#2263

Hello all,

I want to get a portable USB power station for the Fates and some other USB-powerable stuff (Deluge, android tablet, midi controllers, …).

Would something like this work:

https://www.amazon.com/AUKEY-Charger-Charging-Station-Samsung/dp/B01F20J4PE

or this:

Are the 3.0 quick charge ports safe for non-tablets/phones? If yes, are they enough to power a Fates? I’ve read that a dedicated 2.5A/3A power supply should be used with the Fates. Does this mean the above solution wouldn’t work?

BTW, how much power/current can each Fates each usb port output?

Thanks!

#2264

Huge issue here, not sure what to do, and feeling terrified of losing a great piece of gear…
I’ve owned my Fates for a few months now and we get along great, several times after purchasing it used, I noticed that it would occasionally not output any sound sometimes at startup. Oh well, I thought, RESET. Seemed to fix it.
It began happening more and more frequently, then yesterday, boom… just absolute refusal to give me that “tone” upon startup.

I can play files from tape. I can’t play any sounds from apps. No “tone” upon startup.

Now, today, it is absolutely refusing to connect to wi-fi. I thought “maybe this recent update can fix this?” so attempted to update (not knowing Fates has different updates)… deleted and attempted to add my network. No luck.

So now I have a Fates that wont go online and can only play tape files.

HELP!

Is there some kind of way to just hard-reset it? I dont mind losing apps or files if it will potentially get it to work normally again.

#2265

You can reflash the SD card with the fates branch of the os, expand the file system and start fresh. How were you able to update to the newest norns firmware? Your fates should only be pulling down from the fates branch unless you ssh’d in and updated via terminal. Do you know which update you were on previously?

Before doing this, have you tried restarting your wireless router? I’ve had infrequent problems with this in the past. If you can get the wireless connections working again, you could offload your tape files. You could also plug your fates directly into your network via ethernet.

#2266

I’ve never tried this, can you put your SD card in a usb reader and access the tape files that way? at least to get them off the card before reflash?

#2267

Unfortunately I have no clue about this stuff, I just started using it when I got it with almost zero problems!

I’m also a painful n00b, for example, I can’t even get sidehack installed on mine. I can open a terminal in windows, just… yeah, doesn’t seem to work because I’m probably doing something wrong.

So, if there’s an insanely baby-step method of the above solution…

#2268

For a fresh start, this readme should get you going:

2 Likes
#2269

Won’t work on a Mac, dunno about Windows. Linux you can. Problem is only the boot partition fromt he SD card shows up on MacOS, not the linux partition where the TAPE data files are located.

@FleetingBreath you might want to get TAPE files and everything you want to save via SFTP or SAMBA networking, then reflash from the disk image.

There’s likely some problem with supercollider not launching which could be due to a bad script or something. If you want to try and solve that, there’s a bunch of debugging you would want to try - see the norns docs for more on that. (like go read ALL the norns docs just so you know more about how everything works)

Could it be that you’re out of disk space? If connected via SSH, you can use the command df -h to get the space used on device. If you have craploads of TAPE files, this could be the problem and you would want to remove some and free up space.

FWIW - Fates USB-C jack is DUMB. It’s just for power and does not do USB-PD or QuickCharge.

I’d suggest a dead simple USB-C power adapter which is recommended for use with Raspberry Pi 4. Anything other than that and you just don’t know.

I’ve had at least one person with a big honkin european mains power supply that blew up the voltage regulator on Fates. No idea exactly why, but it could be related to what the USB-PD (power delivery) or QuickCharge do to push more Amps.

Go read the raspberry pi documentation for more info on how much power each of the USB ports will support.

3 Likes
#2270

Unfortunately disk space is not the problem, I just did a backup and cleanup of my tape files…
I probably just deleted something I shouldn’t have. I will use the above method and let everyone know how it goes! Appreciate all the help.

Okay, this is where I get lost:
" Open a terminal, SSH to the Pi
The default norns user is we
The default password is sleep
Thus to connect you will use ssh we@norns.local (or the IP address of the device) and enter sleep"

every time I would attempt to do this previously to attempt to install Sidehack or Mother, I was not able. I can open a terminal (cmd in Windows) and even tried Putty… I’m clearly doing something incorrectly. This is where my total n00bness causes me to hit a roadblock.

#2271

Thanks! Was looking for a 1-plug for all solution but better play it safe then.

Cheers

#2272

A $15 USB ground isolator works great too. No hum. The problem is with ground loops.

1 Like
#2273

Update 210114 now available

As always - If you are on 200218 or later
use SYSTEM > UPDATE while connected to the internet.
(please report back if you have problems with this)

If you are running a version prior to 200218, DO NOT USE SYSTEM > UPDATE .
You must update manually via SSH. Instructions are on the release page: Release norns-fates 210114 · fates-project/norns · GitHub

See Norns: update 210114 for change log.

If you have a new rev pi4 (rev 1.2 I think) or an 8GB pi4, please DM me - I have a new disk image for pi4 for testing.

16 Likes
#2274

No issues so far on a pi3b+ fates! Thanks for the update.

1 Like
#2275

So, my Fates is starting to act very weird. No sound from apps (just tapes) and refusing to connect to wifi.
I am so terrible at tech-related stuff I’m amazed I even got this far… but now I’m positive it needs to be re-flashed.

Wondering if it’s possible for someone to, in the dumbest, kindest way possible, to walk me through this hard reset of my Fates? Or even if I could simply MAIL it to you, have you fix it, and send it back? I hit a roadblock using a terminal to try and install Sidehack… so that’s why I’m not very confident in following the GitHub instructions…

I haven’t had it very long but it’s become a vital and incredibly useful part of my set-up and recording process. ANY help is incredibly appreciative.

#2276

Hi

thanks for reaching out…I’m assuming you’ve tried the soft reset in the menu under SYSTEM, when you did what happened?

Also can you think of any reason it’s acting up (a spill, dropped the device, or been having problem with the psu?)

#2277

As far as I know, I just deleted something in Maiden that I shouldn’t have, no drops or spills, etc.

It used to be the soft System Reset would fix the lack of audio problem, then it started happening more and more often and requiring multiple resets. Saturday I tried to do some recording and could get zero sound out of it (except tape files) and it refused to connect to wifi.

#2278

Just to check, do you “sleep” your fates and wait for the flashing green? Led to stop blinking before disconnecting power? Just thought I’d mention it as many weird Norns/Fates issues stem from this…

1 Like
#2279

Typically yes, I can think of maybe one time I accidentally shut off the power strip before the light or without “sleeping” first.

#2280

Hi, have you recently changed your power source? Are you sure it’s getting enough power?

1 Like
#2281

Nope, using the recommended power supply. It didn’t come with one so I read the “friends of Norns” thread and purchased from that knowledge.

#2282

The disk flashing process is documented here and should be self explanatory - just be sure to read and follow ALL the steps.

and it’s pretty much the same as with norns shield - documented here