SdFat initialization blocks HC-SR04

Question

I appreciate the help of this forum very much and it`s my first time to ask you experts befor driving crazy...

ArduinoUno and SDcard-BreakOutboard and DistanceSensor HC-SR04 are not working well together. The problem - as far as I found out - is in this statement:

if (!sd.begin(sdChipSelect) || !file.open("DATALOG.TXT", O_CREAT | O_WRITE | O_APPEND)) {
// Replace this with something for your app.
Serial.println(F("SD problem"));
//while(1);
}

When it is erased the distance sensor works perfectly, if it is in place it shows 0 cm (and that for days! ;-) ). I read something that SdFat ist doing something with Pin10 but also putting it on OUTPUT - HIGH or LOW didn't do the trick. Any ideas?

Kind regards

Rob

The "minimal" code:

/*
SD card datalogger

This example shows how to log data
to an SD card using the SdFat library.

The circuit:
* analog sensors on analog ins 0, 1, and 2
* SD card attached to SPI bus as follows:
** MOSI - pin 11
** MISO - pin 12
** CLK - pin 13
** CS - pin 7 (for MKRZero SD: SDCARD_SS_PIN)
*/
#include <SdFat.h>
const uint8_t sdChipSelect = 7;
// SD file system.
SdFat sd;
// Log file.
SdFile file;

// Hook up HC-SR04 with Trig to Arduino Pin 9, Echo to Arduino pin 10
// Maximum Distance is 400 cm
unsigned long echo = 10;
int ultraSoundSignal = 9; // Ultrasound signal pin
unsigned long ultrasoundValue = 0;

void setup() {
// Serial Port
Serial.begin(9600);
// Pin 9 = TriggerPin
pinMode(ultraSoundSignal,OUTPUT);

// Initialize the SD and create or open the data file for append.
if (!sd.begin(sdChipSelect) || !file.open("DATALOG.TXT", O_CREAT | O_WRITE | O_APPEND)) {
// Replace this with somthing for your app.
Serial.println(F("SD problem"));
//while(1);
}
Serial.println("card initialized.");
delay(1000);
}

void loop() {
Serial.println("Beginn");
// Distanzmessung mit HC-SR04
int x = 0;
x = ping();
Serial.print(x); Serial.println(" cm");
delay(1000); //delay 1/4 seconds.
}

unsigned long ping()
{
  pinMode(ultraSoundSignal, OUTPUT); // Switch signalpin to output
  digitalWrite(ultraSoundSignal, LOW); // Send low pulse
  delayMicroseconds(2); // Wait for 2 microseconds
  digitalWrite(ultraSoundSignal, HIGH); // Send high pulse
  delayMicroseconds(5); // Wait for 5 microseconds
  digitalWrite(ultraSoundSignal, LOW); // Holdoff
  pinMode(ultraSoundSignal, INPUT); // Switch signalpin to input
  digitalWrite(ultraSoundSignal, HIGH); // Turn on pullup resistor
  // please note that pulseIn has a 1sec timeout, which may
  // not be desirable. Depending on your sensor specs, you
  // can likely bound the time like this -- marcmerlin
  // echo = pulseIn(ultraSoundSignal, HIGH, 38000)
  echo = pulseIn(ultraSoundSignal, HIGH,38000); //Listen for echo
  ultrasoundValue = (echo / 58.138);// * .39; //convert to CM then to         inches
  return ultrasoundValue;
}

Answer 1

Pin 10 is the SS pin for SPI. Since you are using SPI for the SD card pin 10 must be an output (for SPI to operate in master mode). Ideally you will use that pin as the SS (or CS, whatever you want to call it) for the SD card.

You can't use it as the echo input of an ultrasound range finder and use SPI.