TM4C123 Serial Boot Loader

Hi Dan,

It isn't clear what process you are following for your second attempt at programming. After you ran the unlock sequence on the launchpad, did you re-program the "Programmer Board Example Code" prior to trying to upload your application image? Note that after you have programmed the programmer board image, you should not need to reprogram the image on this board and you would simply use the interface on the PC to upload the target board image to the programmer board. The programmer board would then interface with the target to program your target with the application image.

Let me know if I have misunderstood something in your post. To me it isn't clear which steps you repeated within the application note given you were successful on your first attempt.

Chuck:

Thanks for the quick response. I very likely was doing something wrong in trying to upload the second program. However, my problem seems to be more fundamental. I used another Launchpad board and tried to configure it as a programmer starting from scratch. However, the system failed at exactly the same place. It downloaded the image but never re-enumerated or at least couldn't load the TM4C Serial Bootloader driver. I assume this driver is required to run the Serial Programmer windows app. My guess is that the interface was not properly loaded to the Launchpad but I haven't a clue what is going on.

A couple of minor things that probably are not relevant. The drivers "Stellaris Device Firmware Upgrade" show up as "Tivaware Device Firmware Upgrade." Also, in installing the Serial Programmer windows app I received an error (something about exit 0) but the program seemed to install OK. At least I was able to use it last week. Can you point me to the best web site for downloading the software and drivers please. Seems like a new download might be in order. Also, I'm using Tivaware 2.1.3.156.

In your reply you say "simply use the interface on the PC to upload the target board image to the programmer board." Can you please be more specific. Are you talking about using the Serial Programmer windows app. Right now, I can't make a USB connection with it.

Again, thank you for your help. I really appreciate your time.

Best wishes,

Dan

Hi Dan,

Dn Ballard said:

In your reply you say "simply use the interface on the PC to upload the target board image to the programmer board." Can you please be more specific. Are you talking about using the Serial Programmer windows app. Right now, I can't make a USB connection with it.

Given the new explanation of the issue, this comment is no longer relevant.

I agree with you that it seems an uninstall/reinstall is in order. I'm not certain what would cause the drivers/SW to get off in the weeks like it seems to have. You re-download the installation files and drivers in a zip file from this location: 

. However, you may still have the drivers in the "windows_drivers" folder located at  C:\Program Files(x86)\Texas Instruments\TM4C\TM4CSBL-1.0 from your initial install. Maybe you can attempt to simply re-install the drivers before a full re-install. Also, what OS are you using? Win7, Win8.x, Win10?

Chuck:
I ran a recover (to last week) and then reinstalled everything. The SBL now appears to be working. This an old Windows 7 machine that I recovered from the trash to use for building the serial programmer. There seems to be a problem with the USB drivers working under Windows 10. I don't believe this was fixed in the TivaWare 6.1.3 update (but could be wrong).

At any rate, the SBL is now working. I am now to the step where I need to install the "tm4c_device_recovery_code.bin" . The only version I could find was in the TM4C129 folder. I have an embedded TM4C123GH6PM that I am targeting. I am assuming that this device recovery code can be used for this part as well. Can you please verify this for me?

Also, can you tell me when and if the USB drivers will be made compatible with Windows 10? I had been told that they would work in TivaWare 2.1.3 but they still seem to be broken.

Thanks so much for your help. Sorry to bother you with old Windows 7 issues.

Dan

Dan,

Unfortunately, I'm not an expert on the USB vs. Wni10 question. I know that I have seen some issues reported but I am not aware of what the root cause is or what the targeted fix within TivaWare 2.1.3 was supposed to be. I would suggest posting a separate question on the E2E regarding this topic and I will see that it goes to our experts on this subject matter (Amit).

In regard to the "tm4c_device_recovery_code.bin" image, this is specific to the TM4C129 and isn't a drop in for the TM4C123. Note that they would be very similar but there will be differences especially during startup since the TM4C129 runs faster than the TM4C123. You will need to port it to the TM4C123 if this is your intended target but given the use of TivaWare it should just be a matter of minor updates dependent on the modules used.

Okay. Thanks. I looked at the code for the TM4C129 and doesn't look too bad. I'll get back to you if I have any more questions.

Thanks again for your help.

Dan