mrfuture

Used old RCX v1 with additional signs on display

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I recently got an old battery damaged RCX cheap. Moistly for its parts since the RCX was question. I cleaned it an it was working again with the sign of no firmware installed.

But later when I finally found a copy of v2 RIS software it was starting to show additional signs on the display.

That's before I could do anything with the software. When I turn it on it may beep a darker tone. The signs is just garbage. Not any real text beside the figure sign.

If I try to turn it off, it would not shut down before I remove the batteries.

I have also tried new batteries.

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The RCX will always "forget" their firmware if power is removed for even a few seconds. The display should only show the program # (1-5) and the little man (he won't do any running without any programs uploaded). I've had a couple of RCX's over the past few years that I couldn't get working (I probably have about 20 total). How did you clean the unit? I completely disassemble them and soak the circuit board and battery contacts in white distilled vinegar (this is assuming the batteries were alkaline, they leak the green and white "Fuzz", Other battery types may leak acid in which case baking soda is used).

Also BrickxCC is a great tool for using mindstorms Pbricks. You can program ANYTHING, The blue scout units (which Lego never provided a way to program), cybermaster and spybotics just to name a few. You can upload firmware, remote control your unit and run all kinds of diagnostics. Programs are written in NQC (or other text based languages), Which is a lot of fun but has a little but of a learning curve (there are tons of good books and sites with tutorials). Nevertheless the program should come in handy even if you never use it to program anything.

http://bricxcc.sourceforge.net/

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I think it was alkaline batteries since it had a white and green stuff on the worst contacts.

I cleaned that With a small screwdriver and sandpaper after that. I had to make Shure it had full Power so I used a volt meter to see if i had a full 9V from the new batteries, since it did not start at first.

So i had to disassemble it before i got it to work as you wrote with the man and could change channels.It was OK by then.

One day i turned it on it was like i wrote above.

I trying now Brickcc but I only get the download failed when I try to install default firmware. (RIS2) Could it be the IR tower?

I have no experience with C but have programming a little in Visual Basic

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did you use vinegar? This is important because you need to neutralize the base with an acid to make sure it doesn't come back. Does the RCX start to update at all? You should see a steadily increasing number on the display as the firmware is uploading, If there is a problem it will start over at the last successful increment of 20. You can make sure the tower is working with a digital camera (such as a phone) just start the download and point the camera at the tower you should see purple light from the IR LED's. You can also point the camera at the black IR sheild of the RCX to see if it is talking back. What Tower are you using (USB or Serial)?

Also keep in mind ambient light can really make things more difficult, avoid sunlight and any devices that use IR communication (power functions remotes, tv remotes etc.). The distance between them also effects the signal.

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I have been checking with another RCX brick and another Tower. I got that one to work and installing the firmware. I swapped the tower with the one to this brick and it worked,

But I may think the garbage text on the display was really the sign of the main problem. I had one part left after I disassembled It. A dark grey rail thing. I Open the brick again and fond where it belong.

I think the circuit board have been touch down on the battery metal rails. It may be beyond repair now. :cry_sad:

When I now insert the batteries it comes on with just garbage text Push on it goes off again push again It comes back with garbage text and the figure.

I now get he message that Brickcc don't find the brick.

I did not use vinegar.

The towers Is serial but is connected via USB serial adapter.

Edited by mrfuture

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yea, I suppose an electrical short could of killed it, so sad. Is there any corrosion on the board itself? If you have noticed anything out of the ordinary you can post a picture. I do a lot of component level repairs with various circuit boards at work, but haven't had much success with fixing RCX boards. I noticed you are in Norway, would a replacement be hard to come by there?

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I have been checking with another RCX brick and another Tower. I got that one to work and installing the firmware. I swapped the tower with the one to this brick and it worked,

But I may think the garbage text on the display was really the sign of the main problem. I had one part left after I disassembled It. A dark grey rail thing. I Open the brick again and fond where it belong.

I think the circuit board have been touch down on the battery metal rails. It may be beyond repair now. :cry_sad:

When I now insert the batteries it comes on with just garbage text Push on it goes off again push again It comes back with garbage text and the figure.

I now get he message that Brickcc don't find the brick.

I did not use vinegar.

The towers Is serial but is connected via USB serial adapter.

Hi I have not used my RCX for years but looking at it yesterday I tried to download the firmware using a USB to serial adapter on a Windows 7 laptop and three other computers no good. I loaded Bricc onto an old Windows XP PC with a serial port and re-flashed the firmware no problem. It looks like the RCX is not found with a USB to serial adapter.

Paul.

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Hi I have not used my RCX for years but looking at it yesterday I tried to download the firmware using a USB to serial adapter on a Windows 7 laptop and three other computers no good. I loaded Bricc onto an old Windows XP PC with a serial port and re-flashed the firmware no problem. It looks like the RCX is not found with a USB to serial adapter.

Paul.

I have used an adapter before with no issues. As long as the program is given the correct COM port it should work. There were no drivers released for 64 Bit windows so this is an issue on newer computers.

Philo has a link to the newest drivers, his site is a great resource for mindstorms info!

http://www.philohome...sdk25/sdk25.htm

Also the SDK 2.5 on the same link has the latest RCX Firmware

Edited by ELItheICEman

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I have not check for replacement but i think it could be hard to get a new Board.

There is only two Places on the main Board that has sign of corrosion. The worst was the one connector from battery.

The other is a barrel looking Component (not the big one) diode in the middle in front of the screen. Not mutch.

I will check the RCX later. The button functions have got suddeny better.

May be it they is not just in the right place. Now I can turn it on and off as normal

I have successfully used the USB to RS232 adapter before, but in other non Lego use.

But it had the same problem with some configuration not working.

I think the solution is using RIS 2.0 /Brickcc

Use Windows 7 32 bit.

Find the right Com port.

Testing first with a tower and Unit you know work.

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Here is the pictures of the board http://1drv.ms/1JeyV4B Back side. I have put in two question mark on two diodes that look scratchy after tuctching the metal.

http://1drv.ms/1FPqCYY Front side. Here I have put in two C's for corrosion where I found it.

Edit:Linked wrong pictures

Edited by mrfuture

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yea that doesn't look bad at all, you should see some of the ones I've gotten over the past year. In my previous post I meant a replacement RCX I don't know of anyone selling replacement boards..... yet. If I ever fix a board with the same symptoms as yours I will share the info. I checked Bricklink and I don't see any RCX's available in Norway. I know shipping overseas is very expensive, maybe a neighboring country? Do you have any means of obtaining a replacement RCX at a reasonable price? Also feel free to share what you are planning to build, I kind of want to know now :)

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I have no recent plans for it at the moment. But the whole quest was to see if i could get this RCX up and running. I assume that it had if i not have forgot to put in that plastic rail.

But since it in the first case i got the whole used set not complete for around 42$ around 360 kroner since the seller did not know if it worked or not because of the leaked battery. He had bougth a lot with this in.

I was mostly interested in the other parts (motors, cables) but i also wanted to see if i could get it to work.

I have two others that i can use if i want to use the old RCX in something. For the moment i use a NXT to control lights in a model i work on.

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I have a few questions.

If i try to clean the board with vinegar as you wrote. Do i need to clean it off afterward or will it dry off.

I read some where that there is possible to upgrade one RCX from another RCX brixk if some part of the IR was broken. Have you tried this or know how?

If i get a RCX with the power connection. I read that the difference was just the connection between the versions. If i remove it to fit in to my box. It makes no problems?

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In your case I would just dab a cotton swab with vinegar on the small areas then flip it over to dry it off after a few seconds. I have found boards covered with corrosion (or corrosion in hard to reach areas), I usually soak the entire board in vinegar, lightly scrub with a toothbrush and then rinse with water and let it dry out for a while. I don't think this will have any effect on the LCD freaking out though, did you ever have any problems with the LCD before disassembling the unit? If you did then it could possibly be something else causing the issue.

I had an RCX that would not communicate with the IR tower, I tried using swapping the IR LED's and the IR Sensor from another unit and it did not fix the problem. I never tried going any further from there. I have several working units so I try not to spend too much time on one unit, they are fairly easy to obtain in the US and I wouldn't resell any units that had major repairs (including battery corrosion).

I'm not sure what you mean about upgrading an RCX from another, do you mean swapping the board from another RCX?

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The RCX was working OK after the corrosion fix.and did for a while. (a few days) but then one day i turned it on the extra sign apperd. Thats when i suspect the board got in contact with the metal because of the part that ws missing at the time. It was put back once i found out where it should be. But i think the damage was done already.

Since i did not have the software avaliabe at that moment. When i got it i had communication problem. But that i think was before i got the right port. Brickcc automaticly search ended up on port 3 insted of 5 where the tower was. But after i tested with one of the other i have, this worked fine. Swapped back again and it say no brick.

RCX has getting worse. in the beginning after the problems start it beeped some times in a darker tone before the normal beep. But now there is only a click sound when i turn it on.

and often comes on when i insert the last batteri.

The RCX to RCX firmware upgrade was someting i read in a Bricklink description of a RCX. I had never seen anything about it.before.

Here is the description "Yellow Mindstorms RCX 1.0 with Power Jack - Complete Brick

Visually excellent condition, like NEW, but IR send LEDs are burned. You still can upload firmware and software with help of another RCX brick or change IR LEDs. All others things work: motors, sensors, display, sound"

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