Problem solving a Code 43? (PC not recognizing Keyboard)

[Jaoush29]

Hi everyone! First time posting on here, but I'm hoping someone might be able to help me.

I built a RAMA Zenith and it worked great initially. Ran it through a key tester after soldering and there were no problems until I applied the tape mod. Once I applied the tape, I got a Code 43 Error and my PC will no longer recognize the board. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling drivers to no success. All of the components on the PCB seem to be accounted for and they are securely fastened to the board. I have tried resetting the PCB. I have tried the other PCBs that I have and my PC recognized them just fine. I have tried multiple USB daughterboards. I tried the keyboard on both my PC and MAC.

IDK I'm out of ideas. Any help would be appreciated as I really don't want to desolder my whole board.

[yui]

a quick google search indicate that error 43 is a loss of communication to the device (or crashed driver but you already reinstalled them), so it is kind of unlikely that the problem would be with the tape mod itself (to be fair i have no clues on what it is but assuming it is on the switches), my guess is that either something is shorting one or both of the usb data lines, your cable is bad, or the controller somehow got fried. the loss of communication to me would indicate that the board start to communicate and then fails, maybe a small cap got knocked off and the controller is not getting stable enough voltage?

as you have a mac, does it give you a more precise error?

with no photos, and experience with this board i am afraid i will not be a much more use, maybe SuicidalOrange can save you (or someone else, a lot of peoples here are better at this than me just he is very often the one to find the problems)

[suicidal_orange]

This is the new craze - you take some random tape and stick it on the back of the PCB?  Ok...

My first thought when I read tape was some tape can be charged with static electricity and that's not good for chips.  Was your tape nice and rubbery?

Or maybe there's a button on the PCB to put the board into bootloader mode (to flash the firmware) and you've taped it pressed?

[Leslieann]

Try a different  cable and port.

[Jaoush29]

This is the new craze - you take some random tape and stick it on the back of the PCB?  Ok...

My first thought when I read tape was some tape can be charged with static electricity and that's not good for chips.  Was your tape nice and rubbery?

Or maybe there's a button on the PCB to put the board into bootloader mode (to flash the firmware) and you've taped it pressed?

Yeahhhhhhh I think I'm done being trendy. A slightly deeper sound is not worth the potential disaster.

There is a raised and easily pressed S1 button on the PCB. When I press it, the error message cycles. I suspect that I did press the button when applying the tape, but the tape is now removed and I still get the error. I've only flashed a board once, so I don't know much about "bootloader mode" and the like.

EDIT: To answer your other question, I don't think the tape is conductive as I have used the same tape on two KDB67 lites previously, but maybe I just got lucky before or something. It's Scotch packing tape. Essentially paper with an adhesive on the back.

[yui]

know that i know what the tape mod is i do expect that it would have zapped your controller, there are some videos online of peoples using scotch packing tape to create corona discharge from its static, but no it is not conductive, although if the boot-loader button does something maybe not all is lost and only the firmware got corrupted and still can be reflashed and fixed? it is only guesses, maybe wait for the others to give their idea on this, i never had this happen to me.

[NathanA]

It sure does sound like either your controller chip is fried, or at the very least the firmware got wiped on it.

I know nothing about this particular keyboard, but you mentioned an "S1" button on the board.  Googled for this and stumbled on the instructions provided by the manufacturer on reflashing.  So, have you tried running QMK Toolbox & depressing that S1 button as documented by them here?: https://rama.works/firmware-update-01

According to the docs, if you plug the keyboard in, launch QMK Toolbox, and press the S1 button, you should see a yellow line of text show up in the QMK Toolbox log window that says "DFU device connected".  If that shows up as documented, then you're golden, and at that point you just need to flash the appropriate firmware file back to your board.

If it doesn't show that, then it's possible that the bootloader itself also got wiped, in which case the entirety of the flash ROM has been zeroed out and there is absolutely no code present or executing.  That's a serious problem that is not (to my knowledge) easily fixable.  For the Mega32Ux series of microcontrollers, you'd need to own or have access to an Atmel AVR-compatible In-System Programmer (ISP) in order to be able to reflash the stock Atmel USB bootloader to it, after which you would then be able to use QMK Toolbox to flash the actual keyboard firmware to it as previously described.  This assumes that the keyboard breaks the ISP interface out on the board somewhere.  If it does and there is a pin header already populated on the board for the ISP cable to plug into, then great: all you need to do is get your hands on the ISP itself.  But if there is no pin header already soldered to the ISP interface pads, you're going to have to break out the soldering iron.  And if the board designer did not even bother to put an ISP interface somewhere on the board at all, then you are either going to have to desolder the controller chip to fix it, or solder directly to some of the pins on the chip itself while it remains on the board.  All in all, not an easy fix.

In the event that the board proves not to be resuscitatable using QMK Toolbox because the bootloader is (presumably) zapped, the "best" option would probably be to remove all of your switches from it, contact RAMA/wilba.tech/whoever, and see if sending the board back to them to be repaired is an option.