New MHP30 - troubles.

[gossamer2]

I just received my new MHP30. I tried it once and it worked fine with the factory firmware. I found this IronOS firmware and wanted to give it a try. I tried 2.22 and then 2.21. When it boots up, the light is yellow. On the left of the display, there is a squiggly line over an exclamation mark. On the right is the settings icon with a 5 next to it. Is there something i need to do first?

I'm using the original power supply with original USB-C cable.

The original firmware on it was 2.11, HW 1.60

Unfortunately, I can't even find the original factory firmware as it looks like the miniware site is down. Argh!

[Ralim]

Hia,
So that symbol means the hot plate isnt detected.
Could you do me a favour and dump out all the numbers in the debugging menu.
Also, if you per chance have a multimeter; could you measure the resistance across the pins on the heater unit (top piece)?

[Ralim]

Thank you.
Could you also record out RTIP/ Tip R with the hotplate disconnected?
Have you tried with a different USB-PD power supply?

[gossamer2]

Sure.
I reinstalled 2.22H.
With the plate disconnected, Tip R is 19589, and connected was 19590. The number didn't change if I removed the plate while powered so I rebooted a few times with the plate in or out to make sure. I saw 19591 once while the plate was plugged in, but mainly 19590.

Yes, I tried another power supply, and also tried with a USB-C voltage tester in-line. I notice that the unit displays Vin 5.3, but the USB negotiated PD 20V, and the tester confirms it is outputting 20.24 volts.

Also, I think this might be a newer unit. I noticed when in DFU mode, it shows "DFU 2.3B", but any screenshots online show "DFU 2.0". Also, this unit came with factory firmware 2.11, but the newest version I can find online is 2.06.

I tried the factory firmware 2.06, and the unit works again and was able to solder normally.

Thanks.

[FLASH993]

Do you have the link for the 2.06 firmware? I am having the same issue.

[Ralim]

So the RTip constantly reading high like that is the issue.
Back when the first MHP30 code decompilation was done it was noted that there were two different temp sensors that could be used for the tip if I recall correctly. I wonder if they have changed this somehow.

Any chance you would be willing to (carefully) open your unit and get some photos of the PCB?
If not we can try a hunt to try and find the new tip sense pin.

Miniware appear to be rebranding to MorningTools (https://www.morningtools.com/list/13.html) so you might try there for firmware.

[gossamer2]

Sure. Here are a few. :)

[FLASH993]

I got a picture of the board and I think I know what is wrong. Looks like the micro controller was swapped from the STM32.

[Ralim]

Yeah I think I know what you mean.
Apologies for the silence on this, will try using the same workarounds we do on the the other clone devices.
Will raise a PR for testing when I get time 😓

[mas-co]

I just received my new MHP30.
I just got a MHP30 last week. It was working well, until I put IronOS on it. (tried 2.21 and 2.22rc3) It shows "not detected" icon (splat and exclamation point). Put the latest firmware (2.11) from Miniware/Morningtools/whatever they are this month and it's working again.

[fenklin]

I have the same problem. One thing that I noticed was that the voltage show on the OLED was always too low (5 - 16V, it changes when I unplug it and plug it back in). I also tested different power supplies and IronOS versions (2.20 and 2.22).

When using the default firmware from Miniware, it shows 20 Volts with the same cable and power supply and everything works fine.

I just got the MHP30 this week and it has the hardware version 1.60 and the same chip as the device from @FLASH993 .

[ratmole]

I have the same problem. Latest MHP30 with GD32 chip on it and DFU 2.3B.
Sver: 2.11
Hver:1.60
Official FW attached
Edit:Official firmware removed due to complaint

[ratmole]

FYI the middle pin of the 3 bottom pins goes to PA9
please let me know if you want to have more info. i can try and find all the traces you want

[Ralim]

Hia,
Biggest help will be to trace the temperature sensor pair through the board (outer pair of the 3 pin side IIRC).
It should go through the op-amp and then to an analog channel on the microcontroller.
Its expected to be on pin PA2

IronOS/source/Core/BSP/MHP30/Pins.h

Line 19 in c308fe8

#define TIP_TEMP_Pin GPIO_PIN_2

Op-amp is the 8 pin package iirc, near all the resistors.

[ratmole]

@Ralim
Hope I'm not being rude, can we have an update on this issue?
I have bought the MHP30 in order to use it with Profile Mode with a somewhat sensitive smd component, but in the latest HW version nothing works.

I'm truly thankful for your work and it's no my intention to "force" you to do anything. I know free time is sparse...
If i can help you with anything please ask.
Thanks again

[corndog2000]

I recently bought the MHP30 from the SainSmart retailer on Amazon. It also has the GD32 fake microcontroller inside.

https://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-Soldering-Preheating-Preheater-Intelligent/dp/B08R6XFPKR

Any updates on a fix for this new hardware?

[Ralim]

No big plans on how to fix this yet; Given Miniware promised they wouldn't keep shipping the GD32 chips as the STM32's had come down in price I was largely pissed. Though they have cut all help entirely a long time ago so also not surprised.

Main issue is the tip temp is reading super high all the time (aka like tip is disconnected), so the issue is likely somewhere between thermocouple in the head (outer pair of the 3 pin side) and the input to the microcontroller on PA2.

Main job is to follow the wiring from that thermocouple back to the op-amp either in photos or with a multimeter.

We expect the layout of tip -> opamp -> microcontroller.

[Ralim]

Can you note what the tip resistance is (Tip Res in the debug menu). It should show 6.0 ohms.

I'm suspect the newer tips have lower thermal mass if the current tune isnt working well.

Before changing this unit to the PID controller; have you looked at tuning the existing controller (TIP_THERMAL_MASS and TIP_RESISTANCE).

The PID controller is new (introduced in 2.22). There is no autotune, nor do I have time to write one from scratch.
If the current controller is misbehaving its worth trying with the current controller first; before going to PID.
We then need to check that the new tune does not degrade performance on the existing; or if it does at all then need to code in a switch to handle STM32 vs GD32.

If the tip res is reading as 6.0 its worth validating that the ADC is always reading the tip temperature correctly; any mis-readings would cause havok to the temp controller.

[ratmole]

Tip Res is 6.0 but it's not reading the value from ADC, its defined in the configuration.h as i saw.
I have changed it to 6.47 as mine is 6.47 but still overshoots 15-20C .
Can you please provide a way to calculate the thermal mass? what number should it be?

Also the temperature on the tip is wrong. MHP30 shows 25, but my thermocouple shows 20.
I will try to lower the thermal mass and will let you know how it goes with the NON PID controler.

[g5pw]

I also have a new mhp30 which has the same symptoms, but bootloops even with the firmware attached here. I have access to a Pinecil breakout and a programmer, maybe I could help getting some traces/logs?

[ratmole]

witch FW? this one? : https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS/suites/18463297104/artifacts/1070830165

[g5pw]

Yep, that one, sorry, I didn't see all the other replies above! I feel like it's something related to the watchdog, since I tried pressing the A button while it boot looped and it kept rebooting in the DFU mode, too.

[ratmole]

fyi miniware has released a new version of mhp30, mhp50...
ordered one just to see inside!

[Sandman224]

Just got my MHP30 and I am having the same issue. Really unfortunate that Miniware switched the chips. Hopefully a firmware update can fix this soon? I am willing to help with development if needed but it seems like you all have this covered.

[g5pw]

You can find the firmwares here, Miniware rebranded (?) as Morningtools

[Sandman224]

Yeah I found those. I am still using the Miniware or Morningtools firmware. Was more just hoping to use ironos since I already use and like it on my pinecil V2.

[FilmMartin]

I just got a brand new MHP30 and upon flashing the firmware I get the same problems as others have reported. Additionally, the heater does give an error when I try to flash it with the original firmware from https://e-design.com.cn/en/NewsDetail/4203645.html (The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “MHP30APPV206.hex” can’t be read or written.
(Error code -36))

Edit: I could re-flash the original firmware on a windows machine. That part seems to be a Mac related issue.

[g5pw]

Are the GD and ST chips pin-to-pin compatible? Could I get a STM chip, solder it and flash ironOS?

[Sandman224]

That is a good question. What are the part numbers of both chips? I may be able to look into it tonight.

[ia]

Are the GD and ST chips pin-to-pin compatible?

Just sharing hopefully related piece of information: I found this pretty interesting & useful document by accident some time ago. So I'm just placing this comment here hoping it will help someone else too (I'm not an expert in MCUs myself though). This document circles some time by now on the internet so it can be easily obtained from any other source.

[Sandman224]

So after looking at some images of both mhp30 boards with the stm chips and those with the clone chips, the board layout looks identical to me. I would say it might be worth trying to swap the chips inside. You can get them off digikey for less than 10$ per. I just worry about being able to flash the firmware to the new chip. Is the bootloader handled by another chip on the board?

[machinaut]

I've got an at-this-point sacrificial MHP30 I could try the swap on -- but would appreciate it if there was an explicit confirmation about the STM32 part number on the known-good IronOS boards. The equivalent to the GD chip seems to be the STM32F103TBU6.

Additionally, it might not work at all since the device seems thoroughly bricked, I can bootload-flash, but it never successfully boots the factory firmware nor any open source firmware. I think it's possible I fried it in a way which can't be fixed with a chip swap.

(But it's not going to be doing anything else, so seems worth a shot)

[Ralim]

Because Miniware use the F1 series of chips, there is no built-in USB bootloader. So you will need to flash a bootloader over SWD.
SWD is wired up to D+/D- in the USB-C port so you can try flashing IronOS-DFU for example to the chip via SWD.

[Ralim]

I believe STM32F103TBU6 is the correct part

[Sandman224]

I think it's actually a slightly different chip assuming we are just trying to use the same stm one they originally used. This photo here shows a slightly different part number. Not sure if it makes any difference or if it is less compatable with the GD chip they use currently.
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6695244/105535323-6d939c80-5cf7-11eb-85a4-44f05b274208.png

Should be the STM32F103T8U7 if I'm not mistaken

[Ralim]

The STM32F103T8U7 is the 64k of flash version, but Miniware sometimes writes beyond the 64k of flash (as st marks down rejected 128k units to 64k units but doesnt fuse out the extra flash). The correct replacement would be the 128k of flash unit. But the 64k of flash unit will most likely work.

[Sandman224]

Interesting to know thanks for the insight. I guess its not so surprising that they buy the cheaper chips that technically don't have enough flash to save a buck. I may try the swap myself and let you know how it goes.

[Sandman224]

Just an update for everyone here, it seems that the latest dev builds of ironOS have fixed this issue! I have flashed one of the latest builds in the actions and it seems to work although there are some things in the settings menus that seem to be in the wrong places. I found out about this from #1909.

[mrturnit]

Let me be the "someone" to confirm ;-)
Just installed the lastest dev build on my MHP30, and it worked right away.

[g5pw]

I've grabbed the build from here and it's still boot looping on my MHP30 :(

Upon further testing, it looks like the boot-loop is only present when connected to my PC. If I connect it to the power supply it works!

[Pixelprinter]

I own a MHP30 (I bought from Adafruit in Dec of 2023) that has the same issue - uploading IronOS V2.22 etc essentially bricks the unit to no heating. I have reverted to Miniware's firmware but I really want to install a working build of IronOS in my MHP30. I can't find a recent build hex file here ... what am I missing, or do I need to build it from a current DEV source?

[Ralim]

You can find automated builds of the latest work in dev here. There is also #1961 that is working on a better PID tune for the MHP30

[fenklin]

For me it fixed the issue with not detecting the tip (icon with exclamation mark) but at room temperature (21°C) it shows 120°C and calibrating it at start up doesn't help.