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Bricked DFRobot Bluno

PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:23 am
by azlinrahim
I'm a complete newbie to Arduino. And one of the first thing I did, which I completely regretted now, was to try to update the firmware of my Arduino DFRobot Bluno v1.6 board, using instructions in https://www.dfrobot.com/wiki/index.php/ ... KU:DFR0267.

Here's what happened. I pressed and held the boot button and connected the board to my PC via USB as per the instruction, and as expected Bluno now appeared as a USB drive in Windows 10. However, I didn't realize that I have the Arduino IDE's Serial Monitor still running. Thinking that this would somehow affect the process, I hastily closed it. In retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have done so because immediately after that, Bluno's USB drive disappeared in Explorer. It would reappeared for a few secs (but with curiously just one file DEFAULT.CFG), and then disappeared again, and this cycle would repeat continously until I disconnected the board from the PC.

From that point on, I could no longer connect the board and make it appear in device manager. Restarting my PC didn't help. Changing the USB cable also didn't help. Bluno's COM port just refused to appear :(. Browsing around the DFRobot forum (https://www.dfrobot.com/forum/viewtopic ... 8624#p8624), I discovered that the bootloader in the serial chip (CC2540) is most likely gone. It's possible to fix, but I would apparently need another device called the CC Debugger, which actually cost more than the board itself!

I refused to accept that my board is gone for good, especially due to what apparently in my eyes was a small mistake :D. So, would really appreciate it if anyone here could help me answer the following questions.

1. Is there a place near Petaling Jaya/Shah Alam where I can repair my bricked board, at a reasonable fee? I believe aside from the SC, the board still functions perfectly.
2. If there's no such place, anyone knows where can I get a CC Debugger at a reasonable price. It can even be a used unit, as long as it works.
3. Should I just chuck the board and get a new one? Would that be easier and cost-effective?

Thanks in advance.

Azlin

Re: Bricked DFRobot Bluno

PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:37 am
by Idris
Hi Azlin,

To be honest, I like your effort to update the firmware by yourself even (as you said) you're beginner. This kind of attitude is good, even sometimes risky (yeah :D ). I believe the board still can be fixed if it is not involved hardware problem.

Where do you bought the board? Maybe you can ask for help from them?