DLPLCR65EVM: EVM connection problem

Jonathan Navor

Part Number: DLPLCR65EVM
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: DLPC900

Hi Experts,

Good day! We need your full assistance on this matter. This is related to the previous post: DLP6500FYE: EVM not working - DLP products forum - DLP®︎ products - TI E2E support forums.

The problem is that the DLP Lightcrater 6500 EVM is not connecting with any PC.
If powered up, when connected to the DLPLCR65EVM, the DMD reproduces the pre-stored patterns finely, however, the status in the DLP Lightcrafter DLP900 GUI (5.0.0) remains Disconnected. On the Lightcrafter board, the D8 and D9 LEDs are on and D6 is blinking, as should be. The firmware was updated very recently (not even a week before the issue) to the 6.0.0 version. I'm working on Windows 11, and I stress that the device manager doesn't recognize any device (known or not) when the board is plugged in.

Checks I did:

Many different configurations of USB cables and laptops, produce the same connection failure
Uninstalling and reinstalling the GUI software doesn't solve the issue
The HDMI ports are detected by the PC as an external plug-and-play monitor
Disabling all the I/O trigger jumpers (J19, J21, J22, J25) with the board powered off doesn't solve the issue

Checks requested by you in the old case.

The USB connector doesn't present burns, lifted coppers, or any damage, as the rest of the board
The pins of the USB port are connected to the DLP900 (2-C5, 3-D6 in particular)
Pictures and schemes already requested are attached to the previous case

You also suggested trying to reload the bootloader of the DLP900, since you suspected "that the section of the bootloader that instantiates the USB interface is broken or the port itself is broken". I am currently not able to reload the bootloader because the JTAG programming tool is not working on any laptop I tried (error due to incorrect side-by-side configuration). Nevertheless, I did a couple of additional checks:

The voltages on the differential pairs of the USB port (R63 and R64) are always 0V no matter what configuration is used (USB connected/disconnected with the board powered on/off)
I checked the master debug (J6) output using a serial monitor (at 115200 baud), which gives the following log (note that the errors in the last rows are there because the DLPLCR65EVM was not connected via the flex cable)

Bootloader Version 4.1.0
Jumping to application ...

Debug opened on URT0
Memory test cc = 1
API version: 06.00.00
App version: 06.00.00
Configuration layout versions:
Seq Map: 90.00.0000
SW Map: 90.00.0000
I2C Cmd Slave Address 34
digcontrol_init complete: 1
thinapp : Goto State : 2 0
DRAM memory pool 004025E8 200025E8
Autolock initialization passed
Picture Control: Default System Mode 0
thinapp : Display mode 1 0
Displaying Video Curtain...
Illumination: Transition to operating mode
DMD comm error in DMD_Power()

Illumination: Disable Illumination
Illumination: Transition to Standby Mode complete

From the log it seems that the DLP900 is working fine and the bootloader runs correctly. However, the connection problem persists. Since we always used the DMD with a laptop (with power supply not grounded), would it be possible that a voltage surge (or any instability) has caused damage to the DLP900 USB sectors? Would you recommend a desktop PC for future applications? We noted that there isn't any protection circuit between the USB port pins and the DLP900 (in particular resistors R86 and R85 are not installed!); would you recommend modifying the board, and adding such a feature?

Note that we already damaged two boards (probably) this way, so any help from you would be precious.

Thanks for your help,

Best regards,

Jonathan

over 1 year ago

0 Fizix over 1 year ago

TI__Mastermind 45855 points

Hello Jonathan,

Do you have access to a Windows 10 computer. Not to install the software, but to see if it registers that a USB device gets plugged in.

In other words with the board powered connect it to a Windows 10 machine and see if it shows up in Device Manager as an unknown device or wants to try to install a driver. If it does not, then I would agree that something has either damaged the USB or corrupted that section of code.

Try that and we will go from there.

Fizix

0 Nicolò Antolini over 1 year ago

Prodigy 10 points

Thank you Fizix, I will try with a windows 10 computer (or other version beside win11), but I don't see how could be related with the OS of my laptop. The board has worked fine on win11 for several months. Also, different laptops are reporting the very same issue.

I'll write here once I have done this check.

0 Fizix over 1 year ago in reply to Nicolò Antolini

TI__Mastermind 45855 points

Hello Nicolò

So if I understand correctly it used to connect to your machine, but no longer is connecting. In that case then changing to different OS should not affect anything, unless there was a significant update from Microsoft recently.

The purpose of another machine is to see if Windows is registering a USB plug-in event. It sounds like it is not.

This sounds like the bootloader may have been partially corrupted. If so you will need to follow the JTAG reprogramming instructions outlined in the EVM guide found in section 3.11 JTAG Flash Programming on page 58 of the DLP LightCrafter Single DLPC900 EVM User's Guide [https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/dlpu101b/dlpu101b.pdf ].

Please try paragraph 2 on page 58 first, but I suspect that it will not connect, but if it does then try it from the GUI. ALSO -VERY IMPORTANT - please delete any directory named "FlashLoaderCache" that is in the same directory as fhe firmware you want to download.

If it works, then you have saved a lot of effort. If not you will need to build up the USB-JTAG USB FTDI bridge outlined in this section and reload the BootLoader.

Please let me know how it goes.

Fizix

0 Jonathan Navor over 1 year ago in reply to Fizix

TI__Genius 9265 points

Hi Fizix,

On behalf of our customers, I have posted here their feedback,

Right now I have two main questions:

1) I am currently not able to reload the bootloader because the JTAG programming tool is not working on any laptop I tried (error due to incorrect side-by-side configuration). Any ideas to solve this bug? I tried installing the package DLPC900REFSW-5.0.0-windows-installer but this issue shows up on any PC I tried.

2) In Fizix's answer I don't get the reference to "paragraph 2". Does it refer to pages 17-20 of the manual?

Kindly help to answer this. Thank you once again.

Best regards,

Jonathan

0 Fizix over 1 year ago in reply to Jonathan Navor

TI__Mastermind 45855 points

Hello again Jonathan,

1. I am sorry about the "side-by-side" error. That is a Microsoft issue. Are all of the laptops the same OS version? Did you load the FTDI driver first? Per page 58:

The driver can be downloaded from the FTDI website (www.ftdichip.com). Select the VCP CDM WHQL Certified driver for Windows.

2. Paragraph 2 is in reference to the note (between the horizontal lines) on page 58 on trying the BOOThold jumper:

Before using JTAG to reload the bootloader, first install the BOOTHold jumper (J11) and turn the system on. The system shows connected, but does not recognize the attached DMD. Manually select the radio button that matches your DMD and go to the firmware tab and select the FW image and reprogram. Then power down, remove the BOOTHold jumper and restart the system. Reprogramming in this manner often recovers a system without requiring reloading the bootloader through JTAG.

Fizix