Dual Strike Firmware 3.3.0

[Michael Pohl]

A new firmware version for the Dual Strike and TEasy Strike is available for download. It adds the possibility to send the directions as analogue joystick information to the host in PC mode (similar to the left and right analogue joysticks of PS3 and XBox mode), so now you can get SSFIV AE and other games not supporting hat switch data to work with the PC mode of the Dual Strike. Additionally the behavior for simultaneously activated directions was changed: if two opposing cardinal directions are activated simultaneously, the lastly activated one will be sent to the host (in PS3, XBox and PC mode) - this is aimed at arcade sticks with buttons used for the directions.
The configuration possibilities didn't change, so if updating from firmware version 3.2.0 you don't have to reconfigure.
Because of the increased complexity the firmware no longer fits on ATmega8 based Dual Strikes (like V1 and early SMD), thus these are no longer supported.

As always get the new version from the Dual Strike Overview page:
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kSNxb2SLDZB-jQpl1ZHbVoksGS7_nDJKFOAMJo3S_tA/preview>

[Jochen Zurborg]

could you post again how to get the info about the firmware info on a Pc?

Great work ;)

Bye,

Jochen

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:18:56 +0200
> Von: Michael Pohl <Pohl-M...@GMX.net>
> An: strike-...@googlegroups.com
> Betreff: Dual Strike Firmware 3.3.0

[Michael Pohl]

> could you post again how to get the info about the firmware info on a Pc?

I added it to the FAQ:
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w6MjYNye6cE5h75vI4fIV-VYioGkdWAFri2boOJEcwU/edit?hl=en_US#heading=h.qh1qojwxng9>

Bye,
Michael

[Clayton Knight]

Michael,

There's a bug in the latest firmware, Matthew has noticed it and a few of my customers have. On PS3 the directionals do not work anymore, and on top of that after plugging it into a PS3 and removing the USB cable the firmware is lost and a re-flash is needed. Did you mess with the EEPROM save while in PS3 mode with the new firmware? I still believe the lost chip issue we've seen for a while is an EEPROM corruption, and this may be proof of concept.

I'm telling users to not update their firmware for now and remain at 3.2.0, which I ship my units with.

-Clayton

[Michael Pohl]

> There's a bug in the latest firmware, Matthew has noticed it and a few of my customers have. On PS3 the directionals do not work anymore

That is resolved now (without counting up the version number) - a dumb mistake of one missing line :(

> , and on top of that after plugging it into a PS3 and removing the USB cable the firmware is lost and a re-flash is needed. Did you mess with the EEPROM save while in PS3 mode with the new firmware?

Nope, I didn't. Nothing changed in regards of the configuration.

> I still believe the lost chip issue we've seen for a while is an EEPROM corruption, and this may be proof of concept.

I'm with you there. One day I got to program that flash-and-EEPROM-test firmware which is on the to-do list for such a long time :/

[Jochen Zurborg]

> > , and on top of that after plugging it into a PS3 and removing the USB
> cable the firmware is lost and a re-flash is needed. Did you mess with the
> EEPROM save while in PS3 mode with the new firmware?
>

does this happen reproduceable? Somethink to track, investigate?

[Clayton Knight]

Not sure, I haven't tested but users have reported needing to re-flash and Matthew has also reported this as well.

Could be something to explore though.

[Matthew Gummo]

This happens to me on the dual strike smd EVERY single time I plug it into my ps3.

[Jochen Zurborg]

hm, just a thougth:

Michael recommended a tool for testing the EEPROM. But such a tool goes into symptoms. Wouldn't it be better to have a kind of terminals output firmware to make debugs?

This assumes that there is a firmware bug into it. And if we`re thinking that there is EEPROM issue. Wouldn't it be better to make test firmware where no EEPROM readings happen. All config values for that must be hard coded.

Both ideas are not fully satiesfying, since we`re not only having EEPROM failures, but lost firmware, too. Sometimes even the bootloader is affected.

I`m really wondering that I receive only 5% issues on Dual Strike v2 hardware (maximum, normally less) and I`m selling XX pcs per month.

I think for this issue the dual strike smd is a good test board.

@Clayton : How many customers of TEASY Strike reports such a failure? Do we hunt ghosts?

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:00:27 -0500
> Von: Clayton Knight <phreaka...@gmail.com>
> An: strike-...@googlegroups.com
> Betreff: Re: Dual Strike Firmware 3.3.0

[Jochen Zurborg]

> This happens to me on the dual strike smd EVERY single time I plug it into
> my ps3.

I`m currently building Dual Strike v3, coz I`m out of DS v2. Then I try with the v3. Anyway I`m quite sure that this doesn't happen to Michaels v2 version.

So gummo, do you have left one or two smd boards for testing?

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:00:39 -0400
> Von: Matthew Gummo <gumm...@gmail.com>

> An: strike-...@googlegroups.com
> Betreff: Re: Dual Strike Firmware 3.3.0

> This happens to me on the dual strike smd EVERY single time I plug it into

[Michael Pohl]

> This happens to me on the dual strike smd EVERY single time I plug it into
> my ps3.

That is with ATmega168, right?
It just doesn't work anymore until you re-flash the firmware? Does it work until you unplug it from the PS3 for the first time? Does it work if the mode is forced? Is it still recognized on PC? Did this issue arise with 3.3.0 (which would be really strange) or another version?
I want to understand what specifically is screwed up...

[Matthew Gummo]

I redownloaded the 3.3 firmware update and it has fixed the issue of having to reflash the firmware after plugging it into a ps3. However, Start still doesn't work on PC but does on PS3.

It is a ATmega168 chip.

What happened before was when I plugged it into the PS3 it would function except for the dpad. After I unplugged it and plugged it back into a ps3 or pc it wouldn't be recognized. I had to reflash the firmware. This happened with the 3.3 firmware. I think the latest 3.2 firmware is broken for the dual strike smd as the board isn't recognized when I flashed it with the latest 3.2 firmware.

I have several smd boards left for testing. I'm using a dual modded sixaxis pad for testing of now. Has a 360 TE pcb and dual strike smd board installed.

[Michael Pohl]

> I redownloaded the 3.3 firmware update and it has fixed the issue of having
> to reflash the firmware after plugging it into a ps3. However, Start still
> doesn't work on PC but does on PS3.

This does occur with different chips? If it is the issue of only one than the flash might be fried.

> It is a ATmega168 chip.
>
> What happened before was when I plugged it into the PS3 it would function
> except for the dpad. After I unplugged it and plugged it back into a ps3 or
> pc it wouldn't be recognized. I had to reflash the firmware. This happened
> with the 3.3 firmware. I think the latest 3.2 firmware is broken for the
> dual strike smd as the board isn't recognized when I flashed it with the
> latest 3.2 firmware.

Strange... never happened to anyone else as far as I know.

[Matthew Gummo]

Everytime I flash the first 3.3 fw to the board and plug it into the ps3 it wont become recognized again after unplugging. When flashed with the updated 3.3 it doesnt happen.

I tried two other boards by themselves and didnt have the issue.

[Jochen Zurborg]

so you have one board where this happens and some other where this issue it not happen?

I`ve ordered two ATMEGA168A to make some more tests on these ones. I`m using PU or PU versions.

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:32:08 -0400

> Von: Matthew Gummo <gumm...@gmail.com>
> An: strike-...@googlegroups.com
> Betreff: Re: Dual Strike Firmware 3.3.0

> Everytime I flash the first 3.3 fw to the board and plug it into the ps3

[Jochen Zurborg]

strange.

anyway, I`ve used the two dual strike SMD you gave me to mod some pads. It was quite fun, but this time 3.2 was not released. I`ve shipped hundreds of DS v2 with fw 3.2

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:53:29 +0200
> Von: Michael Pohl <pohl-m...@gmx.net>

> An: strike-...@googlegroups.com
> Betreff: Re: Dual Strike Firmware 3.3.0

> > I redownloaded the 3.3 firmware update and it has fixed the issue of

[Michael Pohl]

> Everytime I flash the first 3.3 fw to the board and plug it into the ps3 it
> wont become recognized again after unplugging. When flashed with the updated
> 3.3 it doesnt happen.
>
> I tried two other boards by themselves and didnt have the issue.

Then I bet it's corrupted flash. It's a strange behavior still, but everything can happen if some bytes have wrong values.

[Jochen Zurborg]

Sure, it`s somehow corrupted flash, but the question is more, why is this happen under specific circumstance quiten often more than on other.

ie. I bet that there room left on optimization of the voltage regulation part.

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:03:40 +0200

> Von: Michael Pohl <pohl-m...@gmx.net>
> An: strike-...@googlegroups.com
> Betreff: Re: Dual Strike Firmware 3.3.0

> > Everytime I flash the first 3.3 fw to the board and plug it into the ps3

[Clayton Knight]

I`m really wondering that I receive only 5% issues on Dual Strike v2 hardware (maximum, normally less) and I`m selling XX pcs per month.

@Clayton : How many customers of TEASY Strike reports such a failure? Do we hunt ghosts?

I get roughly the same percentage of "dead" boards, but I don't like the fact that the firmware randomly needs to be re-flashed sometimes, and then also there's the obvious effect of the MCU just stuck in 1 mode or not being responsive anymore.

I'm in my third wave of TEasy Strike boards, one "died" after 1 day of use so i'm having the customer send it back to fix it. It's still a small percentage but the fact that this occurance is an obvious side effect of something that's implemented should be a red flag, but I'm out of ideas.

I'll be building a high voltage adapter for my AVR dragon to use on TEasy boards to quick fix any that have this problem instead of requiring removal of the bad chip, but I just don't have the time at the moment to do so.

-Clayton

[Jochen Zurborg]

absolutley out of discussion that this issue has to been tracked. But it`s difficult to overcome since I`ve repaired my MCUs.

Let`s face on Michael new work.

@Michael : what do you think we get from such a tool. Do you expect to get information about a specific area on EEPROM or Flash which is prone to error? And have then back conclusion on the source.

Clayton and Matthew stated the idea to reduce the firmware features just to the core elements and have then some performance test run. If then no outages happens it has something to do with the firmware.

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:20:41 -0500
> Von: Clayton Knight <phreaka...@gmail.com>

> An: strike-...@googlegroups.com
> Betreff: Re: Dual Strike Firmware 3.3.0

> *I`m really wondering that I receive only 5% issues on Dual Strike v2

> hardware (maximum, normally less) and I`m selling XX pcs per month.
>
> @Clayton : How many customers of TEASY Strike reports such a failure? Do
> we

> hunt ghosts?*

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