This thread has been locked.

If you have a related question, please click the "Ask a related question" button in the top right corner. The newly created question will be automatically linked to this question.

Modified BSL-Scripter for Windows now works with FTDI and other USB-to-UART adapters

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: MSP-FET, MSP430FR2311

A new WIN32 version of BSL-Scripter.exe has been compiled which allows BSL flashing using generic USB-to-UART adapters such as the FT232, CP2102 and CH430 as the hardware interface.  It can be used with MSP430 F5xx F6xx, and FRxx parts with UART BSL.

This version has a new MODE line option "INVOKE", which causes Scripter to directly generate the BSL hardware invocation sequence on the adapter's DTR and RTS outputs, which in turn are connected to the /Reset and Test pins on the target device.  It produces the pattern shown in Figure 2 of slau319w.pdf and slau550s.pdf, which is normally generated by the Rocket or MSP-FET.  If the INVOKE option is used, you must include the PARITY option as well.

I have successfully tested the new Scripter on an MSP430FR2311 using all three adapter types.  It would be helpful if others could test other relevant MSP430 parts and report the results.

This has finally come about as a result of the generous efforts of "drcrane" on Github, who not only got TI's source code to compile with new versions of all the dependencies, but also navigated the mysteries of BOOST to control the DTR and RTS lines.  The new Scripter and a related Instructions file are contained in "BSL-Scripter-v3.4.1.zip" in the Releases folder of his repository, which also contains the source code:

https://github.com/drcrane/bslscripter-vs2017/releases

For those who must run an official TI version of Scripter, I will leave on my Github the now-deprecated kludge option for using these adapters with the official Scripter, but of course it requires either manual intervention or an additional circuit:

https://github.com/gbhug5a/CP2102-with-BSL-Scripter-for-MSP430

And finally, a reminder that the older MSP430 parts which use BSLDEMO2 for flashing, including the F1xx, F2xx, F4xx, and G2xx parts with BSL, can also be flashed with these adapters if a modified version of BSLDEMO is used, such as the "BSLDEMO-2.01C.exe" found in my other repo:

https://github.com/gbhug5a/MSP430-BSL

Texas Instruments has neither reviewed nor approved any of this. But I continue to hope TI will officially make similar changes to BSL-Scripter and BSLDEMO to support the use of these generic adapters.


  • George,

    Great to see the MSP community creating and implementing their own solutions.

    Thanks for sharing this information and the helpful feedback about BSL-SCRIPTER. 

    -Chris

  • You're welcome, Chris. The issue of using generic adapters arose for me when searching for a way to update G2553 firmware in the field without the user having to buy a launchpad and connect jumpers. That led to the idea of embedding an adapter in the project so only a USB cable would be needed. And that led to my modified BSLDEMO.

    However, modifications to BSL-Scripter for the newer parts (it's hard to embed a Rocket) was beyond me, so it's great that drcrane made that happen. But it would be better for all if TI made similar changes to the official versions of both programs since people don't really know who drcrane and I are, or whether the modified software is safe to use. It's better if signed by TI.

    It has always been curious to me that the official versions still go out of their way to discourage the use of these cheap adapters. Not sure why that is so. Sales of Rockets maybe. Or maybe they were written before these adapters existed (certainly the case with the original BSLDEMO, but not subsequent updates). Actually, since BSLDEMO doesn't work with either the Rocket or MSP-FET, there seems to be no reason at all for not making it work with the adapters. For Scripter, a USB-cable-only firmware update option already exists for parts with USB BSL, so maybe the case for modifying it isn't so compelling.

    Anyway, questions about using these adapters for flashing firmware come up regularly here, so maybe this will provide an answer other than "we don't support that."

**Attention** This is a public forum