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ADS1232REF: The ftp-links to the firmware eg. seem to be down

Christian Durst
Prodigy 10 points
Part Number: ADS1232REF
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: ADS1232, ADS1231REF, MSP430F449

Good Morning,

I am trying to get my hands on the Firmware for the ADS1232REF Board, but the link seems to be not working.

Has the content been moved to another Server?

Regards,

Chris

  • 0
    TI__Guru** 113765 points
    Hi Christian,

    Welcome to the E2E forum! Unfortunately the firmware being used on the ADS1232REF is no longer available. There are many reasons for this with the first one being the elimination of TI's use of a public ftp server. There are many IT security concerns using an ftp server with anonymous public access, so TI decided to remove this server from service.

    The code for the ADS1232REF was developed around 15 years ago and many of the compiler/tools are no longer supported. This makes use of the firmware very limited when creating new projects.

    Third reason is many of the 'open source' licensing has changed. What we thought 15 years ago was open source now has more detailed licensing arrangements. As long as the ftp site was operating, the code was grandfathered to continue its use. To move this code to a new server would require many things to happen with respect to licensing and code formatting. As I already stated, the code is not really usable. An attempt was made to port the project to an open source CCS project, but this is rather low priority and may take time before this can be accomplished. A higher priority is to actually create a new hardware platform as many of the ADS1232REF components are obsolete and no longer available.

    If you have specific questions regarding operation and communication I would be glad to help you. The ADS1232 is a pin controlled device using SPI communication for reading conversion results and initiating a self offset calibration. The SPI communication uses Mode 1.

    Best regards,
    Bob B
  • 0
    Prodigy 30 points

    I am trying to get the CDROM that was mentioned in previous posts in this thread.  It was on the FTP site as I understood it too.   Yesterday, I started to work with the devices I purchased from Mouser last week.

    I purchased 7 of these for a one off strain gauge application.  I might need to tinker with the firmware.  It would have been nice to know that this is obsolete and no longer supported before the purchase.  

  • 0 in reply to Martin Patton
    TI__Mastermind 44610 points
    Hi Martin,

    The ADS1232REF software is now downloadable from www.ti.com/.../ads1131ref. We no longer delivery this software on CDs.

    However as Bob mentioned, we don't don't have the firmware source code available for this hardware at the moment.
  • 0 in reply to Christopher Hall
    Prodigy 30 points
    You are referring to "Evaluation software for the ADS1230REF, ADS1131REF, ADS1231REF and ADS1232REF evaluation boards".
    I have that am looking at the boards in analysis mode using that software. If there is firmware and a loader, it would be nice to have that for evaluation of the modules that I purchased 7 of new this week. Perhaps TI and Mouser could hook me up with 7 evaluation boards that are not obsolete to make me feel better about this. Right now I feel grouchy.
  • 0 in reply to Martin Patton
    TI__Guru** 113765 points

    Hi Martin,

    I'm sorry you are feeling grouchy.  The ADS1232REF is not obsolete.  I think that there is a misunderstanding as to the use of the ADS1232REF.  It is not a development system.  It is a method to evaluate the ADS1232 as an EVM platform.  Firmware for evaluation is pre-loaded on to the board.  You can run the board in analysis mode (using the software) or scale mode.  The functionality is already installed with the pre-loaded firmware.

    I understand your frustration, but please try to understand that the firmware is nearly 15 years old. We are in the process of redesign so that modern tools can be used, but currently this is not a high priority.  Regarding the old firmware, our legal team has told us that we can no longer provide the old firmware in it's current form as it does not meet TI standards or open source licensing.

    Let me assure you that I'm 99% sure you would be even more grouchy and frustrated by attempting to use and modify the old code.  It took me weeks to learn and understand the code just to make a bug fix.  It also uses tools that are no longer supported.  There is no IDE and everything is command line driven.  The code uses FreeRTOS version 4.8 and the current version is 10.2.  It is not easy to tweek the firmware and get working.  I know you may think that the code is useful, but it really is not.

    Someone has actually posted the code here:

    http://en.pudn.com/Download/item/id/1756464.html

    Use of the linked code has not been checked for accuracy.  Using the code is at your own risk and will not be supported by TI.  If you tell me specifically what you are trying to do, perhaps we can find a work around.

    Best regards,

    Bob B

  • 0 in reply to Bob Benjamin
    Prodigy 30 points

    Bob,

    Thanks for the info.  I see that I can subscribe to that site by paying a fee or by uploading some source code of my own in exchange for a download.

    I normally download software from the manufacturer for items I am evaluating.

    I built a bridge balance circuit out of 2-350 ohm, 1-340 ohm and 1-20 ohm ten turn pot so that I can look at a 350 ohm strain gauge.

    It is working so far.  The noise is very low and the bridge balances to about +/- 10 microvolts.  I would appreciate any advice on using this board for a strain gauge measurement that you might offer.

    I noticed that you mentioned an RTOS.  When I jumper in the 2.5 V divider, it takes about a minute for the display to ramp up to 2.500000.

    What is the RTOS doing?

    Best regards,

    Marty

  • 0 in reply to Martin Patton
    TI__Guru** 113765 points
    Hi Martin,

    As far as the RTOS goes, the code was developed around making sure communication was not preempted as the MSP430F449 can only capture 1 byte at a time (it has no additional buffers or FIFO). Also, every conversion result needs to be captured. In addition there is processing to the display and a check for key presses. So equal priority is to the UART (or the console task) and SPI interface for data capture and display (or the core/analysis tasks). With the least priority to key presses (or the keys task).

    What you are seeing with the voltage divider has nothing to do with the tasks. The purpose of the voltage divider is to set the common-mode voltage to 2.5V. When jumper J7 is installed, the AINN1 input is connected to 2.5V. If J8 is installed, then the input is shorted so that AINP1 and AINN1 are shorted together at a common-mode of 2.5V. The purpose is for conducting noise measurements tests.

    When J8 is removed while J7 is still connected, the voltage at AINN1 is still 2.5V, but the input voltage at AINP1 is now floating, but still has a voltage due to the caps on the input. As the caps slowly leak charge the voltage on the cap also reduces slowly. As you have noticed it takes some considerable amount of time for the caps to fully discharge.

    The operation of the ADS1232REF is fully described in the ADS1232REF user's guide. Your measurement should be ratiometric where the excitation voltage and reference voltage come from the same source. I would suggest that you power your bridge from J4 connector at +5VA and GND. Connect your bridge output to IN1+ and IN1-. An example is shown in the user's guide on page 4 in section 1.4.1. Depending on the range of your output you can set the gain appropriately by using the maximum allowable gain.

    You can use the GUI software to make device settings or to collect data. You can also control the ADS1232REF via a console terminal assigned to the virtual COM port used by the ADS1232REF. These functions only fully work while the MODE switch is in ANALYSIS mode. SCALE mode and its functionality is designed to be used with the ADS1232REF switches only. Some functionality may work but not all firmware functions are available to both the SCALE and ANALYSIS modes.

    Best regards,
    Bob B