Low-cost programming solution for all MSP430 families?

You will probably find all of your desires impossible to meet.  I think the lack of a good low cost fairly universal programmer that works for most of TI's current and future devices is an unfortunate situation, especially because there are several unique models of programmers that are needed to program various subsets of TI devices, and for the most part there are few or no standards based or third party alternative solutions available.  The 'chipcon' devices require one programmer.  There are four or so sorts of programmers now for just the MSP430 devices depending on what device you're using and which development software you are using since some of the MSP430 devices / programmers aren't so compatible with some of the older programming tool sets.  Now there are new very low voltage MSP430s with their own distinct programming adapters.  The stellaris and C2000 MCUs have their own distinct programmers, and still there are various other options for various other DSP and ARM processor units from TI. 

The TI produced MSP-FET430UIF is the most comprehensive programmer model that I know of at the moment for the MSP430 devices, but still it does not satisfy all possible requirements since I believe you may still need some additional adaptation to work with the new low voltage MSP430 parts, and also the USB FET in some revisions doesn't work with some older versions of the MSP430 development tools -- so there is still a place for the old parallel port connected FET model for those using older devices and tools.

The MSP-FET430UIF has a US list price around $99 as I recall, though sometimes I see promotions through Avnet or MSP-430 day or TI seminars or whatever where the price may be reduced by 50% or some other amount.  Maybe there is some kind of student / educational institutional discount available that you could discover by asking about the options.

I believe I heard mention of a new version / model of the USB FET for MSP430 programming being forthcoming in the not so distant future that would have support for various added capabilities probably things like the lower voltage MSP430s and such, I don't know exactly. 

Some of the MSP430s support a serial two-wire plus power and ground programming mode called "Spy By Wire" which has limited capability in terms of data transfer speed as well as lacking options like blowing the security fuse on some MSP430 devices.  Additionally a large number of the older MSP430s do not support programming / debugging by Spy-By-Wire mode at all, so it is not a universal solution.  But the good news is that many of the newer as well as many of the smaller pin count MSP430 devices do support SBW mode programming offered by this interface.  Further good news is that the $4.30 list price "LAUNCHPAD" development board for the MSP-430 "Value Line" devices can reportedly actually program ANY model of MSP430 IC that supports the Spy By Wire programming mode.  This leaves out many devices, but it does cover a large number of devices across a few of the sub-families of the whole MSP-430 gamut.  For the price, it is probably the lowest cost and most versatile programmer option.  But if you can get the FET430UIF for $50 or whatever at some discount that is possible for you to accept, it is a more comprehensive solution for more of the total set of MSP430 devices out there.

Here is info on the LAUNCHPAD SpyByWire programmer unit:

"The flash emulator can program all Value Line MSP430s, as well as any other MSP430 with the Spy Bi-Wire (2-wire JTAG) interface, enabling complete scalability to higher end MSP430 devices. List of MSP430 devices with Spy Bi-Wire interface is located here, in table 2-1."

http://focus.ti.com/lit/ug/slau157m/slau157m.pdf

http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/MSP430_LaunchPad_%28MSP-EXP430G2%29?DCMP=launchpad&HQS=Other+OT+LaunchPadWiki

Another solution which is useful for many but by no means all of the MSP430 MCUs is a programming option called BSL or "Boot Strap Loader" whereby the unit can load program code from an interface other than the "JTAG" or "SpyByWire" for instance maybe through a UART serial port or USB interface or other supported port.  This is not a debugger interface solution, just one for reprogramming the unit without debugging.  But it requires less custom / expensive programming hardware if you can use a UART type serial port or USB interface or whatever rather than a special programmer unit only for MSP430s.  There are documents in the MSP430 literature for the device family you may be considering that will tell what the BSL options and protocols and interfaces are that are supported for those particular MSP430 devices.

I have not used the Olimex USB or parallel port programmers, but I have heard they worked and were good values in the past.  Lately, though, I would have some question about how compatible they are with the latest MSP430 chips as well as the latest versions of the MSP430 development tools like Code Composer Studio 4.2 or whatever.  It really depends on whether you want to use MSPGCC, Code Composer 4.x, the old CCE or CCS 3.x, IAR, or some other MSP430 debugging / compiler tool chain since that software will also impose certain compatibility limits on your choice of programming / debugging hardware.  

As before, I don't have the impression that even TI offers a truly universal programmer unit that will work directly with every possible MSP430 IC that exists, especially not also one that will be directly compatible with the five or six different software tool set versions and varieties that are still in use by organizations using the MSP 430 MCUs.

So my #1 suggestion is to try to find out more about the programmer units that may be available in the near future from TI since maybe they will be more universal especially with respect to forward compatibility with very new / upcoming devices than the current USB FET.  My #2 suggestion would be to get the MSP-FET430UIF in a recent version at as low of a price as possible that will suit you for best total device compatibility.  And #3 would be to look at whether the LAUNCHPAD and SBW with its limited device support and functions would suit your short term needs for a while anyway until there are better programmer options available to suit your further / future needs.  You would still have to make a little cable to the breadboard or target board to use the launchpad to program devices that are in packages other than 14 or 20 pin DIP since it doesn't offer any kind of 14 pin "JTAG" header style cable/header.  I don't see much value for now in looking at 3rd party programmer units since I question their software/hardware compatibility and forward evolutionary adaptability in these respects at this time, and if you can get the USB FET for $50-$99 then they'd have to be very much less expensive or better to compete if they are lacking some support / compatibility vs. the TI FET.  If TI opens more of the MSP430 debugging design data to 3rd party designers in the future (I seem to recall once seeing something indicating that they intend to do this in the not so distant future), maybe there will be a new generation of 3rd party programmers out these at lower price points and maybe with more universal device support.

There's the MSP-FET430UIF product page

MSP-FET430UIF link is here

And here's two documents you should read about understanding the various programmer units and their capabilities and limitations as well as the usage guide for the latest CCS 4.2 with MSP-430:

MSP430 Hardware Tools Users Guide link here
Code composer studio 4.2 users guide for MSP430 devices link here

The MSP430L092 is the low voltage device of the sort I mentioned earlier that needs a voltage conversion adapter to work with the MSP-FET430UIF

MSP430L092 programming adapter kit and FET package information page

Hello,

Adding my 2 cents,

There are actually multiple programming solutions from TI for the MSP430; but if you are looking for a universal, low-cost programmer -the TI Parallel port programmer is available for 49$ and the USB programmer for 99$ : http://focus.ti.com/mcu/docs/mcuprodmsptoolsw.tsp?sectionId=95&tabId=1203&familyId=342&toolTypeId=1#FETs

Olimex is also a good option cost-wise.

There is another company that makes MSP430 programming solutions - Elprotronic.

At www.elprotronic.com you can find the list of products and check out ones that have a 'university discount'.

But you will need to do some amount of 'blue-wiring' if you want to hook them up to a bread board.

Regards,

Priya

Recently, i attended MSP430 MCU day, received product brochure in which the cost of parallel programmer was mentioned as US$20, but on Ti's website it is US$49, why is this ?

As we know Parallel ports are fast vanishing from today's PCs, i think Ti should give discount and bring down the price of parallel FET.

Regards,

Nura