DCA1000EVM: Flashing LEDs. Board not coming out of reset. Cannot connect to any power source. Is my board broken?

david dubinsky

Part Number: DCA1000EVM
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: AWR2243BOOST

Hello, I have just recently purchased a DCA1000EVM together with an AWR2243Boost, however I suspect my DCA1000 is broken. (I was directed to ask a question here by support)

First of all, when I connect the board to a DC power jack, rated correctly (5V, 3A, centre-positive. Unless of course, the current should be striclty 2.5A), its 5-V LED flashes, rather than glows like the manual says it's meant to do.

See this video:

20231004_093435.mp4 - Google Drive

When I connect the AWR to it via the 60-pin connector, and flick the switch on the DCA to "Radar_5V_in", then both the AWR's and the DCA's 5V leds begin to flash:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mwI0U4EI0vIgKeYi0oqCXrZVJRkJqkbc/view?t=5s

The AWR alone appears to work correctly. Connecting it using the same power jack, the two LED's you expect glow constantly - 5V and NSRT

20231004_093551.jpg - Google Drive

But when the AWR is connected to the DCA1000 by the 60-pin connector, and the DCA's switch is set to "DC_Jack_5V_in" i.e. it should be waiting for power from its own jack rather than from the connector, the AWR shows an erronous LED status as only the 5V LED is on while the NRST one isn't (meaning that the AWR is not in a state of being "out of reset")

20231004_095729.jpg - Google Drive

from this combination of evidence I can only assume that the DCA1000 is broken. Am I right?

over 1 year ago

0 Kaushik Gowda over 1 year ago

TI__Mastermind 20605 points

Hi David,

I would urge you go through the following troubleshooting steps listed in the FAQ. Please let me know if you are not able to progress.

(+) [FAQ] Queries related to mmWave Studio - Sensors forum - Sensors - TI E2E support forums

(+) [FAQ] DCA1000EVM: DCA1000EVM Debug Resources - Sensors forum - Sensors - TI E2E support forums

Regards,

Kaushik

0 david dubinsky over 1 year ago in reply to Kaushik Gowda

Prodigy 80 points

Hi Kaushik, I have followed these two guides but I'm afraid the problem still persists. Using a voltmeter, I can confirm that when the DCA1000EVM is connected to the booster, voltage levels drop below 5V on both boards.

0 Kaushik Gowda over 1 year ago in reply to david dubinsky

TI__Mastermind 20605 points

Hi David,

Let me forward your thread to the HW team to guide you through the debug going forward. Please expect a response within 1-2 business days.

Regards,

Kaushik

0 aozer over 1 year ago in reply to david dubinsky

TI__Mastermind 26925 points

Hello,

Without any power supplied to the board, can you probe the 5V input on the DCA1000 and see if it is shorted to GND?

Regards,

Adrian

0 david dubinsky over 1 year ago in reply to aozer

Prodigy 80 points

Hi Adrian, how do I probe it correctly?

0 david dubinsky over 1 year ago in reply to aozer

Prodigy 80 points

Hi Adrian, assuming I have probed it correctly I believe there is something short circuited.

With power ON (I didnt know what to measure if the power wasnt supplied) we couldn't get a 5V reading across the board, having used a voltmeter between ground and various points on the board, from the power jack to the supply pins on the various chips on it.

for example in this video we are trying the supply pin of one chip against the board's ground. The voltmeter shows 0V and then jumps of 0.3-0.6V that correspond to the flashing of the LED.

drive.google.com/.../view

0 aozer over 1 year ago in reply to david dubinsky

TI__Mastermind 26925 points

Hello,

To confirm you can probe at the two red points below, where J2 is the 5V input jack. You should probe with the board powered OFF and just measure the resistance to GND from the two points. You can use the blue point as the GND reference.