radio init fail on sensor, RF24 init OK

[Ashygan]

Hi,

I've a problem initializing the radio module on a sensor. I created a sensor sketch using humidity sensor sketch. I've removed everything DHT related to leave only a fixed value sent every time the loop method runs (just testing the mysensors part, I don't have a DHT right now).

I'm using MySensors 1.5 and nothing more than a bare Arduino Uno and a nRF24L01+ wired according the "connect the radio" guide. When I run the program, I see a "radio init fail" message. I tried several nRF24 modules (all the same model, bought at the same time) and on an Arduino Mega, I triple checked my wires and wiring (also used a multimeter). The nRF24 module I'm using right now has no problem initializing on another Arduino running an ethernet gateway.

I downloaded the RF24 library from https://github.com/maniacbug/RF24 and the radio module seems to work with the library. Here's what I get in the serial console for the scanner sketch :

RF24/examples/scanner/

00000000000000001111111111111111222222222222222233333333333333334444444444444444555555555555555566666666666666667777777777777777
0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef
00000002222200000000000000000000100000000000000000000000000206253300000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00000002222200000000000000000000200000000000000000000000000201123300000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00000002222300110000000000000001200000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00000001120100111000000000000002100000000000000000000000000100001110000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00000002222222211110000000000000100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Using the GettingStarted sketch, I get the details for the radio module and it's a + model :

RF24/examples/GettingStarted/

ROLE: Pong back

*** PRESS 'T' to begin transmitting to the other node

STATUS		 = 0x0e RX_DR=0 TX_DS=0 MAX_RT=0 RX_P_NO=7 TX_FULL=0
RX_ADDR_P0-1	= 0xf0f0f0f0d2 0xf0f0f0f0d2
RX_ADDR_P2-5	= 0xc3 0xc4 0xc5 0xc6
TX_ADDR		 = 0xf0f0f0f0d2
RX_PW_P0-6	= 0x20 0x20 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
EN_AA		 = 0x00
EN_RXADDR	= 0x03
RF_CH		 = 0x4c
RF_SETUP	= 0x07
CONFIG		 = 0x0f
DYNPD/FEATURE	= 0x00 0x00
Data Rate	 = 1MBPS
Model		 = nRF24L01+
CRC Length	 = 16 bits
PA Power	 = PA_HIGH

I also tried the 1.4.2 MySensors library, but I get a "check wires" error.

Any idea what might be the cause of this problem ?

Thx

Just in case, here's the sketch :

 
#include <SPI.h>
#include <MySensor.h>  
//#include <DHT.h>  

#define CHILD_ID_HUM 0
#define CHILD_ID_TEMP 1
#define HUMIDITY_SENSOR_DIGITAL_PIN 3
unsigned long SLEEP_TIME = 30000; // Sleep time between reads (in milliseconds)

MySensor gw;
//DHT dht;
float lastTemp;
float lastHum;
boolean metric = true; 
MyMessage msgHum(CHILD_ID_HUM, V_HUM);
MyMessage msgTemp(CHILD_ID_TEMP, V_TEMP);


void setup()  
{ 
  gw.begin();
  //dht.setup(HUMIDITY_SENSOR_DIGITAL_PIN); 

  // Send the Sketch Version Information to the Gateway
  gw.sendSketchInfo("Humidity", "1.0");

  // Register all sensors to gw (they will be created as child devices)
  gw.present(CHILD_ID_HUM, S_HUM);
  gw.present(CHILD_ID_TEMP, S_TEMP);
  
  metric = gw.getConfig().isMetric;
}

void loop()      
{  
 /*delay(dht.getMinimumSamplingPeriod());

  float temperature = dht.getTemperature();
  if (isnan(temperature)) {
      Serial.println("Failed reading temperature from DHT");
  } else if (temperature != lastTemp) {
    lastTemp = temperature;
    if (!metric) {
      temperature = dht.toFahrenheit(temperature);
    }
    gw.send(msgTemp.set(temperature, 1));
    Serial.print("T: ");
    Serial.println(temperature);
  }
  
  float humidity = dht.getHumidity();
  if (isnan(humidity)) {
      Serial.println("Failed reading humidity from DHT");
  } else if (humidity != lastHum) {
      lastHum = humidity;
      gw.send(msgHum.set(humidity, 1));
      Serial.print("H: ");
      Serial.println(humidity);
  }
*/
  gw.send(msgTemp.set(23.1, 1));
  gw.send(msgHum.set(57.5, 1));
  gw.sleep(SLEEP_TIME); //sleep a bit
}

[jeti]

the "check wires" error shows when the radio is not wired up correctly. Are you certain that everything is wired up correctly?

But i also have the same "radio init fail" in a relay sensor which worked befor flawless.
I just tried this tip:
http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/728/radio-setup-give-check-wires/30
out of this thread:
http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1728/uno-ethernet-shield-radio-init-fail-solved
This did not do change anything. Did you already try this?

[Sparkman]

Another thing to try is to initialize at 1Mbps. MySensors will by default initialize at 250kbps whereas the other libraries you tried look like they initialized at 1Mbps.

Cheers
Al

[jeti]

that was tip out of my post :smiley:
Did not help with the "radio init fail" :disappointed:
Any other area to look at?

[Sparkman]

@jeti I guess I should have clicked on those links :D

Maybe try the low power mode. Perhaps the power supply is no longer supplying enough power to allow the radio to function. Also try supplying the radio with a separate power supply.

Cheers
Al