xbee pro s1 serial --> uno not working. SOLVED!!

Projects Networking, Protocols, and Devices
1

Solved!!
Holy H@ll somehow the baud rate on the xbee was not set to 9600 which I'm sure I had checked. So let this be a lesson to ya. When you have finished checking everything else go back and do it again, and I mean, ALL THE WAY TO THE START.

Hello and thank you in advance for taking the time to have a look. I'm hoping that I have just missed something simple.

Parts and pieces:
2 x uno r3
2 x xbee pro s1

1 x iteadstudio xbee adapter(used as the Tx on an existing project No problems here)
http://imall.iteadstudio.com/im120417004.html

1 x seeedstudio xbee adapter(used as a Rx have not been able to get this combo to work)
http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/XBee-Shield-V20-p-1375.html?cPath=98_16
xb_tx is jumped to uno pin 0 and xb_rx is jumped to uno pin 1. I have also tried the opposite as well. But just as the pictures show. xb tx -->uno rx and xb rx to uno tx.

1 x adafruit mp3 music wave shield

1 x barrel plug wall adapter to power Rx
1 x 2s 3700 Lipo to power Tx

The problem:Rx xbee pro s1 is not communicating via serial to the arduino uno.

I will have to post the code later when I get home.

What's supposed to happen: when a switch is actuated on the Tx uno a message is sent to the Rx uno which then plays audio file.

With everything assembled the way it was meant to be xbees appear to communicate based on LED activity on the seeedstudio adapter shield. When I actuate the switch on the Tx the rss LED shows activity on the Rx adapter. But the audio does not play.

Things I've done to trouble shoot.

  1. The Rx uno and wave are being added to an existing project that works as intended so no problem with Tx setup it has and still does work great with the rest of the project

  2. I checked to see if message was indeed being received. Using the xtu program a usb cable and the adafruit adapter I can confirm that when Tx sends a message it is received by Rx xbee.

  3. I checked to see if audio would play when message was received via serial usb(xbee still removed). Yes audio files play as intended when connected to computer, usb cord, and arduino program to communicate.

So separately the uno and mp3 shield combo and the xbee by it self all work as they should.

This leaves the shield itself . I ordered more iteadstudio shields but they will not make it in time for an event this weekend. So I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong with this one or not use one at all.

Trouble shooting the shield:
The xbee pins are taken over to a jumper header that connects the xbee to the arduino see pictures in the links provided. It has three rows of 13 pins. The center row is coming from the uno and the two outside rows are coming from the xbee. The entire inside row is connected to the xb_tx and the entire out side row is connected to the xb_rx. With my fluke meter I found no continuity between the xbee rx pin and any of the xb_rx pins on the jumper header. Where on the Tx side they all were. However after running a jumper around the jumper header I do not believe this to be the problem.

For some reason serial communication stops whenever the xbee is connected to the arduino Tx,Rx pins. I also tried adding small resistors in series with Rx and Tx using a bread board to jumper around the adapter board using it only for power and ground.

I have hooked this up in most ever combo I can think of and cannot get it working which is so strange because the first part of the project also using two xbee pro went so smooth.

I would appreciate any thoughts or concerns you might have and or suggestions I might try.

I have even tried removing the shield completely and using just the xbee adafruit adapter and bread board jumpers to connect the xbee to the arduino still no luck.

This is what stumps me most. The adafruit adapter only needs 4 wires Power 5v, Gound, Rx and Tx!?! Why when I complete the circuit does serial stop working? I'm going to set this up again and see if maybe in my flurry troubleshooting I missed something with this set up. If this fails maybe it has nothing do do with how I have it hooked up. I do not have another xbee to swap in handy but using xtu it appears to work just fine.

I have also tried three different unoR3s which have two different manufacturers.

2

On the first link:

Switchable of communication with FTDI-USB or Arduino with HardwareSerial or SoftwareSerial

Which position is the switch in?

I will have to post the code later when I get home.

Yes, you will.

On the second link:

The DIN and DOUT pins can be connected with both UART and other digital pins?D2~D12?

Which positions are the jumpers in?

3

PaulS:
On the first link:

Switchable of communication with FTDI-USB or Arduino with HardwareSerial or SoftwareSerial

Which position is the switch in? Not sure but will check. This adapter is being used in the Tx and has always worked properly

I will have to post the code later when I get home.

Yes, you will. Rx code is posted

On the second link:

The DIN and DOUT pins can be connected with both UART and other digital pins?D2~D12?

Which positions are the jumpers in?
Thanks I left that out. xb_tx is jumped to uno pin 0 and xb_rx is jumped to uno pin 1. I have also tried the opposite as well. But just as the pictures show. xb tx -->uno rx and xb rx to uno tx.

4

You added SOLVED to the thread title without explaining how you solved the problem. Suppose someone else looks with the same hardware, and problem, looks at this thread. They won't have any idea how you solved the problem.

5

PaulS:
You added SOLVED to the thread title without explaining how you solved the problem. Suppose someone else looks with the same hardware, and problem, looks at this thread. They won't have any idea how you solved the problem.

I edited the original post when I marked it solved. The First paragraph says that I found the baud setting on the xbee did not match my sketch. Something I am sure I had checked but clearly missed. The Baud setting on my xbee was 5 and should have been 3 per my sketch. It's clear that I did not make my post edit visible enough so I appreciate you requesting my eventual solution. I'll go back and bold or change font color to make it more visible. I too hate when folks finally solve their problem and post as much, but leave out what they found. It could be because they missed something simple like oh... say, a baud setting and are embarrassed that they went through so much trouble before finally finding it.