MSP-FET: Unable to detect a target (MSP430F5418AIPNR)

Also, while giving some solutions based from the existing related post from the forum, customer has the following additional info:

I was able to program boards using the exact same set up and today I cannot. This concludes that the programmer and MCU are connected properly.
As for the version, again because it worked in the past it should be supported. Also I was able to program the board once and then not again.
I am wondering if the issue exist due to a compatibility error of the programmer and Windows 11 or if there is a way to check if the programmer is working properly through a test program to see if there is no internal issue.

For your attention.

Thank you!

Regards,
Archie A.

Hi Archie,

A couple questions for you.

• Does this problem persist after power cycling the board and the PC?
• Are you able to use the MSPFET successfully on any other devices?
• Were there any software changes that between the when the MSPFET was working versus when it stopped working?
• On the board where the customer is no longer able to connect, is the board/system operating correctly? No evidence of a damaged part?

I'm trying to understand if we think the issue is the device or PC side. Any other experiments the customer can run to help determine this would be helpful.

Regards,

Evan

Hello Evan,

Thanks for the guidance. Just received further notice from Cx as follows:

"The problem does persist after a full power cycle of all devices used during programming.
The MSPFET has worked on other devices, but it seems like there is a string of unsuccessful uses when the error appears.
There are no changes to software, or any physical component when the error appears.
There is no problem with the board on customer side; I was able to find the device and do what I need after a couple of days, then it does not find it again after a few uses.

So to give a little more information on the problem. I ran the test on a Monday and it was working properly. Had a few more boards to program on Tuesday and it was not working, tested it out on a board that worked Monday and it said that it did not recognize the device. This error persisted until Thursday, where all the boards that were not able to be read on Tuesday, suddenly could be read. This issue has happened in the past, and it seems to be intermittent even while using the same components."

Thank you.

Regards,
Archie A.

Hi Archie,

Thanks for the response. Can you review figure 2-1 or figure 2-2 (depending on if the customer is using 2 or 4 wire JTAG) in MSP430 Hardware Tools User's Guide? Instability while programming could be related to incorrect capacitor/resistor placement on the programming lines. 

Regards,

Evan

Evan Lew said:

Instability while programming could be related to incorrect capacitor/resistor placement on the programming lines. 

Only in case if 2-wire SBW is used, in full JTAG it is irelevant.

Hello Evan,

Thanks for the guide.

Customer is using figure 2-2 (2 wire JTAG).
As mentioned before programming has worked with the same set-up (including same MSP430 and programming computer), and showing an error 10 minutes later or even a day later.

Thank you.

Regards,
Archie A.

Thanks for the update Archie.

Could you inspect the customer schematic to make sure that it isn't violating any parameters specified in figure 2-2?

Thanks,

Evan