TDC7201-ZAX-EVM: TDC7201 not showing up in device manager

specifically this instruction set was used (the hex binary was pulled from the windows machine TDC720xEVM folder and copied into the MSPFlasher directory by hand via a USB stick)

#!/bin/bash
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
clear
./MSP430Flasher -w "Firmware.txt" -v -g -z [VCC]
read -p "Press any key to continue..."
./MSP430Flasher -r [TDC720xEVM-Firmware-v2.07.txt,MAIN]
read -p "Press any key to continue..."

Hello Charles,

Thanks for posting to the sensing forum!

I have seen this happen in the past even though the firmware is loaded appropriately. If you could try slightly separating the TDC7201EVM board slight from the MSP430 board and try flashing procedure this may solve the problem. 

The issue is that TP10 has connectors that go through the board and make contact with the RXD, TXD, SBWTDIO, SBWTCK connectors on the MSP430 board causing it to short and the computer will not recognize that a board is connected. Please ensure that pins are connected to the MSP430 launchpad but that the TP10 connector is not making contact with the headers.

Please let me know if this works for you.

Best,

Isaac

My TP10 in unpopulated as in the picture below. That said, we may have found the issue anyway. I was flashing the 430 with the TDC7201 disconnected as I assumed it was supposed to be. Your message implies that it should be attached during the firmware upload?

Hello Charles,

Thanks for confirming. The update can be done with or without the board attached.

The TDC7201-ZAX-EVM does not show up on device manager under its name as implied in the user's guide. If the firmware is running correctly you should be able to see 3 devices show up on the device manager. This is what mine looks like:

In this case USB Serial Device is the TDC7201-ZAX-EVM. If you use the GUI you will connect to COM16 and should see a connect successful message. If your device manager is indicating something similar then I believe the flash was successful. Let me know if this is what you see on your device manager. 

Best,

Isaac

no luck. ran the BASH flasher again. Below are the screen shots. All appears successful. When I move the device over to the windows machine, the TDC does not appear  though the MSP does (3rd photo)

Hello Charles,

Thanks for the info. Have you tried flashing this using the windows machine? I dont have too much experience using the MSP FLASHER so I am unable to help troubleshoot much there.Can you show me what headers are populated on your MSP430 launchpad?

If you try using the the flasher through the GUI, make sure to disconnect the launchpad and reconnect it while holding the S5 BSL button. The GUI will indicate S3 but this is a typo. If this still doesn't work we should be able to try CCS.

Best,

Isaac

I can't use the windows flasher GUI because it won't recognize the MSP430 even though you can clearly see the device manager shows the UART and debug as COM3 and COM4. I have ensured holding the S3 button as I recognized the documentation refer to it as reset and assumed that was the important part.

Flashing via CCS doesn't work as it gives a "JTAG password" error. This is annoying since MSP430FR4xxx deosn't support a JTAG password.

Below is my setup first disconnected, then connected. I have not changed anything on the 430 or 7201 since taking them out of the box

Thanks for digging into this with me btw!

You have been very kind and very helpful. But I do not want to build firmware or buy a different board. Did I miss somewhere in the TDC7201 documentation where it said that a specific version of MSP430 is required?

Honestly, this whole thing is very frustrating. I'm not a computer guy. Trouble shooting these issues is difficult for me. All I want to do, is use the 7200 to measure time-of-flight. I don't want to build anything or flash anything or configure anything. I just want to plug these things in, follow a quick start guide, and get on with my project.

At this point I'm almost 2 weeks into just trying to get this up and running. If you can tell me the fastest way to get from where I am now, to reading time-of-flight signals with the 7200, I'll do whatever that is. If that means buying a new board, so be it.

Hello Charles,

Sorry for the frustration on this, the User's guide mentions it in section 1 under key features as shown below and we also mention the MSP in the EVM description. I apologize if it wasnt obvious and if you have any feedback on how we can make this more apparent please feel free to send that over.

To get started as soon as possible without writing any firmware would be purchasing the MSP-EXP430F5529LP found here: https://www.ti.com/tool/MSP-EXP430F5529LP

This will let you interface with the GUI to setup the device and  make measurements using the TDC7201. If you have any questions once you get the device please let me know and I would be more than glad to help.

Best,

Isaac

No worries Charles, like I said I am always glad to help out!

Best,

Isaac