XBee – R410M – Can’t connect

This topic has 10 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 2020-06-17 at 4:50 PM by TroyB.

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2020-06-16 at 1:03 AM #14216

Participant

Hi,

My name is James. I am working with a team in New Zealand to deploy Mayfly logging stations at numerous sites in my region.

I have been given a DigiXBee – R410M modem and I am attempting to use it to send data to MMW. I have read through many of the existing forum posts about problems that people have experienced, and have modified the pins to:

// Modem Pins - Describe the physical pin connection of your modem to your board
const int8_t modemVccPin = -1;      // MCU pin controlling modem power (-1 if not applicable)
const int8_t modemStatusPin = 19;   // MCU pin used to read modem status (-1 if not applicable)
const int8_t modemResetPin = 20;    // MCU pin connected to modem reset pin (-1 if unconnected)
const int8_t modemSleepRqPin = 23;  // MCU pin used for modem sleep/wake request (-1 if not applicable)
const int8_t modemLEDPin = redLED;  // MCU pin connected an LED to show modem status (-1 if unconnected)

// Modem Pins - Describe the physical pin connection of your modem to your board

const int8_t modemVccPin = -1; // MCU pin controlling modem power (-1 if not applicable)

const int8_t modemStatusPin = 19; // MCU pin used to read modem status (-1 if not applicable)

const int8_t modemResetPin = 20; // MCU pin connected to modem reset pin (-1 if unconnected)

const int8_t modemSleepRqPin = 23; // MCU pin used for modem sleep/wake request (-1 if not applicable)

const int8_t modemLEDPin = redLED; // MCU pin connected an LED to show modem status (-1 if unconnected)

However, I can’t seen to wake device up. The serial output from the Mayfly is as follows:

Now running logging_to MMW_XBee.ino on Logger JimmyDs_Mayfly_Tutorial

Using ModularSensors Library version 0.24.5
TinyGSM Library version 0.10.6

Logger timezone is set to UTC + 12
RTC timezone is set to UTC
Current RTC time is: 2020-06-16T16:49:48+12:00
All variable UUID's appear to be correctly formed.

0bc19c50-67d8-4012-9e17-fb32db82f1ca -> DS18Temp
ad1e7a6a-414b-4cb5-86c6-69a7c54080bd -> Battery
846f84dc-4455-47f3-bd38-51a21e20fa50 -> BoardTemp
 
This logger has a variable array with 3 variables, of which 3 come from 3 sensors and 0 are calculated.
Sampling feature UUID is: 03b56716-e87d-47cf-9952-10aec25d886f
Logger portion of setup finished.

Setting up sensors...
Attempting to connect to the internet and synchronize RTC with NIST
This may take up to two minutes!
Could not wake modem for clock sync.
Putting modem to sleep

Now running logging_to MMW_XBee.ino on Logger JimmyDs_Mayfly_Tutorial

Using ModularSensors Library version 0.24.5

TinyGSM Library version 0.10.6

Logger timezone is set to UTC + 12

RTC timezone is set to UTC

Current RTC time is: 2020-06-16T16:49:48+12:00

All variable UUID's appear to be correctly formed.

0bc19c50-67d8-4012-9e17-fb32db82f1ca -> DS18Temp

ad1e7a6a-414b-4cb5-86c6-69a7c54080bd -> Battery

846f84dc-4455-47f3-bd38-51a21e20fa50 -> BoardTemp

This logger has a variable array with 3 variables, of which 3 come from 3 sensors and 0 are calculated.

Sampling feature UUID is: 03b56716-e87d-47cf-9952-10aec25d886f

Logger portion of setup finished.

Setting up sensors...

Attempting to connect to the internet and synchronize RTC with NIST

This may take up to two minutes!

Could not wake modem for clock sync.

Putting modem to sleep

I have tried talking to the device using ‘m-center’ and ‘XCTU’, both of which pick up the COM Port that the Mayfly is attached to, but do not recognise the attached XBee.

Am I missing drivers, is the XBee fried, or am I just ignoring something really obvious? Could someone give me a simple way to test if the XBee is functioning properly?

Thanks for your help.

Regards,

James

2020-06-16 at 10:23 AM #14217
Sara Damiano
Moderator
If XCTU doesn’t recognize the XBee3, that’s a pretty bad sign. How are you attaching your XBee to the computer? Do you have the USB-C XBee3 carrier? https://www.digi.com/products/models/xbib-cu-th That development board should make sure the bee is awake and work flawlessly with XCTU. Are you plugged into the USB-C port, not the side microUSB? Is the other end of the USB-C that’s attached to your computer attached to a USB-3 power delivery port?

If you’re using another carrier/development board (ie, not a Digi one) it’s possible that the bee is asleep or not sufficiently powered and that’s why it’s not talking to your computer. Make sure whatever carrier board you’re using has pin 9 on the bee socket held at ground to keep the bee awake for communication and provides up to 1 amp power. A “standard” USB port will only provide 500mA power, which is NOT sufficient for the LTE XBee3 and may cause it to brown out. An unmodified Mayfly will NOT work as a carrier board for your bee to talk to the computer

The u-blox M-Center program is not likely to recognize the chip on the XBee unless you have both programmed the XBee to be in USB direct mode and connected the USB direct pins to your computer. I don’t think there’s anything you can do with the m-center program that you can’t do with XCTU, so I wouldn’t bother with it if you don’t need to.
2020-06-16 at 10:28 AM #14218
Sara Damiano
Moderator
I’m not sure the best way to confirm that it’s totally bricked. If you power it up and still have all the pins reading 0 voltage, that’s probably a bad sign.
2020-06-16 at 4:09 PM #14220
Shannon Hicks
Moderator
Are you using one of our LTEbee adapters between the Digi Xbee LTE module and the Mayfly board? https://github.com/EnviroDIY/LTEbee-Adapter
2020-06-16 at 6:15 PM #14223
James_NZ
Participant
Hi Sara & Shannon,

Thank you for your quick reply. Answers to/comments on your questions are as follows:
- How are you attaching your XBee to the computer? – I am attaching the XBee to the Mayfly via a LTE module.
- Are you plugged into the USB-C port, not the side microUSB? – I am plugged into the microUSB on the mayfly. This is plugged into a Torshiba Dynadock, which is linked to one of the USB ports on my computer.
- Is the other end of the USB-C that’s attached to your computer attached to a USB-3 power delivery port? – I have a feeling that the USB port on my computer is 2.0 which may be causing the brownout problem. I will plug the Mayfly directly into the USB 3.0 port and try again.
- An unmodified Mayfly will NOT work as a carrier board for your bee to talk to the computer – How can I modify the board to act as a carrier so I can use XCTU? Will the USB 3.0 solve this?
- The u-blox M-Center program is not likely to recognize the chip on the XBee unless you have both programmed the XBee to be in USB direct mode and connected the USB direct pins to your computer. I don’t think there’s anything you can do with the m-center program that you can’t do with XCTU, so I wouldn’t bother with it if you don’t need to. – Okay, I will stick with XCTU.
- Are you using one of our LTEbee adapters between the Digi Xbee LTE module and the Mayfly board? – Yes, I am (see above).
Thanks for your help.

James
- 2020-06-16 at 6:21 PM #14224
  Sara Damiano
  Moderator
  Ok, so you have a stack with a Mayfly, an LTE adapter board, and a XBee3 (3 parts).
  
  You don’t have a separate development or carrier board. All of my comments about the USB-C/USB 3 apply only to a separate carrier board. If you don’t have one, don’t worry about that.
2020-06-16 at 6:26 PM #14225
Sara Damiano
Moderator
To modify the Mayfly to work as a carrier board you’d need to cut and re-solder jumpers SJ8 and SJ9 on the back of the Mayfly to connect Bee Tx and Rx to Tx 0 and Tx 1. You would want to undo the change to use the Mayfly again normally. I’ve never actually tried this modification and am not 100% positive it would work.

I suggest you just forget about connecting the XBee to your computer and give up on XCTU and m-center. You really need a separate development board to make that connection work.

2020-06-16 at 6:47 PM #14226

Sara Damiano

Moderator

Ok, so for testing the XBee with what you have:

check for any blobs of solder on the solder jumpers or any modifications made to either your Mayfly or LTE adapter – let me know if there are any
check and re-check to make sure the pins in your bee stack are all aligned and in the right holes, ie, they’re not all shifted up or down 1 spot
connect a (charged) lipo battery to one of the lipo jacks on the Mayfly
use the short jumper cable to connect from the second lipo jack on the Mayfly to the lipo jack on the LTE adapter board.
plug the Mayfly into your computer with the micro USB on your Mayfly (can be any type of USB on the PC)
turn on the Mayfly with its switch

Now, program your Mayfly with a very simple program like this and let it run.

#include <Arduino.h>

setup(){
    // Set the reset pin HIGH to ensure the Bee does not continually reset
    pinMode(20, OUTPUT);
    digitalWrite(20, HIGH);

    // Set the sleep_rq pin LOW to wake the Bee
    pinMode(23, OUTPUT);
    digitalWrite(23, LOW);

    // 
    pinMode(19, INPUT);
}

// Do nothing forever
loop(){}

#include <Arduino.h>

setup(){

// Set the reset pin HIGH to ensure the Bee does not continually reset

pinMode(20, OUTPUT);

digitalWrite(20, HIGH);

// Set the sleep_rq pin LOW to wake the Bee

pinMode(23, OUTPUT);

digitalWrite(23, LOW);

pinMode(19, INPUT);

}

// Do nothing forever

loop(){}

Make sure the LED labeled “ON” on the LTE adapter turns on.

There won’t be any output at all from the program to your PC – all you’re looking for is the ON light on the LTE adapter board in between the Mayfly and the XBee. The ASSOC and RSSI lights may or may not turn on. But if the ON light doesn’t come on, there’s something definitely wrong with either your connections or the XBee itself.

2020-06-17 at 2:54 AM #14232
James_NZ
Participant
Hi Sara,

Alas, no light. I think that explains why I haven’t had any luck! And why the guys at the university passed it on to me to see if I could get it to work.

Thanks for your help.

James
- 2020-06-17 at 12:30 PM #14240
  Shannon Hicks
  Moderator
  There’s also the possibility that the LTEbee adapter board is broken or dead. We’ve had a few rare instances of them not working due to a manufacturing defect on the first batch of boards. So if you’ve got another LTEbee adapter you could swap out, or get a carrier board for the Xbee LTE module, you can determine which is the dead part.
2020-06-17 at 4:50 PM #14250
TroyB
Participant
Thanks heaps (as we say in NZ) everyone! James is working with us, but is an hour+ drive away. We didn’t test his LTEbee and adapter before handing it to him, so it seems like the best way to troubleshoot will be to get the pieces back where we have 3 sets (and one that was definitely working when we bought three more).