EK-TM4C1294XL: Unable to communicate with the Debug Probe

Hi,

  U22 is a debug port for ICDI debug probe. This is why you can program the device through this port with LM flash programmer. If you want to use XDS200 debug probe then you need to connect to U6 JTAG port. 

  Also make sure in CCS you have a correct target configuration created. See below example. 

Hi,

My question was that I'm not able to connect through U22 debug probe in the 'Debug Mode' but I can program it through the same.

Kindly suggest the solution.

Thank you,

Kiranjit

Your screenshot shows you are using XDS200 debug probe. This is why I thought you are using XDS200. In this case, you have a wrong target configuration. If you want to use the on-board ICDI debug through U22 then you need to select In-Circuit Debug Interface when you create your target configuration. See below. 

Hello Charles,

A follow-up from the customer.

I tried changing the connection type to Stellaris ICDI Driver and the following error came:

Thank you in advance for your help.

Regards,

CSC

Hi,

  If the customer is using the EK-TM4C1294XL board then he can just run any one of the TivaWare examples right away. The example projects all contain the IDCI target configuration already. All he needs is to click on the 'Debug' button. See below. Can you successfully run and debug the example? All he needs is to connect the USB cable to U22 debug port. 

TI-CSC said:

I tried changing the connection type to Stellaris ICDI Driver and the following error came:

For that error, can you check the Project Properties under Debug -> Auto Run and Launch -> Launch Options to see if the "Connect to the target on debugger startup" option is ticked for the CORTEX_M4 core. See https://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/other/f/908/p/759209/2804781#2804781

Hello Charles and  Chester,

So the customer's board has entered the Debug mode by changing the settings but whenever I try to change anything in the code given to me, he get the following error in ‘Debug’ mode :

 Is it possible that the Flash memory is locked for editing or any other settings need to be changed? The customer tried the ‘Erase Entire Flash’ Option and ticking the ‘Enable Verbose Output’ under Tools à On-Chip Flash during ‘Debug’ mode but still got the same error.

Thank you for supporting us.

Regards,

CSC

TI-CSC said:

So the customer's board has entered the Debug mode by changing the settings but whenever I try to change anything in the code given to me, he get the following error in ‘Debug’ mode :

What is the error? You are not showing it. However, I think you are connecting to the target which is a good progress. 

TI-CSC said:

Is it possible that the Flash memory is locked for editing or any other settings need to be changed? The customer tried the ‘Erase Entire Flash’ Option and ticking the ‘Enable Verbose Output’ under Tools à On-Chip Flash during ‘Debug’ mode but still got the same error.

Please show the error. If the flash is protected (either protected as read-only or execute-only) then you cannot erase the flash any more. You will need to unlock the device which will mass-erase the device to its original factory settings. 

Use LM flash programmer to unlock the device and try again.

Hello Charles,

I'm receiving the following error while Debugging (only when I'm trying to change anything in the code). If I debug the given code without any changes then 'Debug' is running fine.

Also, if I try to 'Unlock' (erase the internal Flash) then the following message is coming

Can you also please help on how to 'Read the Flash', as in the current value of the user registers and Ethernet MAC Address for future use.

Thanks,

Kiranjit

Hi,

  I have a few questions.

  - Was the board working before meaning you were able to load some programs several times until you suddenly saw the error message? The error message seems to indicate there is an issue with the flash memory. 

  - Do you remember what was the last program you loaded to the flash before the error message popped up? Any special about the last program that is currently in the flash?

  - Did you try to enable and flash protection in your code? If you protect some of the blocks of the flash memory with read-only or execute-only protection modes then you cannot erase or reprogram these blocks again. You must unlock the device to totally wipe the flash to its factory settings. 

  - Do you have another EK-TM4C1294XL board? if yes, will you be able to reproduce the problem. As I said, the error message is indicating a data verification error. After the firmware is programmed, the tool tries to read back the flash to see it it matches what was intended. If not matching, the data verification error is produced. Therefore, I would like to see if you can reproduce the same issue on another board. If you can reproduce the same issue on another board then my theory is not correct. The issue will be likely related to what you did in the program. 

Kiranjit Kaur said:

Also, if I try to 'Unlock' (erase the internal Flash) then the following message is coming

If you unlock the device it will also erase the MAC address that is currently stored in the non-volatile memory. You can reprogram the MAC address again after unlock. In the back of the EK-TM4C1294XL board there is label with the MAC address value. You can program that value using LM flash programmer. 

Hi,

The board is still working fine for the reference older code of the project assigned to me but if I do any single change ,i.e. even if I comment a line,then it shows the given error above.

I didn't enable Flash protection, how to do that?

I imported the CCS project code of the older reference version and all the settings were automatically imported along with it.

I don't have another evaluation board yet but will have it in a few days so can only do the experiment then but until then I cant sit and wait.

And it's not about the Evaluation board,my question was that if we've read the contents of the Flash in a preprogrammed uC then how do we do that?

Thanks,

Kiranjit

Hi,

  Thanks for your clarification. 

  Can you load a simple program like the hello or blinky from TivaWare? You can find these two examples along with many others in C:\ti\TivaWare_C_Series-2.2.0.295\examples\boards\ek-tm4c1294xl. Import the hello or blinky and will you see the problem?

  let's also wait for your another board to see if you can reproduce the problem. 

Kiranjit Kaur said:

And it's not about the Evaluation board,my question was that if we've read the contents of the Flash in a preprogrammed uC then how do we do that?

If you want to read the MAC address or the User registers you can use FlashUserGet() API. 

Hi Charles,

I've already checked for the example codes you mentioned and the Debug mode is working fine for it.

It's only some settings in the older code of my project in which I need to do modifications.

Best Regards,

Kiranjit 

Also where and how to use FlashUserGet() API?

Hi,

Kiranjit Kaur said:

I've already checked for the example codes you mentioned and the Debug mode is working fine for it.

Your failing address is 0x8BF80. The TivaWare examples are small enough and will not take up space to that address and this is why you may not see the problem. You need to a bigger program that will get to that address. Let's wait for your new board to confirm if it is a MCU flash issue. 

Kiranjit Kaur said:

Also where and how to use FlashUserGet() API?

Refer to C:\ti\TivaWare_C_Series-2.2.0.295\examples\boards\ek-tm4c1294xl\enet_lwip\enet_lwip.c file on the call to MAP_FlashUserGet() to retrieve the MAC address.