[Solved] Cannot update MMDVM_HS HAT on a JSTVRO Duplex Hotspot

MMDVM_HS Hat hardware
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dl9sec
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:03 pm

[Solved] Cannot update MMDVM_HS HAT on a JSTVRO Duplex Hotspot

Post by dl9sec »

Hi,

I recently bought this guy at "Jeff's General Store":

Image
Image

It's a JSTVRO MMDVM Duplex Hotspot. Really nice and tiny.

It has a Raspberry Pi Zero W with a "STM32-DVM / MMDVM_HS – Raspberry Pi Hat (GPIO)" MMDVM_HS_Dual_Hat piggybacked.
All setup went fine so far. The MMDVM_HS firmware 1.4.17 was delivered on the modem.

After a 'rpi-rw' and update/upgrade of the Pi-Star stuff, I tried to update the modem firmware via Pi-Star with

Code: Select all

sudo pistar-mmdvmhshatflash hs_dual_hat
which ends up in a

Code: Select all

:
Using Parser : Raw BINARY                                                            
Interface serial_posix: 57600 8E1                                                    
Failed to init device.
:
It took me several days to investigate the reason for that.
Finally I found out, that there is obviously a design incompatibility at the MMDVM_HS Hat:
The connection between pin 40 of the RPi Zero W connector to pin 7 of the STM32 (NRST) is missing. With appropriate tools (microscope, fine soldering iron, ...) the missing connection can be wired.
Then a connection between pin 4 (to STM32 BOOT1/PB2 via 10k) and pin 6 (GND) of the unpopulated 6-pin header footprint must be made. As far as I see, this connection can stay like in other MMDVM_HS designs after programming.

With these modifications it was possible to update the MMDVM_HS_Dual_Hat from 1.4.17 to 1.5.2.

Hope this helps...

73, Thorsten
Last edited by dl9sec on Thu Jan 28, 2021 2:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
G8SEZ
Posts: 553
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:26 pm

Re: [Solved] Cannot update MMDVM_HS HAT on a JSTVRO Duplex Hotspot

Post by G8SEZ »

It looks like this is a modified clone of the design from here:

https://github.com/phl0/MMDVM_HS_Dual_H ... /r2.0-mini

which has SMA RF connectors substituted and the OLED pads added on but for some reason is missing the programming connections to the RPi.

It's almost as if some people don't really know what they're making.
--

Brian G8SEZ
dl9sec
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:03 pm

Re: [Solved] Cannot update MMDVM_HS HAT on a JSTVRO Duplex Hotspot

Post by dl9sec »

The device doesn't look crappy, wasn't that cheap and bought at Amazon.
To be honest, I couldn't find a list of the good and the bad guys.

Just want to let others know, how this modem can be flashed with the Pi-Star tools, without an extra toolchain...

73, Thorsten
dl9sec
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:03 pm

Re: [Solved] Cannot update MMDVM_HS HAT on a JSTVRO Duplex Hotspot

Post by dl9sec »

KE7FNS wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 7:01 pm Either way the board designer should be contacted so that he can update the design.
They will get feedback via Amazon...
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