MSP-GANG Programmer Issues

Hi Chris,

The 0.1uF capacitor is not recommended for either design - 2.2nF is the max that should be put on the RST pin when using our FET or GANG tools. Please see Table 1-3 of the 5xx User's Guide, and especially note (2) below the table:

"The pulldown capacitor should not exceed 2.2 nF when using devices with Spy-Bi-Wire interface in Spy-Bi-Wire mode or in 4-wire JTAG mode with TI tools like FET interfaces or GANG programmers."

I looked and this recommendation is the same for the F2xx family as well. To make sure that your design will work with our tools, your JTAG or Spi-Bi-Wire connections should always be based on the information in the Hardware Tool's User Guide - look at Figure 2-1 and 2-2 especially. You'll see in note E below Figure 2-1 that we put an upper limit on the RST line capacitor of 2.2nF.

For erasing segment INFO A: I just tried this on an F5438 and saw the same thing. I'm going to continue to investigate.

Regards,

Katie

Thanks Katie!

I hope a fix for the other problem comes soon. Thanks again for your time.

Hi Chris,

We determined that the INFO A issue was in fact a bug with the MSP-GANG software. The fix has now been implemented in the next version, which should release soon. I'll let you know when it becomes available. Thanks so much for the feedback!

Regards,

Katie

As of today, the MSP-GANG firmware v1.0.7.0 is now available on the web here.

This includes the INFO-A fix.

-Katie

Hi Katie,

I have acustomerr that is having a similar issue programming the BSL area (of MSP430F53xx) with MSP-GANG using command line (non-GUI) interface.  Are there any known issues with this?

Thanks, Merril

Hi Merril,

In order to program the BSL area of memory using the MSP-GANG, you need to go to Setup > Memory Options. In this window, you'll be able to select the address ranges that are going to be available to be programmed and read by the MSP-GANG.

To be able to write into the BSL area, under Memory Erase/Program/Verify Address Range you should choose either "Used by Code File (including selected BSL)" or "User defined" and then check the 4 BSL Flash segments. If you have this selected the MSP-GANG should be able to unlock the BSL area of flash and write to it. Similarly, if you want to read back what you wrote into the BSL area, you should choose the same selection on the Read Address Range.

If the customer has tried this and is still unable to program the BSL area, could you please have them send a screen shot of their Memory Options window, the version of the MSP-GANG software they are using, and a .txt file that we can use to reproduce the issue?

EDIT: I see now that you said they are using the "command line interface" - by this do you mean that they are using a script file, the DLL, or maybe sending the MSP-GANG commands over the USB/serial port?

The memory configuration should include information on what areas of memory are available for programming – if the BSL area is included this tells the MSP-GANG that it will need to unlock the BSL Flash area for programming.

Regards,

Katie