OpenLog Hookup Guide

Contributors: Nate, Toni_K

Troubleshooting

There are several different options to check if you are having issues connecting over the serial monitor, having issues with dropped characters in logs, or fighting a bricked OpenLog.

Check STAT1 LED Behavior

STAT1 LED shows different behavior for two different common errors.

• 3 Blinks: The microSD card failed to initialize. You may need to format the card with FAT/FAT16 on a computer.
• 5 Blinks: OpenLog has changed to a new baud rate and needs to be power cycled.

Double Check Subdirectory Structure

If you are using the default OpenLog.ino example, OpenLog will only support two subdirectories. You will need to change FOLDER_TRACK_DEPTH from 2 to the number of subdirectories you need to support. Once you've done this, recompile the code up, and upload the modified firmware.

Verify the Number of Files in the Root Directory

OpenLog will only support up to 65,534 log files in the root directory. We recommend reformatting your microSD card to improve logging speed.

Verify the Size of your Modified Firmware

If you are writing a custom sketch for the OpenLog, verify that your sketch is not larger than 32,256. If so, it will cut into the upper 500 bytes of Flash memory, which is used by the Optiboot serial bootloader.

Double Check File Names

All file names should be alpha-numeric. MyLOG1.txt is ok, but Hi !e _.txt may not work.

Use 9600 Baud

OpenLog runs off of the ATmega328 and has a limited amount of RAM(2048 bytes). When you send serial characters to OpenLog, these characters get buffered. The SD Group Simplified Specification allows an SD card to take up to 250 ms (section 4.6.2.2 Write) to record a data block to flash memory.

At 9600 bps, that's 960 bytes (10 bits per byte) per second. That is 1.04 ms per byte. OpenLog currently uses a 512 byte receive buffer so it can buffer around 500 ms of characters. This allows OpenLog to successfully receive all characters coming at 9600 bps. As you increase the baud rate, the buffer will last for less time.

Format your MicroSD Card

Remember to use a card with few or no files on it. A microSD card with 3.1GB worth of ZIP files or MP3s has a slower response time than an empty card.

If you did not format your microSD card on a Windows OS, reformat the microSD card and create a DOS filesystem on the SD card.

Swap MicroSD Cards

There are many different types of card manufacturers, relabeled cards, card sizes, and card classes, and they may not all work properly. We typically use an 8GB class 4 microSD card, which works well at 9600bps. If you need higher baud rates, or larger storage space, you may want to try class 6 or above cards.

Add Delays Between Character Writes

By adding a small delay between Serial.print() statements, you can give OpenLog a chance to record its current buffer.

For example:

language:c
Serial.begin(115200);      
for(int i = 1 ; i < 10 ; i++) {
    Serial.print(i, DEC);     
    Serial.println(":abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz-!#");
}

may not log properly, as there are a lot of characters being sent right next to each other. Inserting a small delay of 15ms between large character writes will help OpenLog record without dropping characters.

language:c
Serial.begin(115200);      
for(int i = 1 ; i < 10 ; i++) {
    Serial.print(i, DEC);     
    Serial.println(":abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz-!#");
    delay(15);
}

Add Arduino Serial Monitor Compatibility

If you are attempting to use the OpenLog with the built-in serial library or the SoftwareSerial library, you may notice issues with command mode. Serial.println() sends both newline AND carriage return. There are two alternative commands to overcome this.

The first is to use the \r command (ASCII carriage return):

language:c
Serial.print("TEXT\r");

Alternatively, you can send the value 13 (decimal carriage return):

language:c
Serial.print("TEXT");
Serial.write(13);

Emergency Reset

Remember, if you need to reset the OpenLog to a default state, you can reset the board by tying the RX pin to GND, powering up the OpenLog, waiting until the LEDs begin to blink in unison, and then powering down the OpenLog and removing the jumper.

If you have changed the Emergency Override bit to 1, you will need to modify the configuration file, as the Emergency Reset will not work.

Check with the Community

If you are still having issues with your OpenLog, please check out the current and closed issues on our GitHub repository here. There is a large community working with the OpenLog, so chances are that someone has found a fix for the problem you are seeing.