DAC9881EVM-PDK: Connection error

Hi Thiago,

Thank you for your query. Please install the "dxp-supportpackage-2.0.0.exe" from the following location and then connect:

ftp.ti.com/.../

You should get the list of devices in the "DAC" menu after this step.

Regards,
Uttam sahu
Applications Engineer, Precision DACs

Hi Uttam,

Thanks for your reply, but it is still a no go.

I installed the package.

As soon as I plug/reset the board, it loads the FW:

Then it keeps waiting for USB Device:

And soon a timeout comes:

I tried to set the model before time out.

There are 2 DAC9881:

If I choose the first one, I get the following error:

And the program terminates.

If I choose the second one, the sw controls are enabled, and I can even click run ADC, the wave graph starts moving:

But it is still waiting for USB device, and shortly after I get a time out.

If I rescan for devices, it scans and then says Scan complete, but nothing really good comes out of it...

A weird thing is that whenever the sw fails, the following symbol appears on the digit display:

What is that?? A defective 9, a defective 5, or just a bug?

Hi Thiago,

Most of your observation is right. I think there is a defective DAC9881 file that is giving you the Error 6056. But you can ignore that and use the other file. However, I am a bit concerned about the other bug "Waiting for USB Device". Because this software (DXP) is a bit old, it sometimes fails on few OS configurations. Could you please let me know about your system configuration? In case you have access to other systems, you can try on other PC's and see if it works. It is tested on Win 7.

In case you have LabView, try to install on machines without Labview. Sometimes we have seen some failures with some versions.

However, we are still trying to fix the issue and therefore I may not be able to provide a fool-proof solution at this moment.

Our response may be slow due to the holiday season. Please bear with us.

Regards,
Uttam

Hello Uttam,

My system configuration is an i7-2600k, 16GB DDR3, Win7 x64 Ultimate SP1, MB ASUS P8Z68-V-PRO-GEN3, and this pc has Labview 2016 Full.

As stated, NI-VISA driver is ok, but the DXP driver failed.

I tried on a i7 3770, 8GB DDR3,  Win 7 x64 Profession SP1, (almost) fresh install, MB Asus H61M-A/BR, no Labview installed or NI stuff whatsoever.

Now on this last computer, DPX found the hardware and connected to it. There was the message "Creating references" and all the other messages went fine. I selected the 2nd DAC9881 on the list, and then soon after loading, all the controls went to zero, and I can't change any of them. The sliders/controls stay fixed on zero (Hz, volts, etc.)

I can click on Run DAC, the sine figure runs, but nothing really happens. After clicking Run ADC, the 7 digit display on the MMB0 shows that weird symbol I posted earlier.

Also, the Device information is busted:

which I suspect may be the reason for not being able to change anything on the user side.

Also, I have found some mistakes on the factory settings that came with our board. And checking carefully the user guide, it also seems to have some inconsistencies. I will open a new thread about it, though.

Here it is: e2e.ti.com/.../652047

I have to say, it is taking a bit longer than expected to have a EVM running its basic stuff. 

Howdy Thiago,

To add to my colleagues points, I would additionally like to point out that it is not uncommon to see various installations of Labview runtime engine or libraries interfere with the older installation that this package would include. It may be worthwhile to uninstall Labview from your PC, or try on another PC that does not have any Labview installations. During execution the DXP program is more than likely calling older installation packages, that may not have installed, due to 'newer' packages being on the system.

Best Regards,
Matt

Hi Matt,

Thank you for chiming in!

Please note the previous comment, where I say that I have tried on a second PC that has no Labview (or other NI runtime engine whatsoever). On that machine, I see the DXP driver appearing when the DXP is started (coming from the NI-VISA driver), but then the miscommunication that I described above happens.

Just to be on the safe side, I have just uninstalled everything from NI, drivers, engines, the whole thing - although date of creation of all those files showed they were created last week. I have also uninstalled DXP and then reinstalled it. 

I got to the same error: it connects to the board, I choose a second DAC9881 from the DAC menu, it creates its 64 references, loads the DAC, and then fails. Please refer to the screens I have uploaded before.

So far the only solution I see is to bring a 3rd machine to the game, and set up a fresh win install, but hey, that seems really a heavy requirement for an EVM, do you agree?

Let me know if there is any other information I could add that could be useful.

BTW, can you provide the full Labview project? Maybe if I run it from LV, instead of using a runtime engine, things could work as expected... it would also make life a tad easier having an (working) example to begin with in LV.

Best regards,

Thiago

Howdy Thiago,

Please refer to the following thread and let me know the results.

e2e.ti.com/.../2195743

It may be as posted in the above, which turned out to be a USB driver issue.

Best Regards,

Matt

Hi Thiago,

A very Happy New Year!!

Sorry for being unavailable last week. You are right that it is indeed burdensome for you to go through all the above steps in order to make an EVM work. We are very sorry for the trouble. The MMB0 platform has become relatively old now. We have a roadmap for migrating this to a newer one but the timelines are not finalized yet. Due to mismatches in different software components, we do sometimes see some problem like yours with a few customers and we try our best to support that.

We don't have the source code apart from what Matt has refered to in the last post.

Please let us know if you need any specific support from our side. I should be able to create a test code on another platform and sample it to you but it may take some time for completing that. Please let me know if you are ok with it.

And, thank you for pointing out the inconsistencies in the User's Guide. I will look into them in the other thread of yours.

Regards,
Uttam

Hi Thiago,

I think the issue is resolved. I am closing the thread. In case you think, it's not done, you can reopen it.

Regards,
Uttam

Hi Matt,

That was right. Thanks! After installing that driver, the board seems to connect to the end without errors, so now I can change the settings and run the sw as expected. However, I still don't have any real signal at the output when I check it with a scope. Only noise. Not even adding a DC level changes anything.

All supplies and grounds and refs seems to be correct. Hmm, still not there. I'll double-check them again.

Hi Uttam,

A Happy new Year for you and all of TI staff too!

As I have posted above, the driver that Matt suggested was a hit, but I still have no signal at the output. I'll check everything again and come back. The issue is most likely on my end now. :D

"I should be able to create a test code on another platform and sample it to you but it may take some time for completing that. Please let me know if you are ok with it."

That would certainly be helpful. We have actually bought 4 PDKs from TI, DACs and ADCs, and we need to make a decision concerning our applications (there are 3 products depending on the data conversion stage) . For that, we need to evaluate the performance of each, of course. So a (verified) test code is surely welcome. It could well be LV if it is ok for you, but open code so we can see it and elaborate on it. Kindly ask you to tell me how long you would take, so I can re schedule the stage we are at now.

I didn't find any source code on previous Matt's post, only the DXP support package and drivers. As I missing something?

Thank you for your assistance!

Hi Thiago,

We have another controller called USB2ANY. I can support Python code for the same. Is that ok for you?
Or else, if you are ok with C code, you can get a Tiva Launchpad from ti.com and I will be able to support with the connectivity and software.

It will take me around a week's time for the code generation. But you will also need to have the hardware. Hence, if you let me know about your preference, we can go ahead.

Regards,
Uttam