DLPDLCR471TPEVM: connecting to EVM with GUI

This DLPDLCR471TPEVM was purchased in July of this year. 

The GUI is version 3.1.0.5 downloaded just last week. I'm trying to connect via the TI supplied USB cable.

I've also tried other cables and both Windows 10 and Windows 7 laptops.

The GUI reports: EVM not connected.

Martin,

What about the power supply? Which one are you using? Does the device get detected by your USB device manager?

Regards,

Philippe

Hi Philippe,

Good day, customer reached us out regarding this. He is encountering problem with the reply button.

Regarding the question above, below is the answer from customer.

Using a 19vdc 6A power supply from an HP printer. The device shows up on my laptop as “projector control”.
Goes away when I unplug the USB cable, shows up again when I plug the cable back in.

GUI still shows "EVM not connected".

Regards,
Maynard

Maynard,

Are you following all of the steps in the Quick-Start guide for this EVM?:

https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/dlpu105/dlpu105.pdf

If so, where do you start seeing problems?

Regards,

Philippe

I have followed the quickstart guide to the letter. The device manager shows "Projector Control" when it is on and plugged into USB.

I can connect an HDMI cable and get live images from my computer on screen.

When I click on the speaker icon in the task bar I see DLP PICO 4K.

When I click on the "Get" button on the GUI I get a box with this message:

"Get EVM Information error! 'Read System Status" command execution failed. Error Details: Please make sure the system is connected, powered on, and the settings are correct."

In the lower left of the GUI Information page below the photo of this EVM it says "! EVM Status: Not Connected."

No errors show on the right side of that page, above the "Get" button.

Without the connection I can get no further, can not find out EVM firmware or software info. It shows the GUI software as 3.1.0.5.

HELP!!

Martin,

This may be an obvious question, but does the EVM actually turn on with the switch? Do you see the splash screen? the image output should be occurring regardless of connection to a PC.

Regards,

Philippe

Yes, it turns on with the splash screen. If I connect an HDMI cable it will display what's on my computer screen.

When the power switch is turned ON, the POSENSE LED turns off, the PROJ ON LED turns on, and the HEARTBEAT LED starts blinking.

Is there another GUI version I could try? 

Martin,

Thanks for elaborating. So in summary, you are actually getting an image on the wall from the HDMI input through the DLP EVM, but communication through USB is not working in particular. Is that right?

I think you have the right GUI (there is only one for this EVM). Since video is working then the chipset itself must be OK. In this case we must suspect something along the interface (either the USB-I2C receiver on the EVM, or the USB driver on the PC).  If everything is set up properly the GUI should definitely show the EVM as "connected, but not powered on" or "connected and powered on". You could potentially have something wrong with the EVM if the I2C receiver is somehow damaged. 

Do you have the ability to probe/scope plot any signals on the interface? You may want to probe the USB/I2C lines to see if there is any activity.

Regards,

Philippe

Thanks, Philippe.

I'll be back in my lab on Thursday and put a scope on the interface.

I've tried connecting it with two different laptops (Windows 7 and 10) and 3 different cables. The device manager on both laptops shows "Projector Control" when the EVM is on and USB cable connected.

I reloaded the GUI on both machines from fresh downloads, same result.

I can project anything that shows on the computer screens with the HDMI cable. 

The computers think they are connected to the EVM, but the GUI still reports no connection. 

What does it take to get a new EVM?

Regards,

Marty

I'll contact them.

Martin,

No problem. Please keep us informed.

Regards,

Philippe

Howdy, Philippe. I have been exploring the "advanced" tab of the GUI, and I can get it connected through USB and select and change displays and screen borders, but the main GUI screen still says "EVM not connected". I need someone who understands this interface to get involved. PLEASE! Is there info on the settings available in the "advanced" section of the GUI? For example, the legal values for the illumination settings? 

Howdy, Philippe.

Is there some documentation on the "advanced" section of the GUI? I have it connected and can control the illumination and change the test screens, but would love some info on the many settings available.

Martin,

Thanks for the feedback. This is very useful information; it is possible that there is some kind of problem with the standard GUI menu while the advanced mode GUI is not having a problem. I'll report back to the team to see if there is indeed something wrong on the GUI's software side.

Regards,

Philippe

I'd like to project a 4K test pattern either by loading it directly or with the HDMI cable.

Also, is there any documentation or info on the advanced menus?

From the Windows 10 laptop:

Connecting through the Debug tab caused the GUI to change to "connected, powered off" , even though the unit was powered on and displaying the splash image (or the desktop if the HDMI cable is connected) but none of the commands in the GUI function. The error for either "get" or "set" commands is reported as "Failed to read the requested amount of data from the USB interface"

The Debug Connection page shows connected EVEN WHEN THE USB CABLE IS UNPLUGGED.  

I have shut everything off several times, and re-tried the connection through Debug, but no luck.

From the Windows 7 laptop:

Connecting through the Debug tab seems to be functioning. I can access and use the commands in the GUI to both "get" and "set" values.

I can get my laptop screen to project using the HDMI input.

NOW I can proceed with my testing. 

I'm not going to close this thread until I've gotten my test image to project.

Thanks for your help!

With Windows 7 the GUI automatically reconnected when I re-opened it. On the Information screen, the "get" button resulted in filling in all the info, but threw up a "Warning! EVM Firmware Version does not meet the minimum required!" message. 

The reported EVM software is 3.1.0, the EVM Firmware is 3.1.2.

Do I need to update the EVM Firmware? If so, what's the correct procedure?

Martin,

Let me attempt to address each of your questions individually.

> It sounds like the procedure we recommended worked on Windows 7, but not on Windows 10. Does the device manager show the DLP board in the same manner on both machines? I am wondering if there is anything different on the driver side (perhaps Windows 10 installed incorrect drivers on your system).

> There shouldn't be any harm in updating your firmware, but if you are able to get your system to work without doing so I wouldn't consider it necessary to do so. The "Update Firmware" tab depicted in section 4.4.2 of the user's guide is where you can perform the update: https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/dlpu074a/dlpu074a.pdf 

> The very latest EVM firmware is v3p2p6 and is available on the tool folder for the EVM: https://www.ti.com/tool/DLPDLCR471TPEVM 

> You mentioned that the reported value is different from what you have installed to your system. Where are you reading your version number?

- Philippe

Thanks, Philippe.

I'm reading the version numbers by pressing "Get" on the Information screen of the GUI.

It fills in the values from the EVM for Software and Firmware versions.

I have version 3.1.0.5 of the GUI loaded on my laptop.

Both Windows 10 and Windows 7 laptops show "projector control" in the device manager.

Martin,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll discuss with the team a bit to see if I can get any advice for you. Will try to post back here ASAP (next couple of days).

Regards,

Philippe