I plugged in my XRP into my laptop and then I go to XRPcode IDE on the Chrome browser. But the XRP will not show up as a Com port.
I know my USB cable allows for data transfer. The lights on the XRP board and Raspberry Pi turn on, showing that the board works. My laptop’s device manager detects that there’s a raspberry pi pico plugged in. But on the XRP code IDE, it won’t show up as a Com port.
Basically, my XRP’s board works, my USB cable is okay, and my laptop detects that a Raspberry Pi Pico is plugged in (shows up in device manager). But XRP code IDE will not detect my plugged in XRP. In addition, I notice that the Raspberry Pi Pico gets very hot when it’s plugged into my laptop but does not heat up when it’s running on battery power.
What are potential solutions to fix my problem? Does Sparkfun sell XRP boards separately? Where can I buy a new XRP board?
You say the Pico shows up in Device Manager - does it show up under the COM ports or somewhere else? If the latter, it could be a driver issue.
Do you happen to have another Pico or Pico W that you can test with the same computer and USB cable?
Can you connect to the XRP Control Board with some other software, such as mpremote?
Which part of your board is getting hot? A picture with the relevant area circled would be great! I’d also suggest disconnecting everything from the Control Board to see if that causes it to cool down, it’s possible that an external component is drawing too much current for some reason, and it’d be good to isolate it if so.
That’s correct. I’ve tried using different computers with the XRP as well.
The problem is that it doesn’t show up as a Com port in the XRP code IDE, so I can’t deploy to the robot.
I don’t have another Pico but I’ve used my laptop with Arduino controllers, to test out the Com ports, and they work fine.
Yes, the board cools down after it has been unplugged from the laptop. This only happens when it’s plugged into the laptop, not when it’s running on its battery power.
The problem is that it doesn’t show up as a Com port in the XRP code IDE
Yes, there’s a few reasons that could be, so I want to confirm whether it’s at least enumerating correctly as a COM port in Windows. In Device Manager, when you plug in the Control Board, does it appear under “Ports (COM & LPT)” like shown below, or other a different category like “Other devices”?
If it shows up somewhere else, could you please send a screenshot?
I’d also suggest disconnecting everything from the Control Board to see if that causes it to cool down
Yes, the board cools down after it has been unplugged from the laptop.
Sorry, I didn’t explain this clearly. What I meant is to disconnect the motors, servo, and sensors from the Control Board while still powering the board via USB, and see if it still gets hot.
Specifically, it’s the two chips (the black one and the large metal one) which get very hot.
Just to confirm, it’s these 2 spots circled in blue, correct? Does the spot circled in pink get hot? Please be careful to not burn yourself!
No, the black chips on the pico did not cool down when I unplugged the motors. Additionally, it’s just the black colored chips that heat up, not the silver one.
The spot colored in pink, and the black colored chip circled in blue are the ones that overheat. The metal thing circled in blue does not overheat.
It shows up under Universal Serial Bus Devices. It’s called RP2 boot.
It shows up under Universal Serial Bus Devices. It’s called RP2 boot.
Oh interesting, that’s how the board shows up when in bootloader mode (which is why it’s not showing up as a COM port in the IDE). Do you see a drive attached to your computer called “RPI-RP2” like below?
If so, that could be caused either by the BOOTSEL button being held down when the board is plugged in (I’m guessing you’re not doing this, correct?) or if the flash has been erased somehow (can upload the latest version of MicroPython here).
The metal thing circled in blue does not overheat.
Good, that eliminates one branch of possible issues!
No, the black chips on the pico did not cool down when I unplugged the motors.
Did you unplug the servo and sensors as well? There is a known issue where the ultrasonic sensor can consume a lot of power if the power wires are reversed, which would cause the voltage regulator (circled in pink in previous post) to heat up a lot. Although that wouldn’t necessarily explain why the big chip (the RP2040) would be getting hot, unless the heat is just spreading from the regulator(?)
Yup, everything was unplugged from the board. I don’t have any servos or sensors on my XRP, just the two motors. I feel like the regulator might be fried but I hope it’s not.
Is there a video tutorial on how to flash MicroPython onto the Raspberry Pi?
I’m away from my robot right now. I will check and let you know around 2 PM EST.
Yup, everything was unplugged from the board. I don’t have any servos or sensors on my XRP, just the two motors.
Gotcha, good to know!
Is there a video tutorial on how to flash MicroPython onto the Raspberry Pi?
I think the official written instructions are pretty clear, and it even links to the UF2 file you need to download. But if you need a video, there are lots of videos on YouTube from independent creators that explain it well, too! I don’t have a specific video recommendation.
I’m away from my robot right now. I will check and let you know around 2 PM EST.
No, I did not see anything about the Raspberry Pi Pico in my File Explorer. I even tried connecting with the BOOTSEL button pressed, but it didn’t do anything different. The metal chip circled in the image you sent does heat up, but that might be heat from the other two black colored chips. They get very hot.
Hmm, well then I’m not sure what the root problem is, other than it must be some defect with the control board. Don’t think there’s much else to troubleshoot at this point, so I’d suggest requesting a replacement from SparkFun directly. Fill out the RMA form here and link to this thread (link here!) so the support person can catch up on the conversation.
If the Pico W is the problem, then yes that would likely fix it. However the Pico W is soldered to the control board, so you’d have to desolder the whole thing and solder a new on in its place. This is not something I’d recommend doing.
I have initiated a replacement request with Sparkfun. In case this does not work, is there a video tutorial on how to desolder the Raspberry Pi Pico and resolder a new one?
No, there are no instructions for replacing the Pico W on the Control Board. Like I said, I do not recommend doing that. If you’re not already very experienced with reworking PCBs, then you’re likely going to do more damage than good. Just go through the RMA process to get a replacement.
