Adding support for MSP430G2955 to the Launchpad 1.5?

How exactly would you plug the MSP430G2955 device into the launchpad? It isn't available in the correct package.

The 5 pin jumper block between the emulator section and the dip20  section.  Pull all the jumpers and connect the test and reset lines to your external board as a programmer.

also I am having an adapter board made so a g2955 can plug into the dip20 value line pinout.  So people can use it as a drop in replacement with higher capability and specs.

http://forum.43oh.com/topic/3612-msp430g2955-to-valueline-dip20-adapter/#entry32371

i use the launchpad as my programmer anyway, but the adapter board will plug into the launchpad just fine

Is it necessary to reflash the LaunchPad? If you only get a warning (as oppose to an error), can you ignore it and proceed? Are you using the latest version of IAR?

I'm at a loss,  I have tried

• wiring in the 4 wire jtag (VCC,GND, TST, RST) in the 20 pin socket on the launchpad that the pullup resistor on the launchpad
• adding my own pullup resistor 47K to the rst line just in case
• plugging it into the 5 pin header between emulation and EXP430G2 side
• tried a second launchpad brand new out of the box to make sure i hadn't damaged mine, trying all the above things again on the second pad
• tried a second high quality usb cable just in case the short one that came with it was marginal
• swapped back to the G2533 to make sure it still worked (just fine no problems)
• tried a seperate program to download into the MSP430 (FET-PRO430 lite, which was suggested by TI, which could also download to the G2533 no problems)
• tried wiring in AVCC, and AVSS just in case
• unsoldered the connections, re-cleaned the feet of the chip,and soldered new wires on verifying no shorts and on the correct pins,  tried the stuff above again.

 CCS 5 comes back with "MSP430: Error connecting to the target: Could not find device (or device not supported)" every time,

and FET-PRO430 lite comes back with "Targer Microcontroller is not responding!!!    Please check the connection between the adapter and the target micro-controller" and the report window just says

"JTAG communication initialization....     failed
Verifying Security Fuse ....................     failed
  Target Microcontroller is not responding.
 --------------- FAILED !!! -----------------"

nothing I have been able to do will let me communicate with the G2955 using the 1.5 Launchpad as the programmer (which should support all the G2 series of value line MCU's shouldn't it?    hopefully someone else is having more luck and I'm just missing something.

what programmer is known to work with the g2955?

Hi Joseph,

I think that the firmware in the MSP-EXP430G2 Launchpad on-board eZ430 programmer does not include support for the G2955 device. This part is very new, and as it does not even fit on the MSP-EXP430G2 Launchpad the eZ430 programmer firmware likely hasn't been updated to include support for it.

What you need is the MSP-FET430UIF - this programmer is the one that is always updated to support all MSP430 devices as they are released, and includes more features than the eZ430 programmer like voltage sense (where it can follow the voltage that you are supplying to your target device) as well as full 4-wire JTAG (faster) instead of just SBW. You can order an MSP-FET430UIF on its own, or you can get it bundled with a socketed target board for the G2955 if you'd like here: http://www.ti.com/tool/msp-fet430u38 

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Katie

Shouldn't value line chip have it's own value programmer?

At $175, not many of us will go for FET430U38.

How about $9.55 MSP430G-DISCOVERY kit?

:) .. where is the "like" button so I can second this?

so question back to TI then, is the EZ430 programmer built in such a way that its firmware can be upgraded in place, or is it locked down, and well have to by a new one to support this chip like V1.6 or somesuch?

The firmware for the programmer itself in both the eZ430 and the G2 Launchpad can be updated in place by the PC. But the operation is slightly more risky as compared with doing that for the higher priced programmer FET430U. It seems that TI does not want to update the lower priced programmers.

Robert Gasiorowski1 said:

Shouldn't value line chip have it's own value programmer?

$175 is rather cheap for a FET with all these additional features. We bought way more expensive equipment for other processors.

Please see this thread for a more official comment from Dietmar on this topic: http://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp430/f/166/p/254008/897717.aspx#897717

Regards,

Katie

I had hobby/student user's in mind when writing about equipment affordability. 

Robert Gasiorowski1 said:

I had hobby/student user's in mind when writing about equipment affordability.

In that case, there is no reason to pay full price for a FET debugger. They can be found used online starting at ~$50 USD.

Yes, that is more than a Launchpad board, but a lot less than the $175 USD for a new one on the TI store.

Robert Gasiorowski1 said:

I had hobby/student user's in mind when writing about equipment affordability. 

Jens-Michael Gross said:

why should they get it at a better price njsu tbecause they are students

Because then they learn on TI hardware and are more likely to use that when they become employed and are making decisions on what microcontrollers to use.

This is the exact reasoning that Xilinx uses with their XUP (Xilinx University Program) which provides discount tools and dev kits to university students.

It's called "Building Brand Loyalty".

Brian Boorman said:

Because then they learn on TI hardware and are more likely to use that when they become employed and are making decisions on what microcontrollers to use.

However, the LaunchPad is exactly for this purpose. YOu can't say that <$5 is too much for a programmer, USB cable, and two MCUs. That's more than enough for an entry point.

If you want "the real thing", you'll have to pay "the real price".  TI cannot afford giving everyhting away for free jsu tbecause perhaps one more custome will then later buy a few mroe MSPs.

Imagine how many MSP you'll have to buy to make up for the loss on the cheap equipment. It surely doesn't pay to stuff all students worldwide with virtually free hardware.
Software (where a copy doesn't cost anything but some bandwidth), things are different. But hardware does cost. Real money. TI's money.
Whjile I too would like to get everything for free (well, regarding MSP products, I actually do, but that's a different story) I can fully understand why this isn't an offer for everyone (student or not).

Hi Folks, 

We launched MSP-EXP430G2 a couple of years ago. The intend of the emulator was for it to be used with the chip that ships with the board. To achieve this goal we did not need an update function for the emulator and made it fixed function. 

As stated in this post a couple of days ago:

we are taking input from the field serious - our next generation on-board emulator will be update able and will support all MSP430 devices. From the results I have seen so far i think you will all like the new emulator - more on that later this year.

Happy coding!
Dietmar