I unboxed my reach module today, expecting to do some field tests but I am unable to get the reach module to work. I am a geologist/GIS analyst, so I’m no stranger to this sort of technical work, but I am at a tough spot here.
Before I put power to the unit, I was careful to read all of the quick start instructions so I wouldn’t screw anything up. Sure enough, halfway through trying to disable the wifi on the module/add it to my wireless network, my network connection failed - causing the setup to be incomplete. I spent some time trying to get reconnected to the reach’s wireless network to start over, but it was already disabled. At this point, I thought the best course of action was to reflash the unit so I could basically start over.
I followed the directions on the “firmware reflashing” documents page, being careful to make sure all drivers were installed correctly (I am using Windows 7). Unfortunately, during the reflash, it only made it to about 27% and it had an error and stopped. At this point, I tried again several times with the same results. I unistalled then reinstalled all of the drivers/programs to perform the reflash, and gave it another go. When I tried to plug the unit back into my computer, I noticed a solid magenta light (where it was flashing blue and red earlier in the day) that presisted for about 30 min. I tried to run the reflash procedure again on the freshly reinstalled drivers/programs and the reach unit was not recognized by my computer, so the procedure couldn’t be started. When I plug the unit into my power supply, I only get the solid magenta LED (turned it off after 5 minutes).
I was under the impression that the magenta LED was a sign of the unit booting? The first time I fired it up, it showed magenta for a few seconds then went through some other colors…
Where should I go from here if I can’t communicate with the reach unit being plugged into my computer and I can’t communicate with it over wireless?
PS I have a single Reach module and the supplied Tallysman antenna with the intention of post correcting collected survey points in RTKLIB - my goal is to be able to survey ground control points for UAV surveys, so real time accuracy isn’t a huge concern at this point.
Could you try using a different usb cable? Also, do you have a different computer available to try reflashing?
Unfortunately, we have some problems reflashing with Windows 7.
I’ve read about the issues with reflashing using Windows 7 - unfortunately, I don’t have access to a computer with a different operating system. I did, however try a different USB cable on a different (albeit Windows 7) machine, and could not communicate with the unit, and still had the persistent magenta LED.
Any ideas? I would really like to use this unit for surveying.
I was able to reflash the module using a different (windows 7) computer, without having to use the command line routine. I am not tracking satellites in Single mode (no base module). Looking forward to getting my settings correct so I can post correct points in rtklib!
I am experiencing the same problem with one of my reach modules,
Here is what i managed to read on the uart output.
The reach stops for a little while, then tries to read the registers again, but gets the same error message.
I have tried to reflash the module with success 3-4 times, but the error persists.
This pca953x error message is irrelevant as it is related to Intel Edison dev board hardware.
We do not use this chip on Reach, so this message is displayed because there is no chip but the driver expects it.
Will be removed in the next version of image.
The chip never boots past this message, it is stuck with the magenta color on the LED and goes into a “reeboot” state.
That message is the only thing showing up, it will not set up wifi or boot past the initial sequence.
Boot sequence:
Blue -> off -> blue -> magenta flashes two times -> solid magenta for 5-10 min -> repeat
The reason i believe it boots several times is because i listened to the UART output, the message was repeating itself 6-7 times before UART was disabled.
