BP-DAC81404EVM/BP-DAC61402EVM GUI runtime error

Hi,

Did you install the EVM GUI first? Run time it will download during the installation.

Which operaing system?

Regards,

AK

On the bottom left of the EVM GUI, there is error message: TICloudAgent Config Error: Cloud Agent not Available

Hi,

Can you share the picture of the EVM GUI start page?

Did you install TI Cloud agent as per the user's guide?

Regards,

AK

After I plugged EXP432E401Y into my computer USB board, I can see 2 COM ports added. However, EVM GUI cannot detect them.

Yes, my TI Cloud agent can be found in C:\Users\hedj\TICloudAgent

EVM GUI start view 

Two questions: 

In order for the EVM GUI to work properly, does it communicate with any TI server in the cloud? If so, what TCP port does it use? I did my experiment within my company network, which only allows network connection through some certain ports.

Is there any log file I can check?

Hi,

Make sure that you install the entire package with admin rights. 

Also please post the screenshot of Device Manager in win 10 to see the USB ports

Regards,

AK

I just tried to run the GUI with admin right, does not help, same error.

If I want to reinstall everything with admin rights, do I need to uninstall them?

Hi,

Not GUI, please install with admin rights. First uninstall everything.

Regards,

AK

so I should uninstall 3 packages: EVM GUI, gcruntime.v8, and TI agent client

and reinstall them one by one

any preferred order?

Hi,

Download the EVM GUI first and install. Run time will be downlaoded automatically during the GUI install.

Regards,

AK

Hi,

For TI cloud agent installation please refer to below link

https://software-dl.ti.com/ccs/esd/documents/ti_cloud_agent.html

Please note the error which you got is very common,

On Windows systems, short filename generation must be enabled during the installation.

Regards,

AK

Just now I tried Linux. Got a step further: all the software components seem to run well. Now I am using web page to connect.

But when I tried to connect the device, I got the following error:

Hi,

We didn't test this GUI in Linux environment. Can you stick to Windows for our debug?

What happened to GUI installation with respect to the debug steps which I shared earlier? TI Cloud Agent installed properly?

Regards,

AK

I changed to another computer running win10. I managed to use UniFlash to upgrade firmware acctrl.0.3.0.3b for EXP432 board.

But the EVN GUI application still cannot connect to the board: controller not responding, although I can see two ACCtrl ports in my device list.

As told by the manual, I changed USB port to U7.

Hi,

Please update the firmware from the below location in your download folder.

Refer to attached doc for more detailed infoBP-DAC81404EVM_Debug_Procedure.docx

The firmware bin file can be found at <Download Directory>\BP-DAC81404EVM_1.0.0_installer_win\install_image_BP-DAC81404EVM\BP-DAC81404EVM\app\firmware\acctrl.bin after unzipping the file install_image_BP-DAC81404EVM.zip.

Follow the step-by-step procedure below to upgrade the firmware and install the device drivers successfully:

• Remove jumper JP6 on the Analog EVM Controller

          Mount jumper on 5V-OTG. Retain the jumper on 5V-XDS

• Connect the USB cable to the port on the XDS110 side of the board
• Connect the USB cable to PC and open Uni Flash. Click on Start Now in the Detect Device section
• If the GUI Composer framework is being installed for the first time on the PC, the browser extension and the TI Cloud Agent must be installed.
• Connect the USB cable to the port U7. U7 is available near the RJ-45 connector on the board

Regards,

AK

After replaced the OCFSPI.js, now I got one step further, EVM GUI now does not show connection error, but "waiting for data ..." forever.

Hi,

Did you flash the firmware from the location which I have shared?

Regards,

AK

yes, the latest firmware version is acctrl.0.3.0.3b.

Can I double confirm: if I see "Hardware Connected", it means everything is fine now. Also the COM port baud rate is 9600 by default.

Correct?

Thanks for your prompt replies for the past days. 

A little suggestion: the user manual needs to be updated, to include Word document about the procedures.

I still have a problem. I cannot make it work with company computers. I doubt it may be due to some anti-virus app running in the background, which affects serial port detection in EVM GUI. 

When I plug in the board, I can see 2 serial ports added; but the EVM app just cannot find them.

Another question: is TICloudAgent required if I run standalone EVM GUI instead of the web UI?

Hi,

For the previous question, If you see Hardware is connected and you are able to set the default baud rate, GUI is working fine. TICloudAgent is required.Also admin rights is required for proper installation, that's the reason in your company computer its  not working properly.

Regards,

AK

So the GUI will start TICloudAgent, and I don't need to manually run it, is it correct?

I wonder why you make it so complicated, requiring 3 software components to run.

How you control the board from GUI through serial port? Are commands in text format?

Hi, Is there more detailed guide on how to use the "Basic Configuration" page of the GUI?

I used multi-meter to measure voltage of point tp2, 4, 5, and 6, got 0 reading. All the jumpers in the EVM board are in default position.

Sorry, I am not a hardware guy and trying to learn to be.

Hi,

Software is written by our back end team and we are using the API's and GUI blocks to build the GUI. As such I dont have much info on the data handling on the software side. TICloudAgent will be started automatically by the GUI.

Regards,

AK

Hi,

Please do the following register writes.

Go to Register page in the GUI and do these steps.

1. Write 0x0004 in SPICONFIG ( address 0x03)
2. Write 0x0000 in GENCONFIG (address 0x04)
3. Write 0x0000 in DACPWDWN (address 0x09)

After that make sure the internal reference of the device is ON by checking voltage at test point TP11. You should get 2.5V.

Go to Basic configuration tab and do the following.

• Enter 32768 Value in DATA
• Select OUTPUT RANGE as output = 0 to 5V

Do the above steps for remaining DAC channels labeled as DAC B, DAC C. Please note that in this EVM channel D is used for our internal evaluation purpose, so don't use that channel.

Regards,

AK

GENCONFIG will reset itself to 0x4000 after I go to basic config page.

for reference mode, I see EXT in your picture. Is it manually set or auto?

Jumper 19 default position as showed in the first page of manual is 1-2, isn't it?

But as mentioned in table 6, it should be 2-3, correct?

Hi,

It should be 2-3 if you are not providing external supplies.

Regards,

AK

Hi,

All jumpers should be as per table 6 default position.

If there is any change in the EVM, please revert back to the same as per table 6 default position.

Regards,

AK

For jumper with more than 2 pins, there is no numbering of the pin. How do I tell which is which?

Hi,

There is always a mark on the pin 1 of the jumper. I am highlighting this in the below figure.

Regards,

AK

It's killing me.. Now, I have another issue. Today when I connect EVM board with U7 to my computer; the 2 serial ports never appeared.

The USB port at XSD110 side is still OK. UniFlash is able to detect it and flash firmware into it.

How can I tell if the EVM board is OK or not?

Hi,

If the GUI is connected with EVM, it will show in the bottom left corner of the GUI as "Hardware Connected"

Did you see the same?

Regards,

AK

No, "Hardware Connected" not shown.

If serial ports not appear, there is not way for GUI to connect to the board. That's common sense, right?

Hi,

Yes, Previously it was showing right?

Can you go to go to Options-->Serial Port and select the next available port ?

Anything changed in your PC? Can you try with another one?

Regards,

AK

In the Options, there is no serial port appearing. And I've tried a few computers already.

Is there any way to check if the board is damaged? If so, I don't mind buying another one. 

And also do you have information on how to directly program the board through SPI interface? 

I want to do something similar to this (DAC81404EVM: Weird behavior of one DAC channel - Data converters forum - Data converters - TI E2E support forums) and I just need to control 2 channels; so I can ignore channel 4.

Hi, Akhilesh is looking at this now, he will get back to you tomorrow.

Thank you for your effort. 

I also reported a few new issues in this post (Looking for DAC chip with >=1M sample rate - Data converters forum - Data converters - TI E2E support forums). Please take a look.

Hi,

Which controller you want to use for direct SPI interfacing?

All the SPI interface lines are available as a test point on the EVM, from there you can tap those signals and connect to your controller.

Regards,

AK

First I want to use a Arduino board to test EVM board, since it is much faster.

Similar to this post(https://e2e.ti.com/support/data-converters-group/data-converters/f/data-converters-forum/980539/dac81404evm-weird-behavior-of-one-dac-channel/3622544#3622544). In this post, I cannot post any reply or comment. How can I get the attention of the post author Parswa? If I can get wiring info from him, it would save me a lot of time.

Can I clarify with you the SPI interface pins? I don't see Chip Select (CS) pin on the board.

There are SDO, SDIN, and SCLK, which I know as MOSI, MISO, and clock.

There are also SYNCZ, RSTZ, CLRZ, and LTACZ? Which one functions as CS, SYNCZ? And also, what are the rest pins for? 

Other than SPI connections, I also need to connect 5v and 3.3v pin. Is it correct? That's all the connections I need, isn't it?

BTW, is there any tech support in Singapore I can resort to?

Hi,

For CS you can use the SYNCz to connect to Arduino.

RESETz and CLRz you can connect permanently to logic high. You need to have a common ground connection between the EVM and your arduino board. 

DAC81404EVM requires DVDD (5V), IOVDD (3.3V), AVDD & AVSS.

Regards,

AK

So if I want to use 81404 to supply max 18v to another chip, I shall connect AVDD to a stable 18v power source. 

And I shall connect AVSS to the supplied chip power pin. Is it correct?

How about digital and analog ground? They should be linked together, right?

Hi,

If you want to generate 0 to 18V from DAC81404, please use 20V as DAC AVDD and AVSS = 0V

Digital and Analog ground should be tied together.

Regards,

AK

I have uploaded my codes, a basic DAC81404 library to github. Feel free to use it and notify me about any bugs. It's in a very early stage of development and I only used it for a few specific purposes which I needed. Feel free to contact me in doubt too. 

Thanks for posting the code in GitHub. Maybe some of the e2e users will find it useful.

Regards,

AK

In its SPI interface, I guess SYNC pin is for Chip Select (CS): LOW to select. How do you connect the pin RST, CLR, and LDAC?

On the EVM board, where are pin for IOVDD, and DVDD?

Hi,

In EVM IOVDD is provided by two options. Directly through the EVM interface ( MSP board) or external IOVDD. Connector J2 provides the external IOVDD.

IOVDD can be selected by Jumper J19.  DVDD is through connector J17 pin 1.

RSTz and CLRz should pulled high to IOVDD if you are not using. LDACz should be pulled low.

Regards,

AK