Other Parts Discussed in Thread: IWR6843ISK-ODS, IWR6843, UNIFLASH, DCA1000EVM, IWR6843ISK
Hi,
I have previously had intermittent connection issues with the MMWAVEICBOOST+IWR6843ISK-ODS combination, as described in http://e2e.ti.com/support/sensors/f/1023/p/969346/3581885#3581885
I managed to continue work by just repeating the flashing procedure until I got lucky. It is very time consuming and hugely annoying but it worked.
However, after getting over the flashing issue, the same unreliable connection issue reappeared when trying to run demos; GUI composer demos are most of the time unable connect properly to the device.
I have been using this resource: https://dev.ti.com/tirex/explore/node?node=AAl36CxwNtl29y6O1o9ZXA__VLyFKFf__LATEST&search=6843ISK
The cloud agent bridge works fine and my computer recognizes the board with correct COM ports but a connection of both ports is never made. I have been able to use the demo by repeatedly power cycling the device and trying "Load Config From PC and Send". Previously this has worked with close to 50% success rate but recently I've been lucky if even one our of every twenty attempts work. most of the time, upon trying to send the config nothing happens. This cannot continue.
This behavior appears to be completely random. I have tried to eliminate every possible variable with no success. These attempts include:
- Every possible combination for the order of connections: USB before power, power before USB, pressing the HW reset at certain stage, reloading the demo before/after board powerup?
=> No effect, sometimes the config gets sent, most times it won't - Variation of the cables/PSUs used; Changing the used USB cable has no effect, different PSUs, each at least 5V/3A, no effect.
- Restarting computer/browser/board
=> No Effect - I have tried this with two completely different computers, enterprise win 10 environment and home win 10 environment.
=> Both work every now and then, most times not - I have compiled the demo FW from the provided source
=> doesn't work any better - I am certain this cannot result from the COM port being in use by an other program as it intermittently works and the behavior is the same on different computers.
At this point, I feel I have exhausted pretty much all conceivable environmental and setup factors that could cause this behavior and believe the issue must be with the MMWAVEICBOOST board itself. This is further supported by the fact that the connection sometimes works (without correlation with the aforementioned variables ) and then stops again after arbitrary amount tries. In addition, it appears that other people are having very similar issues with their MMWAVEICBOOST boards:
1#
https://e2e.ti.com/support/sensors/f/1023/p/977264/3611487#3611487
2#
https://e2e.ti.com/support/sensors/f/1023/p/977542/3611472#3611472
I don't know whether it's a unreliable solder joint or a bad batch of silicon but something here is not right.
The bottom line is that I have now spent tens of hours, including this whole workday, trying to get this working. Previously the connection was unreliable but I was able to limp on but now the issue has gotten so bad that working with the board is simply not possible. I was supposed to run tests today but ended up just trying to get this board once again to communicate.
We have paid several hundreds of dollars for these boards and the fact that they are unreliable to the point of unusability is simply unacceptable!
Something must be done here, either replace the unit as broken or come up with reliable a solution, the current situation cannot continue.
br,
Lari
ps. I have only got one MMWAVEICBOOST module and one IWR6843ISK-ODS, trying with a different HW is not possible.
