NXT brick bricked? flash doesn't work

[kenbo]

Here's a head scratcher. I have 10 NXTs that I use in teaching AI and Robotics. I've been using Lejos for a while now and love it.

One of my groups in class got in touch with me with a problem. They flashed
their brick with Lejos 0.7 on a windows machine. The process seemed to work,
you get the notes to play, then the screen goes blank for a few minutes. After that,
you the "bonk" sound.

The error is
Java Exception
Class 8
Method 123

I tried the process on a Linux machine---same result. I tried with 0.6---no luck.
I flashed the original Lego firmware---no problem! The NXT is alive.
Tried 0.7 again---same behavior. If you reset it, you get back to the J Lejos
screen, the melody, the blank screen, and wait, and the bonk.

I also tried nxjflash with the -f option.

I cannot remember if I have ever used Lejos on this particular brick.

Any one have any thoughts?

kenny

[gloomyandy]

Hi,
I've added verification the the flash process, this will be available in the next release of leJOS, but if you would be interested in trying it I can probably put together a zip file for you to install (on a windows machine would be easiest). It may not fix the problem, but it might help us work out what is going on! Let me know if you are interested in the test system...

Andy

[gloomyandy]

Oh and one (small) hope have you tried doing the flash with a fresh set of batteries...

Andy

[kenbo]

I'd love to get the version of flash that gives more info! Windows is fine.


thanks,
kenny

[gloomyandy]

Hi Kenny,
Ok I've created a zip file of the current developers snapshot. It can be downloaded from here:
http://www.gloomy-place.net/lejos/snapshot.zip

To install it do the following....

1. Got to the directory that contains your existing lejos_nxj dir.
2. Rename this as lejos_nxj.rel
3. Unzip the snapshot.
4. Rename snapshot to lejos_nxj
5. If you are using libUSB for USB comms edit the nxj.properties file in the (new) lejos_nxj\bin dir and uncomment the line for the libUSB driver.

To flash the nxt run nxjflash -f -v

To revert back to 0.7 simply rename lejos_nxt to lejos_nxj.dev and lejos_nxj.rel to lejos_nxj...

All the best

Andy

[kenbo]

Well, it's only been 5 months since I worked on this problem.

I just downloaded 0.8 and tried the -v option from the nxjflash.
Along with the -f.

All is reported fine, as seen below. But, the same thing
happens. The brick boots with the Lejos screen and sound, sits
there for a while, then bonks with a Class 8 error.

It's the only brick that does it. Lego firmware and NXT-G works
fine.

I'll try not to go 5 months between tries the next time.

Thanks for the help last time,
kenny

C:\Program Files\leJOS NXJ\bin>nxjflash.bat -f -v
Building firmware image.
VM file: C:\Program Files\leJOS NXJ\bin\lejos_nxt_rom.bin
Menu file: C:\Program Files\leJOS NXJ\bin\StartUpText.bin
VM size: 52352 bytes.
Menu size: 34651 bytes.
Total image size 87131/90112 bytes.
Building filesystem image.
Locating device in firmware update mode.
Found NXT: %%NXT-SAMBA%% 1
Connected to SAM-BA v1.4
Opened device in firmware update mode.
Unlocking pages.
Writing firmware image.
Verifying firmware.
Verified 90112 bytes ok.
Unlocking pages.
Writing filesystem image.
Verifying filesystem.
Verified 172032 bytes ok.
Restarting the device.

[gloomyandy]

Hi,
Hmm this all seems rather odd. Perhaps you have a faulty NXT. Could you post the details of the new exception, you should a PC value etc. now...

Andy

[kenbo]

Yep, I was thinking there might be a defect---I wonder if the NXT-G
would die if I use it long enough.

Anyhow, the error that shows up after a few minutes is
Class 8
Method 44
PC 10318

It has nothing loaded on the brick except for the Lejos firmware.
It will happily let me shut it down (I've managed to crash
other bricks to the point that I have to pop the batteries

kenny

[gloomyandy]

Hi Kenny,
Interesting! From the exception details it looks as if the code is failing due to a null pointer being returned from a call to get the local Bluetooth address (which in theory should never happen!). If you have access to the standard Lego firmware could you try and install that and try to set the brick name using it? Then try leJOS again...

Thanks

Andy

[kenbo]

That was interesting. I re-installed the original Lego firmware,
went into the NXT-G environment, opened the NXT window
and changed the device name from NXT to bobo. Re-flashed
with lejos---same issue.

Tried it again, but I turned the device off and on after setting
the name. When the brick powered back on (again, with
just the lego software), the name was back to NXT. So, the
brick is not keeping the name set through a power cycle.

I also went into the menus on the brick and attempted to
turn bluetooth on. Once, it failed after about 10 seconds;
the second time I tried it just sat on the screen for several
minutes with no fail and no success.

So, it seems like your thought of the brick having an issue unrelated
to Lejos is correct . I've lost two bricks to LCD screen
failures (ok, three but with one the resoldering howto online
brought it back to life) and now this brick is unusable
with Lejos (although it looks like I will be able to use
it with basic NXT-G sans Bluetooth).

Thanks for the help. If anything else occurs to me
I'll post again.

kenny