Unable to get board v5 to work

[SmoresDecore]

Sorry, I dont mean to turn this into a support request but I ordered via JLCPCB 5 v5 boards. 1 was dead on arrival but the other 4 look fine. I am able to flash the firmware on all 4 using remapper_board.uf2 then flash B side but on all 4, no device connected are detected. Once, I managed to get 1 input on the monitor tab but I am unable to reproduce this.

If it helps, I also bought the adafruit board and everything works fine with it.
Any idea what could be the problem?

[jfedor2]

Hard to say, I may be able to come up with a test firmware that would help determine if B side is even alive (if the problem is with the microcontroller or with the hub chip or something), but to be honest that probably won't help much with making the board work a whole.

[jfedor2]

I've had a problem with the flash chips in the past that could affect either the A side or the B side and I think the symptoms would match what you're observing, but I made a revision that was supposed to get rid of that issue.

[SmoresDecore]

I doubt it is something to do with the A or B side. Here is my reasoning:
Ignoring the dead board that does not get detected, all 4 boards were flash with a firmware and I was able to connect to them on the HID page. Soon after, the firmware was updated and when I connected my devices, it warned it had an old firmware. Given all this, I can only assume at least the A side works on all 4 boards. I doubt all B sides are bad though I dont have any way to verify this.

[jfedor2]

Yeah, if you can flash firmware at all and connect from the web config interface, it means side A is working.

Can you post a closeup picture of one of the boards? Maybe something will jump out.

[SmoresDecore]

Certainly but it will be in a few days as I am away. Will post update with picture.

[SmoresDecore]

Alright, here are close up pictures of the boards

Boards 1 to 4

Bonus Dead Board

Hopefully this will be helpful.

[jfedor2]

I though maybe there would be some components missing or soldered in the wrong orientation, but I don't see anything like that.

Try flashing this test firmware, flashing B side, then connecting again and going to the Monitor tab and see if anything shows up there.

test1.zip

[SmoresDecore]

No luck but I did notice some change.
I am connecting a USB numpad to the HID. With the released firmware, no input appear on Monitor but the light on the numpad is lit to show it is connected. With the test firmware, the light stays off. Well, it briefly flashes as I connect it to the HID but immediately turns off. Tested on 2 boards.

I noticed something. I dont know why but once in a while, I do get 1 input in and it shows on the Monitor but nothing else. It appears the key stays stuck as if held down even after disconnecting the numpad from the HID. Disconnecting the HID "unstucks" the key press.

Just to be sure, I tested the numpad connected directly and it works as expected.

[jfedor2]

Ah, sorry, that was built for the wrong board, it couldn't have worked.

Try this.

test2.zip

[SmoresDecore]

Here is what I got. The value keeps going up. So something is working.

[jfedor2]

OK, try this.

test3.zip

But after clicking "Flash B side", don't unplug the Remapper, but instead go to the Monitor tab and see what is says.

[SmoresDecore]

The value got up to 4 then stopped.

[jfedor2]

So that at least means that there is communication with the B side. At least the A side seems to think that is has successfully flashed the B side with its firmware.

Maybe there's something wrong with the B-side flash chip.

I may be able to come up with a test firmware where the B-side is be RAM-only, meaning that it isn't stored in flash and only runs once after flashing.

[SmoresDecore]

Thank you for the time you are giving to this for what seems to be an hardware issue.

[jfedor2]

Yeah, just to be clear, best case scenario here is that we identify which part is broken, we will likely not be able to make these boards work with just a different firmware.

[SmoresDecore]

Yeah, I dont expect these to work anymore but if you want to investigate for whatever reason, I'll help however I can.
I'll see if I can contact JLCPCB and knowing exactly what is wrong might give me a chance to get a refund or some replacement boards.