Balboa 32U4 - Cannot Establish USB Connection

RockStarArtist · March 20, 2017, 4:48am

Situation as it Stands:

Computer(s):

MacBook Pro 15 MacOSX Yosemite 10.10.5
MacMini MacOSX Capitan 10.11.6

Console System Log does not show anything when the USB cables are attached/detached to both the computer and the Balboa 32U4. This is on both apple computers.

About This Mac/System Report/USB does not show the Balboa 32U4 Robot on either computer.
Running ls /dev/cu* on the command prompt does not show the 32U4 on either computer.

Software:

Arduino 1.8.1
Preferences Contains:
https://files.pololu.com/arduino/package_pololu_index.json
Board is set to: Pololu A-Star 32U4
Port only shows: /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port, /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Modem

Cables:

1 ~2’ MicroUSB - USB data cable (previously owned)
1 ~2’ MicroUSB - USB data cable (purchased today, March 19th at Microcenter)

Balboa 32U4 Robot:

Yellow LED next to the Micro USB port lights up when cable is connected.
Blue LED lights up when power on button is selected, or power switch is switched to on position. (Batteries Are Attached)
Has male header pins soldered on the left 2 connections, male header pins soldered on the top 2 connections and the 40-pin female connector for the raspberry pi soldered on the raspberry pi port.
No Raspberry pi is connected.
No other sensors or devices are connected to the 32U4
All other Balboa kit components are soldered, mounted, and connected (motors, gears, buzzer, plastic casing, etc.)

Attempted the following on both computers:

The USB cables were connected on all ports on each of the computers, restarting Arduino IDE on each case.

Installed Latest FTDI Virtual Com-port Drivers for MacOSX from:
http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm
And attempted to connect again with the USB cables to no avail.

Disabled Kext Signing Security on the Yosemite Computer, by running the following terminal command:
sudo nvram boot-args=kext-dev-mode=1
Restarted computer, and attempted with the USB data cable, the 32U4 was not detected.

I connected my Arduino UNO R3 on both machines and they were seen by the Arduino IDE, but I believe that board does not use the Virtual Com-port driver. But it did validate that the Arduino IDE functions on both computers.

Things that I thought of trying over the next day:
I still need to go over each of my solder points to make i sure i didnt bugger anything(I have to take the Balboa apart), but I can tell you I did not burn, bubble, or overheat the board at any point. Would any flakey connections to the digital/analog connections even affect the 32U4’s USB device from even registering?

Disable Kext Signing on the El Capitan Mac.

Update one of the Macs to OSX Sierra and see if that does anything.

Try connecting the Balboa 32U4 to a Windows or Linux machine.

Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

AmandaS · March 20, 2017, 10:02pm

Hello.

I am sorry you are having trouble getting both your Macs to recognize the Balboa. The USB interface is directly connected to the ATmega32U4 chip (see the “Balboa 32U4 control board schematic diagram” under the “Schematics and dimensions” section in Pololu Balboa 32U4 Balancing Robot User’s Guide), so it is not likely to be affected by poor soldering.

You mentioned that the “yellow LED next to the Micro USB port lights up”. Can you clarify what you mean by that? There is no yellow LED near the USB connector.

Can you run sudo dmesg in a terminal immediately after plugging in the Balboa 32U4 robot to either of your computers and post the output results here? Also, can you try pressing the reset button twice (within 750ms), which should make the Balboa go into bootloader mode, and describe the LED behavior?

- Amanda

RockStarArtist · March 21, 2017, 1:42am

Amanda, thank you for responding to my request for help!

You mentioned that the “yellow LED next to the Micro USB port lights
up”. Can you clarify what you mean by that? There is no yellow LED
near the USB connector.

:: I think you can convince me that the color for the LED just above the micro-USB port is green!

Can you run sudo dmesg in a terminal immediately after plugging in the Balboa 32U4 robot to either of your computers and post the output results here?

**:: Requested output:**
    x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2e8b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27481] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2e8b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27483] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1843. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27484] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb117b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27570] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2e8b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27711] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2aab. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27712] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1273. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27713] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1abadba3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27756] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feafda511f3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27809] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2e8b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27810] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feafda511f3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27811] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1273. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27812] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2aab. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
             0 [Level 7] [Facility messagetracer] [com.apple.message.domain com.apple.kernel.tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature2 sysctl] [com.apple.message.signature3 sh] [com.apple.message.summarize YES] 
             0 [Level 7] [Facility messagetracer] [com.apple.message.domain com.apple.kernel.tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature2 sysctl] [com.apple.message.signature3 sh] [com.apple.message.summarize YES] 
             0 [Level 7] [Facility messagetracer] [com.apple.message.domain com.apple.kernel.tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature tcpinfo] [com.apple.message.signature2 sysctl] [com.apple.message.signature3 sh] [com.apple.message.summarize YES] 
             0 [Level 7] [Facility messagetracer] [com.apple.message.domain com.apple.kernel.tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature tcpinfo] [com.apple.message.signature2 sysctl] [com.apple.message.signature3 sh] [com.apple.message.summarize YES] 
    Google Chrome He[27941] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb24db. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27942] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2c9b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[27943] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1273. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28152] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1273. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28153] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb0d5e77c3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28154] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feafda511f3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28258] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1843. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28259] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb24db. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28260] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb0d5e77c3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28356] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feafda511f3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28357] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb24db. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28358] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1843. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28557] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb0d5e77c3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28558] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feafda511f3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28559] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb193b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28631] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2e8b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28632] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb0d5e77c3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28633] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feafda511f3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28634] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2e8b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28635] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb0d5e77c3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28637] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb0d5e77c3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28638] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb0d5e77c3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28661] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb117b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28675] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb307b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28676] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feafda511f3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28677] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb193b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28741] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb307b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28880] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb117b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28881] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feafda512eb. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28882] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feafda511f3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28962] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb117b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28982] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feafda511f3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28983] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb307b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[28984] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb0d5e77c3. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29082] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb307b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29083] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb117b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29084] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1843. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
             0 [Level 7] [Facility messagetracer] [com.apple.message.domain com.apple.kernel.tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature2 sysctl] [com.apple.message.signature3 sh] [com.apple.message.summarize YES] 
             0 [Level 7] [Facility messagetracer] [com.apple.message.domain com.apple.kernel.tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature2 sysctl] [com.apple.message.signature3 sh] [com.apple.message.summarize YES] 
             0 [Level 7] [Facility messagetracer] [com.apple.message.domain com.apple.kernel.tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature tcpinfo] [com.apple.message.signature2 sysctl] [com.apple.message.signature3 sh] [com.apple.message.summarize YES] 
             0 [Level 7] [Facility messagetracer] [com.apple.message.domain com.apple.kernel.tcpstat] [com.apple.message.signature tcpinfo] [com.apple.message.signature2 sysctl] [com.apple.message.signature3 sh] [com.apple.message.summarize YES] 
    Google Chrome He[29315] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb307b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29316] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb24db. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29317] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1273. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29378] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1843. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29416] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2e8b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29417] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1273. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29418] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb307b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29462] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2e8b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29546] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1843. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29547] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb24db. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29548] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb307b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29668] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb1843. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.
    Google Chrome He[29689] triggered unnest of range 0x7fff94400000->0x7fff94600000 of DYLD shared region in VM map 0xfeff0feb1cdb2e8b. While not abnormal for debuggers, this increases system memory footprint until the target exits.

Also, can you try pressing the reset button twice (within 750ms), which
should make the Balboa go into bootloader mode, and describe the LED
behavior?

Quickly depressing the reset button twice did not affect the LED behavior. I would say the Green LED above the USB port is on, and while it is on, it is flickering very fast.

AmandaS · March 21, 2017, 11:38pm

What does the yellow LED do after pressing the reset button twice?

I do not see any messages concerning the Balboa in your dmesg output indicating that it was detected. Just for added clarification, have you tested both of your USB cables with other USB devices to verify that they work?

- Amanda

RockStarArtist · March 22, 2017, 10:21pm

Amanda,

As described above, pressing the reset button twice (tried this many times) had no appreciable effect on the LED light.

I was also able to test both of my USB cables, the recent one I purchased from Microcenter and the older cable, and the El Captian computer immediately identified the Nexus 4 phone on the USB 3.0 bus of the Mac Mini. i have yet to try it on my Macbook Pro.

AmandaS · March 23, 2017, 12:23am

In your previous post, it sounded like you were only describing the green LED’s behavior and not the other on-board LEDs. We wanted to know if you are able to get the Balboa into bootloader mode (by seeing the yellow LED fading in and out), but it seems that double-reset method has no effect on any of the LEDs. You mentioned the green LED flickering very fast, which is not normal. Does that happen when the power circuit is on or off (e.g. the green LED flickers when the blue LED is on)?

By the way, have you tried connecting the Balboa device to a Windows or Linux machine yet?

- Amanda

RockStarArtist · March 25, 2017, 3:09am

Hey Amanda,

Sorry for my late reply. I believe I am good now!

So when you mentioned there being another LED when double-depressing the reset button, and I was not seeing it, it had me thinking about power. So, i double checked the batteries, then the battery soldered connection, and then i looked at each solder point that I had made.

I did come across a very small solder bridge(It looked like a silver hair) that i had missed between GND and 5V on one of the I/O headers, I broke it off and still nothing.

So I hit the double reset button, and the Yellow LED would blink for several seconds!! I noticed that when it did blink my computer would see the USB connection, but then it would disappear. So i did the whole AVRDude refresh thing and now all is well!

jagadish77 · September 4, 2017, 3:38pm

Hello RockStar,
could you tell me how you did AVRDude refresh.
Thanks

JonathanKosh · September 5, 2017, 10:38pm

Hello.

I suspect RockStarArtist is referring to the instructions under the Reviving using AVRDUDE section of the Balboa 32U4 Balancing Robot User’s Guide.

Jon.

RockStarArtist · September 5, 2017, 11:33pm

Correct. I was referring to those instructions, my apologies for being tardy in my response!