Connecting Cyton without USB Dongle
Hello OpenBCI Community
I’m part of an engineering undergraduate project at the University of British Columbia, Canada. We are working with a Cyton board to build a Motor Imagery Classifier but we do not have the Cyton USB dongle.
Currently available to us are a USB to Serial FTD1232 converter module, Two Serial bluetooth modules (Blue) and a RN42-I/RM BLE module. We connected to the modules to the Cyton as shown, however we were not able to interface with the Cyton via th OpenBCI GUI.
1. The RN42 module was able to connect to our windows machine's bluetooth, however it was not recognized by the OpenBCI GUI and no option was given to create a virtual COM port when connected to the computer's bluetooth.
2. We tried a similar connection with the Serial bluetooth module. The computer connected to the module which enabled two COM ports (Incoming COM5 and Outgoing COM11). Similarly OpenBCI GUI could not recognize these open ports and no connection was made. Perhaps this could work with another program Python based, but we don't know how to approach it from scratch.
3. Finally, connecting the FTD1232 converter module directly to the computer, COM3 was immediatly recognized by the OpenBCI GUI, we wired the module's Rx, Tx, GND and VCC pins to the Cyton but when we pressed "Start Session" the Cyton was not found and could not be initialized error appeared.
From what we understand from the USB dongle schematics, the USB is a combination of a USB to Serial module with an RFduino integrated to connect to the cyton's RF module. Is there a way to use the equipment we have to use the Cyton board without the USB dongle?
Thanks, OpenBCI Team.
-Mateo
Comments
Was the Cyton mainboard purchased from OpenBCI? What happened to the original dongle?
https://shop.openbci.com/collections/frontpage/products/dongle?variant=28574533379
Hi, this board was purchased from OpenBCI for research from previous years. We think the dongle was lost by the previous users so that's why they were trying to use the modules in the pictures. Is there a way to connect the board without it while the dongle is shipped?
No.
Ok thank you for clarification
re: "from previous years"
Hopefully your mainboard has recent firmware in the PIC32 and RFduino processors. Because the new dongle will have latest firmware. If you need to reflash the mainboard use this guide,
https://github.com/OpenBCI/OpenBCI_Cyton_Library/blob/master/UPGRADE_GUIDE.md
V3.x firmware was released in late 2017
V2.x firmware was released in very early 2017
https://github.com/OpenBCI/OpenBCI_Cyton_Library/releases?page=2
Hey! Did you find a solution for this? I’m also part of an undergraduate project, and we seem to be running into the same problem. I’d be grateful if you could let me know. Thanks!
If you have lost or damaged the dongle, you can purchase a new one.
https://shop.openbci.com/products/dongle
If your Cyton was purchased on or before the 2017 timeframe, you may have old firmware in your Cyton mainboard. If this is the case the best option is to email Customer Support: (contact at openbci.com) and ask how to proceed. One option would be to ship the Cyton mainboard back to OpenBCI where the firmware could be upgraded and tested with the new dongle. Previous comments (see Feb 2022) mentioned 'reflashing', but this is risky. Better to have OpenBCI do it.
William