AWR1843BOOST: firmware and power on power problems with AWR--Boost and DCA1000 .

Let me clarify,

I can run the OOB demo for both the AWR1642Boost and the AWR1843Boost and I have never erased the flash.

I can run mmWave Studio, and get data out, and run the matlab runtime evaluation with the DCA1000 board attached to the AWR1640Boost, again without erasing the flash.

Before I shoot myself in the foot, ([perform changes I can't recover from)...

1) why do I need to erase the flash on the AWR1843Boost, to get it to run with the DCA1000Boost?

2)I would like to be able to run both the OOB demo and mmWave studio on both AWR16xx and AWR18xx. If I erase the flash, will I lose the ability to run the OOB demo?

3) the files are identical even in binary form (if they should be different, can you send me a link to where I can load newer copies?)

Thanks,

Dieter

Adrian,

I have found the xwr18xx_mmw_demo.bin in the mmWave_sdk_03_01_01_02....

as well as the equivalent  xwr16xx_mmw_demo.bin for the AWR1642.

I tried flashing (using uniflash_5.0) the AWR1642 with the demo_FW  to make sure I can get back to he original state (and in both cases the Demo Visualizer works).

I have yet to delete the 1843_demo firmware, but will try it in the next day.

Do you recommend I just delete the 1843_demo firmware, or load in some other ? for example ....xwr16xx_radarss.bin   ?

What puzzles me, is I expected the part of the mmWave studio where the Masterss.bin and radars.bin files are loaded, shouldn't they take precedence? Or if I delete the demo firmware, where does the development board grab the correct firmware? (or do I need to flash with a different firmware)... The instructions are not clear.

Thanks,

Dieter

Adrian,

I have done what you asked (erase the flash) and this does not resolve the issue.

I can successfully:

* erase the flash on the 16xx or 18xx devices

* load the demo firmware into the 16xx or 18xx devices

* after loading respective demo-firmware,  I can run a version of the DemoVisualizer on the respective 16xx or 18xx devices.

* I can run mmWaveStudio, and extract ADC data from the 16xx device (without having to erase the flash)

But,

I can't get mmWaveStudio to run past the following line

"[RadarAPI] Downloading MSS RPC Binary... "  for the 18xx device in either the following cases: 

* the case where the FLASH has been fully erased, or

*  when it has the demo-firmware loaded

* (In addition, was unable to get the UniFlash program to load either the 18xxmasterss.bin or the 18xxradaarss.bin files out of the mmWaveStudio\rf_eval_firmware directories)

(mmWaveStudio worked on the 16xx device as noted above).

Attached is a screenshot of what it like when it hangs (Flash has been erased prior to this)

below is a clip from the output log, where it hangs...after the last line...

14:59:54] [RadarAPI]: ar1.SelectChipVersion("AR1642")
[14:59:54] [RadarAPI]: Status: Passed
[14:59:54] [RadarAPI]: RS232 is not connected ..!!!!
[14:59:54] [RadarAPI]: ar1.frequencyBandSelection("77G")
[14:59:54] [RadarAPI]: ar1.SelectChipVersion("XWR1843")
[14:59:54] [RadarAPI]: Status: Passed
[14:59:54] Device Status : XWR1843/ASIL-B/SOP:2/ES:2
[14:59:55] [RadarAPI]: ar1.SelectChipVersion("AR1642")
[14:59:55] [RadarAPI]: Status: Passed
[14:59:55] [RadarAPI]: ar1.SelectChipVersion("XWR1843")
[14:59:55] [RadarAPI]: Status: Passed
[14:59:55] Device Status : XWR1843/ASIL-B/SOP:2/ES:2
[14:59:55] [RadarAPI]: ar1.SaveSettings('C:\Users\vook\AppData\Roaming\RSTD\ar1gui.ini')
[14:59:58] [RadarAPI]: ar1.DownloadBSSFw("C:\\ti\\mmwave_studio_02_00_00_02\\rf_eval_firmware\\radarss\\xwr18xx_radarss.bin")
[14:59:58] [RadarAPI]: Downloading BSS Patch RPRC Binary..
[15:00:05] [RadarAPI]: ar1.GetBSSFwVersion()
[15:00:05] [RadarAPI]: BSSFwVersion:(02.00.00.01 (05/10/17))
[15:00:06] [RadarAPI]: ar1.GetBSSPatchFwVersion()
[15:00:06] [RadarAPI]: BSSPatchFwVersion:(01.02.00.03 (24/10/18))
[15:00:07] [RadarAPI]: ar1.DownloadMSSFw("C:\\ti\\mmwave_studio_02_00_00_02\\rf_eval_firmware\\masterss\\xwr18xx_masterss.bin")
[15:00:07] [RadarAPI]: Downloading MSS RPRC Binary..

Do you still think it is erasing the flash, or do you have something else to try? (like a diffferent XWR18xx_masterss_.bin file?

Thanks,
Dieter

I have tried your suggestion of deleting the firmware on the 1843Boost, and it still hangs at the same step (before Connect SPI).

Just to reiterate:

I have both

 mmwave_sdk_03_01_01_02     (needed for the AWR1843boost device)

 And

mmwave_sdk_02_01_00_04  (needed for the AWR1642Boost device)….  on the path (is that an issue)?

mmwave_studio_02_00_00_02  runs fine on the AWR1642Boost, without deleting any of the demo firmware.

(I can also use the uniflash app to erase and download the demo firmware, and the both demo visualizer and mmWave studio work fine for the 1642 device)

I can delete the firmware on the AWR1843Boost, and load the demo firmware, but none of the firmware out of the mmWavestudio\rf_evval_firmware directory can be loaded.

Another data point, is a coworker, in a different state, has only the AWR1843, and only the relevant sdk loaded, and they have no trouble getting mmWave studio to get ADC data out.

That makes  me question the issue of possible file/path conflicts?

any comments?

Thanks,
Dieter

Adrian,

we thought the issue might be due to multiple version of the SDK on the same path. We laoded all the tools on a new PC, with just the files for the AWR1843.

We were able to get the AWR1843 to work fine in the DemoVisualizer , but again hung at the same place (prior to Connect) in getting mmWaveStudio up and running.

We are at present trying again your suggestion to Clear the firmware and start up DemoVisualizer.

We will report back after that.

I still doubt it is a hardware issue, since the AWR1843 works fine with the DemoVisualizer.

Dieter

I (as well as a co-worker)  have repeated the proceedure ,(which will be stated below) with the same results (hangs at step 5 "SPI Connect").

I have used UNIFLASH to erase the flash :  with confirmation message:

[SUCCESS} Cortex_r4_0: --> Erase storage completed successfully!

I then run mmWaveStudio, and the Connection tab proceeds seemlessly until I get to step 5 (SPI Connect), and then mmWaveStudio just hangs.

(again, I doubt it is a HW issue, as the same sensor works fine when used with the DEMO FW, and with the DemoVisualizer).

Dieter