SK-TDA4VM: TDA4VM starter kit does not seem to send boot log through UART, and does not seem to work at all

Hi Luis,

Could please confirm PWR LED(Near power supply) is on ? Also since you are connected via UART could you confirm LD1 LED (Near UART terminal) is on ?

This will help us to understand basic hardware functionality of the board, also we suggest to use new SD Card which is functionally tested(Uncorrupt) and re flash the image.

Thanks,

Pratik 

Hi Pratik,

Both UART and PWR LEDs are on. I reflashed the image, both onto a new SD card, and onto a different SD card that was previously verified to work with a Rasspberry Pi image, and my TDA4VM SK still did not seem to work at any of those times.

Thanks,

Luis

Hi Luis,

Could you please let us know, which psdk version you are using and how you flashing the sd card.

Regards,

Pratik

Hi Pratik,

I have a TDA4VM processor starter kit for edge AI vision systems, part number J721EXSKG01EVM.

What do you mean by psdk?

I'm flashing the SD card with balenaEtcher from file, with file edge_ai_sd_card.img

Thanks,

Luis

Hi Luis,

Thanks for letting us know how you are flashing the SD card.

psdk version would be linux sdk version you are using for above experiment.

Ex : 8.4, 8.5, 8.6 etc

Regards,

Pratik

Hi Pratik,

Are you referring to the linux sdk for the machine that I'm using to listen to the TDA4? I'm actually using a Windows machine.

If you're referring to the image file for the TDA4, then I'm using whatever the image from this link comes with:

https://software-dl.ti.com/jacinto7/esd/processor-sdk-linux-sk-tda4vm/latest/exports/docs/getting_started.html

Thanks,

Luis

Hi Luis,

Thanks for sharing the link, I went through it, can you help us with below details.

Could you please confirm that you are using "tisdk-edgeai-image-j7-evm.wic.xz  — 941731 K"  etcher image while flashing sd card.

Sharing link here : https://www.ti.com/tool/download/PROCESSOR-SDK-LINUX-SK-TDA4VM/08.06.00.11

Regards,

Pratik

Hi Pratik,

My device does not work with that image.

Thanks,

Luis

Hi,

Could you try a different power source? It could be the current being too low.

Please refer to the below guide for power input requirement.

https://www.ti.com/lit/pdf/spruj21

Regards,
Stanley

Hi Stanley,

We were actually using the 20V 65W Qualtek power adapter. Could it be that the board got fried after being on for some time?

Thanks,

Luis

Hi Luis,

The 20V 65 W Qualtek power adapter is recommended by us so this shouldn't be the issue. Could you try flashing your SD card again or validate that the image is not corrupt? We always recommend that you use the latest image: https://www.ti.com/tool/download/PROCESSOR-SDK-LINUX-SK-TDA4VM

I would like to understand what you mean when you say your device does not work with this image. What device are you using and what kind of error messages are you seeing when downloading/flashing?

Thank you,

Fabiana Jaimes

Hi Fabiana,

I did indeed use the latest SD card image and tried using multiple SD cards, all verified to be viable. I never actually got any error messages when flashing the SD cards. I'm using a TDA4VM board. Basically, there seems to be something wrong with the board and not with my balenaEtcher SD card flashing techniques. Are there any hardware troubleshooting things I could do, or alternatively, is there any way I could try again with a fresh TDA4VM board? Could I somehow exchange my TDA4VM board?

Thanks,

Luis

Hi Luis,

Before we proceed with returns and exchanges, lets us ensure we're not missing any steps in bringing up the board. Please review this page, specifically the instruction to set boot pins to SD boot mode: https://software-dl.ti.com/jacinto7/esd/processor-sdk-linux-edgeai/TDA4VM/08_06_00/exports/docs/devices/TDA4VM/linux/getting_started.html#tda4vm-sk

Please let me know if this changes anything for you.

Thank you,

Fabiana Jaimes

Hi Fabiana,

The pins were originally set to SD boot mode as shown in the link, and I made sure to keep that setting throughout. The ethernet, UART, HDMI monitor and power supply cables were also connected as shown in the link. This basically doesn't change anything, but thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks,

Luis

I cannot view the button for "this solved my issue" for this comment, but this solved my issue. Thanks, Fabiana