Odd Behavior with Arduino

ProffieOS
1

This is a report of odd behavior with a solution/work-around in case anyone else experiences something similar.

Symptom: Arduino can see the proffieboard but cannot successfully flash the board. The board is listed on the COM menu but when flashing, Arduino counts to 10 and gives a failure to open the com port error.

Cause: use of a USB hub (USB-C with HDBMi and SD Card reader). Disconnect the hub and it works fine. This issue also appears to be specific to my laptop (MSI GS65 Stealth THIN-068 i7-8750U from 2018) as the hubs work fine with my desktop (windows 11 AMD 3750x which I built myself).

Description:
I have a windows 11 laptop with ProffieOS 7.14 and Arduino 2.3.4.
I used the new libdwi to install the drivers for proffieboards. When connected via a USB cable, my laptop sees the proffieboard, and I can select it as a COM port–but it will not flash. I get the count to 10 error similar to when the board isn’t selected on the Com menu. I have traced the issue to the use of USB hubs… and to ALL of the USB hubs I have. I’ve tested three different brands of USB hub (but to be fair, they are all off-brands from China purchased through Ali Express). I have tested connecting the proffieboard through either a USB port on the hub or a USB port on the laptop itself–but it will only flash if the hub is physically disconnected (hub connected to laptop with NOTHING connected to the hub still causes attempts to flash to fail).

I don’t know WHY the use of USB hubs is an issue–but I wanted to pass this along in case anyone else experiences something similar. Strangely–the hubs work just fine on my desktop–so the issue is specific to the combination of my laptop and my USB hubs.

2 Likes
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A few people have reported that on their system, changing the 10-count to a 30-count made it work. I’m not sure why, and it only affects a few people, but sometimes windows seems to need a long time to identify and configure a USB device for some reason. Not sure if your problem can be “solved” like that, or what actually causes this slowness, but maybe it’s worth a try.

Are your usb hubs powered? Maybe proffieboards draw too much power for the laptop USB port(s)?

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I bought these hubs to serve as a docking station for my work PC when I’m home… they have a PD port and I can charge my work laptop through them–but my personal laptop doesn’t support USB-C charging so I haven’t been powering the hub. I’ll try powering the hub and try raising the count next weekend.
thanks!