Can't get it to work with J5 + Uno

[alexcroox]

I have a circuit setup that works perfectly when using the Adafruit NeoPixel "strandtest" library uploaded directory to an Uno.

I am using a 24 pixel ring.

However when I flash that Uno with StandardFirmataPlus in order to control via my rPi the neopixels refuse to do anything. Here is the code:

launcher.board = new five.Board({
    repl: false,
    sigint: false
});

launcher.board.on("ready", function() {
    var pixel = require("node-pixel");

    var lights = new pixel.Strip({
        "strips": [{ pin: 6, length: 48 }, ],
        "board": this,
        "controller": "FIRMATA",
    });

    lights.on("ready", function() {

        console.log('Init lights');
        lights.color('#ffffff');
        lights.show();

    });

    lights.on("error", function(err) {
        console.log(err);
    });
});

The output is

1457696689641 Device(s) /dev/ttyACM0  
1457696689699 Connected /dev/ttyACM0  
Init lights

But the pixels don't light up. If I disconnect the Uno from the Pi, back into my laptop and upload the Adafruit example library test again it immediately works. I have to come to conclusion that it's a software issue not a circuit/hardware one.

Edit: I added a single LED to pin 13 to test it blinks OK (so that J5 can talk to the Uno properly) and it blinks fine

var led = new five.Led(13);
led.blink();

[ajfisher]

II'm assuming you're not using a backpack?

You need to either use a backpack OR use the nodepixel firmata. Dive into this for more deets: https://github.com/ajfisher/node-pixel/blob/master/docs/installation.md

On Fri, Mar 11, 2016 at 10:46 PM Alex Crooks notifications@github.com wrote:

I have a circuit setup that works perfectly when using the Adafruit NeoPixel "strandtest" library uploaded directory to an Uno.

However when I flash that Uno with StandardFirmataPlus in order to control via my rPi the neopixels refuse to do anything. Here is the code:

launcher.board = new five.Board({ repl: false, sigint: false });

launcher.board.on("ready", function() { var pixel = require("node-pixel");

var lights = new pixel.Strip({
    "strips": [{ pin: 6, length: 48 }, ],
    "board": this,
    "controller": "FIRMATA",
});

lights.on("ready", function() {

    console.log('Init lights');
    lights.color('#ffffff');
    lights.show();

});

lights.on("error", function(err) {
    console.log(err);
});

});

The output is

1457696689641 Device(s) /dev/ttyACM0 1457696689699 Connected /dev/ttyACM0 Init lights

But the pixels don't light up. If I disconnect the Uno from the Pi, back into my laptop and upload the Adafruit example library test again it immediately works. I have to come to conclusion that it's a software issue not a circuit/hardware one.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/ajfisher/node-pixel/issues/60.

[alexcroox]

I intend to use the MUX Shield 2 but I took it off while I was having issues with this library and opted to try with the underlying vanilla Ardiuno Uno first.

I'm using StandardFirmataPlus on the Ardiuno and controlling via Raspberry Pi 2 over USB.

So I should switch the StandardFirmataPlus for the custom Nodepixel Firmata. I presume I'll still be able to control my digital sensors and motors using the Nodepixel version of Firmata?

[alexcroox]

OK using the Nodepixel Firmata works well. Sorry for the ignorance around J5/NodePixel Firmatas!

[ajfisher]

No worries at all - glad it's working.

Out of interest - what docs did you go through when you were getting it working? Reason I ask is this comes up sometimes so a notice about it in the "pathway" someone follows may help others down the line.

On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 7:43 PM Alex Crooks notifications@github.com wrote:

OK using the Nodepixel Firmata works well. Sorry for the ignorance around J5/NodePixel Firmatas!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/ajfisher/node-pixel/issues/60#issuecomment-196206005.

[alexcroox]

The root of the github repo (README). I actually had this working fine several months ago when I was prototyping all the parts of my new project (and when I'd probably followed the instructions to the letter and actually flashed the custom firmware). However after perma prototyping everything and running through a couple of J5 Firmatas to get all the different sensors working well I assumed since this project mentions J5 a lot that the Firmata from J5 which I was using would work fine.

It all comes down to my ignorance and lack of understanding of how Firmata actually works and the core differences between each version of it that these node projects use.

[alexcroox]

Just found my original path into this repo :) https://github.com/rwaldron/johnny-five/issues/925