Survival Guide

You have to be very fortunate to go all the way through the course without encountering some frequent but easy-to-solve issues.

This section will help you solve the most frequent bugs we will encounter along the course. (We will keep updating this page as more bugs are discovered.)

0. The Course guide

We have spent many hours gathering relevant information and detailing complicated procedures for this course. If you find something strange or a very confusing explanation, do not hesitate and jump over to the course guide. In the guide you will find detailed information as well a many more references. Use it as much as you need. Feedback is always appreciated.

Survival Guide

1. Four-pin push-button

It seems a simple element but correctly placing it on the breadboard and connecting it is no trivial task. If things are not working as they are supposed to and a pushbutton is involved, double-check it.


2. Pin-protective foam

You may find some black foam pieces protecting the pins of the Sparkfun XBee Explorer. These are great for protection purposes. However, it is important to remove them while you are working with the devices. Otherwise, mysterious problems occur.

Protective foam

3. Resetting the XBee

Sometimes X-CTU asks you to reset the XBee, or you want to reset it for any other reason (such as to wake it up). Then, take the XBee out of the Explorer (while the Explorer is connected to the computer) and plug it in again.

4. Mysterious delays in broadcast mode

When experiencing mysterious delays while using broadcast communications, change it to unicast. Do so by manually setting the destination hardware address.

5. Firmware version

Make sure that all the participating XBees use the same updated firmware version.

6. Restoring XBees default values

Use the buttons "Restore" and "Read" in this order to restore and read the default values.

7. Dead XBees

It has happened that some XBees do not respond when testing them with the "test" button in the X-CTU main screen. Try with all possible baud rates until you find one that works. Then, flash the XBee with the "router AT" firmware.

Activity (optional): Add any issues that you encounter during the course in the comments.


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