SkyRC — IFA 2014 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

[dssguy1]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

I like my setup a little better, obviously I'm partial because I have a 3D printer and it took 15 minutes and $1 in parts.

Much less of a rat's nest of live wires and I can plug any type of end connector to my female 5.5x2.1 barrel connector (I'm going to put a permanent one on, I was just testing the idea first) without having 8 other wires laying around my charger. I would be afraid to do anything else with that charger while the Octo-plug is attached! Some of those wires and alligator clips are just begging to be shorted out to something on the charger or each other IMO.

I was also trying to cut down on all the extra resistance points with my connections so I didn't measure abnormally high IR.

Your pictures of how to charge a cell phone battery with the bent copper wires is genius. I have been using that method to charge a battery on an old cell phone (it had a proprietary port that I lost the cable to long ago) that my daughter plays with ever since!

Thanks for sharing, nice one!

I did something similar, all with commercial stuff, no 3-D printer needed. This particular RC hobby charging harness was a BG SKU:

 

[Albert_]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

I use to have a Tenergy TB6S+ balancing charger, worked great for a while but something happened internally and started to smoke.

It's was a TB6S+ small version I picked up for $25.00 that was eventually discontinued. The combination case and pcb implementation was poor.

There's a better implementation available from another manufacture ( can't recall the manu. name). Handheld size with a small case has one balance connector port and pos/neg power connectors, plus the usual balance charger firmware.

As for the MC3000 I doubt anyone would integrate anything beyond single cell cylindrical capabilities. However it would be possible to modify the MC3000 firmware by adding an external charging port, however due to the complexities involved I doubt a charger like this would be created, at least in the near future.

One problem with balance chargers is their design is mainly for RC battery packs. I've built a few charging stations for cylindrical cells, but it's difficult because of all the wiring (and different types of battery holders) involved, so individual cells can be added and removed.

A better dyi alternative for lithium batteries is use of battery management charging boards. You can build a simple lithium 4 cell battery charger that charges each cell individually for approx. ~$5.00.

There are IC's such as LT1510 that are able to passively charge a battery and know when to stop and also be controlled by a MCU.

 

[Minimoog]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5cwd6vrq9jkzkjj/20160215_202012.jpg?dl=0 is my charger version. I ordered from GearBest - I'm running two of these chargers now.

 

[kreisl]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Thanks Minimoog,

looks very good!!

:twothumbs

 

[MarioJP]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

I am happy to report that the micro usb that i got from Amazon shows no signs of connectivity issues from pc to charger whatsoever. The micro usb end connects firmly. Even wiggling did not cause any disconnect. These gold plated cables are high quality build.👍👍

 

[DeJaVu]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Yes, I have
but not with Win10
with Win7 64 home ed.

Have you tried using MS Fixit? These fixes sometimes have listed procedures that can be done manually.

It's basically a diagnostic program that enables a user to diagnose and repair certain issues.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/mats/hardware_device_problems

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Tips-for-solving-problems-with-USB-devices


If MC3000 is recognized by the MC3000 monitor program and your Windows OS. The USB device drivers for the MC3000 are installed ok. No "Unknown Device". I'm not certain what would be the problem.

If the MC3000 is recognized by the OS it will be listed as a USB device from the Device Manager > Under Universal Serial Bus controllers. Possibly labled as a "composite device". If not recognized should be listed as an "Unknown Device". If an "Unknown Device" or no recognition you can try re-installing individual Hub device driver until it's recognized.

USBView is a program that will list and have details about USB hubs, ports and connected usb devices.

Perhaps posting a question from the mailinglist http://www.nongnu.org/dataexplorer/#mailinglist

I managed to make DEX work(i was gettin "cannot open USB port" message), by disabling xHCI in bios. The dodgy intel usb 3.0 chip strikes again(i had some problems previously with some device as i recall).
So basicaly if you have intel usb 3.0 chip you have to choose, usb 3.0 speeds or logging with DEX.
Luckily i rarely use 3.0 devices on the pc im logging at, so in the rare occasions i need to i would have to make a trip to the bios. Dedicated PCI or PCIx usb card(not with intel chip) for logging could also be a good solution for some, if DEX and intel USB 3.0 speed is a must.
Also as a positive is that DEX doesnt stop logging when i plug usb device like PCLS likes to do. So you can forget about the premium usb cables and just use a good one you have, and wait for skyrc to fix the bug in PCLS. Or just use DEX.

 

[kappa7]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

I managed to make DEX work(i was gettin "cannot open USB port" message), by disabling xHCI in bios. The dodgy intel usb 3.0 chip strikes again(i had some problems previously with some device as i recall).
So basicaly if you have intel usb 3.0 chip you have to choose, usb 3.0 speeds or logging with DEX.
Luckily i rarely use 3.0 devices on the pc im logging at, so in the rare occasions i need to i would have to make a trip to the bios. Dedicated PCI or PCIx usb card(not with intel chip) for logging could also be a good solution for some, if DEX and intel USB 3.0 speed is a must.
Also as a positive is that DEX doesnt stop logging when i plug usb device like PCLS likes to do. So you can forget about the premium usb cables and just use a good one you have, and wait for skyrc to fix the bug in PCLS. Or just use DEX.

Have you tried to update the USB 3 driver from the Intel website. The only time that I've had problems with the usb 3 ports I've resolved by simply updating the usb 3 driver.

 

[Albert_]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

I managed to make DEX work(i was gettin "cannot open USB port" message), by disabling xHCI in bios. The dodgy intel usb 3.0 chip strikes again(i had some problems previously with some device as i recall).
So basicaly if you have intel usb 3.0 chip you have to choose, usb 3.0 speeds or logging with DEX.
Luckily i rarely use 3.0 devices on the pc im logging at, so in the rare occasions i need to i would have to make a trip to the bios. Dedicated PCI or PCIx usb card(not with intel chip) for logging could also be a good solution for some, if DEX and intel USB 3.0 speed is a must.
Also as a positive is that DEX doesnt stop logging when i plug usb device like PCLS likes to do. So you can forget about the premium usb cables and just use a good one you have, and wait for skyrc to fix the bug in PCLS. Or just use DEX.

My PC's are using older 2.0 USB controllers. I'm not all that familure with USB 3.0. If you're required to go into a PC bios to solve an issue such as this, then part is the problem is the implementation of the PC's motherboard's USB, OS drivers and backward USB 3.0 compatibility issues.

____

PCLS is the only PC program I know of that's able to access and configure MC3000 battery cell settings, could use some more development and bug fixes. GUI compatibility needs some work. I'm not certain what else, an application of this type should have access to all device settings. Possibly a command line interface could be included.

 

[Rapster]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

I managed to make DEX work(i was gettin "cannot open USB port" message), by disabling xHCI in bios. The dodgy intel usb 3.0 chip strikes again(i had some problems previously with some device as i recall).
So basicaly if you have intel usb 3.0 chip you have to choose, usb 3.0 speeds or logging with DEX.
Luckily i rarely use 3.0 devices on the pc im logging at, so in the rare occasions i need to i would have to make a trip to the bios. Dedicated PCI or PCIx usb card(not with intel chip) for logging could also be a good solution for some, if DEX and intel USB 3.0 speed is a must.
Also as a positive is that DEX doesnt stop logging when i plug usb device like PCLS likes to do. So you can forget about the premium usb cables and just use a good one you have, and wait for skyrc to fix the bug in PCLS. Or just use DEX.

Why don't you just use a USB 2.0 port instead? Most motherboards with USB 3.0 ports also have USB 2.0 ports.

Also, it was mostly the Z77 chipset and/or third party controllers on that specific chipset that had random USB 3.0 problems. AFAIK, these were fixed in later versions.

 

[Rapster]

It's more difficult to find a DC fan rated at exactly at 15 VDC. Do you think a 15 VDC rating is necessary for a replacement fan?

You could just use a 12V fan and use a resistor to bring the voltage down to an acceptable level.

27 Ohm resistor should do the trick. (This would cover 12VDC fans using current of about 100-120mA if the supply was 15V.)

 

[Albert_]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

I managed to make DEX work(i was gettin "cannot open USB port" message), by disabling xHCI in bios. The dodgy intel usb 3.0 chip strikes again(i had some problems previously with some device as i recall).
So basicaly if you have intel usb 3.0 chip you have to choose, usb 3.0 speeds or logging with DEX.
Luckily i rarely use 3.0 devices on the pc im logging at, so in the rare occasions i need to i would have to make a trip to the bios. Dedicated PCI or PCIx usb card(not with intel chip) for logging could also be a good solution for some, if DEX and intel USB 3.0 speed is a must.
Also as a positive is that DEX doesnt stop logging when i plug usb device like PCLS likes to do. So you can forget about the premium usb cables and just use a good one you have, and wait for skyrc to fix the bug in PCLS. Or just use DEX.

Some stuff recently became aware of, not certain if it will help anyone, I'm not familure with USB 3.0 other than what I read the past day or two.
______________________

I was reading online a little bit about this problem. Apparently some PC motherboard's with both USB 2.0 and 3.0, the mb bios will have USB compatibility settings.

Such as XHCI Hands-off, XHCI Pre-boot mode, etc. If enabled XHCI is then implemented in the OS using a XHCI driver, that controls USB compatibility.

It appears to be at least in part an OS driver issue. Depending on the bios setting different USB drivers are loaded and used by the OS. (Since I've don't have or ever used USB 3.0, I would need to read up on it a bit .. There are different hardware and bios implementations of USB by the motherboard manufactures.)

XHCI Mode = Disabled - The on-board USB 3.0 port function like a 2.0 port

XHCI Mode = Enabled - The on-board USB 3.0 port function like a 3.0 port

XHCI Mode = Auto - The on-board USB 3.0 port function like a 2.0 port before OS USB 3.0 driver load. If you reboot the OS, the on-board USB 3.0 port again function like a 2.0 port during this reboot BIOS phase before OS USB 3.0 driver load.

XHCI Mode = Smart Auto - The on-board USB 3.0 port function like a 2.0 port before OS USB 3.0 driver load. If you reboot the OS, during this reboot BIOS phase, BIOS is "Smart" enough to avoid downgrade the USB 3.0 port back to 2.0 functionality before OS USB 3.0 driver load. So Smart Auto is faster than Auto on 2nd boot onward, but Enabled is fastest once you are sure the OS has the USB 3.0 driver installed, because it avoid the switching. Making the on-board USB 3.0 port function like a 2.0 port is mainly to support OS installation or to support OS that does not have build-in USB 3.0 driver, so that the USB keyboard would still work if the user plug-in a USB keyboard or any other USB devices into the USB 3.0 ports before the OS is installed with the USB 3.0 driver come with the motherboard
___________

I wasn't able to find any Intel USB drivers for Windows 8 & 10. From what I read online Intel Windows 7 USB drivers shouldn't be used under Windows 8 & 10.

Intel has a program that searches for out of date drivers and faciliates updating installed Intel drivers.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24345/Intel-Driver-Update-Utility

USB 3.0 Drivers

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/65855/Intel-USB-3-0-eXtensible-Host-Controller-Driver

Some PC manufactures have their own OE hardware driver versions.

I would also look to see if your mb has the most recent bios. Some PC manufactures include an update application that will scan your PC for the latest OEM bios, drivers and applications.

Windows 8 and Windows 10, except for the windows manager, the core is fairly much the same and should be using the same USB driver stack.

 

[fnsooner]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

A lot of this PC compatibility stuff is probably more than I want to deal with. I have tried to keep up with this thread from about November on but have pretty much tuned out all the PC stuff. I do all of my programming and operating of this charger manually. I have not down loaded the computer program for this charger and am really only interested in its ability to upgrade my charger firmware.

I have a laptop that was originally Windows 7 and is now upgraded to Windows 10. Is there any quick and dirty guidance for someone like myself? When will a firmware upgrade be available? Is there a stable PC program that will work on my PC and do the upgrade without risk? Do I need a special USB cable? I have several around the house for different uses.

I am happy with the charger at the moment and am not in a big hurry to upgrade my firmware but would like to be able do it as it was something promised by SkyRC. There is so much PC jargon and computer wiz stuff going on in this thread that I am having a hard time seeing the forest for the trees. Thanks.

By the way, I do use and like the app for my iphone 6 to monitor this charger.

 

[MarioJP]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Wow, after reading this part on this thread just to flash a firmware on to a device. This is insane. I think SkyRC needs to take notes from Samsung. Just like Samsung. SkyRC needs to release a usb driver package installer. That's how Samsung does it if you need to upgrade or flash firmwares on your phone. without this driver, you run the risk of bricking your phone . something tells me there are parts missing that the stand alone skyrc program does not provide. That is just a flashing tool. It needs its own driver to handle firmware flashing. Relying on default windows usb drivers is a hit or miss and is asking for trouble. The simple fact that it works on xp is just pure luck. XP is simple unlike vista and up lol. Maybe UAC has something to do with it. I don't know. Samsung solved that issue by releasing its own driver lol.

 

[billcushman]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

If the update option in the PCLS software works properly, it will probably be OK for updating, once you unzip it and use a RAR Opener and add a device to get PCLS working using a quality Micro USB 2 cable. They badly need to implement screen resizing or support more resolutions. Many laptops will presently cut off the bottom of the PCLS display. I wish SkyRC would support Apple OS X El Capitan. With Apple, I find almost every thing just works and has awesome capability and is a pleasure to use. With Microsoft, everything is frustrating and a PITA. Win10 has many improvements and doesn't crash but pales in comparison to OS X.

 

[Albert_]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

Disabling USB 3.0 from your PC's bios, may help to remedy any USB 2.0 & 3.0 problems and conflicts.


Things below .....

A little reasoning with a few technical details, possibly help for troubleshooting, etc. please disregard if you don't want or need.

_______________________


You can try different bios settings and/or usb drivers to have both usb 2.0 and 3.0 cooperate. Apparently some PCs are using the same USB port for both USB versions.

The other suggestion is to install a USB 2.0 adapter. You could then disable the motherboards USB controller or configure it for USB 3.0 only. During bootup Windows would then recognize and install the USB 2.0 adapter using it's default USB 2.0 stack.

If your having hardware and/or software problems you should try to report the actual problem in some detail and not just state it won't connect, sometimes works, etc. Often there are fairly simple solutions and remedies to problems and conflicts, when at least some basic details are known.
____________

USB has similarities derived from serial RS-232 protocols. USB is basically a serial connection to a serial device. Is also being used to power and charge usb devices.

USB host and device power management normally is kept independent of USB data BUS protocols.

RS-485 has similar functions of USB (such as a device ID) and is able to handle serially connected multiple RS-485 devices. E.g. Many of the CCTV cameras and controllers still use RS-485, which is sometimes preferred over USB, Ethernet and other connection types.

USB specifications were originally deigned as an industry standard to PC architecture with a focus on PC peripherals. Serial RS protocols and hardware, having been around a long time, aren't necessarily engineered for PC standards. (one exception is the DB-9 RS-232 connector, wiring and protocols, simplified variant of the RS-232 protocol, was originally designed by IBM for the IBM PC)

USB 2.0 standards involve:

- Ease-of-use for PC peripheral expansion
- Low-cost solution supporting transfer rates up to 480 Mb/s
- Full support for real-time data of voice, audio, and video
- Protocol flexibility for mixed-mode synchronous data transfers and asynchronous messaging
- Integration into commodity device technology
- Comprehension of various PC configurations and form factors
- Provision of a standard interface capable of quick diffusion into product
- Enabling new classes of devices that augment the PC's capability
- Full backward compatibility for devices built to previous versions of the specification

 

[fnsooner]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

If the update option in the PCLS software works properly, it will probably be OK for updating, once you unzip it and use a RAR Opener and add a device to get PCLS working using a quality Micro USB 2 cable.

This I could probably do when the time comes.

What Albert said, not so much.:shakehead

 

[tjh]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

My laptop and the two USB hubs I have connected to it are all USB3 capable.
I specifically bought USB3 hubs for my new laptop.

I have no problem running the PCLS and talking to my MC3000 via it.

So I suspect the USB3 thing is a bit of a red herring.

 

[DeJaVu]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

My laptop and the two USB hubs I have connected to it are all USB3 capable.
I specifically bought USB3 hubs for my new laptop.

I have no problem running the PCLS and talking to my MC3000 via it.

So I suspect the USB3 thing is a bit of a red herring.

Re-read the original post.
Disabling usb 3.0 helped with dex(not pcls) detecting the charger. It is still not narowed down, but my giess is that problems arise only with Intel USB 3.0 Chip.

Pcls works ok either way, except that it stops logging upon inserting another usb device, a behavior which dex doesnt exibit.

 

[billcushman]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

My low cost Windows 10 laptop is a HP 14t-ac100 with a tiny 32GB SSD. It boots up in 35 seconds but the highest resolution is 1366x768. It has two USB2 ports and one USB3 port. I have only used the USB2 connection. I bought this model because it was cheap, had a removable battery (4-18650), has an ethernet port, and has bluetooth. This model is not available from stores, only by HP direct. It shipped from the factory in China.

http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/Laptops/hp-14t-laptop-m0f19av-1

http://www.china.org.cn/business/2014-06/16/content_32674371.htm

 

[Albert_]

Re: SkyRC — IFA 2014 / CES 2016 — MC3000 charger-analyzer

After taking a closer look at USB 3.0 I have found a few basic details, which may or may not be important to someone troubleshooting.

USB 3.0 Host Controller is comprised of two USB HUBs, different from one another

USB 2.0 HUB (for low, full & high speed USB devices)
USB 3.0 HUB (for USB 3.0 super speed devices)

USB 3.0 is technically closer to SATA then to USB 2.0.

By disabling USB 3.0 HUB may help to alleviate any conflicts that prevents a USB 2.0 device from being recognized and initialized by the USB 3.0 Host Controller and OS drivers.

If a USB 2.0 device is recognized, initialized and displayed in the Window Device Manager, there potentially can be other conflicts that prevent the USB Software from accessing the USB 2.0. Any USB software needs to be able to send and receive signals or commands to and from a USB device.