bQ20z75 EVM modul - possible to have a master reset......

Do you get any response to SMBReadWord Cmd=0x0D? You may need to short Pack+ to Bat+ to wake it up.

Hi Shiris,

Thanks for answering,  - yes I have tried to short Pack+ and Bat+ but no response. When I read 0x0D the only response is an error code No Acknowledge:VB_T2H_NACK. It seems like I have ended up in a situation where the software is corrupted. My fault, I did not restart the EVSW before loading the *dfi

Do you think that there is anything I can do - (except buing a new EVM board ?

Regards

Kjell

Kjell,

Looks like the data flash is corrupt. If there is intermittent communication then you could try to send the return to ROM command repeatedly and hope one of them gets through. There could be other options that i am unaware of.

You can replace the IC instead of buying the whole EVM if you have any spare ICs

A few points to note regarding data flash write and dfi read/write.

1. Any data flash read/write after programming should be performed only after bqEVSW is restarted (for autodetecting). this is the warning that is shown in EVSW. The data flash page does not use DFI images

2. DFI files are independent of bqEVSW autodetect. These are raw images of data flash memory. Therefore it is very important to match the DFI to the actual firmware version while programming. bqEVSW cannot prevent incorrect DFI programming even after restart because the hardwre has the same raw memory size.

Kjell,

You could see if you can get the device back into ROM mode and reload the .senc file. You will probably have to replace the device, if you cannot do that. You can also check the SMBus data to see if the device is responding with an ACK to the first word. This would indicate that the device is still alive. You can check the REG25 to see if the 2.5V regulator is working. You can temporarily short this to ground to reset the device and see if it will recover.

You also should not load a .dfi for v160 into a device that has been updated to v181. Some parameters have been added and some parameters have been moved to different addresses. You should extract your .gg file from the v160 device and load it back into the v181 device, check the data flash for issues and create a new dfi file.

Regards

Tom

Shiris and Tom,

Thank you so much spending time on me. Having your support is valuable for us since we are on a "learning curve". As an engineer the more facts, - the better.

Shiris: I have tried to communicate with the IC but have had no sucess. I will replace the whole IC since I think that the data flash is corrupt. Regarding the data flash write and dfi read/write I am aware of the importance that this must be done in the correct way. - what happed was an accident.

The practice I have been following so far is that after programming a *senc firmware I have send a 0x08 command before reloading the EVSW for autodetection. I have thought of getting the IC out of ROM mode before reloading the EVSW was a good practice. Is this OK or do you recommend med to always reload the EVSW for autodetection as the first step after reloading a *senc file ? 

Please also be aware of that there are some problems importing *.gg files when you have a regional setting for Norway. No decimals willl be accepted for the CC Gain and the CC delta. I have communicated this to Tom and hopefully this will be solved in the next release of the EVSW. I am currently using 0.9.79. That is why I am using the *.dfi-file to upgrade data flash content  since importing gg files will not work. I am also aware of that a 'dfi file created from V1.60 must never be programmed in a IC with firmware V1.80. Not being able to import gg files makes things a bit more complicated. I have seen on the E2E that using the regional setting for Poland makes the same error. Hopefully there will be an upgrade of the EVSW software solving this.

Tom: I have checked that the 2.5V regulator is working OK, it starts up correct after shorting Batt+ and Pack+. Good to know that shorting this TP might work as a Reset. But in this case no reaction.I have now qot a lot info from you how to try to recover a corrupt data flash, - my conclusion now is to replace the whole IC and spend more time testing the bq for our application.

Thanks again for the good support

Regards

Kjell

Kjell,

The procedure of sending 0x08 before reloading EVSW is correct. Without this command the device will remain in ROM mode and EVSW will not be able to detect it.

Regarding the gg file and import with some European languages:  We recommend that the Windows Control Panel "Regional and Language" settings be set to English to avoid such incompatibility. The problem is caused due to mismatch in language and regional settings. The representation is dependent on the Windows region/language selection and it is a huge task to convert all the local settings automatically from bqEVSW. We would also have to capture the export/import language settings in the gg file if we ever attempted to do it and it would mean a change in the gg file format.

Regards

Shirish

Kjell,

Thank you for the feedback. The gg file import solution is of interest to many. I will reply on those threads too.

Regards,

Shirish