ST Microelectronics Technical Support... does it exist??

[ajc]

Hi everyone,

My first post, so please be kind!

For the last 3 weeks I've been trying to get technical support from ST Microelectronics.  Needless to say, I haven't got very far (ie.  no reponse at all).

Apart from sending multiple queries through their web interface, I have also tried their UK office number (where I was told that they have a technical support phone number,  but it is currently broken... whatever that means).

Does anyone have any advice (or a contact!) they could offer for dealing with ST?  (apart from avoiding their parts in the future!).

Cheers,

Adrian

PS.  For what it is worth, I'm after support on their MEMs sensors

[Short Circuit]

Indeed, ST can be a pita to work with sometimes.
Generally, things go a bit smoother when you involve the FAE of your distributor.

Why not post your problem on this board, or on ST's forum? After all; whatever
your problem, it's unlikely you are the first to encouter it...

[free_electron]

Yes tech support exists... Where did you buy the parts ? Your distributor should have a tech support line that can elevate the question and then you will get the right guy.

What sensor do you have problems with ? Let me see if i can find the right guy.

[ajc]

Thanks, some good suggestions there. 

I will go and post it on the STe2ecommunities site and see what I get as a response.  The thing that annoys me about all this though is that companies seem to believe that by putting up a public forum, it takes away the need to offer 'real' support to all but their most valuable clients.  Anyway, enough of a rant for now...

I'm checking on the distributor path, but I believe the parts were bought through an online distributor... (I wasn't directly involved in the design, just helping to resolve some issues).

Just in case someone has come across it, here's a quick summary of the issue:

The part I'm working with is the LSM303DLHC from ST.  This is basically a tri-axial magnetometer and triaxial accelerometer in a single package.  The issue we are working on is related to calibration - on some devices, after 1 - 2 months, we see a large deviation in the zero offset of the magnetometer (around 0.2G).  This has appeared on different axes on different devices.  I've been trying to get in touch with ST to detemine if this is an issue they have had reported previously.

Cheers,
Adrian

[RCMR]

I thought that most magnetometers required regular recalibration for various reasons.

[ajc]

I thought that most magnetometers required regular recalibration for various reasons.

Not necessarily.  If you can avoid certain things (eg. mechanical shocks, very high magnetic fields, etc.), these devices typically have very low drift characteristics.  What you are probably thinking of that usually causes a need for recalibration is a change to the operating environment through the introduction or removal of ferrous materials in the proximity of the device. 

[ajc]

For those who are interested, turns out someone is answering support issues in ST!  Response took over 2 weeks, but I guess it is better than none at all!

[ptricks]

ST is one of those companies that has support but the quality varies based on how much you spend.