you have suggested tomorrow.

varnish5000 · Post by **varnish5000** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:11 am

Melted the solder on every component and retested using 9V battery on a different computer.

Still nothing.

MJLJ configurator reads:
Timeout reading runtime Data.

The resistance on each component is correct.

varnish5000 · Post by **varnish5000** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:39 pm

Anyone else?

No?

Is it FUBAR then?

Post by **brentp** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 10:17 pm

Good that you tested it on a different computer. was this still with a USB-Serial adapter, or with a regular serial cable?

Do you have the EDIS already controlling ignition on an engine? Another way to determine if the unit is basically alive is to determine if it's controlling ignition advance. If you can observe it modifying advance under varying engine conditions (using a timing light) then it could show that the processor is alive, but for some reason a problem exists with the serial communications. Is this something you're able to test?

varnish5000 · Post by **varnish5000** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 11:57 am

Well I've been away for a while.
But I'm getting this project back on track.
I've pluged it into the comptuer and still nothing.
I've used a 9V battery and a transformer with 9V and 12V settings.

Does anyone have any ideas on this?
I' don't really want to buy a new one.

dr.occa · Post by **dr.occa** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 3:51 pm

varnish5000 wrote:Well I've been away for a while.
But I'm getting this project back on track.
I've pluged it into the comptuer and still nothing.
I've used a 9V battery and a transformer with 9V and 12V settings.

Does anyone have any ideas on this?
I' don't really want to buy a new one.

do you have access to another computer/laptop? install the configurator on a desktop computer (if it isn't already) or one different from your current "problem" setup. hook everything up and make sure you have the correct COM port picked in the Configurator Options.

i.e. Right-Click "My Computer">Properties>Hardware Tab>Device Manager button>expand the Ports section. i've got both my onboard COM port available as COM1 and my USB-to-COM cable available as COM9. then just set accordingly in the Configurator Options.

i've attached a visual for the non-auditory

Post by **brentp** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 3:52 pm

Any feedback from the last set of questions I posted?

Another thing you can test is try to upload new firmware to the unit.

see: http://www.autosportlabs.net/3.1.0-2.7.0_upgrade_guide

I think you're using a V3 controller, correct?

It's not to replace the firmware per se, but the firmware upload process communicates with the chip in a different way than the config. software. So- if you can upload firmware but not talk to the unit using the config. software, that may point us in the direction towards resolving this.

Still, it's a realy good idea to do this testing with a regular serial port. Since you're doing this on the bench, are you using a computer with an available built-in serial port?

Let us know what you find out.

varnish5000 · Post by **varnish5000** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:27 pm

Well, I have tried to load new firmwear.

Tried a new cable, a different computer etc.

There is no resistance between the positive and negative pins on the MJLJ.
So I'm confident there is no power getting to the device.

Post by **brentp** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:36 pm

I reviewed the previous posts and saw that you re-melted the joints on the board- that was good troubleshooting step. It would also be good to perform the standard voltage checks defined here:

http://www.autosportlabs.net/MJLJ_V3_ki ... _operation

When powering the unit, only use a 9V battery and clip it to the straight to the pins on the board-mounted molex connector- make sure you have the polarity correct, it's easy to get it mixed up.

In addition to the steps outlined, also make sure you measure approximately '9v' on the wide trace from the molex connector (test points are the band side of D2 and D3).

Let us know what you find out.

varnish5000 · Post by **varnish5000** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:17 pm

Very strange.

All the tests showed perfect power supply.
Now I'm even more confused.

Post by **brentp** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:38 pm

Can you run the MJLJ on an engine already running on EDIS? If so, you can verify the unit is 'alive' by verifying the unit controls ignition advance, using a timing light.

varnish5000 · Post by **varnish5000** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 9:17 pm

No, I'm afraid not.
The engine is in bits, and the car is in even more bits.

And I doubt I'd be allowed to cut up the loom on the other car to test this out.

Post by **brentp** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 9:29 pm

When you tried it on a different computer, was it a computer with a known-good built-in serial port ? When troubleshooting communications issues like this it's a good idea to simplify and bypass unknowns like usb-serial adapters.

You might also want to try the troubleshooting steps using hyperterminal (set baud rate to 4800 for your V3 controller)

http://www.autosportlabs.net/Troublesho ... erterminal