Hello,
I’ve had this unit only a few days. It worked the first few times I used it but now it will not power up. I’ve had it on the charger for about 16 hours so the battery should be fully charged. The battery light turns on when I plug it into the charger but no matter how long I press the POWER SETUP button, the oled display does not come on and my phone does not see the bluetooth device either.
Are there things I can try or do we need to set up a return?
Thank you.
Hello, I just wanted to create a thread with the same issue. Glad I am not the only one!
To describe the problem in a more detail, when I’ve received the unit, it turned on normally, then after a while (maybe 15 minutes) the display froze and it was not responding to button press anymore. Then I long pressed the Power button for maybe 30 seconds and the unit turned off. Then I was not able to turn it on again. When I left it connected to charge and not touched it for about 2 hours, I was able to to turn it on again. But then again it froze after some time. I repeated the 2 hour “no touch” approach and I was able to turn it on again. I’ve discovered that when I enter the “Bubble” mode in the menu, it froze instantly. Then I did try to update the unit to multiple newer firmware versions and the problem with the freezing disappeared for some time, but eventually it started to happen again. Sometimes during the freeze, or when I turned on the unit, the display showed some random pixels and glitched. Then I was not using the unit for about 1 month. Yesterday I came back and wanted to turn on the unit, but it is not turning on anymore, not even after that “2 hour wait period”. One time the display showed some glitched text, but then it turned itself off and after that nothing is happening, can’t turn it on. When I connect the USB cable to the computer and press the Power button, I can hear and see in the windows device manager, that the com port was recognized, but after approximately 10 seconds it disconnects again.
The unit is unusable in this state. Any help? Thanks!
Unfortunately that happened to me with an rtk express. While the ublox chip works and I can use the product, I have had similar issues, units don’t charge properly, display freezes , glitches etc. It is a shame sparkfun doesn’t have quality control socially with units shipped internationally. I’m in Mexico and is a paint in the ass shipping the unit back since they don’t will take responsibility if my country charges taxes again. At the end I’m stuck in a unit that works because of the chip but in general other parts of the system fail. Hopefully you have better luck.
I just was able to turn the device on, for the first time since I posted this. This was after I briefly plugged it in to the USB-C port on a PC. I have no idea why this should do anything. 
OK I shut it down and of course it wouldn’t turn on again, so I opened it up, hoping this won’t void any warranty and I disconnected the battery cable and reconnected it. This allowed me to start it up again.
Next issue was I made the mistake of setting it up with 5GHz WIFI credentials, which caused it to get very stuck on startup with a “Getting keys” message. The STM32 does not do 2.4GHz and apparently there is no timeout on this. I got around it by editing the text file on an SD card.
One thing that’s a little trick is that the FPC cable between the display board and the main board is a bit too short, so it tends to pull out when removing the board to unplug the battery.
Even after disconnecting the battery I can’t seem to turn the unit on with the front button anymore. It shows the Sparkfun logo, then goes dark again. The button at the back of the display board is able to turn it on and turn it off. But once I turn it off, I’m not able to turn it back on so then it’s back to disconnecting the battery connector and accidentally pulling out the display FPC.
Another update: I was able to install the 3.2 firmware. I love all the docs available on this. I can never turn the unit on with the front button and I’ve noticed that turning it on with the button on the back of the display board it’s important to hold the button down until the version number is displayed.
I think I may have a display board with a bad switch. Sparkfun, will you replace it?
New update - I’ve left the display board unplugged from the main board overnight and also, yesterday I fully charged the battery to 4.22V. Today I’ve measured the battery voltage and it reads 3.64V so that means that the board was draining the battery the whole night. However, today when I connected the display to the main board, it came alive and everything seemed to work normally and what is surprising, even the Bubble worked for about 1 minute, then it did freeze again. Then I longpressed for 15s to shut it down completely. After that it threw a couple of funky glitching screens and after a few power button “reboot” cycles it started to work again. I’m not touching the Buble option in the menu anymore tho…
I guess then that the voltage may somehow affect the I2C communication. I’ll test it further. Maybe a step-down regulator to approximately 3.5V would be a workaround for this problem.
I’ll keep you updated.
I’m on a version 3.0
Okay, I was happy too quick, back in the “no response” again :). I’ll let the battery drain even more.
The Engineer is out of town this week, but we’ll be happy to fix everything that needs a-fixin’!
SolderBlob: that seems like the best solution; we have your email and will continue the convo there (current plan is to send a display + cable)
Jonit: Ok, update with any changes regarding the charging system/state, and we can troubleshoot the process further with the engineer Tuesday
IngEdgar: I have a suggestion that I will discuss with you privately via the on-going email thread already underway for yours
same problem here. I received the Facet yesterday, and it worked fine. Today it doesn’t turn on. Green LED is lit when on charge, but long press doesn’t turn on the device (with charging cable connected or not connected). Battery should be fully charged-the unit has been plugged in for a few hours.
sridhar
I’m slowly learning more.
There appear to be two issues with my unit. Maybe yours is similar.
One is simply a bad connection between the membrane and the display board. I was able to get my unit to respond to the front button again just by wiggling the membrane FPC a bit. See the repair instructions at https://github.com/sparkfun/SparkFun_RT … /repair.md
The other issue is that sometimes when the unit is not properly shut down, it cannot start up again. I don’t know what causes it; maybe a software issue? This happens when you don’t hold the power button down long enough when starting up. It’s important to hold it down until the firmware version is displayed, otherwise it will shut down and can’t start back up. But don’t hold it down too long, because then the unit will shutdown and also get into that state where it can’t start up. And the only way to get out of that state is to disconnect the battery and then reconnect it.
Unfortunately having to disconnect and reconnect the display FPC a bunch of times to get to the battery connector this won’t stay in place anymore so I think I’ll need a new one.
Nathan/Sparkfun published a ton of cool stuff about these units and I’m loving that this is open source hardware.
I’m hoping that my membrane fpc will hold up, but may need a new one.
thanks- tried the FPC reseating. No change.
Did notice that the yellow LED on the main board (according to schematic that is the ESP32 BOOT pin) is intermittent. It was illuminated for a while and then turned off. I am reluctant to pull the battery but that seems the only way to reset? or is there some other way to reset the ESP32?
The soft power switch circuit, along with is supposed to turn the power off when FAST_OFF is pulled low. But perhaps something is going wrong there.
I too have noticed the LED staying on sometimes. Looking at the source code I think that’s an error condition - the setup() function gets stuck somewhere and doesn’t get to danceLEDs() where the LED is turned off. Try inserting an SD card - I think it’s supposed to write a log file. Or better yet, a serial connection over USB.
I’m out of time for today.
I’m gone for a week and the world catches on fire! Sorry for the slow reply all. And sorry for all the hassle!
@SolderBlob - Thank you for all the detective work! First, in my book you’ll never void the warranty if you’ve got a problem and you’re proactively and intelligently trying to fix it.
One thing that’s a little trick is that the FPC cable between the display board and the main board is a bit too short, so it tends to pull out when removing the board to unplug the battery.
Disconnect the display board before removing the main and connector boards:
https://docs.sparkfun.com/SparkFun_RTK_ … air-13.jpgOne is simply a bad connection between the membrane and the display board. I was able to get my unit to respond to the front button again just by wiggling the membrane FPC a bit. See the repair instructions at https://github.com/sparkfun/SparkFun_RT … /repair.md
We have seen some tolerances on the overlay deteriorate between batches. We are working with the overlay mfg to increase the width of the tab so that it can’t move.
I too have noticed the [status] LED staying on sometimes. Looking at the source code I think that’s an error condition
I believe you are incorrect. The status LED in the RTK Facet is never really used as a status LED. Check the schematic here: https://cdn.sparkfun.com/assets/0/e/8/3 … ematic.pdf The LED is tied to Pin 0. We use Pin 0 on the Facet to control the Radio port mux so you will see it turn on during power up, then, after boot it will likely be off. I believe if you have the Radio Port in a different configuration (off the top of my head, it’s I2C and GPIO modes) then the LED would illuminate.
@Jonit - Thanks for your work as well!
I’ve left the display board unplugged from the main board overnight and also, yesterday I fully charged the battery to 4.22V. Today I’ve measured the battery voltage and it reads 3.64V so that means that the board was draining the battery the whole night.
This indicates to me the unit was on over night but the display was not functioning. The easiest way to tell if you’re in this state is to connect USB to a unit perceived as ‘OFF’. If COM ports enumerate you know the device is fully on, but the display is failing.
I would suggest either letting me send you a replacement display board/overlay kit or send it back so we can swap it for you.
@Ingedgar - I believe we repaired both of your units a few months ago. If you continue to have problems, please start a new thread.
same problem here. I received the Facet yesterday, and it worked fine. Today it doesn’t turn on. Green LED is lit when on charge, but long press doesn’t turn on the device (with charging cable connected or not connected).
The standard procedure is to start an RMA here for repair: https://www.sparkfun.com/returns We can usually get repairs out the door in 48 hours. If you’d like to attempt the display board repair yourself, I’m happy to send you parts.
I am reluctant to pull the battery but that seems the only way to reset? or is there some other way to reset the ESP32?
Press and hold the power button for ~15 seconds. This will forcibly cut power to all subsystems causing the ESP32 to power off.
Ha. Thank you for the careful and kind reply, @sparky!
I believe you are incorrect. The status LED in the RTK Facet is never really used as a status LED. Check the schematic here: https://cdn.sparkfun.com/assets/0/e/8/3 … ematic.pdf The LED is tied to Pin 0. We use Pin 0 on the Facet to control the Radio port mux so you will see it turn on during power up, then, after boot it will likely be off. I believe if you have the Radio Port in a different configuration (off the top of my head, it’s I2C and GPIO modes) then the LED would illuminate.
Sorry, I had not read the code carefully enough. I see it now. Yes, you’re exactly right, MUX_I2C_WT and MUX_ADC_DAC will put a high on that pin.
It seems a bit strange that the LED would come on and stay on with the display dark sometimes, but I see that the system test sets MUX_ADC_DAC and it looks like it’s possible to go into test mode by doing something like selecting Rover mode and then pressing and holding the button down for half a second. So maybe it’s just a result of my maniacal pressing of the power button trying to power the device up. I did not get far enough tonight to see if the Wire arduino library blocks when I2C communication fails when the test code tries to write to the display.
I’ll do some more testing if I still have issues after I receive a replacement display panel, board and FPC. I’ve added a disconnect in the middle of the battery wire so I could disconnect it without having to keep disconnecting the display FPC. The FPC connector has gotten tired after doing that a number of times.
The L-Band Facet is a pretty amazing product.
sparky - thanks - I managed to get the unit working again - reconnecting the FPC to the connector board and to the display board (not sure which one was at fault) - but it is working now. A little worrisome that it is so finicky. I’m off to the field (Greenland) this week - I’ll report how it goes (this is a test to see if these can replace an Emlid Reach RTK pair). We tend to toss the units into a box and then tow them behind a snowmobile - we can’t always be gentle with them - so if the connectors wiggle loose I’ll try a dab of silastic or similar…
Very good, thanks all! Please do report back any problems or extreme uses. If anything go awry we’ll try to get it fixed.
@Ingedgar - I believe we repaired both of your units a few months ago. If you continue to have problems, please start a new thread. No unfortunately no. I did received an enamil saying that you can repair them and send them back to me labeled as repaired to avoid taxes, because i already paid for it. But when i asked what if taxes showed again, nothing answered back to me, and without knowng i don0t have to pay 300 dollars again, i still have the faulty units with me.
what if taxes showed again, nothing answered back to me, and without knowng i don0t have to pay 300 dollars again, i still have the faulty units with me.
I’m sorry to hear that. There’s unfortunately not much we can do about the taxes that may be charged when something gets shipped to you. Regardless, I’m happy to ship you replacement parts if you’re capable of opening the units. Please start a new thread and we’ll figure out which bits you need.
I have updated Iphone with 16.4 firmware and have 3.3 firmware on the L band and not able to connect them using Bluetooth. Any suggestions?
