Worklog Starting an Ashida

[ttabbal]

I've got the parts ordered, though I do have to wait for the PMS from 4Layer. No big deal, I'll start the case... Turns out, the supports didn't quite take, probably something was off on the printer. Overall, it looks good though, particularly the outside. The rough areas are where supports contacted the case, as expected. The 3MF files worked quite well. The only issue that I can't fix with simple cleanup is the cooling box. As issues go, it's not so bad and I think I can work around it. But I figured I'd post a couple of pics and see what experienced people here think. The heatsinks and fan fit well, and I could design a little box to fit around there to help keep things in place if needed. It might help to cover the end of the heatsink to keep airflow where it belongs.

 

[ttabbal]

I decided I'm going to try a pro print for the case, Nylon SLS, so I have to wait for that to come in. In the mean time, trimmed the wii... Turned out better than I expected, that Dremel wheel really chews up the PCB.

 

[ttabbal]

JLCPCB did a great job on the case. This is in SLS nylon, they only had a dark grey/black color, but it looks great and has a light texture to the surface. I'd guess it feels like about 800 grit sandpaper. Comfortable to hold, but with a very solid grip. If you are going to paint, it would probably work as is.

Now to start putting parts in, though I have to leave things loose as I won't have the PMS board until 4layer gets the next batch in. No big deal, it should help keep me from getting in a hurry and messing something up.

 

[Brendan]

How much did your nylon case cost?

 

[ttabbal]

How much did your nylon case cost?

With shipping, about $130 USD.

 

[Brendan]

I just got mine like 30 mins ago and its all askew

 

[ttabbal]

I just got mine like 30 mins ago and its all askew

That's not good news. Sorry to hear that. I hope they will make it right for you. I know lots of people have had them print cases and they turned out good. I know some were resin SLA prints, mine was nylon SLS and I think there has been at least one other using that. You should post a thread with pics so people can see and be aware of possible issues.

 

[Brendan]

Im looking into it and it seems that it was a problem with the shipment as the box arrived crushed and not a problem with JLCPCB as the print looks good otherwise
-Shipper was DHL btw

 

[ttabbal]

Most of the wiring is done, other than the power board. They aren't expected for a while still, so I'll have to wait. I can get the MX battery and the rumble installed now, but other than that it's all the PMS. Overall, I would recommend the build, it's been fun and reasonably straight forward.

 

[ttabbal]

Im looking into it and it seems that it was a problem with the shipment as the box arrived crushed and not a problem with JLCPCB as the print looks good otherwise
-Shipper was DHL btw

Mine was DHL as well, but every shipper has packages get messed up sometimes. Sucks when it's yours, but hopefully they fix it quickly for you.

 

[ttabbal]

So, back to it. I got the PMS in and it seems to work. However, I have trouble with the 3.3v rail. Seems like it might be drawing enough power to trip the overload. I connected everything except the wii board and it runs the screen and Ashida boards fine. So I'm guessing there might be a short or something otherwise off on the wii. It did work before trimming, so I may have messed something up. I did the resistance check above, and it seems to match up to expected ranges. So hopefully it's a wiring issue or similar. I don't have the USB lines connected to the USB-C board, so I don't expect it to boot, but the error message that it can't find the drive would be a good step. Any troubleshooting tips?

 

[Gman]

Not a lot to go off of, but first start with the basics and make sure you are using 2 battery cells that are charged up

 

[ttabbal]

Thanks. I was testing with just one cell, but I did charge them up with an R/C charger to make sure they were good to go. I'll do all testing with both cells going forward.

Before charging the fan would stop after a few seconds, and reading suggested that it might be due to low battery.

I did test the voltages on the bare PMS board with just batteries connected. They are all good.

Connected up to the wii and the 3.3v drops. It does power up the screen by itself, so it works to a point... That was why I suspected perhaps an overcurrent issue on the wii. How much should it draw? I have a bench PSU with current limiting I can connect to the wii 3.3v if I know where to set the limit.

 

[Stitches]

Got photos of the current state of the PMS and your voltage wiring?

 

[ttabbal]

Got some pics. I have 3.3v just connected to a wire for now so I could connect the various 3.3v loads individually.

 

[ttabbal]

To be clear, this is a PMS Lite.

I made another go with both cells, reading 4.1v each.

If I connect 3.3v to nothing, a voltmeter reads 3.3v on power up.
If I connect everything other than the wii, 3.3v is stable.
If I connect the wii, with or without the rest, the 3.3v line reads about 100mV.

Fan runs in all cases, so some of it works.

I broke the original LED leads, so I picked up some replacements. I haven't seen it do anything. Should it? I tried with batteries and plugging in a PD supply, thinking it would do something, but I don't see any response. Connecting the USB-C to a computer mounts the drive, so that looks right.

LED
DIN - PMS A
5V - PMS L+
GND - PMS GND
DOUT - N/C

L+ to GND has battery voltage all the time, on or off. This seems weird, but I don't have a schematic, so it might be expected. I tired connecting it to the 5V line, thinking maybe the LED was picky. No change. I haven't gotten out the scope yet, so not sure what the A line is up to.

 

[Stitches]

Have you checked the Wii for a short between 3.3v and ground?

 

[ttabbal]

Have you checked the Wii for a short between 3.3v and ground?

Well, damn. You nailed it, 0.6 ohm now. I could have sworn I checked before adding the PMS, but I must have missed it. Guess I need to figure out WTF I did. There was not an issue when the board was bare, so it has to be something I did. I don't suppose there are pics showing all the 3.3v traces/pads/vias? Other than this sort of thing, I guess there wouldn't be a big need for it.

I got the issue with 3.3v sorted. The BT module shield was grounding out the tab on the 1.8v reg. I removed it and the resistance went back to the original spreadsheet above. I thought I needed it, but it sounds like the newer setups don't.

Still not booting, but the power stays on. No output on screen, so I need to check into why now. The screen lights up for about 30 seconds, just blue, then goes black, so I'm guessing it doesn't sync up for some reason. I didn't expect it to work quite yet as the USB lines aren't connected yet. Other threads with USB issues show an error on the screen, so I'm thinking that's the next place to start looking.