Author Topic: newbie help and the start of a step-by-step doc  (Read 397 times)

mc-T2

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Re: newbie help and the start of a step-by-step doc
« on: April 03, 2017, 10:46:26 am »
Hi davecason,

I will try and help you out here. One thing to note, we just changed over to a new website on Friday (for those that have not checked it out, please do!) and so some of the links in the documentation is not correct due to the change. We are going to try and update those documents so that everything directs to the correct pages. *Update - the mcOTA documentation was updated today with the correct links for the new website*

The getting started page is there just as intended, to tell you how to get going with the devices. As described on the page, you need to update your equipment, then start programming.
Updating:
Start with installing mcOTA. Using the quick-start guide, you will see that you may need to download drivers to work with the program and the mcDongle (see the mcOTA application tab on the products page the describes this information and has a link to the drivers). Not only is there a quick-start guide, but we also put together a video to help (also available when you click the video link under support on the website):


mcOTA is used to update the modules as well as the host module on your gateway. The process is the same and you can find detailed information in the mcGateway user guide (this guide also tells you how to connect your gateway to the internet using WIFI or Ethernet). You'll also need to update the gateway application processor using a USB stick (Also described in the user guide).
Note - Be sure that you are using a USB cable that does data transfer, not just power or you will not be able to work with the mcDongle
Quote
(  btw – I have no freggen clue what the button on the mcOTA dongle is for  - anyone!?   )
The button has no use, there was an idea when we originally designed it however it turn out that we didn't require the button on the device after all was said and done

After you have completed updating all your gear, be sure to download the newest version of mcStudio so that you can move to the next step, programming the devices.
Throughout the forum, documentation, YouTube and Hackster, there are multiple examples of programming for you to test out and try. There are also examples within mcStudio as well.
We have also put a video out (a little out of date in terms of mcStudio version but still shows you how to work with the IDE - a newer version will be pushed out soon) that shows you how you can connect, debug/program the modules with your code so you can start creating your IoT solution:


Hopefully that helps! I will say that for anyone reading this and having the same issues, please be sure to read the documentation/user-guides and watch some of the videos. All the information is there to get going with the mcThings platform, you just need to spend the time to understand how the platform works. The platform is unlike anything else out there and as such, does require some investment in understanding the structure of the platform, how the gear communicates and how the updating process works to get going.


« Last Edit: April 03, 2017, 04:08:23 pm by mc-T2 »
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