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IWR1443: Can't flash IWR1443 with Uniflash

Andrew Redman
Intellectual 435 points
Part Number: IWR1443
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: IWR1243, AWR1443, , AWR1243, , UNIFLASH, MMWAVE-SDK

We are having trouble flashing firmware to an IWR1443 that is a component on our RADAR starter kit. Our starter kit functions the same as a TI IWR1443BOOST, however the layout is split into two boards. The baseboard has the XDS110 and the top board has a xWR1x43 chip. The top board may be interchanged to use different RADAR modules (AWR1443, IWR1443, AWR1243, IWR1243) and different antenna configurations. We are having the same problem with both IWR1443 and IWR1243 boards.

We have been using this design with no troubles up until recently. The latest batch of RADAR boards we received have not been working. Flashing firmware to the starter kit is done with Uniflash in the same way as it would be on a TI 1443BOOST, however when flashing firmware to the new boards I receive the following error.

The package labels for both devices are:

Old chip which can be flashed via Uniflash

XIR1443

AG

72ZEZE9

964D   ABL G1

New chip which fails a firmware update via Uniflash

XIWR1443

QG

77ZCE59

964D   ABL G1

We think it is acting like the SOP signals are not being latched by the IWR device. This is behaving fine with our older hardware. We have considered that the XDS110 firmware may need to be updated, but we cannot find newer firmware. We are currently at version 2.3.0.9.

The only change we have made to our design is the flash chip that is being used. The devices on the old hardware and TI’s EVMs are obsolete. We stayed in the same Cypress (spansion) family, however, we are larger density.  I do not believe we are getting to the point of communicating with the SPI chip though. This seems like an issue between XDS110 and IWR through the UART.

Is there a firmware update we are missing for our XDS110 chip? Is there any other way to flash the IWR1443 besides using Uniflash?

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 24955 points
    Andrew,

    There could be several solutions to this problem. First, ensure you are using the most recent version of Uniflash and the mmwave-sdk.

    With regards to changing the flash chip, this could impact using the Out-of-Box demo as the this software was written for the original and unmodified EVM design. I will confer with our hardware and SDK team to find out the impact of changing the flash chip. I would needed additional information as to which specific Cypress part you are using.

    Additionally, in the newer versions of the SDK, you only need to flash the RadarSS bin file and the OOB MSS bin file. The ar1xxx_config.bin file is not needed.

    Please let us know if any of these changes are successful in resolving this issue.

    Regards,
    Kyle
  • 0 in reply to Kyle Cousino
    TI__Mastermind 24955 points
    Andrew,

    Please refer to our release notes for our DFP: downloads.ti.com/.../mmwave_dfp_release_notes.pdf

    Specifically, refer to Section 5 as this will provide notes about supported flash devices.

    Please let me know if you have any questions.

    Regards,
    Kyle
  • 0 in reply to Kyle Cousino
    Intellectual 435 points
    Thank you for the information. We were able to get the module working by rolling back the flash chip to the previous version. Unfortunately this is an obsolete part, so we will be looking for a compatible part to continue manufacturing.