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Fellow Developers,
We are using a MSP-FET430UIF (debugger) to communicate to a custom board that has a MSP430G2553. We are successful communicating to the device utilizing 2-wire spy-bi-wire and the debugger supplies voltage (i.e. power) to the MSP430G2553. However, we need to use the custom board when it is self-powered (it provided 3.3V regulated to the MSP430G2553). The debugger does not wants to work in such mode. We have verified the pin connections required for operation in such mode and we believe are correct.
In one isolated attempt we changed the voltage level in the debugger settings to 3.3V, and it was able to communicate to the MSP430G2553. We were not able to repeat this, so it is back at not working. I am inserting screen shots of the errors produced by the debugger.
I hope someone can help!
Hi Manuel,
Different programming connections must be made for powering from the FET tool vs. powering the target board externally. Please see figure 2-2 on p. 24 of the Hardware Tools User Guide, which shows the connections for SBW. Note A on this figure explains that when powering from the FET tool then Vcc of your target board should connect to pin 2 of the JTAG header, but if you are powering your target board externally then Vcc of your target board should connect to pin 4 of the JTAG header. And pin 2 and pin 4 should never both be connected at the same time.
From the errors you posted, I'm going to guess that maybe you left the same hardware configuration (Vcc still connected to pin 2) when you wanted to power the target externally. Try connecting VCC to pin 4 of your JTAG header instead, and check that the rest of your JTAG circuit matches the diagram in Figure 2-2. If you are still having problems, a picture of the JTAG portion of your schematic might help debug this.
Regards,
Katie
Dear Katie,
Thanks for your note.
We followed the connections per the attached wiring diagram, and we still get the errors I posted. I am making changes such that JTAG Pin 2 (i.e. VCC Target) is connected to Vcc on the MSP430 when my board is self-powered.
Could you advice what else could be going wrong? Do I need a different programmer?
Manuel Ferrer-Herrera said:We followed the connections per the attached wiring diagram, and we still get the errors I posted. I am making changes such that JTAG Pin 2 (i.e. VCC Target) is connected to Vcc on the MSP430 when my board is self-powered.
If you are connecting to JTAG pin 2 when the board is externally powered, this is incorrect - VCC Target is JTAG pin 4 (per the above diagram). Can you confirm you have tried with Vcc connected to pin 4, and what the voltage is at Vcc when you are self-powering your board?
Dear Katie,
I am sorry, that was incorrect. I am indeed connecting to JTAG Pin 4 when my board is self-powered. The voltage measured at that pin when the board is self-powered is 3.3V. I will appreciate any further insight.
Thanks,
-Manuel
Hi Manuel,
Thanks for the clarification.
You should be able to use the FET tool to program the G2553 (you don't need a different programmer). You mentioned that you could program it if you were supplying power from the programmer - was this on the same board that you are using now, just with the different voltage connection?
It might help if you could send your schematic. I know you might not want to do this on an open forum, but you should be able to send me a private message if you'd like (go to my profile page then in the upper right click "Start Conversation"). The reason I ask is most of the time when people have a JTAG programming problem it is due to some hardware configuration issue. One other thing to check is if the length of the cable/signals from your FET tool to your device is greater than the 8 inches spec'ed in the Hardware tools user's guide.
Regards,
Katie
Dear Katie,
I can share the schematic, that should not be a problem. Although, I check my set up and the overall length for the wires is over 8 inches, it is in fact 19 inches. I will address that and get back to you with results. Thank you!
-Manuel
Hi Katie,
I faced exactly same problem with MSP430F4152 & FET-UIF. I am able to connect program & debug the custom board in Spy By Wire mode when powered with FET-UIF power ( pin 2 of FET connected to board VCC. ). However, when the board is self powered with external power (FET pin 4 connected to board VCC), the board is not recognised with error message Unknown device. To my surprise, the same board was working in this mode earlier and I had completed whole project design & debug like this and problem is faced now only while trying to update the firmware in some of the production boards. FET UIF is ok as it is able to program and debug and MSP430F5438 device in self powered mode using 4 pin JTAG (not Spy by Wire). Spy By Wire connection also is certainly ok as it works when device (MSP430F4152) is powered with FET power. The problem is repeated with more than 5 MSP430F4152 devices.
Do you change teh VCC connection ot the FET when you try to operate the target from external power? The FET connector has two VC Cpins, one of them is use to adjust the JTAG signals to the external board power, teh other one is used to power the target board by teh FET (whcih of course then matches the JTAG signal levels).
If you twist things here, it may be that the FET won'T provide proper JTAG signal levels. Or the two voltage smay fight, causing the output drivers to shut down.
Yes, we do change VCCFET & VCCTARGET with a jumper depending on board requirement. However, FET-UIF is capable of detecting the target voltage (externally powered) and adjusting the JTAG signals as required. Please correct me if I am wrong. So I assume the problem lies elsewhere.
Hi Sanjay,
What Vcc is used when you are powering the board externally?
Could you post the portion of your schematic showing the SBW connections? I know they are working for you most of the time, but sometimes being a little off on the connections can cause intermittent error behavior.
Sanjay Agarwal said:However, FET-UIF is capable of detecting the target voltage (externally powered) and adjusting the JTAG signals as required. Please correct me if I am wrong.
This is correct, but only when the correct one of the Vcc connections is used for external power (VccTarget / pin 4 of JTAG header connected, VccFet / pin 2 of JTAG header not connected)
Regards,
Katie
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