• State TI Thinks Resolved
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 4 replies
  • Answers 1 answer
  • Subscribers 31 subscribers
  • Views 157 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Support feedback
Options
Options
Similar topics

This thread has been locked.

If you have a related question, please click the "Ask a related question" button in the top right corner. The newly created question will be automatically linked to this question.

MSP432E401Y: Flashing Microcontrollers from Raspberry Pi: UniFlash Alternatives for ARM Devices

parryh
Prodigy 70 points
Part Number: MSP432E401Y
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: UNIFLASH, MSP-FET, MSP-EXP432E401Y

Hello TI E2E community,

I’m working on a production tool built around a Raspberry Pi (ARM-based processor), and I need to flash microcontrollers such as the MSP430/432 and TMS320. Currently, I’ve been using UniFlash, which generates software packages allowing code flashing via a script on Windows, Mac, and Linux (x86 architectures). However, I’ve discovered that this solution doesn’t work on ARM devices like the Raspberry Pi.

My questions are:

  1. Is there any officially supported method by TI to flash microcontrollers (MSP430/432, TMS320) from a Raspberry Pi using tools like MSP-FET or XDS110 debuggers?
  2. Does UniFlash have an ARM-compatible variant that allows code flashing using a software package script on ARM devices?
  3. Additionally, I’d like to know if there’s a way to control flash settings and MAC addresses during the flashing process using these alternative tools, like the settings in UniFlash.

Any insights, recommendations, or alternative tools would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your expertise and assistance.

  • 0
    TI__Guru**** 172926 points
    parryh said:
    • Is there any officially supported method by TI to flash microcontrollers (MSP430/432, TMS320) from a Raspberry Pi using tools like MSP-FET or XDS110 debuggers?

    Hi,

      XDS110 should support all the mentioned devices. If you look at a LaunchPad such as MSP-EXP432E401Y, there is an onboard XDS110 probe. However, if you are asking for the XDS110 firmware to be run on your Raspherry Pi then the answer is no. XDS110 is a TI proprietary product. We do not support XDS110 on a different platform.

    parryh said:
    • Does UniFlash have an ARM-compatible variant that allows code flashing using a software package script on ARM devices?

    Refer to the Uniflash download page for details. The Uniflash tool can be run from Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is OS dependent, not Arm dependent. You can have a Linux machine that is Arm-based. 

    parryh said:
    1. Additionally, I’d like to know if there’s a way to control flash settings and MAC addresses during the flashing process using these alternative tools, like the settings in UniFlash.

    The only thing the Uniflash has is to program the MAC address. 

  • 0 in reply to Charles Tsai
    Prodigy 70 points

    Thanks for your reply Charles Tsai,

    Charles Tsai said:
    However, if you are asking for the XDS110 firmware to be run on your Raspherry Pi then the answer is no. XDS110 is a TI proprietary product. We do not support XDS110 on a different platform.

    This is not an issue. We do not need the XDS110 firmware to run on the Raspberry Pi, we are fine with plugging in an external XDS110 debugger into the USB port of the Raspberry Pi.

    Charles Tsai said:
    he Uniflash tool can be run from Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is OS dependent, not Arm dependent. You can have a Linux machine that is Arm-based. 

    Unfortunately, we could not get the UniFlash Linux installer to install on Raspbian OS 11 Bullseye. Referring to the E2E post (Linux: Is there a possibility to run the uniflash tool on a raspberry pi ? - Simulation, hardware & system design tools forum - Simulation, hardware & system design tools - TI E2E support forums), we thought this was mainly because the UniFlash Linux installer does not support ARM architectures.

    We have also tried exporting the software package script generated from Linux on a x86 Linux machine, and tried to run it on a Raspberry Pi, but this would not work as well. I am guessing there are some x86 dependencies for UniFlash to work on Linux?

    Could you please confirm this? It would be ideal for us to run UniFlash and it's standalone software package scripts on a Raspberry Pi.

    Essentially, I would like to know what official TI solution/software there is for flashing a MSP430/432 from a Raspberry Pi (ARM-based Linux computer), using a simple script like the one UniFlash generates as a "standalone software package installer". And it would be good if this tool was able to program MAC addresses to the MSP432 using this script as well.

  • 0 in reply to parryh
    TI__Guru**** 434421 points
    parryh said:
    we thought this was mainly because the UniFlash Linux installer does not support ARM architectures.

    This is still accurate.

    parryh said:
    Essentially, I would like to know what official TI solution/software there is for flashing a MSP430/432 from a Raspberry Pi (ARM-based Linux computer)

    I am not aware of any such solution for Raspberry Pi.

    ki

  • 0 in reply to Ki
    TI__Guru**** 434421 points

    You may be able to flash the MSP432 using OpenOCD:

    https://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp-low-power-microcontrollers-group/msp430/f/msp-low-power-microcontroller-forum/898713/msp432p4111-openocd-for-programming-msp432-instead-of-uniflash

    TI used to support OpenOCD but we dropped official support for it a few years ago. But you may still be able to find a solution with OpenOCD on your own.