LDC1000EVM: Sensing Solutions EVM GUI not working with LDC1000EVM

Hi JC,

Thank you for posting.

I have been able to recreate the issue you are seeing with the GUI. It seems that this issue has been seen before in the following E2E thread: https://e2e.ti.com/support/sensors-group/sensors/f/sensors-forum/934443/ldc1000evm-can-t-set-registers. The issue was avoided by disabling the auto-read function and setting the registers manually.

Can you confirm if this works?

Best regards,
Nicole

Hi

Thanks for the reply.
We took a closer look at what is happening and this is what we found.

When device is first connected, Auto-Read is off by default.
The device status goes from "connected | Auto-read canceled" to "not-connected | SSP EVM disconnected" after about 20 seconds, and then back to "connected" after 10 seconds.
We change the register value during the connected portion of this cycle, and when it goes from "connected" to "not connected", and then back to "connected", the registers are reset again.

So we then turned on Auto-Read while the status window says connected to test it.
The device status stays as connected now.
But when we change the register value, we get the same reset issue as before.

However, after we turned off Auto-Read again, the device status still stays as connected, and the registers are now editable.

So to summarize, we fixed the register reset issue by doing the following.

After opening the Sensing Solutions EVM GUI:
1. Connect the LDC1000EVM to the computer.
2. Change the default Auto-Read option field from "Off" to "Every 1 sec"
3. Let it run for about 1/2 a minute.
4. Change the Auto-Read option field back to "Off".
And then the register reset issue seems to be fixed.

Although the Registers are now editable, The other 2 issue still remain.
1. We Still can't change anything on the "Configuration Page", since it revert back to the default value after about 8 seconds.
2. On the "Data Streaming " page, when we try to start data stream by clicking start, nothing shows up on the graph.

Questions:
1. Are all the registers supposed to be set to 0x00 by default?
2. If so can start the Data Streaming using the default register values?
3. If we can't use the default register values, can you let us know, or point us to a document or video that shows how to setup the registers correctly to run the Data stream?
4. Any idea why we rae unable to change anything in on the "Configuration Page", without it reverting back to the default value?

Cheers

JC

Hi JC,

The LDC1000 is an obsoleted device and has been replaced with the LDC1001, and default register values can be found in section 7.6 of the LDC1001 datasheet. I would recommend setting the registers to these default values and confirming if the data streaming begins to work.

Additionally, steps 2-4 of the LDC1000EVM Quick Start Guide has helpful information regarding the settings for programming several of the registers. This guide refers to an out-of-date EVM GUI, but the register settings may still be helpful.

Jean-Claude Clarke said:

Any idea why we rae unable to change anything in on the "Configuration Page", without it reverting back to the default value?

Although I am not entirely sure why this could be happening, I would suggest uninstalling the EVM drivers and then disconnecting and reconnecting the board.

Let me know if this solves any of the issues you are still seeing.

Best regards,
Nicole

Hi Nicole

Thanks for the feedback

As you suggested, we updated the registers according to the LDC1001 datasheet as can be seen in the image below.

We then went to the Data Streaming and click start, we get no output.

On the other hand, we were able to get the Configuration page to work.

After setting up the registers and clicking start on the data streaming page, we clicked wake up enabled on the configuration page and the field are now editable and don't reset instantly any more.

So we configured the configuration page to match the settings seen on figure 3, page 3 of the the LDC1000EVM guide.

The Configuration Page setup is seen below.

We tried to run the Data stream again, but still no output.

.

So some progress, just the data stream issue remains.

Any idea what else may be causing the data stream to output no data?

.

Cheers

JC

Hi JC,

Looking at your configuration page it seems that the device is not in active mode. To enter active mode, please write a 1 to bit 0 of the POWER_CONFIG register.

Best regards,

Nicole

Hi Nicole

We tried to set the POWER_CONFIG register, but to no avail as the data stream is still not outputting anything.

You mentioned the following:

Nicole Khoury said:

The LDC1000 is an obsoleted device

and since we are having a bit of trouble getting this software to work with the Sensing solutions evm gui, we are interested in other LDC EVM modules.

So are there other LDC EVM modules that we can quickly configure and test that are similar to the LDC1000EVM?

Cheers

JC

Hi JC,

The LDC1000 has been replaced by the LDC1001, so I would recommend referring to that device's datasheet.

I am attaching the register configuration as well as the config page settings that I am seeing on the GUI. I have not changed anything, as these are the settings that automatically populate when the EVM is connected. I would also recommend trying this on an alternate board or computer, to further rule out possible error sources.

Best regards,

Nicole

Hi Nicole

Sorry for the late response, yesterday was a holiday over here in Canada.

Nicole Khoury said:

I have not changed anything, as these are the settings that automatically populate when the EVM is connected

That is interesting, we bought 2 EVM boards and when we connect either one of them to the computer we get 0x00 in all the registers by default.
We can manually change addresses 0x01 ... 0x0B but the others are greyed out and they remain with the 0x0 value, so that may be the source of problems

Nicole Khoury said:

I would also recommend trying this on an alternate board or computer

So we tried both boards with the same result as described above.

We also tried on a different a laptop instead of the desktop with the same result as seen in the above picture.

So we are honestly pretty stumped as to why the Registers are not automatically populating for us as they did for you.

.

Cheers

JC

Hi JC,

Yes, I agree that this is strange behavior. My experience is that after the EVM connects to the GUI the bottom bar will read "Register loading complete" once the register fields are populated, and this happens automatically.

If possible, can you provide images of the top and bottom of the EVM, as well as the markings on top of the LDC1000 package? 

Additionally, July 5 is a holiday in the US so I apologize in advance for any delays in response.

Best regards,

Nicole

Hi Nicole

Thanks for the heads up and no worries on the late reply.
Have a happy 4th of July Weekend.

As for the Register values on the register page, we also have the same experience in that after the EVM connects to the GUI the bottom bar will read "Register loading complete" once the register fields are populated.
The difference is that the editable register values are 0x00 and the non-editable register values are 0x0.

.

Nicole Khoury said:

can you provide images of the top and bottom of the EVM

Here are top and bottom images of both EVMs

.

Nicole Khoury said:

as well as the markings on top of the LDC1000 package

And here is the picture of the top and front vies of the package.

Cheers

JC

Hi JC,

Thank you for providing these details. I'm going to reach out to others on my team for the best way to proceed here, and I will update this thread by the end of the day today. 

I appreciate your continued patience here.

Best regards,

Nicole

Hi Nicole

Not problem.

Let me know what you find out

Cheers 

JC

Hi JC,

Can you probe SCLK and SDI to confirm device communication? This may rule out hardware issues. If it is confirmed that there is device communication the issue may be software related, and I recommend re-installing both the device drivers and the Sensing Solutions GUI.

Best regards,

Nicole

Hi Nicole

When I probed the pads while connected to the Sensing solutions evm gui, I didn't see any bit stream.
So I did a single acquisitions on each pad to see what I get and this is what I found.

SCLK

SDI

SDO

CSB

Cheers

JC

Hi JC,

It is possible that there may be an issue with the firmware on your boards. I would suggest using the Sensing Solutions GUI to update the firmware. Go to the Firmware tab in the GUI and then select the LDC1000EVM firmware file from the following location: C:\ti\Sensing Solutions EVM GUI-1.10.0\EVM Firmware\LDC1000

Best regards,

Nicole

Hi Nicole,

So I tried to update the firmware a few times but seem to be unable to do so.
When I am initially updating the firmware, the connection status shows a green circle as seen below.

But then after a few minutes (~4-6 mins) of uploading the connection status changes to a red circle and disconnects as seen below

and never reconnects, so the upload never completes.

Not too sure what to make of it or how to proceed.

Cheers

JC

Hi JC,

Have you previously attempted a firmware update? It is possible that something may have interrupted a previous update and has effectively bricked the EVM. Unfortunately, in this case the best course of action may be to use a new EVM.

Best regards,

Nicole

Hi Nicole

I have previously attempted a firmware update on one of the EVMs, and I hope that it didn't brick it.
That being said, I have also tried to update the firmware of the other EVM as per your instructions and I get the same result.

Jean-Claude Clarke said:

The device status goes from "connected | Auto-read canceled" to "not-connected | SSP EVM disconnected" after about 20 seconds, and then back to "connected" after 10 seconds.

Also would the fact that the device cycles on and off like I indicated above potentially affect the firmware update?

Nicole Khoury said:

Unfortunately, in this case the best course of action may be to use a new EVM.

As per the option of getting a new EVM, I am very hesitant to do so since there is no guarantee that it would work.
Don't get me wrong, you have been very helpful and patient with me so far, but after spending 10 days with you trying to figure out how to get these 2 EVMs to work with the Sensing Solutions EVM GUI, I don't want to get stuck with a third device that does work.

On a side note, when I power up each EVM and place a metal object next to the sensor, the LED indicator still comes on as shown.

Cheers.

JC

Hi JC,

Jean-Claude Clarke said:

On a side note, when I power up each EVM and place a metal object next to the sensor, the LED indicator still comes on as shown.

This would suggest that the EVM hardware is functioning as expected. Have you been able to uninstall and re-install the GUI? If you have done this and it has not fixed the issues, I would suggest attempting to communicate with the device without using the GUI. The following Inductive Sensing FAQ has further details on communicating directly with the EVM.

Best regards,

Nicole

Hi Nicole

Nicole Khoury said:

Have you been able to uninstall and re-install the GUI?

Yes, I have tried to re-install the GUI multiple times on the Desktop and Laptop multiple times with no change.

Nicole Khoury said:

The following Inductive Sensing FAQ has further details on communicating directly with the EVM

Awesome.

Thanks for the link.

I will check it out throughout the week.

Cheers

JC

Hi JC,

Additionally, you may create a new thread if you have any questions regarding EVM communication.

Best regards,

Nicole

Hi Nicole

Nicole Khoury said:

Additionally, you may create a new thread if you have any questions regarding EVM communication.

Thanks for that.
I will be working something else for next few days, but when I return to this, I will do so to figure out how to communicate with the EVM directly.
In the mean time I think this thread has clarified a lot of issues I have been having with the EVM and GUI, so it should be closed.

Btw, sorry for the noob question, but what should I do to close this thread since we weren't able to get the Sensing Solutions EVM GUI to work with my LDC1000EVM?

Should I click on "This resolved my issue" even if the original issue original was never resolved?

.

Cheers

JC

Hi JC,

I can close this thread now and leave it as unresolved, it's not a problem. Please let us know if you have any other questions, and again I apologize for the issues that you are seeing.

Best regards,

Nicole