Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

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  • madan1
    Badcaps Veteran
    • Nov 2016
    • 682
    • Bulgaria

    #1

    Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

    Hi guys.

    Recently got a faulty RC toy from ebay.. nice toy indeed - clean and neat, no visible usage and the fault was stated as "moves only backwards". Alright, faulty switch was my first thought... yes, but no.
    Indeed when the car and the remote are powered, they automatically pair ( takes less than a second ) and after the first input, the car starts moving backwards until powering off the remote or the car. During that time, the other channel ( steering ) works fine.
    Since the car is 4x4 and with two steering axles ( no differentials tho ), it has 4 different steering modes selectable from the remote control ( front/back axle only, crab movement, both axles steering in the same direction ). The selection is done by pressing one of a 4 buttons while there is input on one of the 2 channels ( so during movement or steering ). That mode selection worked.

    So, in the remote control there is a main pcb with few auxiliary ones for buttons, switch, led, etc.
    On the main board there are 4 switches, one voltage regulator, some passives and... a 16 pin mystery IC.. and... 2402 memory IC.
    In the car there are two "drive" ICs ( most likely transistors.. I just did not bother to even read their labels ), few passives and... another mystery IC which looked exactly the same as the one in the remote ( even the pinout was similar - power supply, gnd, antenna.. ).
    After some troubleshooting I just found out that each component on the remote board reads exactly as it should and all traces are fine..
    In the past I've had bad experience with the 240x atmel memory ICs, so just decided to remove it and try without it... and voila.. the car runs forward, backward, sideways, etc... it just does everything that is supposed to do.

    So does anyone have any idea why this memory is there? Also could anyone provide any info on the mystery IC? I'm really curious to find out more about it...


    On the top of the IC there are no markings. On the bottom tho, there is some text printed + probably some manufacturing info ( see photos )


    sw1 and sw2 are the fr/back movement and the steering
    Attached Files
  • CapLeaker
    Leaking Member
    • Dec 2014
    • 8146
    • Canada

    #2
    Re: Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

    do you have a programmer? Maybe try to read it? The remote control can store settings like to make the car track straight, etc. Maybe that kind of information is stored in there?

    Comment

    • madan1
      Badcaps Veteran
      • Nov 2016
      • 682
      • Bulgaria

      #3
      Re: Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

      Originally posted by CapLeaker
      do you have a programmer? Maybe try to read it? The remote control can store settings like to make the car track straight, etc. Maybe that kind of information is stored in there?
      Indeed, I do have.. recently got it from China and haven't tried it yet. By the way, this was also the reason to remove the eeprom in first place - to try to read it.
      The only setting I can imagine to be stored is the last used steering mode... which I find ridiculous..
      Anyway, I was able to google a "2.4ghz remote control diy kit"* which uses similar ICs to those in mine unit, but again - no label or description.. the only thing I was able to figure out is that those ICs are prepaired RX and TX with one way communication only.

      I already went through a set of batteries ( 5xAA ) and definitely can say there are no control/functionality issues without the memory IC... and the toy is pure fun! Probably will convert it to 18650 in the future.


      *https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...f09f369bb7.pdf

      Comment

      • Harvey
        Badcaps Veteran
        • Apr 2007
        • 264

        #4
        Re: Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

        Maybe its from Huawei and its been tracking your every move...

        Comment

        • madan1
          Badcaps Veteran
          • Nov 2016
          • 682
          • Bulgaria

          #5
          Re: Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

          Originally posted by Harvey
          Maybe its from Huawei and its been tracking your every move...
          Hmm.. I would put my money on Uncle Sam

          Here is what I was able to get from the eeprom... I really have no idea what I'm looking.. apart from FF which means zero/empty record.
          Attached Files
          Last edited by madan1; 12-08-2019, 05:00 PM.

          Comment

          • CapLeaker
            Leaking Member
            • Dec 2014
            • 8146
            • Canada

            #6
            Re: Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

            So this mystery ic is coupled to the antenna?

            Comment

            • madan1
              Badcaps Veteran
              • Nov 2016
              • 682
              • Bulgaria

              #7
              Re: Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

              Originally posted by CapLeaker
              So this mystery ic is coupled to the antenna?
              Yes, pin9 is connected directly to the antenna wire.

              Comment

              • Unspun01
                Badcaps Veteran
                • Jun 2011
                • 339
                • Canada

                #8
                Re: Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

                Originally posted by madan1
                Here is what I was able to get from the eeprom... I really have no idea what I'm looking.. apart from FF which means zero/empty record.
                Technically FF = 11111111, which is all ones, not zeros... But you basically have the right idea - it has no information.

                The only non FF strings are 0A 00 A9 B3 starting at 0x00000030 which does not mean anything to me.

                It could be a serial number or a date of manufacture. Doesn't seem long enough to be an instruction set or anything. It could also be corrupted data which should be FF. Not sure why it would prevent the RC from working.

                Save the original contents of the EEPROM to a file, and then try to re-program the EEPROM with all FF.

                If a readback of the re-programmed "FF" image is not all FF, then the EEPROM may be bad.

                Is the EEPROM you removed from the car or the remote? Is there a complimentary EEPROM in the other device? Maybe try reading that one too?

                I don't have other ideas.

                Comment

                • stj
                  Great Sage 齊天大聖
                  • Dec 2009
                  • 31011
                  • Albion

                  #9
                  Re: Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

                  maybe the numbers are offsets to calibrate the oscillator frequency.

                  Comment

                  • madan1
                    Badcaps Veteran
                    • Nov 2016
                    • 682
                    • Bulgaria

                    #10
                    Re: Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

                    Originally posted by Unspun01
                    Technically FF = 11111111, which is all ones, not zeros... But you basically have the right idea - it has no information.

                    The only non FF strings are 0A 00 A9 B3 starting at 0x00000030 which does not mean anything to me.

                    It could be a serial number or a date of manufacture. Doesn't seem long enough to be an instruction set or anything. It could also be corrupted data which should be FF. Not sure why it would prevent the RC from working.

                    Save the original contents of the EEPROM to a file, and then try to re-program the EEPROM with all FF.

                    If a readback of the re-programmed "FF" image is not all FF, then the EEPROM may be bad.

                    Is the EEPROM you removed from the car or the remote? Is there a complimentary EEPROM in the other device? Maybe try reading that one too?

                    I don't have other ideas.
                    The IC was reprogrammed successfully. It was soldered in the remote control ( you can see its pads in the attached images ).
                    On the car-side pcb, there is no eeprom. Only the "mystery IC" and a couple of motor drivers ( mosfets I guess ).

                    Originally posted by stj
                    maybe the numbers are offsets to calibrate the oscillator frequency.

                    Could be.. but the best thing is that without the eeprom, the toy works just fine.

                    Now I'm on vacation, but probably when get back in the office, I will solder back the eeprom ( with all FF ) and see what happens.
                    Last edited by madan1; 12-12-2019, 03:57 PM.

                    Comment

                    • CapLeaker
                      Leaking Member
                      • Dec 2014
                      • 8146
                      • Canada

                      #11
                      Re: Troubleshooting 2.4Ghz RC toy + mystery IC

                      Originally posted by madan1

                      Could be.. but the best thing is that without the eeprom, the toy works just fine.

                      Now I'm on vacation, but probably when get back in the office, I will solder back the eeprom ( with all FF ) and see what happens.
                      That's what I would be trying too.

                      Comment

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