Help!
User finger problem… I set delay period far too short ( 1 second) on an operating electron device that had been working for 5 months in the field. It was acting up and I was attempting to troubleshoot the problem…I had a great idea(Really wasn’t!) , I flashed the new code with a shorter delay (used to set the time between two events) than the orginal firmware , …and now the system stays “on the air” for only 10 seconds, does send a SMS message with the test results , and goes into theprogrammed 23 hour sleep mode and it is unreachable until the set sleep time is up. I tried to flash an updated code (with a shorter delay) bu tth electron is not " on the air" long enough for the flash to succeed…
I pulled the unit from the field (only was 20 minutes from here, so no big deal) and it is sitting on my work.
bench
Any ideas ?
Well now that it’s on your bench you can put it in safe mode. Press the RESET and MODE buttons at the same time. Release RESET and continue to hold down MODE until the status LED blinks magenta (red and blue at the same time). Release MODE. The Electron should then proceed through blinking green, blinking cyan (light blue), fast blinking cyan, and finally breathing magenta. Once breathing magenta your code won’t run so it won’t go to sleep and you can flash OTA.
Or you can use DFU mode (blinking yellow) and flash by USB serial.
If the device was still remote it would be hard to fix, but the smaller the firmware the better, so you could have tried flashing a completely empty program (empty setup and loop) and hope that it can get through before going to sleep again but it still may not have been possible. Then since it wouldn’t go to sleep you could flash the full firmware.
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Rickkas7
Thanks, got my board back to “normal” I had read, at one time, about “safe Mode”, but had forgotten it… Thanks for your timely help!!!
Our application is really a simple one; a gate monitor at a RC model airplane flying field. We are required to have the field gate closed (County rules) when no certified club members are present at the field. A simple rule is in place at our club “last one out lock the gate” , but some forget.
The monitor waits for night fall and turns on an IR sensor that “looks for” the presence of a reflector mounted on the gate . The reflector will be in front of the sensor if the gate is open and so a SMS text " it is dark and the field gate is open" is sent to a few members that live close to the field for their action to go close the gate. If the gate is closed a message is sent that all is fine " the gate is closed". This way we know that the monitor is still working.
We are in the last stages of installing a sub-system that will close the gate automatically if it has been left open. No doubt this is a much appreciated upgrade!
David Garrison