MSP-FET430UIF stops working today

Mark Lee

I have been using the MSP-FET430UIF successfully for months to program an MSP430. I have set up two computers to do programming, each with a dedicated MSP-FET430UIF debugger. Last Friday I was setting up a third PC as an additional programming station. In the middle of the IAR Kickstart install, I was asked to upgrade the firmware in my debugger. I clicked OK. Now I get the error "Fatal error: Failed to initialize. Check if hardware is connected. Check if drivers are installed. Try to restart the computer. Tools using the parallel port are not supported on Windows Vista Session aborted! " It also says "Failed to load flash loader: C:\testproject.d43" I have Windows 7 and IAR Embedded Workbench Kickstart for MSP430 5.30.4. I have tried three installs of IAR, three different degugger units, and two different target boards. How can I get IAR Kickstart and the debuggers back into production? I don't know where to start.

over 13 years ago

0 Priya Thanigai over 13 years ago

TI__Mastermind 26380 points

Mark,

Can you check if Katie's post helps answer your question?

http://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp43016-bit_ultra-low_power_mcus/f/166/t/152107.aspx

Regards,

Priya

0 Mark Lee over 13 years ago in reply to Priya Thanigai

Prodigy 30 points

I was able to fix two out of three of the MSP-FET430UIF programmers using the directions in the link you provided using the 8270.dowgrader utility. In the programmer that didn't get fixed, it appears that the bootloader is broken. I am unable to upgrade or downgrade that programmer. I get an error that says: Error, firmware update returned an error. Is there any way to fix it?

0 Katie Pier over 13 years ago in reply to Mark Lee

TI__Guru 73196 points

Hi Mark,

Could you post the error message you are getting? Does the back of this failing programmer have a v1.4 sticker? If it is a hardware rev1.3 FET tool there is an additional step required to do the upgrade/downgrade, outlined on the wiki page here:http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/MSPDS_Debugger_Up-_and_Downgrade#Frequently_asked_questions

Regards,

Katie

0 Mark Lee over 13 years ago in reply to Katie Pier

Prodigy 30 points

Katie,

Thanks for getting back to me. I have 3 of these FET tools. They all have the v1.4 stickers. Two of these I was able to downgrade. The third one seems to have lost the ability to upgrade or downgrade. I was downgrading it, and when the program asks me to pull out the cable, wait, put it back in, wait, etc - I just unplugged the cable and put it back in without waiting. I think I corrupted the bootloader. I assume the only way to recover from this is to program the FET firmware directly into its chip without the bootloader. Is there a way to recover from this state?

-Mark

0 Katie Pier over 13 years ago in reply to Mark Lee

TI__Guru 73196 points

Hi Mark,

Does the FET still enumerate in device manager - what does it say (VCP, CDC)? I'd also try running the downgrade utility again (though it sounds like you might have tried this already). One other thing you can try is the Elprotronic FetPr0430 Lite software - after installing it run and go to Tools > MSP-FET430UIF Firmware Downloader and try to run.

Regards,

Katie

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MSP-FET430UIF stops working today