I have read nearly all threads pertaining to this. My Photon was working great, then just flashed red one time and then went dark. D7 LED went dim and at first thought it had fried itself (unlikely, I know). D7 remains dim. Went through all steps: Unable to put device into DFU mode. Checked the heat spreader, and it is not touching any components, as far as I can tell. Running either 0.5.2 or 0.5.3. Attempted to “jumpstart” with another Photon lying around using SMT and Norwegian_Blue and received “SWD Fault Error”.
Voltages: 3v3 between GND & RST; when RESET is pressed it goes to 0V
3v3 between 3V3 & RST; when RESET is pressed it stays at 3v3
So is the RGB led out too (dark) or in another state? Why is D7 HIGH? Is your software running and setting the output to HIGH? Can you tell if your software is running but just D7 LED is dim?
I’ve experienced a similar situation before with a weak power supply. It read 3.3V but went in cycles of dim LED, probably brownout conditions, resetting, working, going dim, flashing red, etc. Can you change the power source (e.g. is it connected via USB? When I measured the mA from the power source to the Photon it was clear that there wasn’t sufficient current going in despite the voltage regulator outputting the 3.3V.
Software is definitely not running as I had a digitalWrite(D7, HIGH); delay(1000); digitalWrite(D7, LOW); in my setup(). So, if the software WAS running it would turn off D7.
Power was coming from USB port, when this all happened.
This appears to be the same as many other threads that discuss their RGB LED out and D7 dim. However, there have been few threads that have seen resolution to this. The ones that do, seem to use the JTAG or ST-LINK which I have neither in order to get the firmware back on to the Photon.
Also, I have had it plugged in via USB for about an hour now, and it is not hot to the touch, so I guess that means the voltage regulator is still working? LED looks bright in this pic, but is actually dim. While doing the Norwegian_Blue procedure the LED got brighter than this, that’s how I know.
I think your device in the “no firmware” state. It can probably be brought back to life with a JTAG programmer (which is what the “jumpstart” tried to emulate).
I haven’t. I suspected as much. I will contact them now. Thank you all for you quick replies! I will try to report back when I get a response.
UPDATE: Wow, that was fast! Got a response from Rick at Particle. He was helpful and I am very satisfied with the outcome. However, the question still remains as to whether this device is dead. I believe not, and if I don’t have to send it in, may still try to revive with JTAG.
