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Does MSP-FET support BSL?

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: MSP430F5342, MSP-FET, MSP-GANG, MSP-EXP430FR5969, MSP430F5310

Hi,

I am trying to use BSL communication with MSP-FET and MSP430F5342 target board.
But unsuccessful updating the MSP430's memory.

Could you please let me know if MSP-FET supports BSL communication and
do we need any special precedure to configure BSL mode.

Currently I am trying with the "BSL_Scripter.exe" tool but it always says
"FAIL writing block starting at 4400".. as shown below.
It seems the BSL is able to erase the memory but cannot write.

Note: I am able to erase/write the MSP430 memory using LaunchPad BSL with the same connection
         & script and also MSP-GANG works proper with the same set up. Only problem is MSP-FET.


Best Regards
kummi

  • Hi Kummi,

    The MSP-FET should support BSL mode as of debug stack 3.4.2.7. If you go to this page: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/MSP_Debug_Stack and look down at the 3.4.2.7 release notes you'll see some tips on how to get the MSP-FET into BSL mode:

    New features:

    • MSP-FET BSL support - I2C and UART BSL
    • Can be activated via invalid baud rate commands
    • 9620 Tristate of all UART/ BSL pins – no current flow into target device
    • 9621 Configure UART communication without handshake (default start behaviour)
    • 9622 Configure UART communication with handshake
    • 9623 Voltage configuration command. Set target VCC hard to 3.3V
    • 9601 BSL-Entry sequence + Power up 3.3V (UART BSL)
    • 100000(1) BSL-Entry sequence + Power up 3.3V (I2C BSL)
    • 400000(1) BSL-Entry sequence + Power up 3.3V (I2C BSL)
    • 8001 Enable MSP-FET debugger mode - disable of MSP-FET BSL mode

    Hopefully this might help you out.

    Regards,

    Katie

  • Hi Katie,

    Thank you for the information.

    According to your suggestion,
    I tried to change the Baud Rate both on the Script and also using the serial terminal
    but I get the same error.

    I would like to know if anyone has tried BSL on MSP-FET and
    if there is any sample script or procedure to invoke BSL on MSP-FET.

    Best Regards
    kummi

  • Hi Katie,

    Could you please let me know if you have any advice on this issue.
    I have tried with few other MSP430 target boards also but was unsuccessful.

    Currently the BSL works fine with MSP-GANG,Launhpad BSL,GangPro430 etc but
    doesn't work only with the MSP-FET....

    Actually I recommended our customer also to buy MSP-FET to test BSL
    but it is not working properly...

    Best Regards
    Kummi

  • Hi Kummi,

    Sorry for the long delay while I was out of the office.

    I can successfully use the BSL with MSP-FET connected to the 14-pin JTAG header on my MSP-EXP430FR5969 Launchpad, when running the BSL_Scripter.exe program. I used the following simple script (note that COM83 was the number for the MSP430 Application UART1 when I looked in my device manager, not MSP Debug Interface) :

    MODE 5xx COM83
    VERBOSE
    MASS_ERASE
    RX_PASSWORD
    TX_BSL_VERSION
    RX_DATA_BLOCK msp430fr59xx_1.txt

    If you use VERBOSE mode, you can see the responses that are coming back from the MSP in addition to the commands being sent. This way if you get an error, you can see what error code the BSL returned (or if the BSL returned nothing you can also tell this, which would maybe indicate a hardware issue is going on - maybe a wrong connection to the MSP-FET from your board).

    For TX_BSL_VERSION, this command will fail if you do it before you successfully do RX_PASSWORD because it is a password protected command (see www.ti.com/lit/pdf/slau319 section 3.6.1 Protected commands).

    It also turns out that the latest BSL_Scripter.exe from www.ti.com/lit/zip/slau319 (BSL_Scripter.exe should have a date from 2013) includes built in already the baud rate invoke method used by the MSP-FET, so this is why you don't have to do this yourself - the scripter program will already invoke the BSL for you by doing PC change baud commands to 9601 when it starts running the script. You can observe this is the case in the BSL Scripter source code. Go to SLAU319i.zip BSL_Files\BSL_Scripter\source\BSL_IO_UART.c and see the function invokeBSL() starting at line 80. You can see that at line 105 it uses changeCommBaudRate(9601); to do the baud rate invoke method used by the MSP-FET, so you don't have to do anything special to get it to work as the scripter program does this for you already.

    Potentially you are having a hardware connection issue? Please note that while the FR5969 Launchpad 14-pin header is designed to also make the BSL connections, most target boards like the one for F53xx do not have the BSL connections on this header since they were designed before MSP-FET was released and had this BSL functionality. So in your case you will have to make the connections yourself between the MSP-FET and the correct pins on the target using jumper wires or something. Can you post which pins of the MSP-FET are being connected to which pins on your F53xx target? Please also be very careful to note where notch is on the JTAG header on the MSP-FET in relation to the picture on the back to make sure you are correctly identifying pin 1 - it can be a bit confusing because of the way it is oriented and I have seen people have it be flipped before.

    Regards,

    Katie

  • Hi Katie,

    Thank you very much for your time on this issue.

    And I am sorry for the delay in reply.

    I have tried your suggestions but unfortunately I am not able to
    get the BSL working with MSP-FET,  whereas it works nicely with other tools.

    Below is the connection details.....

  • Hi Kummi,

    I tested on the MSP-TS430RGC64B target board and an MSP430F5310 device, and I was successfully able to use BSL with MSP-FET.

    Your connections look correct, and I'm really sorry this issue is stretching so long. As a note, if you use the TI target board MSP-TS430RGC64B and connect to any of these signals via the JTAG header (TEST, RST), make sure that you have set the jumpers to JTAG mode instead of SBW mode, as otherwise TEST and RST will be connected to the wrong pins on the header.

    I'm trying to think of other things that might be causing problems:

    1. Could you run your latest BSL_scripter.exe with your latest script.txt, with VERBOSE mode added at the top of the script, and post the script and results here? The responses from the device may provide a clue about where in the process this could be failing.

    2. Could you make sure that the MSP-FET contains the latest firmware? The support for BSL was only added more recently (see release notes: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/MSP_Debug_Stack#Releases it was only added in 3.4.2.7). If you have the latest MSP430Flasher software 1.3.3 (download here: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/MSP430_Flasher_-_Command_Line_Programmer?DCMP=MSP430&HQS=Other+OT+msp430flasher ) you can call it from the command line to check the firmware version of the MSP-FET and see if you have the latest firmware in the MSP-FET. With the MSP-FET connected to the PC without any target connected to it, in the command prompt go to C:\ti\MSP430Flasher_1.3.3 (or wherever is your flasher 1.3.3 install) and do "MSP430Flasher.exe -n NO_TARGET -s". This should give you a message about checking firmware compatibility, and tell you if the FET firmware is up to date, or it may request to go ahead and update your FET firmware - if it requests and update, have it do it. This is to make sure you have FET firmware that is updated to fully support BSL programming.

    3. Can you make sure you also have the latest BSL Scripter software, to make sure the scripter is supporting the MSP-FET? It can be downloaded www.ti.com/lit/zip/slau319 and the zip file revision should be slau319i


    Regards,

    Katie

  • Try this. Connect RST from FET to "RSTDVCC/SBWTDIO" instead of RST on uC,
  • i try to use it for BSL download but failed too.

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