Have I Killed the Brick?

[robotrebels]

This afternoon I was going through the "Getting Started Manual" and I copied the program for reading a light sensor as directed in the manual.  When I clicked the run button, the LED lit up, as expected but the screen on the NXT brick went dark.  I immediately unplugged everything--there was no way to abort the run--but the screen stayed dark and the brick was clicking about one click per second.  I removed the battery and left it out first for a few seconds, then for increasingly longer times.  Each time I reinstalled the battery, the clicking continued and the brick's window was dark.

Have I fried the brick?  Is there anything else to try?

Carol

[emmell · Accepted solution]

The brick isn't dead, but its brain needs to be refreshed.  You have what's affectionately called the "NXT click of death disease".  The solution is to redownload the firmware and then re-download your programs.  You may have to press the reset button before doing that.  First remove the battery for about 15-30 seconds.  Then find a paper clip and open it up so you can poke it one of the holes at the bottom of the brick.  You can tell which hole it is by looking at the underside in a bright light and seeing which one of them has a metal button down inside it.  Press and hold that button with the paper clip for about 10-15 seconds.  Then reinstall the battery and download the firmware using LabVIEW or NXT-G.  Your brick should come back to life after that.  Good luck.

Mannie Lowe

Georgia FTC Affiliate Partner