Question seems like one of arduinos is dead. Help me.

I am using 3dof rig

It frequently react (lose center and doesn't react anymore so i needed to reset) some usb devices (for example fanatec csw and handbrake. )

And today I tried to connect
usb audio card and this happened.

Rig lost center as usual
and I found that one of com
port doesnt react anymore.

port of 2dof still works fine
But port of tracktion loss
isn't recognized pc.
But led is turned on when
connected via usb.

Below is what I tried,
1. Changed cable
2. Reinstall drivers
3. Disconnect all usb on
pc and controller while controller turned off, and
turned on again after few
minutes
4. Connected another pc
5. Tried all another usb
ports

Doesn't worked at all with
trys above.

But 2dof port working fine,
And led of traction loss arduino is turning on.

I think arduino is damaged
or dead but i really hope that it can be fixed with software solution.

Kindly help me.
Thanks.

Arduino boards aren't very expensive. The easiest way to check would be to just swap boards with another motion axis and see if the problem moves with the board. But - Arduino boards should be pretty robust if connected properly. If one died, it could be that you have ground issues somewhere. If one board died due to grounding issues (no idea - just offering as a possibility) then swapping boards could cause the other one to die too. In reading various threads here and elsewhere I've seen a number of reports of people killing their USB transceivers in various ways with offset voltages and such.

You could also measure the ground voltage on your rig compared to the ground on your computer with a voltmeter. You don't want to see any voltage of any significance since that can cause fault currents that can cause all sorts of issues.

When you say you lost a com port - on your computer? Might be a good idea to have a hub between these rigs and the computer anyway to give a degree of separation and protection to the computer. USB hubs are cheap and easy to replace. Motherboards not so much. Optical isolation would be the best but it's probably expensive.

But since you say this happened on the traction loss channel, that being different from your motion makes it at least slightly suspect for a ground issue since it is maybe set up slightly differently and maybe uses different hardware? That things went wonky when you installed a USB audio card, that also points to something wiring-wise on this.

All just guesses, though. Good luck!

First all, very big thanks to you for detailed answer.
It was super helpful. And i want let you know that
I already used usb hub and the hub was fried when
arduino is dead. (kindly refer photo attached between R7 and R8)
Its Led and power still works but data transfer doesn't work just like arduino. (I don't know whether
the hub killed arduino or opposite)

I am quite sure that it is related to fanatec handbrake and usb audio card (and speaker connected to) .
So I am gonna replace dead arduino as you told me,
but i have few additional question.

1. Will just replacing arduino uno be enough for solution ? ( is there any additional settings that
should be saved inside arduino itself ? I don't know
that exactly)

2. Do you know any ways to preventing short circuit
especially for arduino ?

3. Do you suspect 3m of usb 2.0 extension cable for
this issue ?

Kindly answer me if you have time

Thank you in advance

No way for me to know if just replacing the Arduino will fix it. It could be other things got fried at the same time and they may need replacing as well. If whatever issue that fried the hub is still there, when you replace it and the Arduino, it could fry all over again. You'll need to fix whatever caused the original problem if it wasn't just some accident that caused a short.

You would need to do whatever setup you did before since the Arduino is really a very simple computer of sorts. I'm not familiar with the code you Arduino guys run to know if there is anything stored locally on the Arduino. I can see calibration and endpoint stuff being stored but it could be stored on your computer as well. Someone else would need to tell you that.

If you bought a new Arduino before and loaded the firmware program, then you would need to do that again. If you bought pre-loaded with firmware specifically for use in your sim, you will need to talk with whoever you bought it from to get your own copy of the firmware to load it yourself or buy it from them again so they can preload the firmware.

The thing about preventing a short circuit for the Arduino is it is a very open-ended question. There are many ways to kill these circuits. People have had a hell of a time with wiper motors since they frequently have one connection internally to the motor frame. One direction/polarity may work fine and the other it just stops because circuits get killed due to the short. If they don't fix that before ever applying power, parts fry. There is one thread here where someone didn't know that the holes on a MonsterMoto could be the current path for a short if they used metal standoffs. About the only advice I can give would be to learn a bit about how electrical circuits work and be on the lookout always for short circuits. The learning part is also kind of open ended but the more you know about circuits, the more you can prevent these kinds of things from happening.

I would guess that a USB cable itself could be the source of a short. All it would take is for a bad wiring job wherever they are made and you could have a time bomb waiting to kill the next thing you plug into it. I kind of think it's unlikely in this case though for two reasons - most factories do an automated check for continuity and shorts, and a short between the Arduino and the hub would be less likely to kill the Arduino. Maybe it could but I would bet the cable is - or was - ok. I'd bet it is still ok, but you could easily test it with something else or best, test it with a multimeter.

It sounds like the issue is a ground fault somewhere and it's hard to know where. You could meter out the frame with voltage applied but not connected to your computer to see if you see voltages on mounting studs, etc. Keep in mind that with motors off you might not see the issue. It might not manifest until you command the system to move and maybe even in specific directions and that takes connecting to a computer. You can always demount everything electronic/electrical from the frame and then power it up ad meter for voltages where you don't expect. As long as only wires are connecting parts together, you are probably safer since you can't have shorts between parts through the frame that way. Keep in mind control linkages can also conduct electricity and be a path for fault currents.

Sorry I can't help you more. Good luck!

You already helped me more than enough. Thank
You for sparing your time.

moved.

thank you for your advice. now I got it.