Topic: Morty the Bricked and Skinless Pleo RB (Read 23804 times)

aibo7m3 · « **on:** March 25, 2015, 12:34:59 PM »

Hey guys! I ordered this guy off of eBay last week and received him today. He's obviously in pretty bad shape, but I've looked him over and all cables and wires that are visible from the outside seem to be intact and in place. His rear left foot is a different color than the rest of his feet, leading me to believe it's probably a replacement. He has "A," "B," and "C" written on different parts of him and the foam padding on his sides has been ripped off, making it pretty likely that he's been totally taken apart at some point. On Probe RB, he says the initial introduction and will read the instructions if you pet his chin, but the voice is badly broken up. He does not respond if any of his feet are pressed. I ran Probe RB on him five times and during three of those he repeated "Starting default" over and over when stood up, but during two, he did the normal "Huh?" sound that Pleos make when starting up (though he went silent and unresponsive after this). When I started him up with just a battery his rear left leg moved forward and the light on his belly turned green, but there was no other response. That same leg also clicked three times when starting up first on Probe RB. I plan to try out Stats RB on him to see if I can get any more info, then try updating him. I bought him just as a cool device to see how RBs are put together and to get used to taking apart/putting together RBs so I might be able to do some actual repairs in the future, but I am curious to see if there is any way I might be able to get him working. I suspect there are serious hardware issues though and that he's probably beyond help since he looks so beat up and I'm getting such minimal responses on Probe RB (hence why I'm calling him "Morty"). I'll post updates once I've run Stats RB and an update.

Here are some photos:

More details...

Here's a video of his response to Probe RB:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyGKlqD5Ssc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyGKlqD5Ssc</a>

aibo7m3 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 25, 2015, 01:13:51 PM »

I ran Stats RB and he said "Huh?" but did nothing afterwards. I was able to get a report though. Here it is:

Quote

Pleo Property Dump
(Version 1.1 - Pleo RB, Pleo 1.1 or Pleo PM2)

PleoRB Growth Report

Stage 4: Mature Adult
Growth this stage: 24.0 / 12780.0 hours
This stage is 0.2% complete
approximately 12756.0 hours till next stage

DNA Attributes (what PleoRB was born with)

Gender: None
Courage: High
Temper: Normal
Physical: High
Activeness: High
Intelligence: High

Health Report (how you are treating your dinosaur)

Mood: 50%
Physical: 98%
Emotion: 67%
Health: 69%
Feed: 9%

Pleo is in bad shape

Activity: 50%
Obedience: 50%
Skill: 99%

Dinosaur Pheromones (what your Pleo is sending to other Pleos)

WARNING: Pleo pheromone data may be invalid (test again later)
Pleo is sending out Male pheremones
Pleo is sending out a Depressed vibe

Date Stamps

WARNING: this feature is not very useful
Date stamps start when you put in the RTC battery, and will be different than real time
Last Time: around 12:00 on 1/11/2011
PLEO incept date: 11:44 on 7/12/2010
(time PleoRB evolved to this stage)

Raw Properties
◦platform = 4
◦attn_track_weight = 1
◦attn_track_mindist = 3
◦attn_hold_flags = 0
◦attn_p2p_timeout = 300000
◦DNA_temper = 10
◦DNA_courage = 15
◦DNA_physical = 15
◦DNA_active = 15
◦DNA_intelli = 15
◦DNA_gender = 10
◦DNA_ID_1 = 7
◦DNA_ID_2 = 7
◦cam_img_progress = 0
◦age_new = 50
◦idle_flag = 268435584
◦sensor_event = 0
◦last_input_time = 1
◦prev_touch_time = 0
◦last_touch_time = 1
◦touch_event = 9
◦touch_event_trigger = 0
◦sound_direction = 0
◦direction = 0
◦mouth_present = 0
◦hit = 0
◦mood_new = 50
◦MoodIncSpeed = 10
◦MoodDecSpeed = 10
◦physical = 98
◦PhysicalIncSpeed = 15
◦PhysicalDecSpeed = 5
◦emotion = 67
◦EmotionIncSpeed = 15
◦EmotionDecSpeed = 5
◦health_new = 69
◦HealthIncSpeed = 15
◦HealthDecSpeed = 5
◦feed = 9
◦active = 50
◦ActiveIncSpeed = 15
◦ActiveDecSpeed = 5
◦obey = 50
◦ObeyIncSpeed = 15
◦ObeyDecSpeed = 5
◦skill = 99
◦SkillIncSpeed = 15
◦injury = 0
◦gender = 4096
◦Trained_SD_Flag = 255
◦Mood_Normal = 50
◦Emotion_Normal = 60
◦temp_command = 0
◦game_flow = 0
◦driver_idle_a_bvr = 16392 BEHAVIOR idle_mature
◦driver_game_a_bvr = 16430 BEHAVIOR vr_tug_of_war
◦driver_exp_a_bvr = 0
◦current_driver = 5
◦current_behavior = 16400 BEHAVIOR idle_function
◦driver_explore = 0
◦driver_idle = 20
◦driver_game = 0
◦p_n_event = 0
◦p_n_enable = 0
◦sensor_pet = 0
◦sensor_vr = 0
◦sensor_hit = 0
◦other_flag = 2
◦mobility = 0
◦rest_timeout = 0
◦growth = 2884
◦high_temperature = 0
◦test_time = 0
◦sound_loud = 0
◦touch_present = 0
◦touchkey_present = 0
◦hpy_max = 0
◦hpy_min = 0
◦tracking = 0
◦tracking_change = 0
◦picked_up = 0
◦low_battery = 0
◦battery_level_low = 0
◦abuse = 1
◦sick = 0
◦shake_to_wake = 0
◦temp_0 = 0
◦lt_valence = 0
◦fidget_interval = 10000
◦fidget_sndcmd = 0
◦fidget_active = 1
◦sound_loud_time = 0
◦volume_idx = 2
◦birth_stage = 0
◦touch_tap = 0
◦loud_change = 0
◦original_year = 2010
◦original_month = 7
◦original_day = 12
◦original_hr = 11
◦original_min = 44
◦rest_timer = 0
◦grow_min_th = 1533600
◦snd_vol_button = 0
◦30s_flag = 121
◦exec_script = 0
◦milestone_active = 0
◦milestone = 0
◦milestone_param = 0
◦milestone_next = 0
◦turn_angle = 0
◦quirk_active = 0
◦quirk_current = 0
◦quirk_change = 2
◦quirk_period = 15
◦quirk_next_change_time = 2921
◦track_camera_time = 0
◦sick_change_time = 0
◦command_stage = 1
◦song_part_0 = 0
◦song_part_1 = 0
◦song_part_2 = 0
◦song_part_3 = 0
◦song_part_4 = 0
◦song_part_5 = 0
◦song_part_6 = 0
◦song_part_7 = 0
◦song_part_8 = 0
◦song_part_9 = 0
◦song_part_A = 0
◦song_part_B = 0
◦song_part_cnt = 0
◦leaf_direction = 0
◦driver_commun = 0
◦His_SoundDir = 0
◦idle_process = 0
◦eat_flag = 0
◦Explorer_timer = 0
◦StopWait_timer = 0
◦AI_timer = 0
◦HisDate = 131793163
◦p2p_sync_type = 0
◦p2p_event_type = 0
◦p2p_num_peers = 0
◦p2p_sync_counter = 15
◦last_p2p_update_time = 0
◦p2p_sync_type_result = 0
◦leaf_timer = 0
◦track_red_obj = 0
◦object_time = 0
◦walk_type = 1
◦previous_time = 12
◦previous_date = 20110111
◦code_ver = 4191630
◦object_timer = 0
◦p2p_lap_timer = 0
◦sensor_ultra_snd = 0
◦drive = 0
◦command_pending = 0
◦command = 0
◦command_status = 4
◦behavior = -1
◦script_status = 0
◦arousal = 76
◦motion = 0
◦motion_time = 0

When I tried to run the update, he said something about the update starting then “please wait two minutes,” but about 5-10 seconds later he said “update complete.” All words were badly broken up and hard to hear like in Probe RB. I waited another two minutes just to be certain before shutting him down. I can start him up using the power switch, but I cannot turn him off with it, so I have to just pull the battery. When I started him back up without the card, there was no response. I put the micro SD card with the update on it in him again and got the same response as I did the first time and he still doesn’t do anything without the card. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the issue might be and whether it is something potentially repairable? It’s alright if it isn’t since I bought him as bricked, I just thought I’d give the little guy a chance.

aibo7m3 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 25, 2015, 01:28:58 PM »

I'm guessing that there's probably a loose connection somewhere since when I hold him on Stats RB, he'll occasionally make little noises (that sound normal and are not broken up). He even did the heavy breathing noise when I was holding him upside down once and let out a loud cry when I touched his rear left leg (though I haven't been able to repeat these situations). When running on Stats RB, I can press the reset button and the clock battery button and both of these work (clock battery button beeps, reset makes him go "huh?" again), but he still doesn't work. The problem with loose connections would be that I have no idea where to look since it could be anywhere in him or another issue altogether. Anyway, feedback would be appreciated since I'm no expert on repairing RBs.

Edit:
What is the difference between the reset and the upgrade files under downloads? Would it be a good idea to attempt to reset him as well? I'm guessing there is some sort of hardware issue going on, but it still seems possible that there's something wrong with the firmware as well. I might try running a skit on him as well, but are all of the skits safe to run on RBs?

HuggieZ · « **Reply #3 on:** March 25, 2015, 03:46:09 PM »

I also have an RB with starting problems. My boyfriend set the Probe RB on the SD card and now he only works with the card.

aibo7m3 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 25, 2015, 04:00:04 PM »

Unfortunately he will do the little "Huh?" on Probe RB sometimes (and always on Stats RB), but he doesn't do anything afterward (except make a few sounds every now and then). I'm guessing there's some sort of hardware issue since I've run him through most of the tests for a firmware issue and haven't been able to fix anything. I also should mention that I tried running him and Chris together to see if I could get him to respond, and the new Pleo did nothing, but Chris recognized he was there and tried to talk to him.

kat · « **Reply #5 on:** March 25, 2015, 05:24:58 PM »

You can use any of the skits. They are all safe for use on the RB. I would run a skit first and see what happens. If he runs it with no issues then you can assume his hardware is ok and maybe try to reset him.
The reset software is something that is used to try to revive a pleo RB who has been "updated" to a Ugobe OS. I believe you need to run the rest software and then install the regular update. I think this resets the firmware completely.
Let us know how you go with a skit.
Also I would say his foot has been replaced with one from a Ugobe. Pleo Rb feet are all that dark brown colour while Ugobe ones are tan. As long as it isn't his clock battery foot it shouldn't cause him any issues.

aibo7m3 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 25, 2015, 05:53:17 PM »

I tried running him with the "Happy Birthday" skit and it did run, but not properly at all. He didn't move at all, and the sound was broken up and distorted. I don't think there's any issue with his speakers though since the regular Pleo noises that he makes every now and then sound completely normal. Any ideas on what the issue/s could be? It seems pretty obvious that there's something up with the hardware now, but I'm not sure what.

Also, the repaired foot is not the clock battery one, but there does seem to be something wrong with it since when I first turned him on, it curled up into the odd position it's in now and started clicking at one other point. I wonder if a previous owner tried to repair him with multiple Ugobe parts and bricked him in doing so.

Talon · « **Reply #7 on:** March 26, 2015, 04:41:20 PM »

Wow! I've never heard Probe RB so broken up like that. I've never gotten my two to run the default personality while running Probe. He really sounds like he took a beating. I'll be interested in following your progress. Good luck figuring out this robotic puzzle.
Talon

Crewella · « **Reply #8 on:** March 26, 2015, 07:23:27 PM »

Poor lad, it does sound as though he's been taken apart and put back together a few times. To be honest, I wouldn't know where to start either!

aibo7m3 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 26, 2015, 07:45:40 PM »

@Talon
Thanks! The poor little guy does seem like he's been through a lot. Out of my two other RBs, one can run the default program on Probe RB and one can't, I'm not sure what determines this. When this guy does say the little "Huh?" it seems like he is trying to run the default personality, but something's going wrong. He can't move, and sounds only get through every now and then.

@Crewella
Yeah, it doesn't seem too likely that I'll be able to fix him, but he was really cheap and I decided it would just be a fun project to see if I could get him working, and still a pretty good learning experience on how RBs are put together if I can't. I might start just by removing the top panels on his back to get a better look at how things are inside (and check for obvious issues like loose wires/physically broken parts/corrosion). Is there anything I should be especially careful with in particular or parts that are very fragile/easy to lose/might pop out of place easily if I do so? I've seen the photo and video guides on neck repairs which give a little insight on how Pleos are put together inside, but that's about all I know since I've never taken one apart. I might bring him to my robotics team meeting at school next week since they have more supplies than I do at home and some of the team members have a lot more tech experience than I do. This little guy might be a completely lost cause, but I don't mind giving him a chance.

Crewella · « **Reply #10 on:** March 26, 2015, 11:10:09 PM »

I think that's a really good idea, and it's exactly how I started - I bought a 'bricked' pleo cheaply and started to take him apart. I never did manage to fix Scully, but he taught me such a lot!

The best advice I can give you is to take pics as you go to remind yourself how thing were originally put together, and to keep track of all the bits you take out. I put them in little baggies or envelopes labelled 'screws for motor housing/neck cable' or 'longer screws for back plate' or 'screws for funny plastic bit behind vertebra' - whatever means something to you!

Until you start opening the little clear gear/motor housings, there's not much to jump out and give you a fright, but do try really hard not to drop any screws into the body cavity whilst you're working. I did that once and it took me two days of gently shaking Pleo upside down (trying to keep in place all the bits I'd started to take out) and fishing about with forceps before I finally got it back!

You're always welcome to ask questions and I'll help if I can, I'm sure Kat and IMR would say the same.

Good luck, and have fun!

aibo7m3 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 27, 2015, 07:17:54 AM »

Thanks for the advice! When removing the front panel along the back (on a Pleo RB, not sure if it's the same on a Ugobe), is it alright to unplug the cluster of brown wires from the board they're attached to? I can't lift the panel too much without doing so, but I'm worried that might harm the Pleo. Also, is there something else I need to remove to get the back panel off? I took out all of the screws, but the back panel still feels like it's firmly attached to the robot, so I'm guessing there's something else I need to do first.

I did lift the front panel a bit and take a look at what's directly beneath it. From what I could see, all wires seemed to be attached properly and nothing looked strange or felt loose, but I don't know what a working RB should look like on the inside, so I'm posting some pictures here as well in case someone else might see something I didn't.

More details...

kat · « **Reply #12 on:** March 27, 2015, 05:30:33 PM »

I have a couple of movie photo guides that might help you out from when I have done repairs on RB's. RB's are not quite the same as Ugobes on the inside

The back panel you are talking about is connected on the inside by a sensor wire and wont lift very far when you do manage to get it to lift. My phot videos show step by step where all the screws are etc for removing bits. Hope that helps

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jMQM73Xchk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jMQM73Xchk</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfQcLGJskZ8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfQcLGJskZ8</a>

aibo7m3 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 27, 2015, 08:34:09 PM »

Thanks for the videos, Kat! I realized there was one screw I was missing on the back plate, but now that I do have all nine of them off, it still doesn't seem to budge at all and certainly won't lift up easily like the front plate did. Is there something else I need to do? Do certain screws in the legs need to be removed before the back plate will lift off?

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #14 on:** March 28, 2015, 01:31:58 PM »

You shouldn't need to, but if he's been pulled apart he may not have been put back together perfectly. Can you find the general area where it's not budging and then shine a small torch in there perhaps?

Crewella · « **Reply #15 on:** March 28, 2015, 04:22:02 PM »

They're of a Ugobe, but there are close-up pics of taking the back plate off on the neck repair thread here:

http://bobthepleo.com/forums/index.php?topic=2925.0

They're also in my gallery under 'scully pics'.

There's also the possibility thay he may have been someone's project and may have had bits added or changed in some way. I don't ever remember more than the sensor and speaker wires being attached to the back plates.

I wondered if Kat or IMR (or indeed anybody else) had thought the same thing? $:-\$

kat · « **Reply #16 on:** March 28, 2015, 05:10:55 PM »

As Crewella says there should only be the sensor wire and the speaker wires attached to the back plate. If you have taken out all 9 screws it could just be a really tight fit and might come off with a little more force or it could be that something extra or different was added last time he was pulled apart. You could try taking the back legs off to give you a better view of the join all the way round the back plate and see if this gives some insight or makes it easier to take off.

aibo7m3 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 28, 2015, 06:05:55 PM »

Thanks guys! I managed to get the back plate off by removing the top white plates on each of his back legs. One of the leg sensor wires was threaded through a hole in the back plate which I assume was what was keeping it in place, but it looks like that wire is meant to be there (though the one on the other side is not threaded through the hole which is really strange):

More details...

I'm still busy checking wires, but I haven't found anything that looks particularly out of the ordinary yet. Let me know if these pictures look different than a working RB's insides should:

More details...

I did notice that the blue wire (one running under the back plate instead of through it) does seem to have a large crease in it from where the back plate pressed against it, so it could be damaged, but I'm not certain on that and don't know if it's the source of the problems or even one of many issues.

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #18 on:** March 28, 2015, 10:01:05 PM »

I think you might have to just repair one thing at a time until you get success. Could be just one or two things or it could be a total disaster.

Crewella · « **Reply #19 on:** March 29, 2015, 08:15:40 AM »

I agree with IMR, sort out one thing at a time and keep reassembling to test. That way if something stops working you can retrace your steps and work out the problem.

It's really hard to tell as Pleo wires are usually neatly twisted and coiled into place - what you have there is more of a rats nest!!

With any luck, you should be starting to get a feel for what the coloured wires represent. Eash joint will have much the same sets of wires with a potentiometer (little tabs, usually black or orange, that tell what position each joint is in - there's one just under the central joint on the back plate). It might help to look at our pics of them twisted into sets as they should be.

kat · « **Reply #20 on:** March 29, 2015, 05:01:15 PM »

I had forgotten about the leg wire

It has been a while since I took my guys apart. So the leg wire going through he back plate is normal and yes it only happens on one side.
How do the wires that connect to the speaker box look? If you are getting disjointed sounds then it would be worth checking the connection of these wires at both ends

aibo7m3 · « **Reply #21 on:** April 08, 2015, 06:01:13 PM »

I've checked the speaker box wires and they look completely normal. I have found two wires overall that look a bit squished/deformed in one spot, but none that actually seem to be severed or loose.

Also, does anyone know how to remove the face plates on an RB? There's some sort of loose part stuck in his head (looks like it could be part of a circuit board which would be bad news since I can't fix that), but I can't get a good look at what it is without removing the outer face covers and I can't figure out how to do so.

Crewella · « **Reply #22 on:** April 09, 2015, 12:38:46 PM »

Sorry, never tried to open the head casing and none of my Pleos are to hand.

aibo7m3 · « **Reply #23 on:** April 10, 2015, 07:24:19 PM »

I wasn't able to remove the face plates, but I did figure out that the loose piece in there was just a black piece of plastic with green paint on it and nothing important. Morty is currently in two pieces since I wanted to get a better look at the big circuit board in the middle.

More details...

I also did find one solder point that was very noticeably messier than all of the others, but I don't know if it's an actual issue yet or not. I'll be getting one of those devices that checks for complete circuits soon, so that should be helpful.

More details...

Crewella · « **Reply #24 on:** April 10, 2015, 08:38:09 PM »

I confess that looks like some of my soldering efforts!

That does imply that someone has had a go at it, a multi meter would be a good idea. You must be having fun doing this!

Bob the Pleo Forums

Author Topic: Morty the Bricked and Skinless Pleo RB (Read 23804 times)