"load seq_l" fails

afb313e8789156f4

I am at timestamp 1:33:22 of DIY video part 2. Typing “load seq_l” returns “SD Card Error -3 (FatFs: D 0)”.
My cables have tested good.
What can I do next?

17703227d9536da1

I would try to format the SD card first. What sort is it?

afb313e8789156f4

Thanks. I formatted the card as FAT32. The command now issues something like “no sessions found” (sorry I’m outside right now).

Should something already be on the card prior to doing this? Also, I’m not sure I have flashed the right FW. I’ve used the one in the STM32F4 folder of this midibox_seq_v4_097.zip archive, found on this page.

afb313e8789156f4

BTW the card is a 4GB SDHC, brand PQI (made in Japan).

17703227d9536da1

If you are testing with “load seq_l” you need MB_NG flashed onto the Core, not SEQ. But after all tests are passed, v4.097 is the right one (make sure it is the STM32F4 version).

afb313e8789156f4

Okay thanks. Makes sense that nothing works if I flashed the wrong core… 😅 Will report.

But the SD card can remain empty prior to that?

afb313e8789156f4

Nevermind, I found the NG script at the bottom of the shop page. Will report about testing.

afb313e8789156f4

Okay, it seems to work, but encoders 8 and 16 and the JA board encoder are a bit inconsistent. Just touching the boards triggers negative increments from them. It feels like a loose connection and the associated physical bounce effect triggers the encoders with -1 messages. Maybe the nuts are a little loose, and grounding relies on their physical connection?

Also when turning these enc 8 and 16, and JA encoder, there are random bursts (sometimes a lot) of this pair of messages:

MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(nnn, n)
No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=nnn

17703227d9536da1

Often the case here is that you have a resistor lead or other unwanted contact between the lemec and plate boards.

afb313e8789156f4

It does behave like that yes. I’ll triple check and cut everything I can snip off. And post back.

afb313e8789156f4

Thank you. I snipped the encoder leads off of under the PCBs. The 16 encoders now show consistent behavior.

Not so with the JA encoder, though. Clicking it down consistently yields these messages:

[697942.120] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 59, 0)
[697942.120] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3059, 0)
[697942.120] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3059

Letting it go then consistently yields these:

[697942.329] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 59, 1)
[697942.329] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3059, 1)
[697942.329] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3059

Rotating it returns random bursts of messages. Starting with a clean monitor, one click clockwise just gave me this:

[698145.804] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 40, 1)
[698145.805] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3040, 1)
[698145.805] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3040
[698145.808] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 56, 1)
[698145.808] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3056, 1)
[698145.809] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3056
[698145.812] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 8, 1)
[698145.813] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3008, 1)
[698145.813] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3008
[698145.817] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 24, 1)
[698145.818] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3024, 1)
[698145.818] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3024
[698145.822] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 48, 1)
[698145.823] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3048, 1)
[698145.823] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3048
[698145.826] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 64, 1)
[698145.827] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3064, 1)
[698145.827] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3064
[698145.830] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 16, 1)
[698145.831] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3016, 1)
[698145.833] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3016
[698145.835] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 32, 1)
[698145.836] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3032, 1)
[698145.836] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3032
[698145.880] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 7, 0)
[698145.880] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3007, 0)
[698145.881] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3007
[698145.884] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 23, 0)
[698145.885] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3023, 0)
[698145.885] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3023
[698145.888] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 39, 0)
[698145.889] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3039, 0)
[698145.890] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3039
[698145.893] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 55, 0)
[698145.894] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3055, 0)
[698145.894] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3055
[698145.897] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 8, 0)
[698145.899] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3008, 0)
[698145.899] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3008
[698145.901] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 23, 1)
[698145.902] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3023, 1)
[698145.902] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3023
[698145.902] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 24, 0)
[698145.902] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3024, 0)
[698145.903] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3024
[698145.906] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 39, 1)
[698145.906] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3039, 1)
[698145.907] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3039
[698145.907] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 40, 0)
[698145.908] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3040, 0)
[698145.910] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3040
[698145.911] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 55, 1)
[698145.911] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3055, 1)
[698145.911] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3055
[698145.911] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 56, 0)
[698145.912] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3056, 0)
[698145.912] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3056
[698145.915] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 7, 1)
[698145.916] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3007, 1)
[698145.916] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3007
[698145.920] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 32, 0)
[698145.921] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3032, 0)
[698145.921] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3032
[698145.924] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 48, 0)
[698145.925] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3048, 0)
[698145.925] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3048
[698145.928] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 64, 0)
[698145.929] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3064, 0)
[698145.930] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3064
[698145.933] MBNG_MATRIX_NotifyToggle(2, 16, 0)
[698145.934] MBNG_DIN_NotifyToggle(3016, 0)
[698145.934] No event assigned to BUTTON hw_id=3016

What can I do? I don’t see anything wrong with the soldering, I can’t find any short. My cables test good.

17703227d9536da1

One issue solved then?

Sequential triggering in JA indicates a potential short between 165 shift register pins. Random usually indicates the wrong resistor network was installed on JA, or maybe the wrong orientation if it is the correct type? Check the part number against the BOM.

afb313e8789156f4

Yes, the 16 encoders are all good. They behave consistently and send clean messages.

Only the JA board’s encoder is awry (the push switches are good). The RN is the correct part after the BOM, and it’s installed the right way around. I can’t see no short on either the registers or the RN.

See attached pics of all 4 ICs (RN and registers). They look fine to me.

afb313e8789156f4

Note: the pictures make it look dirtier than it actually is; the small flux residues look awful but it’s really not that bad on eyeball inspection…

afb313e8789156f4

Just reflowed all the 4816 and 165 pins. No joy.

17703227d9536da1

4816 P-2 should be the bussed part, so it’s not that.
If signals make it to/from the lesMEC boards, that indicates that the cables and shift registers are fine.
Is it correct that the JA board comes first in the chain? Even if you are building an _R version, the standard MBNG script expects the JA board before the first lemec. But the shift register order would be off if this wasn’t the case.

JA RN and 165 soldering looks good, if not a little bit “round”, You can rule out a cold joint by measuring continuity between the IC pin and as close to the PCB pad as possible.

Encoder switch performs as expected I’d say. For encoder turning, you can measure voltage on the two outer encoder pins relative to the middle pin of the three. You should sequentially measure 0 or +5V depending on the current Gray setting. If not, it indicates a missing or cold joint to the resistor network.

Encoder pins connect to IC2 pins ⅚ and RN1 pins 11/12. The signal at IC2:5,6 should correspond with what’s happening on the encoder pins.

17703227d9536da1

Please also check IC2 for adjacent pin shorts, mostly pins 10/11. It could be that something interesting is clocked into the SI line there. Depending on the flux that you used, it can be beneficial to clean it off with IPA. Normally if it is “no clean” it’s fine, but still.

17703227d9536da1

aaand last thought for now: do the MEC switches on JA work as expected and trigger the respective LEDs?

afb313e8789156f4

Thank you for your insights. My “living room foldable electronics lab” has been put away for the day, so I’ll make the checks next time it’s deployed… 😀
I do use no-clean flux, but I usually isopropyl-clean it, warm water wash the whole thing, blow it with compressed air and then let it dry for 24 hours. Those connections on the JA board could be a little cleaner though, so I’ll try that again too.
Yes, everything works fine, including the MEC switches and associated LEDs on the JA board. Just the JA board encoder shows “problems”. Clicking it generates one output (3-line message), rotating it generates (apparently) random bursts of them.
What makes me wonder is that, every control also generates messages at the MIDI IN of MIOS Studio, except this JA encoder. Messages do appear in the (serial?) console but somehow don’t get “mapped” to MIDI messages (not sure how all this is setup, but I hope you understand my point). The MIDI IN monitor window remains empty when actuating this encoder. It’s the only control which does nothing there. Not sure what it means.