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programming the msp430f5529

Chong Ding
Intellectual 410 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: MSP-TS430PN80USB, MSP-EXP430F5529LP, MSP430F5529, MSP-FET

hello,

first time msp430 programmer here, hope to get some help on how to download my application program into the MSP-TS430PN80USB board.

i have two eval boards: MSP-EXP430F5529LP and MSP-TS430PN80USB. both got the same 5529 chip on them. from reading the website, it seem i need to have the MSP 430 FET in order to program my eval boards. however, i read through the SLAA478 application note and that's how i decided to buy the MSP-TS430PN80USB board and the note didn't mentioned explicitly a 430 FET is needed, it seems the board can be directly connected and programmed on it's USB port. i searched this forum, this seems can be done using the bootstrap loader according to Leo (http://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp430/f/166/p/125237/531006.aspx#531006). so i went ahead downloaded the MSP430 USB Firmware Updater, but it looking for  a .txt file for as the firmware, where do i got this file?

my application program is also from the same SLAA478 source. which is provided as a CCS project folder, but when i try to compile it in CCS, it run into error as the compiler is looking for that MSP430 FET. 

another quesiton is that since the MSP-EXP430F5529LP board has the same f5529 chip and has on board emulation circuit, why can't i use it instead of the MSP-TS430PN80USB. 

  • 0
    TI__Expert 6760 points

    Hello,

    If you are trying to put together the hardware and run the same application as stated in SLAA478 then the MSP-TS40PN80USB board is required.  I believe the main reason to use that board is because of the availablity of the port pins for all the connections you require to setup the hardware as described in the SLAA478 document.  The launch pad does not have all the MSP430F5529 pins available on the board. 

    To download firmware you will need the MSP430 FET connected to your computer.  Either CCS or IAR IDE will use the emulation interface to download the application to the target device.  You can also use that interface to debug your code and put breakpoints, etc...

    Regards,

    Arthi Bhat 

     

  • 0 in reply to Arthi Bhat1
    Guru 14640 points

    Two other options for programming that do not use the IDE:

    1. MSP430 Flasher

    http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/MSP430_Flasher_-_Command_Line_Programmer?DCMP=MSP430&HQS=Other+OT+msp430flasher

    2. Elprotronic offers a "lite" version that is free.

    http://www.elprotronic.com/fetpro430.html

    Hopefully, that helps...

  • 0 in reply to Todd Anderson78572
    Intellectual 410 points

    HI Arthi and Todd,

    thanks both of you for the quick reply. i just ordered the FET device from TI. this will get me to the next step.

    Chong

  • 0 in reply to Chong Ding
    Guru 14640 points

    Chong:

    One other option you can look at is the BSL option, documented in application report SLAA452 "USB Field Firmware Updates on MSP430 MCUs."

  • 0
    Guru 227245 points

    Almost all MSPs do have an built-in bootstrap loader (BSL). On devices with USB controller, it uses USB (otherwise a serial connection) and on both boards you mentioned, the USB controller is connected to an USB jack and the required circuitry (this isn’t true for the serial port on other MSP’s target boards)
    So indeed, by connecting both boards to the PC, you can upload a new firmware by using a PC program like BSL_Scripter. However, the BSL is a preprogrammed code that executes on the MSP.
    For debugging, you need to attach to the MSP using JTAG. The MSP-FET is the JTAG controller for accessing all MSPs through JTAG. The MSP-TS430PN80USB has a connector for the FET. Without FET, you can’t debug. Also, the FET is used to upload new firmware through JTAG in the compile/link/debug workflow.
    The experimenters boards often have a stripped-down FET built-in. In case of the MSP-EXP430F5529LP, there is such a stripped-down FET onboard. Also, the FET USB connection and the target MSP’s USB are joined with an integrated USB HUB, so there is only one USB connector for both. So for the LaunchPad, you don’t need the MSP-FET. For the target board, you’ll need it if you want to do debugging.

  • 0 in reply to Jens-Michael Gross
    Intellectual 410 points

    Hi JM,

    thank you for the reply, so the main difference is that the MS-FET allow me to debug in addtion to download. also, if have a program that already been debugged before, i assume i can use the USB port directly download the program w/o the FET, in that case, i'm using CCS, do you know which output file is the actual program to be download? (is it the .out file?)

    also the program contains functions to send data from MSP to PC through the USB port, so once the program been downloaded into the MSP, i can directly connect the target board to my PC USB port, but i'm not sure what program on the PC i need use to receive and display the data from the MSP. any suggestions?

    thanks

    Chong

  • 0 in reply to Chong Ding
    Guru 14640 points

    Chong:

    Look at TeraTerm, a freeware replacement for hyperterm.

  • 0 in reply to Chong Ding
    Expert 1595 points

    Hi,

    If you use the USB boot loader you will need to generate the .txt file. This does not get generated by CCS as standard so you need to change the project properties, to enable the MSP430 HEX Utility and request a ti_txt format output as per the screen shot below: (This from CCS V6), it may be different if you are using V5

  • 0 in reply to Todd Anderson78572
    Intellectual 410 points

    Hi Todd,

    i already downloaded putty, but i will check out TT TeraTerm well, thanks for the advice.

    Chong

  • 0 in reply to Roy Deabill
    Intellectual 410 points

    thanks Roy,

    i got the txt generated successfully now.

    Chong

  • 0 in reply to Chong Ding
    Guru 227245 points

    Chong Ding said:
    so the main difference is that the MS-FET allow me to debug in addtion to download. also

    Basically, yes.

    There is a difference still: if you use the BSL for field updates, you’ll need the BSL password or you’ll lose any data in the info memory (I’m not sure for INFOA). The FET works without password.

    The file you need for the update by BSL would be the plain binary information in TI.txt format. You can instruct the linker to output it in addition to the .out (or .elf) file or extract it from these.
    The .out/.elf is the complete debug information while for the BSL, you only need the binary data. The tools for BSL can’t parse the .out/.elf directly.

    For the communication between PC and MSP application, it depends on how your application enumerates on the PC (that means, how it programs the USB controller to identify itself to the PC). In a typical case, the PC driver will provide a virtual COM port (simulating a serial connection) and you can use it by any PC software that can access a COM port, including terminal programs like PUTTY, HyperTerm etc.

    Only problem is that this virtual COM port will vanish if the MSP is disconnected - and some applications do not expect a COM port to vanish, crashing the application.

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