Hi folks,

I recently wired up my new Aquero 5XT to an external Pico PSU ala:


The Aquaero powered up, went through the init sequence and everything looked good. I then started up Aquasuite and plugged the USB cable into my laptop and poof: the laptop shutdown, the PicoPSU and Aquaero both shut off and the acrid smell of burned electronics permeated the air Nothing would power up afterwards, but after a little cooling off I was able to get the laptop to power back up, but the USB port is totally dead. The PicoPSU power brick had only blown a fuse, and after replacing it, it and the PicoPSU came back to life. Unfortunately, not so for the Aquaero, it won't power up no matter what I do.

Prior to plugging the USB cable in, I check and re-checked the pinouts and cable color codes and everything looked good. So you can imagine my surprise when this happened. Afterwards I checked again and nothing with the USB connection appears to have been wrong. I am using an internal to external USB adaptor (the same type sold on the AC online shop here). I am only using four of the five USB pins, leaving the outermost ground unconnected per the recommendation in the earlier post here: Aquastream USB Connector mod

It would appear as though the USB port on the Aquaero is not adequately isolated to allow the use of an external power supply. Is this the case? Is there anything that needs to be done to support this type of configuration that I overlooked? If it was an obvious error on my part I would chalk it up to a mistake, and just get another Aquaero, but this appears to be something more fundamental and I would like to better understand what happened before attempting this again.

Zitat von »BorisTheSpider«

If, as you say, everything was connected correctly, the only thing I can think of that could cause this would be a difference in ground potential between the ground to the laptop/usb, and the ground from the picopsu. I am completely speculating though, and have no knowledge of the internals of the aquaero or how/why this could happen.

Very unfortunate. I hope you manage to find whatever caused it.

Thanks for the comments. Yea, I suspect a ground loop as well.

I did a continuity test between the USB grounds and power ground on the main supply Aquaero board and they appear to be floating (with respect to each other and to ground). I'm not sure if it is because I blew a trace, or if this is intentional. From what I have read, the USB spec requires a common ground across all devices in the bus, and the USB digital ground provides a mechanism of linking the grounds together. The inherent downside to this approach is that if the voltage difference between the grounds is significant, it can create issues (e.g. ground loop induced problems). For precision measurement and audio equipment some folks use USB isolators to work around this, so it is a known issue. I am just surprised that a device like the Aquaero that has a function for disabling a PC's PSU (implying that the Aquaero itself is running off a separate power supply) would have issues like this.

I'm still expecting feedback from someone at Aquacomputer with knowledge of the USB electronics on the Aquaero on this, but in the mean time have started looking for a USB isolator to put between the next Aquaero and the PC.

Thanks Sebastian,

Should the USB digital ground(pin 4) and the power ground on the Aquaero be connected, e.g. should I be able to measure continuity with a DMM when not attached to a PSU?

Zitat von »sebastian«

The USB GND is connected with the power ground of aquaero. All GND potentials from the aquaero 5 are internal connected.

Thanks for the info. Since I do not currently measure continuity between the power ground and the USB ground I might have blown a trace and will try bridging the two.

If it ends up being something more, which I fully expect to be the case, would replacing the mainboard on my Aquaero 5XT with the board from an Aquaero 5LT work and maintain the same level of functionality (using the original touchscreen, IR keyboard, etc from the XT)? I'm looking for a lower cost option than buying a completely new XT unless absolutely required.

Zitat von »BorisTheSpider«

Zitat von »JinTu«

If it ends up being something more, which I fully expect to be the case, would replacing the mainboard on my Aquaero 5XT with the board from an Aquaero 5LT work and maintain the same level of functionality (using the original touchscreen, IR keyboard, etc from the XT)? I'm looking for a lower cost option than buying a completely new XT unless absolutely required.

Unfortunately, the LT doesn't have an IR receiver. Other than that I'm sure you could just fit the screen to an LT.

I'd imagine the PCB is identical. I can't see why you couldn't remove the IR receiver from your XT and solder it on an LT PCB. If you get no definitive response, feel free to send me a close up picture of your IR receiver and I'll take a look at the PCB on my LT and see if it looks like it would fit straight on.

Thanks for the info. The IR receiver is actually on the LCD daughter board, and all the pictures I have seen make it looks like the LT and XT mainboards are indeed identical. I'm just looking for AC to comment if this is is in fact the case.

Prior to having the aforementioned issue with the USB port, I was having some issues with the touchscreen: the touchscreen plastic window kept popping out and when I popped it back in one of the buttons behaved as though it were stuck down (the Aquaero was clicking as though an arrow key was being pressed repeatedly and the screens kept sequencing from one to the next). Until I can resolve this, the IR keyboard was the only way to interact with the Aquaero.

Zitat von »Shoggy«

You can not use the IR on an aquaero 5 LT. Some parts of the IR controller are integrated to the PCB of the display which you do not have. Even by connecting a controller directly it still would not work since the LT does not use any routines for IR, buttons, display and so on.

The problem with the faulty front on your XT can not be fixed by yourself. Please send us an e-mail to get a new front.

Thanks for the info Shoggy!

I still need to do my ground bridge test this weekend to see if I can revive the Aquaero, but don't have a high degree of confidence.

Unfortunately it looks like I need to replace both the Aquaero 5XT mainboard and the front touchscreen/board, leaving only the display board. Since these components don't appear to be sold individually, can Aquacomputer supply replacement modules/boards directly?

I finally had a chance to inspect the board closer and do some testing and alas my fears were justified and there is physical damage to (at least) one of the silicon components:


The left half of the IC package cover has come off exposing the insides of the IC. I can't make out a full part number, but this appears to be a diode that is connected to the +5V leg of the backup power supply header.

Since I mentioned the issue with the XT touchscreen plastic separating from the faceplate/touchscreen board, here are some pictures to show what I am talking about:



I'll be contacting Aquacomputer support for a replacement for the mainboard and touchscreen and will let you all know how it goes.

Zitat von »Shoggy«

The damaged part is a surge protection diode. We can try to repair it but we would not exchange that board since it is clearly an overvoltage damage which is not covered by the warranty.

Thanks for the reply Shoggy,

I'm only looking to return my Aquaero 5XT to a functioning state; as far as replacement or repair goes, I don't really care as long as the end result is a fully functioning device. If this requires purchasing a replacement board, then so be it. I do hope there is a way to do this that doesn't require replacing the entire Aquaero 5XT. The one I have was on backorder for three months from a US-based supplier, and I would hate to have to go through all that again...

FYI: I submitted my support request shortly after my last post on the 6th, but have yet to hear back.

Zitat von »Shoggy«

I have no e-mail from you. Everything back to yesterday evening has been answered.

I used the online form on your website for an RMA and received an automated response that it was received from info@aqua-computer.de. Should I also send an e-mail? If so, what address should I send to?

Zitat von »Shoggy«

Ah, OK. The RMA form is not read by anyone since it is only an automatic system if you want to send something back to us. You can use the mentioned info address.

Thanks Shoggy,

I just responded via e-mail to the automated respose to the info e-mail address. Please let me know if I need to provide additional details.

I put my Aquaero 5XT in the mail tonight. Hopefully it gets to AC reasonably quickly and can be easily repaired.

FYI: I ordered a USB isolator for the next attempt, and it should arrive in a couple weeks.

I received word from Shoggy that my Aquaero 5XT arrived on 10/31 (total time door to door via USPS 20 days), and that it is now in the queue for inspection/repair.

The USB isolator I ordered last month is now in-hand so I will be ready next time.