TMS320F28377D: Uniflash 4.6, Windows 7 32 Bit, Is LAN Connnection for XDS2XX Emulator supported or not?

UniFlash 4.6 does not include support for the LAN version of XDS200 (220).  Newer versions of UniFlash, such as 6.4, support the LAN version of XDS200 but they do not support 32bit Windows.

Another option would be to use UniFlash 3.4.  That version was essentially a stripped down version of Code Composer Studio and had support for more debug probes (XDS220, 510, 560).

Regards,

John

Hi John,

Thank you for the answer.

TI recommend using Uniflash 4.6 and up, and CCS8.3.1 for TMS320F28377D.

https://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/c2000-microcontrollers-group/c2000/f/c2000-microcontrollers-forum/729543/faq-product-change-notice-pcn-20180523001-1-and-pcn-20200115000-2-for-tms320f2837x-and-tms320f2807x-devices

We tried with DSLite.exe inside uniflash 4.6, but it does not have LAN connection anymore. We cannot program. However, we can successfully run DSLite.exe inside CCS8.3.1 with LAN connection. We don't understand why the same script supports LAN in CCS, but not Uniflash.

We have some concern about the stability of the DSLite.exe inside CCS8.3.1.

Thanks,

Chao

Chao,

CCS and UniFlash are different products.  They do share a lot of content but what they support may vary.  CCSv8.3.1 has the necessary content to support XDS200-LAN but UniFlash 4.6 does not.  Later versions of UniFlash have the necessary content.

The only version of UniFlash that supports Win32 that has support for XDS200-LAN is 3.4.

Regards,

John

Hi John

CCSv8.3.1 will be the only option for us now, as we have WIN32, and LAN XDS220 ISO Emulator, and our DSP - TMS320F28377D require minimum Uniflash 4.6 or CCSv8.3.1. We are using Uniflash 3.4 now, but TI make a change for the flash process from F021 to F65 for this DSP. In this case, 3.4 is not working any more. 

Do you know the reason why LAN connection is removed on Uniflash 4.6?

Our flash program will be used on high-volume production systems. We need a stable flash process which supports multiple threading. We worry about the stability and multi-threading of flash script inside CCS. Do you have any advice on this?

Thanks,
Chao 

Chao,

With UniFlash 3.4 it was really just a different front end on top of the CCS backend.  With UniFlash 4 it was a more special built product that leveraged some components from CCS.  As that version was created the things that were included from CCS were optimized.  This included trimming down the debug probe support based on what was believed to be most popular by users of UniFlash. Later there were enough requests for the XDS200 LAN so it was added back in.

As far as scripting flashing from with CCS I will need to loop in someone else who knows that better.

Regards,

John

Hi John,

Is there any big changes between Uniflash v4.6 and Uniflash v3.4? 

What if I copy gel file for TMS320F28377D from uniflash v4.6 into uniflash v3.4? Should I be able to flash  using uniflash v3.4?

Is there any other files should I change? 

Thanks,

Chao

Chao,

UniFlash 4 has a totally different UI, newer device support, the backend is based TI Cloud Agent / dslite instead of the full debug server from CCS.  It is quite a bit different.

As far as trying to get 3.4 working I think it would be more than the GEL file.  The flash API files are also likely different due to the different flash processes.  If I was going to try to modify one of the installations I would try modifying the UniFlash 4.6 install.

Note that this is not supported but this is what I did:

-copied the .xml from CCS into /deskdb/content/TICloudAgent/win/ccs_base/common/targetdb/connections

-opened UniFlash.  Clicked on settings.  Scroll down to resync database and click that.

-it gave me an error about icecrusher but I dont think that is a real problem as the file we dropped in does not reference that

-I was then able in UniFlash to specify a .ccxml (target configuration) file from CCS that used an XDS200 LAN and F28377D (I had created this earlier)

I don't have an XDS220 (this is the LAN version) at home to test it with but you could give it a try.

Regards,

John

Hello Chao,

Chao Zhang said:

Our flash program will be used on high-volume production systems. We need a stable flash process which supports multiple threading. We worry about the stability and multi-threading of flash script inside CCS. Do you have any advice on this?

Is your current flash script based off the DSS scripting interface that was available in UniFlash 3.4 (<UNIFLASH3 INSTALL DIR>\ccs_base\scripting\examples\uniflash? 

Yes. We are using Uniflash.bat inside the example\uniflash\cmdline.

Hi John,

I am able to open a session with your method. When I try to load image, uniflash would show the following error:

IcePick_C_0: Error initializing emulator: (Error -2083 @ 0x0) Unable to communicate with the debug probe. Confirm debug probe configuration and connections, reset the debug probe, and retry the operation. (Emulation package 8.0.903.6)

I accidentally pressed the wrong button and suggested your reply as the answer. Please reject it.

Chao Zhang said:

IcePick_C_0: Error initializing emulator: (Error -2083 @ 0x0) Unable to communicate with the debug probe. Confirm debug probe configuration and connections, reset the debug probe, and retry the operation. (Emulation package 8.0.903.6)

I'll see if I can get my XDS220 LAN probe working with UniFlash 4.6. I'll keep you posted of my progress.

Just a quick (non) update. I will be going into the office this afternoon to retrieve my XDS220 LAN. Once I have it, I can try to confirm John's workaround for UniFlash 4.6 

Thanks

ki

Sorry for the delay. I have the setup and will be running my tests shortly.

Chao Zhang said:

I am able to open a session with your method. When I try to load image, uniflash would show the following error:

IcePick_C_0: Error initializing emulator: (Error -2083 @ 0x0) Unable to communicate with the debug probe. Confirm debug probe configuration and connections, reset the debug probe, and retry the operation. (Emulation package 8.0.903.6)

Yes I get the same error. They is likely some other dependency that is missing. I will try a few other things to see if I can get this to work.

Hi Ki,

Thanks for your effort on this topic. We tried dslite in CCS8.3.1. That version could not support multiple-threading on production systems we have. We need to flash multiple chips with multiple XDS220 emulators in parallel. Dslite in CCS will complaint about IcePick error while multiple scripts are running at the same time. 

Regards,
Chao

Chao Zhang said:

We tried dslite in CCS8.3.1. That version could not support multiple-threading on production systems we have.

Have you tried DSS? If the command line interface with UniFlash 3.4 worked well, then DSS with 8.3.1 should be fine also. UniFlash 3.4 used DSS for its command line interface.

Hi Ki,

I tried DSS with 8.3.1, and it works for now.

Thanks,

Chao

Hi Ki,

We are running two XDS220 in parallel so see if DSS in CCS could support multiple threading. However, we observed some intermittent LAN connection issue. Sometimes, scripts cannot establish LAN connection to one of the XDS220 emulator. Especially, when you power cycle both emulators, for the first couple of times, LAN connection cannot be established. Scripts will complaint that cannot connect to debug probe. Do you know any solution to this?

Thanks,

Chao

Chao Zhang said:

We are running two XDS220 in parallel so see if DSS in CCS could support multiple threading. However, we observed some intermittent LAN connection issue. Sometimes, scripts cannot establish LAN connection to one of the XDS220 emulator. Especially, when you power cycle both emulators, for the first couple of times, LAN connection cannot be established. Scripts will complaint that cannot connect to debug probe. Do you know any solution to this?

Please see my reply in the other thread:

https://e2e.ti.com/support/tools/code-composer-studio-group/ccs/f/code-composer-studio-forum/1038986/tms320f28377d-using-dss-with-multiple-xds220-debug-probes-in-parallel

Thanks

ki