AWR1243BOOST: AWR1243Boost + DA1000EVM + MMWaveStudio - No connectivity

Hello John,

1. The above SW is compatible with your HW.

2. You should not need to modify this switch position from the default, you can leave it as shown in Figure 20 of the User's Guide http://www.ti.com/lit/ug/spruij4a/spruij4a.pdf

3. There are no known issues with that HW configuration

4. The dev pack can be used for data capture with the TSW1400 or with other TI boosterpacks (i.e. MSP430 booster pack).

Can you try following the training in the below video to get started with the DCA1000?

https://training.ti.com/dca1000-training-video

Regards,

Adrian

Hi Adrian,

Thank you for the prompt response, however, this did not resolve my issue. I followed the instructions from the linked video with the following results:

• "We will now move on to setting up the DCA1000. Make sure you have the DCA1000 tick box selected, and click Set Up DCA1000. When the window pops up, click on Connect, Reset, and Configure. You should see the FPGA version appear."
  • The FPGA version that was presented in the prompt is 0.0.0.0
  • The console log states:
    

    [15:36:26] [RadarAPI]: ar1.CaptureCardConfig_EthInit("192.168.33.30", "192.168.33.180", "12:34:56:78:90:12", 4096, 4098)
    [15:36:28] ConnectRFDCCard Status: RRFDCCARD_SUCCESS
    [15:36:28] Ethernet Cable is disconnected Please check.....!!!
    

    • However, the line showing RRFDCCARD_SUCCESS is in red, as typical errors are. Is this an error or success? Why does the next line show the ethernet cable is disconnected (it isn't)?

• Continuing from this point I get an empty post-processing file. Running through the Post-Proc tool yields:

  [15:47:13] [RadarAPI]: Packet Reorder Utility Started...please wait...
  [15:47:13] [RadarAPI]: ar1.PacketReorderZeroFill("C:\\ti\\mmwave_studio_02_00_00_02\\mmWaveStudio\\PostProc\\adc_data_Raw_0_Raw_0.bin", "C:\\ti\\mmwave_studio_02_00_00_02\\mmWaveStudio\\PostProc\\adc_data_Raw_0.bin", "C:\\ti\\mmwave_studio_02_00_00_02\\mmWaveStudio\\PostProc\\pktlogfile.txt")
  [15:47:18] [RadarAPI]: Packet Reorder Utility process completed!
  [15:47:33] [RadarAPI]: ar1.StartMatlabPostProc("C:\\ti\\mmwave_studio_02_00_00_02\\mmWaveStudio\\PostProc\\adc_data_Raw_0.bin")
  [15:47:33] [RadarAPI]: Error: 
  [15:47:33] 
  [15:47:33] ... MWMCR::EvaluateFunction error ... 
  [15:47:33] 12-Jun-2019 15:47:33: The file C:\ti\mmwave_studio_02_00_00_02\mmWaveStudio\PostProc\adc_data_Raw_0.bin is empty. Please capture more data.,1,
  [15:47:33] Error in => process_adc_data.m at line 52.
  [15:47:33] 
  [15:47:33] ... Matlab M-code Stack Trace ...
  [15:47:33] at
  [15:47:33] file C:\<redacted>\mcrCache8.5.1\Matlab0\Logging\log_status.m, name log_status, line 32.
  [15:47:33] at
  [15:47:33] file C:\<redacted>\mcrCache8.5.1\Matlab0\Processing_functions\read_adc_data.m, name read_adc_data, line 28.
  [15:47:33] at
  [15:47:33] file C:\<redacted>\mcrCache8.5.1\Matlab0\MatlabPostPr\process_adc_data.m, name process_adc_data, line 52.
  [15:47:33] 
  [15:47:33] 
  [15:47:33] Trace:
  [15:47:33] at MathWorks.MATLAB.NET.Utility.MWMCR.EvaluateFunction(String functionName, Int32 numArgsOut, Int32 numArgsIn, MWArray[] argsIn)
  [15:47:33] at MathWorks.MATLAB.NET.Utility.MWMCR.EvaluateFunction(Int32 numArgsOut, String functionName, MWArray[] argsIn)
  [15:47:33] at MatlabPostProcGui.MatlabPostProcGUIClass.process_adc_data(MWArray adc_file_name, MWArray force_cont_stream_mode)
  [15:47:33] at AR1xController.frmAR1Main.iStartCaptureMtlabPostProc()

• All other files created today in the output directory are empty.

I appreciate your help with this.

Sincerely,

John

Hello John,

Did you correctly configure your static IP address correctly? Can you post a screen shot of your IPV4 LAN configuration? It looks like there is a failure with connecting to the DCA1000. The bin file is expected to be empty if you cannot successfully connect to the DCA1000.

Regards,

Adrian

Hi Adrian,

As far as I know, I have it configured. I also disabled wifi when testing.

John

Hello John,

That looks correct. Can you also ensure that you have disabled any firewalls? Sometimes this can prevent the PC from connecting to the DCA1000.

Also, can you verify that SW2 is configured as below:

Regards,

Adrian

Hi Adrian,

I have verified SW2 configuration with no change but I have not had a chance to verify firewall settings. I will report back once I can test again.

Thanks,

John

Hi Adrian,

I have verified my firewall is turned off and there is no difference in output. Do you have any other suggestions?

John

Hello John,

Well, it doesn't seem like a configuration issue, and the most common failures we have seen are due to firewall issues. The ports used (4096 and 4098) are sometimes blocked even after you try to manually disable the firewall. Is is possible to try on another PC?

Regards,

Adrian

Hi Adrian,

I'm working with John on trying to get the same EVM working, and as he's currently out of office, hopefully he won't mind me chiming in.

Unfortunately getting access to another computer with the firewall disabled is not something easily done here, but I've verified that the firewall on the computer we're using is completely disabled and that it is not blocking traffic on those ports by running 

netsh firewall show state

in Windows PowerShell, which lists blocked and active ports. With that being said, I am not convinced that the firewall is the issue. I've run a network trace using Wireshark on an extra laptop in the network (in the same address range), and, while it shows messages from the laptop we have connected to the EVM, it shows zero network activity from the EVM at any point during the process of trying to get the mmWave studio app rolling, up to and including during the "Connect, Reset, and Reconfigure" step where I assume there would be some network traffic from the EVM back to the laptop if everything was working correctly.

One thing I'm going to be looking into trying in the next day or two is re-flashing the FPGA firmware, as the complete absence of network activity, even when the EVM boots, makes me think that perhaps the module was accidentally shipped out without the firmware installed (or with improper firmware, or it got corrupted, etc.). But I would appreciate if you had any other feedback or any more steps to try out, or if you'd like any more information.

Thanks,

Mike

Hello Mike,

Yes, reflashing the FPGA on the DCA1000 is a good idea. 

Are you seeing the LEDs on the ethernet jack on the DCA1000 come one when you plug it in and power it on? There should be a solid orange LED and also a flashing green LED when you first power it on.

Regards,

Adrian

Adrian,

The green LED comes on and stays on (solid, no flashing); orange LED does not turn on or flash at all.

Mike

Hello Mike,

The left LED (orange) should glow when the 1000BASE-T link is established. Since that is not glowing it would indicate that there is a failure to establish the link with the PC. 

I think the best means of action right now is to reflash the DCA1000 firmware and see if this fixes it. Is the FPGA_DONE_LED glowing on your board?

Regards,

Adrian

Adrian,

Yes, the FPGA_DONE_LED is glowing green on our board.

Mike

Hello Mike,

If the FGPA_DONE_LED is glowing then the image should already be flashed correctly on the FPGA. It seems like all signs are indicating that this is an issue with the PC establishing the 1000BASE-T link. Does your PC have an Intel I219-LM ethernet adapter? We have seen some issues with this adapter in the past. Can you also try with a different ethernet cable? You may also want to try adjusting your firewall settings as indicated in post 5 of this thread:

https://e2e.ti.com/support/sensors/f/1023/p/757593/2802176#pi320995=3

Regards,

Adrian

Thanks for your continued help Adrian.

I re-flashed the firmware, but did not see any change, the DCA1000 still does not connect. I have tried a different cable, and enabled mmWave Studio through the Firewall (although it is disabled anyway) with no change.

We are in fact using a laptop with the Intel I219-LM ethernet adapter. Please advise on how to proceed with that - hopefully there is a working solution other than finding a new laptop!

Mike

Hello Mike,

If the suggestion in the above link did not work then unfortunately we do not have any other known workarounds for the Intel I219-LM ethernet adapter at this time. 

One possibility would be to try a USB-Ethernet adapter, so you would at least be bypassing the on-board adapter of your PC. They can be found for pretty cheap on amazon. 

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-1000-Gigabit-Ethernet-Adapter/dp/B00M77HMU0/ref=asc_df_B00M77HMU0/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167140037427&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2700164507298856189&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026930&hvtargid=aud-643574997066:pla-195027879195&psc=1

Regards,

Adrian

Hello Mike,

Were you able to try with a USB ethernet adapter?

Regards,

Adrian

Hi Adrian,

I was able to test with the USB ethernet adapter this morning and it seems like there has been some progress (but still not completely working, unfortunately). Now, when I hit the correct button in the "Set Up DCA1000" screen the FPGA firmware version appears, "2.7 Record Bit File". The LEDs for the ethernet ports on both the ethernet switch and the EVM are behaving as expected. However, now when I go to collect the data by pressing DCA1000 ARM -> Trigger Frame, no error message appears, but the adc_data.bin file is empty. In addition (I'm not sure if it's related), but when I click on the PostProc button, I get an error saying MSVCR120.dll is missing from my computer. I assume the PostProc problem is just a missing dependency, but would that be causing the empty capture as well?

Mike

Yes, I will do that. Thank you for all your help!

Mike