CCS/MSP430FR5994: MSP430: Error initializing emulator: Interface Communication error

Hello Larry,

Just to get additional information, what exactly stops working when your computer goes to sleep? When you wake up the computer from sleep and then try to reprogram the devices in CCS, is the error described in the title of this post what you are seeing?

-Matt Calvo

Larry,

There are some additional debug steps outlined in these E2E posts that may help us get closer to helping you solve your problem ( https://e2e.ti.com/support/development_tools/code_composer_studio/f/81/t/303133 ) and ( https://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp430/f/166/t/439404 ).  Please let me know if any of the questions and solutions outlined in the linked threads apply to your setup and if any of them help you to solve your issue.

Best regards,

Matt Calvo

Hi Matt,

Thanks for responding. Yes, the message I get is shown in the title of this post.

This morning when I woke up my computer and tried to program the board that would not work I got the same message (but the other board was fine). However, at some point as I unplugged and then plugged in again just hoping for something different to happen I then got the following message: “MSP430: Error initializing emulator: One of the connected MSP-FETs / eZ-FETs debuggers needs recovery. Select 'Recover' to start the recovery process. Note: Only one MSP-FET / eZ-FET debugger can be connected to your system during recovery.”. I remember getting this message, or at least one similar to it, a while ago when I first started using these boards and responding to it at the time and everything seemed to work for a while. So, I unplugged my second MSP430 (the one with no problems) and selected ‘Recover’. Once it was done the board could be programmed with no error messages.

When I plugged in the second board (the one that was working) and tried to program it I got the following message: ”MSP430: Error initializing emulator: A firmware update is required for the MSP430 Debug Interface (MSP-FET430UIF / MSP-FET / eZ-FET). Click the "Update" button to update the firmware and launch your debug session (this may require several update steps). DO NOT UNPLUG THE INTERFACE DURING THE UPDATE.”. This message didn’t mention only one debugger can be connected so I just selected “Update” and waited for it to finish. Once it was done the board could be programmed with no further error messages.

So, both boards were working. After breaking for lunch (my computer went to sleep) I woke up my computer and tried programming each board. It worked! I am keeping my fingers crossed that they keep working. But I am curious as to why one board needed to recover and one needed a firmware update? I started using them at the same time so one might think they would be out-of-date at the same time. And why did it take so long for CCS to come up with the answer all on its own? What was the board recovering from and how can I force a recovery if this happens again (I will have to assume that it needs to recover unless I get a message)? How can I check the MSP430 firmware and ensure it is up-to-date?

Thanks,

Larry

Larry,

I am glad to hear that they are now both working simultaneously. I am going to reach out to our CCS and tools teams to see if I can get some insight as to why you were seeing those issues.

Best regards,

Matt Calvo

Larry,

I have yet to hear back from the tools team, but one thing I can suggest is that when you attempt to program a single device with a single MSPFET, then CCS will let you know if the firmware is out of date; and prompt you to update it if it is out of date. If you do this for each MSPFET you want to check then you would be able to ensure that all of them are up to date. Sometimes, a bug in the software of CCS or our tools gets updated while a customer is seeing a problem and then the problem is fixed without them knowing how it was fixed.

Have you seen the issue you were seeing at the beginning of this post arise again?

Best regards,

Matt Calvo

Hi Matt,

Sorry for the delay, but my real job takes priority at times.  While I was away my two boards were disconnected from the computer but CCS was still running.  When I reconnected them to the USB ports they were recognized by Windows Device Manager but one of them could not be loaded (same message as before) until I rebooted my computer.  So, the problem has not fixed itself.

Larry 

Larry,

That is totally understandable and it's very unfortunate the the problem has presented itself again. Since I have exhausted most of the preliminary debug steps for these types of scenarios, I am going to reach out to the colleague in the MSP Tools team again to get some more insight as to why you may be experiencing these issues. Thank you for your patience as I wait for their response.

Best regards,

Matt Calvo

Larry,

The first question the tools team wanted me to relay to you is to ask if you had any HW connected to the boards that could mess with the power supply over USB. Are the boards and jumpers in the same state as they were when they were pulled out of their boxes?

I went ahead and wrangled up 2 MSP430FR5994 Launchpads and attempted to recreate the problem you are seeing. I am using the most updated version of CCS (CCSv7.4) and Windows 10. After plugging in both boards, I used CCS and the Device Connection window in the Properties GUI to individually program each board at a time through TI MSP430 USB1 and TI MSP430 USB2. I then allowed my laptop to go to sleep, woke it back up, and reprogrammed each board successfully. I tried this process multiple times and did not run into any errors.

Have you attempted to update your version of CCS to the latest version to see if that fixes your issue? From what I can see, I am leaning more towards the issue having to do with your version and settings in Windows since it only arises when your computer goes to sleep.

-Matt Calvo

Larry,

Are there any updates to this thread from when I last posted a week ago?

Best regards,

Matt

Hi Matt,

The only other HW conncted to my laptop is a mouse dongle on a USB port and another screen on the serial port. The MSP430 has another board attached containing:
- two STMicroelectronics STEVAL-MKI175VI evaluation boards with LIS2DE12 accelerometers
- one Texas Instruments CC1200EM-868-930 evaluation board with CC120X RF Transceiver
- one AA battery pack (disconnected for now).
With the battery pack disconnected I think the jumpers are in the original state but I will need to confirm this with the designer (may take a day or two, we both have real jobs).

I am using CCS Version 7.3.0.00019. When I check for updates nothing shows up.

The other day when my computer went to sleep the system still worked once it woke up. But the next time it didn't. It seems to be hit and miss (usually miss). I unplugged the USB for about 20 seconds and then plugged it in again - it didn't work. I tried this a few times out of desperation because I didn't want to reboot. Finally, I unplugged it for about 10 minutes. Success! I have no idea if this is repeatable though.

Thanks for checking into this.

Larry

Hi Matt,

I thought I was using the latest since when I searched for updates it didn't find any. I went to the link you provided and tried to install it, but it crashed twice during the installation process. At least my previous version still runs. When I start it I get a message that updates are available, but they still won't install. And when I look under the help menu for the version number I am currently running it doesn't show it now. Seems like I'm stuck in limbo. I will try again later.

Larry