DCA1000EVM: SPI Connectivity issues with DCA1000EVM + mmWaveICBoost + IWR6843

Vijay,

1. Can you upload images of your device manager showing that the drivers are installed
2. Are you using a Virtual machine
3. Are you connected directly to your computers USB ports (not USB hub)

Alex

Alex, I figured how to erase_sflash using Uniflash with the standalone mode and the SOP0 and SOP2 connected. But still the mmWave Studio hangs when I press the SPI connect button. I am not using a Virtual Machine nor am I using a USB hub. I have connected the two USB cables to my laptop directly. I have a Lenovo Thinkpad running Windows 7. I have attached the screenshot of my Device Manager.

Vijay

Alex, this is what the mmWave studio user guide says.

I tried flashing the firmware in C:\ti\mmwave_studio_02_00_00_02\rf_eval_firmware folder - radarss and masters - using the uniflash tool (Load Image) and I am getting errors continuously. Is there a solution to this? The tutorial video says SPI connectivity issue is because of firmware bugs.

Vijay

Alex, I have narrowed the error to this. When BSS and MSS firmware is flashed from the mmWave Studio, the NERR LeD becomes ON. It stays ON even when I press the NRST (SW2) button.

Thanks,
Vijay

Vijay,

If you have access to a scope, can you probe the SPI lines and check for communication.

Alex

Alex,

I have not been able to work on the board this past week. I will work on it today/tomorrow and try to probe the SPI signals to see if there is anything on it.

Vijay

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your patience. I tried connecting to the board after erasing flash by connecting both the cables to the XDS110 and FTDI_USB ports. I have the mux in the standalone mode and theSOP switches in the DCA mode (SOP0 and SOP1 = connected). But still the mmWave studio doesn't connect to the board. I have same issue as before. I will probe the SPI signals using the two CAN connectors. But why is this happening?

Thanks,
Vijay

Alex, I have the probe hooked up to my board. All I see on the CAN connectors is a sinusoid with a Vpeak at 500 mV. mmWave Studio is stuck in this screen forever.

Vijay

Hi Vijay,

Can you please try running the IWR68943ISK board in functional mode, and let me know if this works.  You will need to change the MUX and SOP settings, and then run in mmWave studio.  I've included an image with the settings for functional mode.

I've also attached the design files for the IWR643ISK board, so you can check that you are probing the correct SPI lines.

-Chloe

Hi Chloe, 

I switched off the mmWaveICBoost and put the mux and SOP jumpers in the position that you suggested. The NERR light is always ON. Even repeated presses of the NRST switch doesn't help. And when I started the mmWave Studio, the BSS firmware successfully flashed while the MSS firmware doesn't get flashed. Is the board faulty? This is my output on the scope on the 0 ohm resistor R9 (SPI_CLK1).

Vijay

Hi Vijay,

Can you please try your setup with a new board? It's possible it is a hardware issue.

-Chloe

Chloe,

I do not have an extra board. If this is an hardware issue, shouldn't you guys be sending me a new board?

Vijay

Alex, I clicked the "Green" Button by mistake. But how should I probe this? What should be the mux and SOP setting?

I put the ICBoost in the DCA mode and probed R183, I see nothing on the probe.

Hi Vijay,

Did you erase the flash before trying this?

Thanks,
Chloe

Yes, glad you asked me that. I did erase sflash using the uniflash tool. So, FYI - all the examples work on the board. People counter, Area Scanner work on the board. So, is it an issue with the SPI module alone? Or is there something wrong with the DCA1000 EVM? I have an internal review in about a week and I need to show something working using the DevKit. 

This afternoon, I erased sflash using uniflash and flashed mmWave_demo_visualizer.bin file and got the mmWave Demo Visualizer working. I recorded the data from the sensor and when I opened the .dat file using MATLAB it showed all garbage characters. I tried doing the same with Python and tried opening it with different encoding types, I didn't see any readable value at all. For now, as you try to debug the ICBooster kit, can you send me a sample code (MATLAB/python) to read values recorded by the sensor using the mmWave_demo_visualizer?

Also, I appreciate your responses on this issue, but I'd appreciate it even more if you can come to a conclusion on this topic. 

Thanks,

Vijay

Hi Vijay,

Did you probe the SPI lines with the DCA disconnected? If the DCA was connected, please probe it again with the capture card in standalone mode by changing the mux configuration and disconnected from the DCA.

Thank you for your patience.

-Chloe

Chloe,

I have attached the picture of what I see on the probe on lines R184, R183. You can see from the picture that it is in Standalone mode with DCA disconnected. I have basically done every debugging step you've asked me to. If there is a fault in this board, please send us a new one with every module tested.

Thanks

Vijay