Nano NO SD CARD / GPS reset

[Louis Bertrand]

Hello,

I cannot log files to the SD card. The display says "NO SD CARD / GPS reset". I can read and write the SD card from my Mac. The default files look OK (see attached).

Here's the story...

bGeigie Nano #2106 purchased June 2013 from International Medcom. Firmware 1.1.1. Assembled no problem. Worked fine and logged a couple of trips. 

Forgot about it for a while, and started using it again but it would not log to the SD card. I read the original SD card and copied all the files to my Mac. I used another SD card formatted on a PC as FAT32.

Upgraded the firmware to 1.3.5 and now I see on the display "NO SD CARD".

I can open the Arduino serial monitor (9600bps) and see logging records displayed and updated regularly.

After checking the SD card, I noticed that the metal frame on the bottom of the OpenLog module was a bit bent. I replaced the OpenLog with another one. The SD card goes in with a satisfying click.

I see the blue and green LEDs on OpenLog at power up, but after a while the green LED no longer lights up. The blue LED flashes 3 pulses every two seconds or so.

The GPS has no lock. The red LED flashes on/off at 1 sec intervals (searching?).

I installed the BLEbee from KitHub and I can connect from my Android app (pretty cool, BTW). I get data errors, presumably because the records have no GPS data.

Some troubleshooting questions please to get me unstuck.

* is the CD card format supposed to be FAT16 or FAT32?

* is there a special grade of SD card required?

* Would I need to update/upgrade or change the OpenLog firmware?

* are the file line endings significant for the config files? Unix (LF) vs. Windows (CR-LF) -- I tried both, no change.

* At the moment it won't get a GPS fix. Do I need a working SD card for GPS to be enabled?

* What else should I try?

Thanks

 --Louis

Louis Bertrand 

durhamcollege.ca

[Louis Bertrand]

Answering my own post...

I put the original SD card back in the slot of the replacement OpenLog and it seems to work now.

My *guess* at this time:

 1 - the original OpenLog bent metal frame prevented the SD card from making contact;

 2 - the new SD card FAT32 format is incompatible with OpenLog firmware.

All the best

 --Louis

[Pieter Franken]

Hi Louis,

The bGeigie looks for the config file on the Scared to determine there's an SD card or not - so the error can be because of SD card missing, not formatted or config file missing. Sometimes a poor contact is to blame or SD card needs reformatting. The best utility to reformat the SD card is https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

Before formatting make sure to make a back up of the files on the SD card and copy these back after formatting. Of course make sure the SAFECAST.TXT and CONFIG.TXT are on the SDcard.

Best,

Pieter

[Louis Bertrand]

Thanks, that's helpful.
--Louis