Ardunio n00b needs some help!

[mvader]

I am a network engineer and a pretty good scripter. so i'm fairly technically inclined.
however I am new with Ardunio.
I can solder, so i figured i would have a go at this project. but i can't seem to get off the ground
I need a little push if someone wouldn't mind.

I purchased.
This Arduino uno r3 board
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281548912985

This Ardunio 5100 shield
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121458024279

And this Radio
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121540572074

I'm trying to just get the ethernet part of it working first.
I have tried both codebender and the ardunio IDE
The sketch verifies and it says it's uploads successfully.

When i go to the device I hit reset on the enet shield and all the lights light up
but i can not ping the device. the ardunio module vera also can not see it, but i'm obviously not surprised by that.

The sketch i'm using is the example sketch at mysensors.org from the the enet gateway link.

is there something I'm missing? have to change because of my board or shield?

Thanks!
Modify message

[ericvdb]

@mvader

try moving the line

gw.begin(RF24_PA_LEVEL_GW, RF24_CHANNEL, RF24_DATARATE, writeEthernet);

between

delay(1000);

and

server.begin();

[mvader]

I will give that a try tonight when i get home.
Thanks for the reply!!

[boozz]

@mvader Could it be that the sketch freezes as you probably may not have used softspi?
In the Ethernet sketch you'll find the info were to enable softspi.
Both the radio and the ethernet shield are not able to share the hardware spi. Your ethernet shield keeps blinking. Try to monitor the gateway via serial. You should at least see the message that the gateway started.

Succes!

Boozz

[mvader]

@boozz said:

@mvader Could it be that the sketch freezes as you probably may not have used softspi?
In the Ethernet sketch you'll find the info were to enable softspi.
Both the radio and the ethernet shield are not able to share the hardware spi. Your ethernet shield keeps blinking. Try to monitor the gateway via serial. You should at least see the message that the gateway started.

Succes!

Boozz

is that something (monitoring) I can do with the aurdunio ide software?
or do i need something else? My board has a micro usb port and i do have the correct drivers installed in windows.
Thanks

[boozz]

@mvader yes it's in the Arduino IDE. See right above for the button to open the serial monitor. Make sure you select the right baudrate once the monitor has opened. Should be 115.200 by default I believe.

BR
Boozz

[mvader]

@boozz said:

@mvader yes it's in the Arduino IDE. See right above for the button to open the serial monitor. Make sure you select the right baudrate once the monitor has opened. Should be 115.200 by default I believe.

BR
Boozz

the port speed seemed to do the trick, thanks for that.
sadly, i keep getting the
0;0;3;0;9;check wires message
I've removed the radio and the ethernet shield, recompiled and re-uploaded many times.
still get the same message. even with the just the uno.
the power is coming from my laptop usb port, I verified i'm seeing 3.3 and 5v on the uno
using both code bender and arduino ide software, i get no errors during compile or upload.
I also did try to edit and enable the softspi include file.
again recompile/re-up
still the same 0;0;3;0;9;check wires

any suggestions?

thanks!

edit: just to make sure my process and equipment worked.
i uploaded the "simple web server" sketch and it did indeed work
so the board and shield seem to be good. I'm just having a problem getting the gateway code to work with it.

[ericvdb]

@mvader
Did you enabled SOFTSPI in RF24_config.h?

[Squint]

@ericvdb If you enable SOFTSPI in the MySensors Library, does that also effect the Sensors or only the Gateway code? Is there anything different you would need to do for the Sensors?

[Squint]

@mvader said:

0;0;3;0;9;check wires

FYI: 0;0;3;0;9;check wires means that the wireless module cannot be initialized. When it starts up, it does a validation check, if that check fails, you will receive the "check wires" message.

This means you either have the module wired incorrectly or you need to enable SOFTSPI as @ericvdb mentions.

I just went through the exact same scenario and after about 2 days of tweaking, I finally got a "Started!" message.

Hang in there, you'll get it. :)

[hek]

@Squint said:

@ericvdb If you enable SOFTSPI in the MySensors Library, does that also effect the Sensors or only the Gateway code? Is there anything different you would need to do for the Sensors?

SOFTSPI is a way to emulate SPI interface on some of the other digital inputs. This is a last resort thing used when one module can't behave correctly on the inteface (normally several devices can co-exists).

It only affects the code you compile and upload (gateway in you case). You should change code back when gateway has been created unless you want to run SOFTSPI on your sensors as well.

[mvader]

@Squint said:

@mvader said:

0;0;3;0;9;check wires

FYI: 0;0;3;0;9;check wires means that the wireless module cannot be initialized. When it starts up, it does a validation check, if that check fails, you will receive the "check wires" message.

This means you either have the module wired incorrectly or you need to enable SOFTSPI as @ericvdb mentions.

I just went through the exact same scenario and after about 2 days of tweaking, I finally got a "Started!" message.

Hang in there, you'll get it. :)

Very helpful. thank you for the info!!

[mvader]

@ericvdb said:

@mvader
Did you enabled SOFTSPI in RF24_config.h?

I did.

I'm assuming that the wireless card is just wired in wrong.
Do you happen to know what file the pins are defined in?

Appreciate all the responses and help.
Getting the simple web server up and running was a good feeling. at least i'm on the right path (& have working hardware). I can move forward with the gateway...

[boozz]

@mvader :

By wireless card you mean the radio (nrf24l01+) i guess...

see here for the wiring.

BR,

Boozz

[mvader]

Just wanted to report back.
I finally got the gateway working.
I had my wires backwards.
the screen shots show boards with white squares around each pin
but my board had no white on it what so ever.
so my guess at what was pin 1 (ground)
turned out to be wrong.
I had to view pics of the boards close up and then i realized my mistake.
so step 1 - make the gateway work - completed!

[ewgor]

@mvader can you please tell us how did u solved with this message 0;0;3;0;9;check wires? i get it when i try the SerialGateway on both Arduinos i have, Mega and Uno! What wires are wrong when only Arduino is connected to my laptop with the USB cable?
Can you please explain more?
Thanks!

[rvendrame]

The "check wires" means that arduino can't communicate with nRF24L01+ radio.

[mvader]

@ewgor said:

@mvader can you please tell us how did u solved with this message 0;0;3;0;9;check wires? i get it when i try the SerialGateway on both Arduinos i have, Mega and Uno! What wires are wrong when only Arduino is connected to my laptop with the USB cable?
Can you please explain more?
Thanks!

I had my wires backwards. (they were not hooked up correctly)
I would suggest verify your soldering work is good and that that wires are in the correct spot. could be a bad / burned up board as well. try switching radios and or ardunios.

[ewgor]

@rvendrame i dont have any nRF24L01+ radio in my house, i just want to try this SerialGateway between my laptop and my Arduino! What wires to check, the USB cable? this is the only cable i have!
Do i have to buy this device RF24L01 in order to see the SerialGateway working between my PC and Arduino?

[rvendrame]

The mySensors runs on a radio mesh network:

http://www.mysensors.org/about/components

You need at least one gateway and one sensor/actuator node. Both with radios. You also need one controller (or computer) to process the messages.