Defective Block erupter blade - Blown fuse/No Firmware

[willedeal]

I am moving this topic out of Newbie jail, now that I know how.

I ordered some new Block Erupter Blades off Amazon. One of them came without any firmware. Having worked with PICs for some time, this was easy to verify. All 1.04V rails are live and the 3.3V comes up, but no lights flash and no network communication.

I also tried to copy the code from a working unit but read protect is enabled.

The seller has not responded to any of my requests to return the blade.

I know it’s not much but I will offer a 0.1BTC tip to anyone who can provide firmware to get this hashing (In a resonable amount of time).

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[RW02]

get out of newb jail and pm friedcat
iv never seen the code hanging around but, been as theres no cheap knock of versions i assume the code isnt public

[willedeal]

Friedcat has not responded yet. Seems he is less active on here lately.

[pws328]

I also have a seemingly defective blade (V2, green PCB). I think my issue may be my fuse (reads infinite resistance on a multimeter), which is a bummer because its soldered to the board. I'm posting here so I can either get some help, or get out of "newb jail" and post on the official support thread. Or possibly message Friedcat, because I really want to get this figured out.

[willedeal]

The fuse was also blown on this same board. I replaced it with a 15A automotive fuse to get to the firmware roadblock.

Of the 3 boards that I ordered, Two (the two that work) have the green power connector on the heatsink side of the board, which does not match the silkscreen legend. This board was the only one that had the connector on the component side. This would cause the mating connection to have + and - reversed.

I would guess that in testing, the wrong polarity was connected and the fuse was blown. Then for some reason the firmware was not programmed, but got rushed out the door.

[willedeal]

PWS, just curious what side was your connector on?

[willedeal]

Finally got a reply from my seller and its now being returned. Not sure why it took 3 days to get a response.

I suppose this is a lesson to only buy these from a reputable seller who will accept returns. And to never buy a non working board with hopes of repairing it. There seems to be little support on the matter.

[pws328]

PWS, just curious what side was your connector on?

Sorry for the delay! Glad you heard back from your seller, I have not heard from mine yet.

My power connector is on the heatsink side of the board, like in this image

My fuse kinda looks like this one, only it has a small R on it, and instead of being in a holder, its soldered to the board.

My fear is that I'll have to solder a new fuse on, but I may try to get a refund first.

[willedeal]

You can actually use your multimeter's fuse to test this. Most multimeters have a 10A fuse built into the current sense circuit.

You would need to move the red lead to the 10A input (never attempt to measure voltages with this connection). Have a friend press the leads into each side of the dead fuse. Push fairly hard, you may need a block underneath to keep the heatsink from levering off the table.

With this temporary connection you can power on the supply. If the LED starts flashing, you have firmware on the board You can also try and connect to it with a PC, depending on how patient your friend is.

With the multimeter turned on to the current sense you will also be able to see how much current it is drawing. If everything is good you can consider replacing the fuse. If it doesn't have firmware or the current exceeds 10A (and blows the multimeter current sense fuse) you can seek to get a replacement.

It takes a lot of heat to remove this fuse as it is tied to a plane. It may require two irons. You should also be able to just solder a new fuse next to the old one. A 10A blade fuse from your local auto store should also work if you don't want to wait for one in the mail.

[pws328]

That is a really great idea!  I was all ready to solder on a new fuse holder, but this is much more sensible first step! Hopefully nothing else is wrong and  I can get it up and running. Thanks for the help.

[harryslotwiner]

I just got my blade off of amazon and I have the exact same problem with the firmware... I guess I need to return it and see if they will replace it.

[willedeal]

So I mailed the blade back to the seller. Tracking says it was delivered Saturday 11/23 but I am having the hardest time getting any response from the seller again.

To find out that the chip on my blade was indeed blank I had connected a PICKIT2 programming cable and ran a blank check which indicated a blank chip. As a control test: running blank check on a working board had indicated not blank.

When I first got permission to return it they told me that the majority of their returns are working units. If this is your first blade just be sure you have tried everything before going though the trouble of returning it.

[sidehack]

Has anyone successfully gotten firmware off one of these yet? I have one here with a cratered PIC that probably needs replacing (it's functional enough, somehow, to get me a config page but zero ASIC functionality).