5mm 8x8x8 LED Matrix Cube questions

[castingflame]

Background
I have purchased and built 2 LED Matrix cubes from AliExpress. They are this type: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32853366041.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dvT9DId

After weeks of trying they said they could not supply any software or instructions on the unit. I got them built okay but I was interested in the WiFi, the mobile App, the Sound to Light and the remote control.

After days of searching I found what seems to be the correct zip package. I will give a link here as there are MANY people complaining that they can not find any software or support for these cubes.  https://drive.google.com/open?id=168var_nNprlkf-gPrFDGTQoDvgAKZGJN
Additionally I will add some details in this post as a log for others in the same situation.


All I really want to do is just upload some more LED sequences.


Features

WiFi & mobile App: The ESP01 WiFi Module is seen and I can connect to it using the Android phone app in the ZIP file. This all seems to work okay.

Sound Activated: The inner most 3.5mm jack is the sound input and the cube reacts to sound when set in that mode on the phone APP or with the mode button on the front on the cube. The cube displays Note symbols when in that mode.

Remote control: There are no instructions for the small remote control but you can change the led display speed. Apart from that I am lost!



Specs

MCU: Labelled as IAP12C5A62S2  (Maybe a STC clone of a 12C5A6062)

Support chips:  8 x 74HC595D shift registers (used as Serial to Parallel converters), 4 x 4953 Dual channel P type Enhanced MOSFET (used as power drivers for each layer I believe)

The front button

When the cube starts up it seems to just display sheets of LEDs so I image that is just a test mode. The front button seems to change its modes but I have no idea what they are apart from one which displays a music symbol. That mode the cube responds to sound on the 2nd 3.5mm audio socket.
This is one of the most important missing bits of information about what the other modes do.
The one that seems to show the most patterns initially looks like it displays a 2f  but this could well be a Chinese letter/character.



Questions/Issues

Can not get a sucessful response from the cube via a serial connection

Using the proveded PC software 3D8S_alpha.exe ...




... and other similar software, I can not get the cube to respond. The cube is running the stock firmware and I am using the stock software so it should respond okay. I am using the supplied TTL to USB converter (Prolific & installed driver) and I have also used one of my standard converters (CH340 & driver) that I use on everything.


I found a text document in the ZIP file that said about powering the cube from the power cable not the comms adapter which I was doing anyway.

CHINGLISH...
Because the current of light cube will affect the downloader,
so 5V line does not need to connect, supply power directly with the power line,
when downloading the SCM needs cold start,
means that the SCM needs to power off and then re-power on before downloading) the power switch as a cold start,
after downloader finish connection, you need to disconnect the switch and then re-power to download,
the host computer's connection method is the same, use the power cord directly powered.

All I really want to do is just upload some more LED sequences by updating the firmware via serial.

I have seen on Github some firmware that will let you control your cube 'Live' on your PC. I am unsure if this will even work on my model of cube and it is not really what I am after. I just want to add/change/make new patterns. If I have to wipe the existing firmware and loose the currently working Android App feature via a ESP01 WiFi module I may still do that. All I want is a cube full of patterns that runs itself.

There is very little online for this cube so any help is very welcome!


Paul

[LateLesley]

Hi Paul,

I'e never seen these cubes, nor used this particular micro, but since there's no replies, I thought i'd chuck in my 2p's worth.

Here's a link to the datasheet for the micro https://pdf.datasheetbank.com/datasheet-download/706926/1/ETC/IAP12C5A62S2

Of interest to you, will be page 382 onwards - it's to do with programming the micro. I think what the chinglish is trying to get you to do is put it into programming mode, which it can only do after a cold boot.
I think what you have to do, is turn off the micro, wait a few secs, then click connect in the software, then power up the micro. it'll probably go through its programming routine, after which, you turn it off again, then power up, and it should run the newly programmed software with the new pattern you program in the software. I'm probably oversimplifying here, and I can't verify for sure, but I wanted to give you a place to start.

I also found this which may help? http://8x8x8ledcube.blogspot.com/2013_05_26_archive.html

Good luck

[castingflame]

Hey LateLesley thank you very much for your response. It is appreciated.


Datasheet: Your link for the datasheet is not the IAP12C5A62S2 but the STC12C5A60S2. Can I conclude that my guesstimate is correct about the  IAP12C5A62S2  is just a clone of the STC12C5A60S2?  I just came to that conclusion based on the similarity of the name and that other cubes use the STC12C5A60S2. Hardly scientific but there you go 


Blog: The blog write-up also help for 2 reasons straight away;

1. Confirms that the cube is by Shengyuan Electronics.

2. Give the basic few command set instructions that I did not know and confirms that the data string displayed by the PC app does not have any additional hidden control characters and are indeed just 0x2F, for instance, before the LED array data.



I will also have another go at trying to get into programming mode and take a look at those pages in the MCU datasheet.


I will feedback my results here.



With designing and 3D printing LED formers and jigs for the LED panels and soldering each cube it has been a couple of weeks of work. One cube is for my little Step-Sister to take to Uni so while I are burning up my own project time, I want to get this done for her to take so she can take it back to Uni in September.

 
Again, many thanks for taking the time to help out.       It is really appreciated   

[LateLesley]

I would guess it is a clone. You get that a lot in electronics, and if the first couple of letters are different, it usually means its a similar design, but different manufacturer. They can have different specs though, like different voltage, current and frequency specs, so you do have to be wary of things like that. If you look at 78xx series regulators for example, you can get LM78xx L78xx, MC78xx etc, which is essentially the same part, but different manufacturers (TI, ST Micro, ON Semi). Or if you look at old 8086 CPUs, you had the C8086 (Intel), The ID8086B (AMD), D8086D (NEC). So it is common for the start letters to change between manufacturers. There can be differences though, so it is worth doing your due diligence, and finding the datasheet from the manufacturer if you can. It isn't always available though.

In this case though, everything seems to link the IAP part to the STC part, suggesting they are essentially the same.

Good luck with the project, hope you get it done in time.