Blast From The Past - Gen 1 Brain Power Up Question

I have a troubleshooting question about the Gen 1 brain. I’m new to robotics and VEX. I just started up a robotics club that was discontinued due to COVID. We are using 4 VexIQ Gen 1 kits that were purchased back in 2019. I updated all the firmware in the brains and active components. The batteries have been confirmed good and were charged for a week before our first session.

Problem: Two of the brains exhibited a similar problem. When powered on the display would light up with the word VEX across the screen and then within about 1 second the unit would power back off. We switched the batteries and confirmed they were seated all the way but no luck. I plugged in the USB cable and connected it to the laptop to see if I could communicate with the brain. With the usb cable connected the unit would power up and remain powered after the usb was disconnected.

Question: Is this a known issue with Gen1 brains? Do we need to keep the brains plugged into a usb charger when the main batteries are in the battery charging station?

I have searched kb.vex.com and this forum but haven’t seen this particular issue raised. Maybe the issue is so old the topic has since been removed. I appreciate any insights!

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Hi, I wrangle a herd of 60+ Gen 1 brains. I have seen this happen.

If you go into the VEXOS update program you can attach the brain again. You can then right click on the picture and do a forced update. Make sure you have the most current VEXOS software.

The re-install fixed it for me. If you have ongoing problems call the VEX Support number or email them: Support at Vexrobotics dot com

Good luck!

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Thanks Foster, if it happens again, I’ll try your technique. Since we managed to get the brain to power up by plugging in the usb cable between the laptop and the brain it made me curious if there is an internal BIOS battery that is dead and the usb cable provided the necessary power for the initial boot process. Pure speculation on my part.

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There is no internal battery. It’s more likely you had the vexos utility open and it completed an update. The IQ brain restarts during an update, some versions need powering on again manually, some don’t.

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Thanks JPearman,
Actually the firmware updates using the VexOS application went very smoothly on all 4 kits. All brains, motors and sensors were updated without issue. The power up issue was observed during normal class activity when we tried to use the brains for the first time which was a couple weeks after the updates. Two of the brains powered right up. Two would not stay powered up without the usb connected to the laptop. I had the code development app running on the laptop at the time.

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