USB Ports not working on (2) roborios s/n 31617CF and s/n 312DAE7

[cls1961]

We have (2) RoboRios that have bad USB Ports.  What can we do?

[mshafer]

Hi cls1961,

Thank you for posting on the forums; I'm Matthew with NI.

Can you describe what the problem with the ports are? (and is this the type A ports or the type B ports?)

[cls1961]

Hi Matt, they are both the b port and they both have the same issues. Bad connection issues. Sometimes they connect and lose connecting.  Sometimes they won’t connect at all. We have others that work. 

 

[cls1961]

Matt, a little further description.  Sometimes you can wiggle the cable to get it to connect, then they lose connection while your using the robot, then sometimes they wont connect at all.  It seems like it the ports, but I suppose there could be a common internal issue with the USB boards?

Both have the same issues.  We had purchased another that works fine and our new RoboRio 2 is good.   

But, we would really like these working for our test control stations, training and practice robots.

[cls1961]

Please respond

[mshafer]

That sounds like the USB ports have worn down. (That is one of the downsides to the type-b connector).

Since all communication with the robots can be done over ethernet, is that a workaround that you're ok with?

[cls1961]

Maybe I am misunderstanding.

Can we update firmware via the ethernet connection vs the usb?

this years First WPILib code will not work unless the roborio is flashed with this year's firmware.

please explain.

[mshafer]

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Can we update firmware via the ethernet connection vs the usb?

Yes, you can connect to the roboRIO directly via ethernet to flash firmware and deploy code. (this is a secondary option because it require configuring network communication; however, my old team has taken to always using this method always because their USB port died in an accident years ago).

There is a doc on how to configure network settings on Windows if they don't talk correctly out of the gate: https://docs.wpilib.org/en/stable/docs/networking/networking-introduction/roborio-network-troublesho...

[cls1961]

Matt-  Our preference would be to get these working.  Is there a way we can accomplish that?

[cls1961]

Matt-

You never responded to my last submission?