Unable to setup

[Condor]

Hi,

I tried setting up the SterlingKey and was unable to. The device does not seem to be responding in the way the manual says it should.

I have updated to the latest firmware 1.2.1 by following the instructions on this site. I am trying to use a Microsoft Wired Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 v1.0. I had the device plugged into a USB power source.

Here's what I experienced:

Tried to pair following instructions. Initially I saw "SterlingKey � Microsoft Natural Ergo" as the BT device name, or something like that. Can't remember 100% but important to note there was a � character in the name.

When I clicked connect on my computer, I immediately received an error "Try connecting your device again", which I've never seen on BT before. I then tried pairing the SterlingKey to another computer and received the same issue. Note that all my other BT devices work on both of these machines.

Power cycling the BT on both machines and restarting the machines did not fix the issue. I tried restarting the SterlingKey, but no luck.

Then something really weird started happening. From what I think is the SterlingKey Off state (LEDs off), when I short press the button, I only get one vibration. First LED is solid, I see the fourth LED linking red. Note this LED is red whether I have the keyboard or not. Then when I short press again, I get two vibrations and the device turns off (LEDs off).

From Off, I then short press again. I hold down the button for 10 seconds and nothing happens. When I release, I get two vibrations and the device goes off. This behavior occurs no matter how long or short I hold down the button.

I can no longer see the SterlingKey show as a device for pairing.

One other note: When I plug the device into power, I get a solid red LED. When I unplug it, the LED turns off.

To my eye, this does not match how the device should function based on the manual. I cannot "Hold the button until you feel two short vibrations, then let go immediately" - my device seems to vibrate twice as it is turning off. I also cannot switch between the slots by pressing the button once.

I would greatly appreciate your help as I have no idea what is going wrong. The device seemed to act as expected before I tried to pair and got the pairing issues. It is strange though as I tried pairing ~10 times on different computers and then the device started acting as I described above.

Find below the debug logs from the Console. When I started the debug, the keyboard was plugged in to SterlingKey. I then unplugged it, and I think I plugged it back in.

Code: Select all

 
Value set, restarting...

��ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
Build:Mar 27 2021
rst:0xc (RTC_SW_CPU_RST),boot:0x2b (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
Saved PC:0x4037fd26
SPIWP:0xee
mode:DIO, clock div:1
load:0x3fce3818,len:0x109c
load:0x403c9700,len:0x4
load:0x403c9704,len:0xb50
load:0x403cc700,len:0x2fe4
entry 0x403c98ac
E (350) USBH: Dev 0 EP 0 Error
E (350) HUB: Bad transfer status 1: CHECK_SHORT_DEV_DESC
E (351) HUB: Stage failed: CHECK_SHORT_DEV_DESC

assert failed: root_port_handle_events hub.c:837 (p_hub_driver_obj->single_thread.root_dev_uid != 0)


Backtrace: 0x403771e2:0x3fcebcc0 0x4038254d:0x3fcebce0 0x40388629:0x3fcebd00 0x4207a85d:0x3fcebe30 0x420765f6:0x3fcebe90 0x420038b4:0x3fcebec0 0x4200596e:0x3fcebee0 0x4200fa90:0x3fcebf00 0x40384e2e:0x3fcebf20




ELF file SHA256: a92698b52c3a401e

Rebooting...

.�ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
Build:Mar 27 2021
rst:0xc (RTC_SW_CPU_RST),boot:0x2b (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
Saved PC:0x4037fd26
SPIWP:0xee
mode:DIO, clock div:1
load:0x3fce3818,len:0x109c
load:0x403c9700,len:0x4
load:0x403c9704,len:0xb50
load:0x403cc700,len:0x2fe4
entry 0x403c98ac
ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
Build:Mar 27 2021
rst:0x5 (DSLEEP),boot:0x2b (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
pro cpu reset by JTAG
SPIWP:0xee
mode:DIO, clock div:1
load:0x3fce3818,len:0x109c
load:0x403c9700,len:0x4
load:0x403c9704,len:0xb50
load:0x403cc700,len:0x2fe4
entry 0x403c98ac
E (3331) USBH: Dev 0 EP 0 Error
E (3331) HUB: Bad transfer status 1: CHECK_SHORT_DEV_DESC
E (3332) HUB: Stage failed: CHECK_SHORT_DEV_DESC

Also note that even opening and copying the above logs was problematic. My text editor said it was binary or contained unsupported characters. I clicked open anyway and I see highlights indicating bad characters at the very start of the file (first line) and then before the .�ESP-ROM texts. I had to deselect the bad character to be able to copy in here

Thanks!

[Alex]

Hey!

The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 has been tested and verified to work, at least according to another user, not me personally. What operating system are you using? The "?" should be a "™" (TM) which is strange that it's not showing, but shouldn't really cause issues either way.

Sounds like you did not enter pairing mode. If you are not in pairing mode, you will get the "Try connecting your device again" message. To enter pairing mode, you have to hold the button on SterlingKey for around a second. You will feel two vibrations, and then let go immediately. On three vibrations SterlingKey goes to sleep, so the timing is crucial. In pairing mode, the selected slot's white LED will be slowly blinking.

LEDs off is indeed the sleep mode of SterlingKey. If there is no keyboard plugged in, the 4th LED red LED is blinking, which means it's awaiting a connection. At this point, the button indeed just turns off the sterlingkey (and does two quick vibrations to indicate that). Bluetooth only works when a keyboard is detected. This is normal if there is no keyboard detected.

When you plug the device into power, the solid red LED means it is charging. That red LED will turn white when charging is completed.

Having a keyboard plugged in is a necessary step in the manual. If that's not successfully done (or if the keyboard for some reason is not detected), the other steps will not work either.

On the logs, what keyboard is plugged in? This doesn't seem to be the Microsoft keyboard you mentioned earlier. Are you on version 1.2.1?

Not sure about the bad characters, logs always work fine on my machine and never had that report from another user.

If you have Discord we can troubleshoot this a bit faster by the way. You can find the link on the home page of the forum.

Best regards,
Alex

[Condor]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the response. I've done some more troubleshooting, and I think the problem is with my keyboard, not the SterlingKey.

I used another keyboard to test with the SterlingKey and it all worked as expected. However my Ergonomic keyboard still shows strange behavior:

I was able to pair and use the keyboard as expected. After I get up from my chair, or moving the keyboard (I think), it stops working: meaning - typing results in no text on screen, power is still available to keyboard (Function Lock indicator on keyboard lit up), and there is no 4th red LED blinking on SterlingKey. Pressing the Function Lock key does not cause the Function Lock key to be toggled (Function Lock indicator on keyboard remains lit).

Once I unplug and replug the keyboard back in to SterlingKey, then the 4th red LED begins flashing. I'm not exactly sure what is going on but it seems like the keyboard is getting into some "invalid" state. I can resolve this "invalid" state by plugging it into the computer directly, typing, and then it works again.

Replugging it back into SterlingKey start this process again. After a bit it will become "invalid" again and I have to start over.

Long story short, think I just have to get a new keyboard. If you've ever seen anything like this let me know, but not expecting anything

Feel free to close this ticket

[Alex]

That's interesting. We can do some more troubleshooting, maybe the cable on the keyboard is a bit sensitive to movement and is like "half" plugged? Have you noticed a similar thing happening when plugging it directly to your computer? Maybe on Windows you can hear the disconnect/reconnect sound when it happens? If you'd like we can still troubleshoot this a bit further, for example when this "invalid" state happens, what do the logs say? You can keep the logs running in the background and export them when that happens. I suppose it might say the same "E (3331) USBH: Dev 0 EP 0 Error
E (3331) HUB: Bad transfer status 1: CHECK_SHORT_DEV_DESC
E (3332) HUB: Stage failed: CHECK_SHORT_DEV_DESC" as it said in the previous logs. Not sure exactly what that means, but it could be a faulty connector or cable. Since it's working with another keyboard, I'm leaning towards the cable, but I can't be 100% certain.

So what gets it out of that invalid state?

Up to you if you want to continue troubleshooting. Thank you for your findings!