Hi! I recently purchased an M7E Hecto RFID reader module for a university group project and have been unable to start reading tags. First, we tried using the Universal Reader Assistant software and could not establish a connection. The error from the software says it is unable to connect, and check to see if the device is properly connected or if it is already in use. We have tried reinstalling the CH340 driver multiple times.
We have also tried communicating through Arduino Uno, Arduino ESP32 Nano, and Sparkfun ESP32 Thing Plus (WROOM), using the standard hookup guide and several ideas from various help forum topics. We have tried using multiple different computers with different operating systems. We have established our microcontrollers are working properly. Using the example constant read code and several iterations of our own troubleshooting programs, we are successfully able to upload our code to the microcontroller and receive the “Module failed to respond. Check wiring!” error from the example code. We have checked our wiring many times. Using other troubleshooting code, we have determined that there is an error in initializing the RFID module. It appears that the module is not responding when the controller sends it an instruction.
After browsing multiple forums, we haven’t been able to find other people with this same issue, so we are concerned our reader may be broken or inadvertently fried somehow in the troubleshooting process – though we’re unsure how it may have broken. It has been giving us issues from the beginning. Any ideas or do we just need to get a new reader?
