Some Comments on Use of Arduino Dock and the Wiki Tutorials
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I have finally got round to some serious playing with my Omega with the Arduino Dock.
I had a couple of issues in following the instructions on the Wiki
One issue I resolved but I don't understand why I had the issue, the other issue relates to a possible improvement in information in the Wiki tutorials.The issues I had are:
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I initially had a problem in following the instructions in https://wiki.onion.io/Tutorials/Arduino-Dock/Initial-Setup
I followed all the instructions for connecting the Arduino Dock to an Expansion Dock, but when I applied power, the Omega light did not flash and it would not start up and connect.
Because I was concerned that maybe I had not connected the two docks correctly, I tried disconnecting the connections one by one.
When I disconnected the link between Omega GPIO 7 and Arduino Reset the Omega would start properly.
But because I know that the GPIO 7 -> Reset connection is actually needed for the Arduino Dock set up I reconnected the two - still no go
Not really sure what prompted me to do it, but I tried re-applying power while keeping Arduino Dock MCU_RESET button pressed - and lo and behold, the Omega started normally and I was able to successfully complete the flash of my Arduino Dock as per instructionsI don't expect anything to be done about this but would be interested in understanding while all this happened.
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Having successfully got my Arduino Dock flashed as above, I progressed with the instructions in https://wiki.onion.io/Tutorials/Arduino-Dock/Using-the-Arduino-Dock
In following these instructions, I had a problem in building the Arduino Sketch in the Arduino IDE. It complained that it needed the Adafruit Neopixel library.
On examination of the code in Onion Arduino Library, I realised that this was actually needed - and on subsequent investigation found that it was actually mentioned in the https://wiki.onion.io/Tutorials/Arduino-Dock/Initial-Setup - I had overlooked it ( )
However since the Onion Arduino Library and the Adafruit Neopixel Library are not actually needed until the steps in https://wiki.onion.io/Tutorials/Arduino-Dock/Using-the-Arduino-Dock I think it would be really helpful if the information was re-iterated there
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@Kit-Bishop Thanks for the analysis! Good to hear that you worked through it.
Regarding issue 1:
You need to allow the Omega in the Expansion Dock to boot before making the connections. It's actually the first sentence in the Wiring section of the Initial Setup Article: "Plug the Omega into the Expansion Dock and allow it to boot."As to why the Omega doesn't boot when there are connections to certain GPIOs during power-up, we're not sure either. We haven't found anything telling in the firmware and the SoC hardware documentation is sparse at best.
Issue 2:
I've added a reminder that the Onion library has dependencies on other libraries to the Onion Arduino Library section. Thanks for the tip!
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@Lazar-Demin Thanks for the replies. Sorry, overlooked the allow it to boot bit
Will have to be more attentive in future 
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A question about the Arduino-dock board ... i cant see it in the online-store ... is it still available?
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@Luciano-S. said in Some Comments on Use of Arduino Dock and the Wiki Tutorials:
A question about the Arduino-dock board ... i cant see it in the online-store ... is it still available?
@administrators communicate:
Arduino Dock Update
The Arduino Dock is completely out of stock! We are working on a new and improved version that will be available in the coming months, but our lips are sealed in terms of details for now.
Stay tuned Onioneers!
We’re excited as you are to deliver this bundle of awesomeness. As always, >Happy Hacking!Thank you,
Team OnionSource: Posted on May 19, 2016 and in Announcements, Shipping Schedule & Status
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In the meantime you can actually connect a regular Arduino to the Onion via I2c and do some development....the Onion I2c library does not seem to care on what it is running. Since my dock is no longer accepting flashes this is buying me some time until I got around to asking...
Why would my dock suddenly stop accepting a flash?
Thanks,
Will
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@Will-Kostelecky , ok thanks will, I will
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@Will-Kostelecky Your Arduino Dock might not be accepting new sketches if you forgot to include and instantiate the Onion Arduino Library in the last sketch that was flashed.
There's a section on this issue as well as the solution in the Using the Arduino Dock Wiki article.
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@Will-Kostelecky I concur with the comments from @Lazar-Demin above. From time to time I have omitted to include and instantiate the Onion Arduino Library and subsequently have problems flashing a sketch.
The advice in the reference that @Lazar-Demin gave works well in such cases, i.e:
To remedy this, press the MCU_RESET button on the Arduino Dock right before loading the sketch. While Arduino Dock LED is flickering super quickly, the sketch upload will work.
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@Lazar-Demin and @Kit-Bishop : I don't think that I have tried to load any sketch without the Onion Arduino Library but I guess I must have done so...at least I hope so. BUT... following the instruction to press the MCU Reset button prior to loading the sketch does not seem to be working. The docks LED never goes into a mode where it flashes super quickly. Is there anything else I can try? Can I program the dock through the ICSP connector like other Arduinos?
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@Will-Kostelecky Yep, you can program the dock through the ICSP connector just like any Arduino.
From what you're describing though, it seems like you might have overwritten the Arduino Dock's bootloader. Try going through the steps in the Arduino Dock Initial Setup article to flash the bootloader and then try flashing a sketch.
EDIT: @Kit-Bishop can you please add resolved to the topic title and add the tag resolved to the post? thanks!
