Skip to content

Troubleshooting

One table per area. Find the symptom, read the cause, do the fix. When the fix does not help, see Report a problem.

Power and LEDs

Symptom Cause What to do
5V IN is dark with the charger in The charger has no power, or it is in the wrong port. Check the charger. Use the 5V 3A port (PWR ONLY in the software).
USB is dark with the host cable in The host cable is in 5V 3A. Move it to the PC port.
USB is lit but PC stays dark The host has not opened the unit. Start the software. On Linux, run aectest setup-linux and plug the unit again.
PC stays dark after a plug-in, and the software does not list the unit The computer did not register the unit on that port. Some hub ports do this. Unplug the unit. Wait 5 s. Plug the unit again, or use another port on the computer. A port direct on the computer works best.
POWER flickers The 5 V source is too weak. The rail restarts. Use a 5 V, 3 A charger on 5V 3A. Never a computer port alone for high power.
PRES or INT is lit with no cable Normal while the power switch (MOD PWR) is off. Ignore it unless POWER is lit.
LPMD is dark while on a charger alone The cable is in high power without a host. Not allowed. Plug the host and let the software return the cable to low power.

Connection

Symptom Cause What to do
No unit on the host The PC port is not connected, or another program holds the unit. Plug the PC port. Close the other program. Click Refresh units.
no FTDI device found on the command line The USB chip of the unit is not on the bus, or the rules are missing. Check the cable. On Linux, run aectest setup-linux.
Unit disconnected or No such device The unit left the USB bus during a run. Unplug the host cable and the charger. Wait 30 s. Plug the host cable. Click Refresh units.
Server not reachable The server process stopped. Start it again. The page reconnects on its own.
Server restarted toast The server was started again. Nothing. The page reloads and keeps your form values.
A second program is refused with a pid The server owns the unit. Stop the server before a command-line run on the same unit.

Reading a cable

Symptom Cause What to do
NACK from slave The cable did not answer. MODE is at MAN and the MSEL slide deselects the cable. Set MODE to AUTO. Click Read cable again.
pins low: module present or rail off The cable rail is off, so the pins read low. Set the power switch (MOD PWR) to ON. Read the cable.
interrupt latched since insert The cable raised its flags at insertion. Read the cable. The read clears them and names them.
interrupt pending after a read The cable holds a flag after the read. Open the flags on the Read tab. A real alarm shows there.
The clock badge says 100 kHz, fallback The cable did not answer cleanly at the faster clock. Nothing. The unit stays at the slower clock for this cable.
The plate shows a class above the budget The cable needs more than 6 W. The unit cannot test it in high power. Read-only commands still work.

The guided test

Symptom Cause What to do
Start the test stays grey The cable is not read yet. Click Read cable first.
No criteria for this cable type yet No file matches the part number. Test without criteria, or derive a file on the Advanced page and ask engineering to confirm it.
The pre-check names a switch A switch is off its shipped position. Set it as the card says. Click Retry.
Label serial differs The scanned label and the cable serial do not match. Scan once more. A real mismatch is a FAIL by design.
Cable removed during the test An end came out of the cage. Seat it again. Start the test over.
Connection lost during the run The server stopped mid-run. Wait for Live in the corner. Start the test again.
Criteria proposed, not confirmed The criteria file is a proposal. Hand the record to engineering. Do not bin the cable.
INCONCLUSIVE with a code See the code table. Test a cable lists every code with its fix.

High power and temperature

Symptom Cause What to do
A yellow WARN line The cable reached its own warning level. Nothing. The test continues. Check the fan.
THROTTLE, then INCONCLUSIVE THERMAL The cable came within 5 °C of its alarm level, or reached 70 °C. Let it cool. Put air over the heat sink. Run again.
THERMAL repeats with the fan running The cable runs hot on its own. Hand the cable to engineering with the record.
Budget refused The cable declares more power than the budget. Raise the budget with a reason on Advanced, or test a cable within the budget.
Refused: confirmations A confirmation box is not ticked. Tick both boxes before a high-power command.

Firmware

Symptom Cause What to do
Every firmware command answers status 46h The cable wants the host password. Type the password. Try again.
Plan and Download stay grey No image file is chosen. Choose the file.
RUN REFUSED The cable refused to run the new image. The old image runs. The new one sits in its bank. Try Run again or use the vendor tool.
MODULE SILENT after Run The cable did not answer after the reset. Power cycle the unit. The committed image boots.
The firmware update engine is not in this build The engine is not installed. Firmware info still works. Ask for a build with the engine.

More on each case: Firmware update.

Report a problem

Open an issue on GitHub. One issue per problem. Attach:

  • the unit serial CT2M-NN and the cable serial,
  • the output of aectest --version,
  • the report from the verdict card, or the session folder as a zip (see Records),
  • the terminal output of the run,
  • for a wrong page, the page name and the sentence.