V5 Controller Stuck in "Disabled" Mode

VEX V5 Technical Support
#1

I have a V5 controller that thinks it is always connected to a field controller and is always in disabled mode:

v% Controller

It shows the pause symbol all the time, whether connected to a field controller or not, and when connected and switched to “enable” it still shows pause and the robot is still disabled.

I have tried unsuccessfully these things:

  1. Turning off and on everything.
  2. Pushing and holding for 10 seconds the recessed reset button of the bottom of the controller.
  3. Connecting the controller with a V5 cable directly to the robot brain.
  4. Switching to all configurations of the field control switch (enable/disable, driver/auton)

Is there a way to force a firmware download, or is it possible that the controller is damaged?

Thanks, Paul

Controller permanently stuck on “play” mode
#2

Controller is damaged, usually an issue with the competition connector (ie. bent pins or something like that) or damage caused by plugging in a smart cable to the competition port.

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Controller permanently stuck on “play” mode
#3

When you say ‘damage from plugging in’… do you mean electrical damage? Or simply bent port pins from the wrong cable?

#4

It could be damaged (bent) pins, or more likely, damage to the internal circuitry. I only have specific experience of one unit that I managed to damage during testing, I inadvertently plugged a smart cable into the competition control port (not the first time, when testing we might plug cables hundreds of times and often I’m not looking at what I’m doing, perhaps monitoring some debug output from the brain). The competition port has ESD protection and I managed to damage one of the diodes. Most of the time that won’t happen, but it’s possible.

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