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eZ430-Chronos RF connection problem

Eckard Appel
Prodigy 100 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: CC430F6137

Hi,

I recently received my eZ430-Chronos dev tool (868 Mhz European version).
First of all: congratulations to you TI engineers for coming up with such brilliant dev kit.
The Chronos even tops the eZ430-F2013 kit that got me started with the eZ430. Keep up the
good work, your dev kits make you stay ahead of your competition ;-)

Now here's my problem: the Chronos watch does no seem to connect to the RF access point. I
got the software and driver to install correctly on my Windows XP System, but when I start
the eZ430-Chronos Control Center 1.0, hit the "Start Transmitter" button and put the watch
in acc/ppt/sync mode and start communication with the "down arrow" button, no data seems to
be transmitted. The green LED on the RF access point flashes periodically (3 sec. on, 3 sec.
off), the transmission icon in the watch display flashes for about 18 sec, and that's it.
Now I'm wondering whether I'm missing something really basic here or whether the RF hardware
or the driver software may be faulty.

Here's what I've checked so far:

  • tried it on a different computer (everything installed smoothly, same problem)
  • tried to move away from other RF sources (mobile phones, wireless thermometer etc.), problem persists
  • I assume the antenna of the watch is the metal back plate, right? There is a plastic sticker there on the inside; am I right to assume that this sticker is not meant to be peeled off as there is already a small round hole in the sticker to allow a small metal spring to connect to the metal back plate of the watch?
  • how can I find out if both the access point and the watch RF hardware are working correctly? How can I tell that both are the same frequency (868 Mhz)?


Any ideas what might be wrong?

Thanks and Cheers, Eckard


  • 0 in reply to Landor
    Prodigy 100 points

    Landor said:

    Just to let you know if you have not noticed this discussion earlier.

    http://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp43016-bit_ultra-low_power_mcus/f/166/t/31051.aspx

     

    Thanks, Landor, I have indeed seen that discussion earlier. However, Fredriks problems were different, as he had trouble with installing the driver on his system. That part is working for me, my problem is that I can't get the watch to connect to the RF access point :-(

    Cheers, Eckard

     

  • 0 in reply to Eckard Appel
    Prodigy 30 points

    Hi Eckard, does your watch also restart as mine does?

     

    Dirk

  • 0 in reply to Dirk39098
    Prodigy 100 points

    Dirk said:

    Hi Eckard, does your watch also restart as mine does?

     

    Dirk

     

    Hi Dirk,

    no, my watch continues to run normally. Only the transmission icon in the watch display will eventually cease to flash after about 18 sec.

    Perhaps your battery is down too low for RF communication so that the chip (eZ430/CC430F6137) will brown out?

     

    Cheers, Eckard

     

  • 0 in reply to Eckard Appel
    Prodigy 20 points

    Hello Eckard,

    I don't have any answers, being new to the forum, but I wanted to say I just got my Chronos today (1/11/2010) with exactly the same symptoms as yours.  Mine is the US 915 MHz version.  My software and drivers loaded without problem on a Win 7 Acer 1410 laptop.  I did seem to find two entry paths in to change the baud rate to 115200.  One would let me change the baud rate, but would immediately revert back when I left, the other path let me change it and it stayed.  The unsuccessful path was by following the "Properties" button, and the successful path was through a "Change Me" button.  My green led blinks as does yours on the ap.  I don't think I see a transmission icon on the watch ever come on.  Don't know that any of this helps, but maybe misery loves company!

    Verne

     

  • 0 in reply to Verne Olson
    Prodigy 20 points

    Hello again,

    Minutes after writing the above post, I got my Chronos to xmt.  Turns out the down arrow key turns the xmtr on/off.  I started the PC app, hit the "Start AP" button, and hit the down arrow (bottom right) button on the watch, and I had accelerometer readings on screen.  Seems the Blue Robin apps use the up arrow key to turn the xmtr on/off.  Waahooo!

    Verne

     

  • 0 in reply to Verne Olson
    Prodigy 100 points

    Hi Verne,

    glad you got Chronos to work! I'm aware of the "down arrow" button on the watch to activate transmission, but alas, no success here :-(

     

    Cheers, Eckard

     

  • 0 in reply to Eckard Appel
    Prodigy 30 points

    Eckard Appel said:

    Hi Eckard, does your watch also restart as mine does?

    Dirk

    Hi Dirk,

    no, my watch continues to run normally. Only the transmission icon in the watch display will eventually cease to flash after about 18 sec.

    Perhaps your battery is down too low for RF communication so that the chip (eZ430/CC430F6137) will brown out?

    Cheers, Eckard

    [/quote]

     

    Battery voltage is 2.96 volt, that should be enough I think. The watch restarts after 16 seconds. What is the next  step? Uploading the firmware again?

     

  • 0 in reply to Dirk39098
    Prodigy 50 points

    Dirk,

    I got my watches (2) yesterday and had a similar problem with the first one I tried.  I did notice that the Heart rate emulator in the control program would send data to the watch so I knew access point was transmitting ok and watch was receiving.  When I went to read/set the time it didn't work also wouldn't read the acc.  After a lot of tinkering and checking, I decided to try the USB access point in the other watch kit and it worked fine with both watches. 

    Since both watches work fine with one access point only, I'm guessing that the questionable access point is not receiving data from the watch.  At this point don't know if it is a programming problem with the chip on the USB access point or a hardware problem with it.  I'm always using the same code and computer just swapping USB access points.

    Hope my experience might help you to diagnose your problem?  I'm going to see if I can get a replacement USB unit...  I like the watch otherwise...

  • 0
    Intellectual 620 points

    Start the APP as before and select "attach". Then go to the Chronos. Press/release the bottom selection button (#) until you get a connection type that is the same as the one selected in the PC APP (Sync, PPT...).

    Important part - THEN, push the DOWN arrow button on the right side of the watch. That will start the radio and get things going. I had the same problem.

    Good Luck

    Andy

  • 0 in reply to Andy10159
    Intellectual 620 points

    Sorry, I didn't see the other responses. Never Mind.

    Andy

  • 0 in reply to Earl_Green
    Prodigy 50 points

    I have the *exact* same problem. 

    Drivers installed okay on several PCs, (XP SP3, and Win 7). Also, as somebody else mentioned, the BlueRobin HR Simulator worked fine. I had suspected that the USB dongle was to blame. Could it be as simple as the wrong SimplicTI join token? Too bad the source for the CC1111 hasn't been released and that it's not easy to reprogram...

    Has anybody had success getting a replacement/resolution from TI?

    Regards,

    Pevo

  • 0 in reply to pevo
    Prodigy 50 points

    I sent my problem to the TI support team and last night replied to a series of questions about the problem.  At this point I'm hoping to receive an return authorization.  It appears that I can't get just the USB-RF access point so the whole package has to go back.  That means no "toy" to play with so if it is going to take a while to get a replacement, then I'll just get in line to buy another kit.  If a bunch of us have this problem, then there may be a production issue with the access point... 

     

    Hoping for the best!

     

    Earl

  • 0 in reply to Earl_Green
    Prodigy 50 points

    Follow-up:  TI Support emailed that they had decided to send me just the access point.  I sent my broken one to them today and the new one is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday!  Hopefully with my old broken? access point they will be able to determine a fix...

     

    Earl

  • 0 in reply to Earl_Green
    Prodigy 100 points

    Earl_Green said:

    Follow-up:  TI Support emailed that they had decided to send me just the access point.  I sent my broken one to them today and the new one is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday!  Hopefully with my old broken? access point they will be able to determine a fix...

     

    Earl

    Thanks, Earl, for keeping us posted. Hope the replacement works out for you. Also thanks for pointing out that the BlueRobin HR Emulator works. I hadn't even tried that before, but indeed is works on my watch/RF access point combination as well! So it's definitely a problem with the watch sending and the access point receiving data. Hope TI finds out what's wrong here. BTW, how did you contact TI support? Online? Have you got an URL for that?

    Cheers, Eckard

     

  • 0 in reply to pevo
    Prodigy 100 points

    pevo said:

    I have the *exact* same problem. 

    Drivers installed okay on several PCs, (XP SP3, and Win 7). Also, as somebody else mentioned, the BlueRobin HR Simulator worked fine. I had suspected that the USB dongle was to blame. Could it be as simple as the wrong SimplicTI join token? Too bad the source for the CC1111 hasn't been released and that it's not easy to reprogram...

    Has anybody had success getting a replacement/resolution from TI?

    Regards,

    Pevo

    Hi Pevo,

    thanks for pointing out that the BlueRobin HR Simulator works so it's definitely a one way problem with the watch sending and the RF access point receiving data. Any news on whether it might just be a wrong SimplicTI token? Would we be able to reprogram that ourselves or would we need to have the hardware replaced? Have you tried getting your access point replaced by TI?

    Cheers, Eckard

     

  • 0 in reply to Eckard Appel
    Prodigy 50 points

    Eckard,

     

    If you check on HOME for the forum, there are a number of links back to TI support.  I chose the first one:  http://bit.ly/TI_Tech_Support_Email_Page and just explained the problem.  For me this worked great.  Hopefully they will figure out what is wrong with my access point and get to work on a fix. 

    Best of luck getting yours working too.

     

    Earl

  • 0 in reply to Earl_Green
    Prodigy 30 points

    Hi,

    I have exactly the same problem and submitted that support request form on the 15th Jan. Don't know what I filled in differently but I got this response instead:

    "The agent handling this particular device related issues is on leave. We apologize for delay in responding your enquiries due to holiday season."

    SR#1-638115736 if anybody can help me out too please.


    Thanks

    Carey

  • 0 in reply to Carey39989
    Prodigy 50 points

    Guys,

     

    I received my replacement USB RF access point and it works fine!

    The TI customer support member helping me in Billy Owen.  He indicated that he would review the forum for people with this problem and arrange to obtain their access points.  He will then be sending as many as he can obtain to their programmer in Norway.  I don't know how long it will take for him to get this done? 

    Hopefully you can get yours exchanged soon.

     

    Earl

     

  • 0 in reply to Earl_Green
    Prodigy 20 points

    I have the same problem (#1-638455169). I thing that it is common problem of eZ430-Chronos (European version). What is the cost of CC1111 USB RF access point? TI could send correct version of access point to every requested customer.

    Is it easy to reprogram CC1111 USB RF access point my self?

    Andrzej

  • 0 in reply to Earl_Green
    Prodigy 100 points

    Earl_Green said:

    I received my replacement USB RF access point and it works fine!

    The TI customer support member helping me in Billy Owen.  He indicated that he would review the forum for people with this problem and arrange to obtain their access points.  He will then be sending as many as he can obtain to their programmer in Norway.  I don't know how long it will take for him to get this done? 

    Hopefully you can get yours exchanged soon.

     

    Earl

    Thanks for the feedback, Earl. I was waiting to see whether your replacement USB RF access point would work (to rule out the watch as the faulty part). I will now take the same route as you and contact TI support directly for a replacement. Have fun tinkering with you new toy.

    Cheers, Eckard

     

  • 0 in reply to Carey39989
    Prodigy 100 points

    Carey said:

     

    I have exactly the same problem and submitted that support request form on the 15th Jan. Don't know what I filled in differently but I got this response instead:

    "The agent handling this particular device related issues is on leave. We apologize for delay in responding your enquiries due to holiday season."

    SR#1-638115736 if anybody can help me out too please.

    Carey, have you had feedback from TI in the meantime? I'm about to take the same route as you and contact TI support directly for a replacement. Earl seems to be up and running with a new RF access point so I hope it will work out for me as well.

    Cheers, Eckard

     

  • 0 in reply to Andrzej Cedro
    Prodigy 100 points

    Andrzej Cedro said:

     

    I have the same problem (#1-638455169). I thing that it is common problem of eZ430-Chronos (European version). What is the cost of CC1111 USB RF access point? TI could send correct version of access point to every requested customer.
    Is it easy to reprogram CC1111 USB RF access point my self?
    Andrzej

    Andrzej, interesting that this might be a particular problem of the 868 MHz European version. Do you think it's a hardware or a software problem? If there were a way to reprogram the thing we could handle a software related issue ourselves. Anyway, I too will place a call with TI for a replacement of the part. Wish you luck with yours.

    Cheers, Eckard

     

  • 0 in reply to Eckard Appel
    Prodigy 30 points

    Hi,

    Still haven't had any response at all.  Mine is the 868 model too.

    If anybody can provide a more direct contact detail to get this issue resolved it would be much appreciated.

    Carey

  • 0
    Prodigy 20 points

    I have the same problem.  However I have two kits and I found that the watch itself was not working properly.

     

  • 0 in reply to Lost_Pete
    Prodigy 140 points

    Same problem for me too (EZ430-CHRONOS-868) :

    - the watch is unable to connect to the Access Point with the Simplicity protocol

    - the BlueRobin protocol is working fine : press "Start transmitter" in the "BlueRobin Heart Rate Simulator" tab, the Up-arrow when the watch is in "♥" menu; you can then choose any related menu (upper line : km/h, lower line : km / kcal)

    I will try to reprogram the watch in order to see if the Simplicity protocol has been enhanced since week 49/2009 ...

     

  • 0 in reply to PhilouCH
    Prodigy 140 points

    My Chronos is now fully functional !

    After reprogramming it, either with the "Full" or "Limited" configuration, the RF link was perfectly established between the watch and the access point.

    Details :

    - software used : FET-Pro430 Lite from Elprotronic (http://www.elprotronic.com). Advantage over CCS: complete control of the process (read/erase/write), no need for debug.

    - by precaution, I read back the content of the flash memory; the checksum was the same as the "ez430_chronos_ISM_EU.txt" file, found in the folder "<eZ430-Chronos>\Software Projects\CCS\Sports Watch\Debug - 868MHz - Full". Don't worry for the warning of the FET-Pro430 (processor unrecognized !

    - the "AUTO-PROG" was running strangely (no response neither refreshing of the window), but successfully

    - the RF-link was OK !

    I have no rational explanation of the problem but perhaps two ideas :

    - something was wrong in the Flash; the complete erase prior to programming restored the correct behavior;

    - something was wrong in the RAM; removing the battery was perhaps sufficient to restore the watch.

    Conclusion : if you have RF-link problems, first check if the other protocol (BlueRobin for example) is working fine; next, disassemble the watch and try the RF-link again after complete shutdown (remove battery, wait several seconds, plug back the battery); and last, reprogram the watch either with the Elprotronic software or with the CCS IDE.

  • 0 in reply to PhilouCH
    Prodigy 30 points

    Yay, mine too. Thanks!

    Still no response from my Ti Support request, so I tried your instructions.

    Removing and replacing the battery alone had no effect.

    But reprogramming the watch exactly as you described using the FET-Pro430 Lite worked.

    Thanks again.

    Now time to start having some real fun with this thing....

     

    Carey

  • 0 in reply to PhilouCH
    Prodigy 20 points

    Thanks Philou and Canadians from Elprotronic,

    My Chonos Watch works perfectly. You save my money and time. TI Support told my to send Chromos back to US for my own cost.

    If somebody has a problem with comunication between FET-Pro430 Lite program and eZ430 emulator dongle first chose Setup/Connection on menu and then set JTAG (4wire) comunication type and COM Port  USB.

    Regards,

    Andrzej

     

  • 0 in reply to Andrzej Cedro
    Intellectual 260 points

    I experienced the same symptoms as you guys with my EU model.

     

    Flashed using the TI CCS and it is now working!

     

    Thanks,


    Alistair.

     

  • 0
    Prodigy 100 points

    Just wanted let you know that my problem has been resolved by TI by replacing my complete Chronos kit. RF connection is now working in both directions as expected. TI support was very helpful and expeditious. Thanks to Earl, Carey, Pevo, and Verne for your comments confirming my initial guess regarding the hardware. Also thanks to PhilouCH, Alistair, and Andrzej for pointing out that reprogramming the chip might work as well (I didn't get to try that out as I had already sent back my kit for replacement when your posts came in).

    Cheers, Eckard

  • 0
    Prodigy 20 points

    The distributor (Arrow) replaced one of our watches within a few days.

  • 0
    Prodigy 55 points

    hi Eckhart,
    is that you have found a solution to your problem in the connection and EZ430 RF access point???? help me cv.

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