Just did the osmo update and now the roomba won't work.

wackman · Post by **wackman** » November 26th, 2006, 6:17 pm

Hi everyone. I'm new here and looking for some help with this thing. I love the idea of my roomba discovery but have had a lot of trouble with it and I'm about to just go buy a Dyson. I decided to give this osmo a shot before I gave up.

So I just finished the osmo update and now the roomba won't power up, beep, uh oh or anything. All it's doing is flashing it's red light.

I did exactly as the osmo instructions said to do.

Any one know what's going on, I appreciate any help.

Thanks,

Wack

vic7767 · Post by **vic7767** » November 26th, 2006, 7:42 pm

Try removing your battery from roomba, hold down the power button for 15 seconds, release power button, replace battery and test.

wackman · Post by **wackman** » November 27th, 2006, 5:25 am

When you say test, do you mean pushing the power button or is there an actual test to perform. Sorry, I bought it slightly used but it didn't come with an instruction manual.

I did as you said but after reinserting the battery I just tried pushing the power button and still nothing.

ze-muffinman · Post by **ze-muffinman** » November 27th, 2006, 2:17 pm

Try contacting support here or call the number at the bottom of your Roomba.

vic7767 · Post by **vic7767** » November 27th, 2006, 2:22 pm

Yep, test meant to turn on the power after installing the battery. Is this Roomba covered under any warranty? If it is, contact IRobot for help and support.

What LED is flashing red? What model# is it? After the OSMO flashing process completed within about 90 seconds did your Status LED stop flashing?

wackman · Post by **wackman** » November 27th, 2006, 8:17 pm

Thanks. As far as I know it's not under warrenty anymore. I had to cut the fenders to get access for the circle dance fix where you clean the optical sensors in the wheels. It's a model 4210. I bought it used on craigslist but it still looked in really good condition. It worked for about a month then started the circle dance of death.

When I did the osmo the status led blinked red and then stopped blinking all together. I left it in the roomba for about 5 mins. when I pulled the osmo out the led started blinking red again. I tried to power it up but nothing happened. Then the status led went out and the power still won't work. If I put the osmo back in it will blink again and if I put it on its charger at the same time as the osmo then it will sometimes blink green but as soon as I take the osmo out it goes dead again.

I was hoping this was a common thing. Thanks for the help so far, I appreciate it.

vic7767 · Post by **vic7767** » November 27th, 2006, 10:42 pm

What you have run into is a very UNcommon issue. I've got 7 roombas, (5 reds, 2 blues) that have all been OSMOed with either the blue or black/smoke OSMOs. On top of that over on the hacker forum in the Sticky labeled Gregs there is a procedure he and I have both used where we reset the roomba and then flash it again and again. Gregs done his roomba probably 20 times, I've done mine a couple. I don't know how far you want to go to resolve your roomba malfunction but it might be possible to reset it. You will need a computer to load Gregs program, and a hardware unit sold by a company called roombadevtools.com. Let us know if you would like to proceed with that process.

wackman · Post by **wackman** » November 28th, 2006, 2:45 am

Do you know what's wrong with it or is this something new to you guys?

If it's not too big of a commitment of time or money I'll give anything a try.

I really would like it to work, when it was working it kept the floors nice and clean and that actually gave me a really peaceful feeling (kinda weird I know) and just put me a good mood so yes I'd like to try, it can't make it any worse than it is now.

I read an article that said the osmo didn't do what it was supposed to so they called Irobot and they sent a new stick, even though mine isn't under warrenty and I'd have to buy it, could that help?

I have a Mac so his program might not work.

Thanks again for your help.

Wack

vic7767 · Post by **vic7767** » November 28th, 2006, 4:29 pm

Time? Money? = Roomba, Yes it take some time and money to possibly resolve your roomba issue. First, I've never had this problem before, second, no one else until you had even reported this type of problem. You may possibly have a defective OSMO, but again no one else has reported a defective OSMO here. In fact I know of several folks that have used their OSMO and then loaned it to others without any problem. If you can get another OSMO, try that first. I suspect your roomba is in some sort of abnormal state. Don't know how it happened, defective OSMO, low battery, etc. So the bottom line is since I have no experience in this particular problem with your roomba we can try a few things that will take time and money. One of the Roo devices to talk to your roomba. Another OSMO. A "good known battery", and the Greg software program.

wackman · Post by **wackman** » November 28th, 2006, 9:33 pm

Do you think it's worth all the work or should I just buy a new one from one of the places that has a lifetime warrenty?

I own my own company so I tend to think of my time as money. If I need to put 4 hours into making this thing work again plus buy more parts and devices I might rather just get a new one.

I have two rottweilers indoors and they shed, I find a ton of hair inside the roomba and I've been thinking maybe I should get the pet one anyway.

Just guessing, how many hours do you think those fixes will take?

By the way I'm really computer illiterate, the Roo device sounds a little scary.

Thanks Vic7767.

Wack

vic7767 · Post by **vic7767** » November 28th, 2006, 10:17 pm

Wack,

Ya there would be many hours and new hardware to install on your Roomba and then there is no guarantee that we could get it goin again.

There have been several posts on this forum about the Roomba Pet model. Some folks like them. Read through some of the comments on this board.

Based on my experience with the Roomba models I own, there is a lot of maintenance and repair that has to be performed to keep these robots running. Being a hacker/engineer keeps me very happy.

You may want to follow your original thoughts and get a Roomba model with a good return policy....good luck

wackman · Post by **wackman** » November 29th, 2006, 12:23 am

Yeah, I think I better take a good look at the reliability of these before I even get another. Great idea, poor execution. About how often do they go bad and need work or replacement? When they do replace them how long do it take before you have a new one?

Thanks again for being so patient.

Wack

vic7767 · Post by **vic7767** » November 29th, 2006, 12:56 am

If IRobot has them in stock, you can get a warranty replacement within 1 to 3 weeks.

I've got 3 of the original roombas that are about 4 years old. The only maintenance performed on them was to replace the tire tread on them. IRobot used to send me replacement tread kits for free, not so anymore. Now one has to find those kits on ebay for about 10 bucks a pair. But haven't had to replace the tire treads that often.

I've got 5 Reds all of which are about 2 years old and running around doing most of the short carpet cleaning in the house. Only had a problem with one of them and that was a charging problem brought about by not using a surge protected power strip. That problem has been resolved. I also have one discovery model that has donated its motherboard to the hacker cause but should be up and running soon, haha... So all in all with that much success using Roombas, I've wound up with two Scoobas. One of them had a defective battery that was replaced by IRobot. They are performing just great and one of them has volunteered to be hacked for the cause. Now mind you, there are several war stories posted right here on the forum but so far nothing really drastic has happened to my robots. good luck with your decision

wackman · Post by **wackman** » November 29th, 2006, 3:05 am

Really appreciate all your time Vic. Thanks. I think I'll buy another one, the things worth the risk if it works but I'm not a computer guy, I build houses. I just don't want to work on it.

Wack

wackman · Post by **wackman** » November 29th, 2006, 3:25 am

I do have another question for you.

I noticed quite a few people on here seem to have lots of roombas. I could see the need for one a floor but you guys have a LOT! Do you have lots of floors in your house? Or just a huge place?

Or is there something that I just don't know yet. Like, do you only run them every other day or something? Does one just not do a good enough job?

When I saw people saying they had 5 roombas I figured they had had 5 all total but you have 7 roombas and 2 scoobas, all working, so I was mistaken.

Sorry to pry, I'm just really curious.

sez · Post by **sez** » November 29th, 2006, 10:36 am

I've got three Roombas, a Scooba, and a DirtDog; 5 robots in all (6 if you count the useless Cleanmate I bought as an experiment). I just got into these things in June of this year and initially was using just the one Roomba to clean the whole house. This becomes tedious after a while, because you have to wait for the thing to charge in order to do another area. Plus it increases the wear and tear on the robot significantly. And there's also the issue that once you start using these things, you don't want to go back to doing it the old way. At least I didn't, and in my case, I had a time issue, as my wife suffered an injury which prevented her from doing any housework. I work full-time, and so things were not getting done properly and the floors would go unvacuumed for a month at a time.

Anyway: so about a month into using one Roomba for everything I bought another one, a Red (my first was a discovery). I mounted the wall mount that came with the Discovery upstairs and the Red sits in that. The upstairs one is enough for the upstairs, because I divide the work into two areas on two different days.

My issue then was that I run the downstairs Discovery every night in the primary area my toddler is in (our family room), as every day there are crumbs, cheerios, etc. in that area. There have been times (particularly when we've had people over) where I've wanted to run the Discovery in the other part of the downstairs (Living Room, Kitchen, Dining Room, hallway, foyer) because of tracked in mud, etc. So I wound up buying a third, a Sage, with a dock.

Three Roombas for the house so far has been the charm. I am never without one of them being at the ready for any job that comes up. Recently, I got a DirtDog to sweep out the garage (built a year ago and never swept). It did a beautiful job until it choked to death on drywall dust, but my replacement from iRobot should be here any day now. If you build houses, you may be interested in a DirtDog.

The most recent addition has been a Scooba to mop the kitchen, hallway, foyer, and bathrooms. I've only used it three times, but it seems to work pretty well--and again, it was because the job simply wasn't getting done like it should have been. That's been the biggest benefit for me: they do a much better job than I ever did (they go over areas at least four times and will get under beds and stuff that most people vacuum around), and I can vacuum much more often than I would have even under the best circumstances. So my house is much cleaner than it was, which makes me very happy--especially as I have an 18 month-old getting into everything.

This has been a bit long-winded, but I hope it answers your question.

wackman · Post by **wackman** » November 29th, 2006, 4:22 pm

Thanks for the elaboration sez, That makes sense. I'll tell you the truth, I've never heard of a dirt dog, cleanmate or a kitten and I just recently heard of a scooba. Can the scooba get back next to or behind the toilet (that always seems to be the worst area in my bathrooms)? What's a dirtdog do, the outside? Like the sidewalks?

Ya know it's funny, I frequent several construction and contractor forums (for years now) and no one there is ever as helpful, friendly or patient with newbies as you guys have been with me, I really appreciate it.

Maybe I'll just take the plunge and get two new roombas, they'd cost the same as just one Dyson. Can you recommend the best one to get for medium length animal hair? I ask because it seems that you guys get different models instead of just getting 3 discoverys. Why'd you get a sage and a red? What's the difference?

Thanks again,

Wack

sez · Post by **sez** » November 30th, 2006, 9:20 am

Can the scooba get back next to or behind the toilet (that always seems to be the worst area in my bathrooms)? What's a dirtdog do, the outside? Like the sidewalks?

That's one of the things I've noticed several people here have mentioned. The Scooba is a bit wider than even a Roomba, and so it can't get behind most toilets. But it'll get the rest of the bathroom pretty well.

Here's a link to the DirtDog. They call it a "workshop robot." It's basically a Roomba without a vacuum or dirt detect sensors that runs around your garage, porch, basement, etc. It has brushes only, but sweeps very well. The picture on the manual has a guy working a table saw and the DirtDog in the background sweeping up the sawdust. It does a great job. Here's a review link (you might have to join the Yahoo RoboMower group in order to see this). There are also several DirtDog threads down below the active ones on this forum.

I ask because it seems that you guys get different models instead of just getting 3 discoverys. Why'd you get a sage and a red? What's the difference?

After I got my first Roomba, I found this forum. In reading some of the posts, I found out that all the Roombas are the same; they just have different colored shells (or locations of buttons) on them. The only difference is the number of accessories they come with.

The Discovery comes with 2 virtual walls, a home base, a remote, and a wall mount. That's a great model to start with because you get a lot of accessories. I got the Red next because I didn't need a dock for upstairs (where would I put it?), and I intended to use the wall mount that came with my Discovery. I got the Sage next because it was more economical than buying another Discovery, as the model of Sage I got came with a dock (you can get these at BJ's right now, if you're a member).

All of the accessories work with all the Roombas, so I can use the remote and virtual walls to start / control any of them. I've had both my Sage and Discovery running at the same time with no virtual walls in order to clean the downstairs all at once, and one time (so far) they actually switched docks. So basically, you wind up buying the models that have the accessories you need.

Ya know it's funny, I frequent several construction and contractor forums (for years now) and no one there is ever as helpful, friendly or patient with newbies as you guys have been with me, I really appreciate it.

Well, it wasn't that long ago that I was a newbie (actually, I'm still getting used to my Scooba), and the people here are very helpful. Keep us posted on what you decide to do!

wackman · Post by **wackman** » December 1st, 2006, 3:03 am

I'm going to decide after Christmas. I'll let you guys know.

Wack

geekgranny · Post by **geekgranny** » December 1st, 2006, 12:08 pm

wackman wrote:I'm going to decide after Christmas. I'll let you guys know.

Wack, Welcome to the forum. Yes people here are great. I'm hoping that you won't kick yourself for waiting after you get a 'bot and then think to yourself, as many of us do, "How did I ever live without this!"

Sez gave a very good description of how Roomba addiction progresses. I have several posts all over the Roomba Chat area describing my circumstances. Six GIANT and large house-dogs, one cat..... in woods with unbelievable amounts of very fine dust, mud, sand leaves, etc....... coming into my house 24 hours a day.

Three of my Roombas are the original Silvers, 4 yrs. old, still working but basically retired. Two are the "woot" deal SE's that I just couldn't pass up because of the price, that I've just recently decided to give as gifts. I have three Roombas on home-bases for downstairs, all tile, and two upstairs carpet that charge by plugging in directly to charge brick. Those two don't get used nearly as much as downstairs.

My downstairs needs to be done at least once a day. Twice is better. Because of the configuration of house it is easier for me to have three going at one time. I had those programmed using scheduler upgrade and some extra scheduler VW's. THEN..... I purchased two Dirtdogs ..... WOW!!!!!! After I tried one 'Dog in the house I decided I had to have 'Dogs do the downstairs because.... they don't need as much time and effort to do the required cleanup maintainance needed to keep the 'bots healthy. Because of all the crap that gets picked up mixed with moisture the Discos needed extensive cleaning daily. 'Dogs don't need as much daily extensive cleaning as Discos in MY environment.

So now I have the 'Dogs on schedule to run every day in the morning. And I then usually run them again in evening. They have their own home bases too. When I want the floors and throw rugs especially clean, like when The Queen comes to visit, I use the Discos after 'Dogs run. Actually Discos get run daily if I have the time, after the 'Dogs run but some days not. I do have enough scheduler VW's to put them on separate schedule but still in the thinking process about that. DirtDogs get extensive cleaning weekly (no filter to clean) and now I only have to do extensive cleaning on Discos once a week.

The DirtDogs do pick up a lot of dust and doggie hair. If I had started out with DirtDogs first I may have settled for those only for downstairs tile. But the Discos do vacuum up more dust and stuff from the throws so I don't have to wash them as often.

Scoobas.... well.... most people don't live in a "kennel". AND our GIANTS, especially, make big messes with the frequent "biskie bone" treats they get and lots of slobber, and slingers, and huge amounts of stuff they bring in on their HUGE paws, besides the dust and dander they fill the house with. One Scooba, even with extra batteries just isn't enough. So I have two Scoobas running at the same time in different areas. It usually takes 2-3 runs, in each area, for Scooba's waste water to start looking acceptable. I have 7 total areas that they clean, sectioned off by VW's. Each makes 2-3 runs in each area, with battery change between each run, making about 14-21 total runs each mopping day. I can usually only manage one mopping day a week, although 2 times a week would make the house look even more "normal". I can get this done with 5 batteries; 3 charged on external chargers and 2 charged in the Scoobas. By the time one run is finished another battery is recharged so I just hang around, doing other things besides mopping, of course, and rinse out dirty tanks, filter and scution tube, rinse off brush assembly every 2-4 runs, refill clean tank, and get them going again. It takes a human about EIGHT HOURS, at the very least, of HARD LABOR, to do the mopping day job, and a human doesn't get the floors nearly as clean.

My house has never been cleaner or as dust free, even when I had full time help. They have paid for themselves over and over by not having to pay a human to do what they do better.

geekgranny