I have a new lime mini2 appears v2.4 bought from Mouser, I have spent many hours trying to get it to appear in limes software and Porto’s, also sdr console, but with no luck, the driver in my win 11 home pc is downloaded from Ftdi and is the 3xx for the ft601 chip, even that took some doing it appeared as a super fast fifo device and at times didn’t appear at all.
I decided to try and look at the chips eeprom using the ftdi software but it either says nothing connnected or 2 devices are connected and I can get no further.
Is it possible to make the ft601 go back to original settings other than grounding the reset pin on the chip, it’s a job I really don’t fancy !!
Any help would be great , I have contacted mouser but I suspect no news is bad news?
I have a new lime mini2 appears v2.4 bought from Mouser, I have spent many hours trying to get it to appear in limes software and Porto’s, also sdr console, but with no luck, the driver in my win 11 home pc is downloaded from Ftdi and is the 3xx for the ft601 chip, even that took some doing it appeared as a super fast fifo device and at times didn’t appear at all.
Looks like some power related issue. Try using a different USB 3.0 cable or connect the device directly to a USB 3.0 port. The use of low-quality USB 3.0 cables or low quality internal USB cabling to front panel and USB 3.0 hubs may result in power-related issues.
Is it possible to make the ft601 go back to original settings other than grounding the reset pin on the chip, it’s a job I really don’t fancy !!
There is no need to reset ft601 chip or do any hardware related mods, it should have already correct configuration before shipping, unless you modified something. In any case you can check and fix ft601 configuration if needed by following this:
Hi Many thanks for helping, I have really tried every combination of ports ,cables,hubs with power etc etc.
It hasn’t connected to my win11 pc at any time from when I got it, nothing I have tried connects to it and the ftdi software to read and write to it also will not talk to it, it says two devices connected, remove one!
But it doesn’t show what they are, I will look at the link you sent me but I feel it’s a bit above my league, I also don’t really think I’ve done anything to it to cause this (but I’ve read that a few times).
When I connect it to my win 11 pc after deleting the device and driver it appears as a usb serial converter A. And refuses to accept the correct driver.
It hasn’t connected to my win11 pc at any time from when I got it, nothing I have tried connects to it and the ftdi software to read and write to it also will not talk to it, it says two devices connected, remove one!
At least what I have seen FT Chip configuration utility complains about multiple devices connected when there are issues with drivers or they are not installed.
When I connect it to my win 11 pc after deleting the device and driver it appears as a usb serial converter A. And refuses to accept the correct driver.
What version of drivers have you tried? Have you tried latest 1.4.0.0 from this link:
Could you try different PC? Try disabling USB selective suspend setting on your PC power plan settings.
Do you see any onboard LED activity? You should see LEDs blinking when you connect board to USB port.
If you don’t see any LED activity it could be that FPGA gateware somehow got corrupted. You can try to reprogram FPGA, then reconfigure FTDI chip. If this does not help probably there are some hardware issues with board.
Hi Thanks again for helping,
I have tried it on Linux machines where the lsusb command reads the chips basic id, but nothing else connects to it, also Mac OS, the middle led blinks green, when correct driver is installed.
But
The driver is the latest downloaded from ftdi web site.
If I put the lime mini into a win 11 computer that has a clean installation it show up as a
Serial converter A
It will then refuse to accept the ftdi driver,
If I then use Zadig to install its choice it will accept it, only then can I update to the ftdi 3xx drive, where upon the mini appears in usb devices as a lime mini,
But it still will not appear in lime suite or Ftdi chip programmer which says two devices connected.
Yesterday I refined a very slender probe to a gauge thinner than the pads on the ft601q and successfully grounded the reset pin, this did nothing, on researching that a lot more it’s the same as unplugging it
I await the arrival of a board to allow access to fpga as you advised.
Truly frustrating,
I know this can be frustrating — the LimeSDR Mini is a complex little board with several chips all working together, so when something’s off it can be a mix of hardware, driver, software or even host machine problems. But you’re already approaching this the right way.
Lets take a step back and review what you have already checked:
If LEDs is blinking then FPGA gateware is OK. There is no need to reprogram it.
You are connecting board directly to USB3.0 port (No cables, no hubs ect) and there is no visual damage on USB connector, correct?
On win11 machine it does not accept driver, you have used correct D3XX driver dedicated to windows and correct architecture in eg. x64 (64-bit)?
On win11 you disabled Selective suspend option on USB power settings?
What output gives lsusb on Linux machine? Is it also not connecting with LimeSuite classic or limesuiteNG on Linux machine, what versions have you tried?
If you still cannot connect your board after checking 1 to 5 steps, this would indicate hardware problems with FT601 chip.
1.led blinks when correct drive installed
2 board connected straight to usb 3 sit
3 I can get the win 1q pc to accept the 3xx ftdi driver by the method I described
4 selective suspend is disabled
5 lsusb delivers Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0403:6011 Future Technology Devices international, ltd 4232H Quad HS USB UART/FIFO IC
It doesn’t connect to anything I have tried limesuite and lsNG, all the sdr programs with no luck..
I did get activity on Cubic SDR and got all cheerfull until I realised it was looking at the microphone
If the ft 601 is defective I feel it has been so from new, I have static protection on my bench and that chip is protected from static, if Mouser will not replace it can the chip be replaced if so where would you trust?
Once again thanks for your assistance
Sorry the last reply was blacked out for some reason
1.led blinks when correct drive installed
2 board connected straight to usb 3 sit
3 I can get the win 1q pc to accept the 3xx ftdi driver by the method I described
4 selective suspend is disabled
5 lsusb delivers Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0403:6011 Future Technology Devices international, ltd 4232H Quad HS USB UART/FIFO IC
It doesn’t connect to anything I have tried limesuite and lsNG, all the sdr programs with no luck..
I did get activity on Cubic SDR and got all cheerfull until I realised it was looking at the microphone
If the ft 601 is defective I feel it has been so from new, I have static protection on my bench and that chip is protected from static, if Mouser will not replace it can the chip be replaced if so where would you trust?
Once again thanks for your assistance
Hi, just to let u know , Mouser are replacing it, I hope!
I see that the solder pads on the underside of the board for the eeproms that serve the ft601 and another device are not installed on this board, I was wondering if I put one on the pads for the ft601 assuming the memory for the ft601 is corrupted (possibly) would the ftprogrammer see it and allow updating? Just a thought?
not sure about which EEPROM you are talking about, but FT601 does not have or use external EEPROM. Configuration is stored internally in FT601 chip.
Just to double check since you are talking about EEPROM and “ftprogrammer” are you using correct utility to check configuration? I mean “FT60X Chip Configuration Programmer” not the FT_PROG - EEPROM Programming Utility?
On schematics there are solder pads where , I see from schematic diagrams the ft601 had an external eeprom, not used on my version of board, as it looks like my 601 is corrupted somehow is it likely that if I put an eeprom on these pads the ftprogrammer will see it and allow me to input the file it needs?
Just a thought.
Hi sorry it wasn’t ic8.
Here is a picture of where I have two 8pin solder pads I can’t remember now where I read they were eeprom locations ic12 memory for the ft601 obviously not used now, if I’ve got it wrong I am sorry for wasting your time but if there is a chance I wanted to try….
