Particle has developed a new browser-based device setup tool. It uses WebUSB so it is compatible with Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge on a computer. We’ve tested it internally and we are now opening beta access to the tool! You can try it out for yourself at tools.particle.io/setup
We’d love some help testing out this new setup tool. Set up a new device and give us some feedback on how it worked for you. In exchange, the first ten beta testers will get a free Argon. Sign up by DMing me or commenting in this thread. Thanks!
There is no list of supported hardware so if this is unsupported you need to say what is and isn't supported
You need to include information on what mode (DFU?) the device needs to be in and how to put it in that mode
The linked troubleshooting guide is generic support information, it should contain information specific to this process.
Ultimately the instructions "To get started, connect your device to your computer using the USB cable provided; we will then detect what device you have and take it from there." were insufficient to get my device working, and now I'm questioning if it's even meant to work, but I am just poking the bear blind.
Update: It was a bad USB cable that provided power but not data, one of the included short white ones.
Get rid of all the non-actionable interstitials ("Welcome 1 2 3" is a useless confusing screen)
Allow Device OS Version Selection. Photon installed 2.3.1, some may prefer V3
There should be a Skip option on the Create a Product page.
After "Activating" trying to leave the page, for instance by clicking "Go to Console" brings up the Leave Site warning:
Indicating that it thinks there's unsubmitted input. Easy to fix.
On the Activation Success Page the header indicates "Setup Step 1/4" and the title is still "Activate your Particle device". How about "Success!"
Hi Colleen,
Does this tool work with a Photon? No worky for me with a brand new one.
I plugged in the Photon and it started blinking blue.
I clicked on the Select device button. I get this pop-up:
I click connect and nothing else happens.
The side bar shows this:
Is it supposed to proceed on its own?
Do I need to put the device in DFU mode?
Once in DFU mode, I selected the “Photon DFU Mode” and it started updating the OS.
In the middle of the update, it lost the connection. Now it won’t find it anymore.
Log file:
The device is connected: 00000000010c
Getting device: 00000000010c
Downloading binaries…
Downloading binary system-part1.bin
Downloading binary system-part2.bin
Downloading binary tinker.bin
Downloading binary bootloader.bin
Download binaries succeeded
Updating modules over DFU
Updating module: system-part1.bin
Updating module: system-part2.bin
Updating module: tinker.bin
Reconnecting device: 00000000010c
Once it reboots the device, it cannot find it anymore. It’s stuck in a cycle of uploading binaries and
there is no option to go to the next step.
The reconnect device button does not find the Photon anymore, even if I put it in DFU again.
Thanks for reporting this issue. By the logs, this is a Photon running a very old version of Device OS (like 0.4.9). We implemented and released today a workaround to update those devices. Can you try setting up that device again?
Sorry, I am not sure how long I’ve had this particular device. I will look for another one.
The process is a little better, but it still gets stuck.
The discovery now works and I can select the Photon each time.
The device is connected: 00000000010c
Getting device: 00000000010c
Downloading binaries…
Downloading binary system-part1.bin
Downloading binary system-part2.bin
Downloading binary tinker.bin
Downloading binary bootloader.bin
Download binaries succeeded
Updating modules over DFU
Updating module: system-part1.bin
Updating module: system-part2.bin
Updating module: tinker.bin
Updating over DFU succeeded <----- this is where it reboots
Getting device: 00000000010c <----- it tries to re-find the device
Reconnecting device: 00000000010c
Reconnecting device: 00000000010c <---- it gives up here
The device is connected: 00000000010c <---- here I set DFU mode again and connect to the device.
However, the tool wants to update device again.
After it resets, the device goes back to blinking blue.
If I reconnect the device (put it back in DFU), the download starts again.
The tool loses track of the fact that the binaries have already been sent.
Could you please post the output of particle serial inspect when your Photon is in listening mode (blinking blue). I'll flash a device with the same firmware version to reproduce this issue.
I ran the device reset script on a BSom 404X (on an eval board) since I had already set it up. Once I did that, I ran the web-bases setup on Windows 10 (it wouldn’t work on a Linux Mint PC even though it could “see” the device connected on the USB). All the steps worked well and the device appeared as a device in a new product in my console.
@Colleen, question. What if when I setup a new device I don’t want to add to a product, just my personal devices? Currently, a product MUST be created or an existing one used.
@peekay123 sorry for the slow reply! Right now the setup must include a product. We’ve noticed that switching from single devices to products has been confusing in the past and hope that starting people off with products will help with that.
Seeing that the Photon I’ve been using was not coming out of the endless loop, I decided to configure it with the mobile app. That went fine.
The Photon went online and I was able to control the D7 LED with Tinker. It had OS2.3.1.
Then I tried to repeat the process with WebUSB. It still wanted to upload the same OS, so I let it. Maybe re-flashing the OS is intentional?
The app went through creating a product and named it. All good!
Thanks for providing this method.
@Colleen - this tool looks great! I will be launching my new device (404X based) into production within the next few months and this looks like a great option for us. I did notice that it only gave me the option to load OS4.0.2, which is fine right now as that is what I’m developing with, but will that be changeable in the future so we can pick the OS we wish to use or will it always be the latest release build of the Particle OS?
