This thread has been locked.

If you have a related question, please click the "Ask a related question" button in the top right corner. The newly created question will be automatically linked to this question.

IWR6843: Not able to get lab0017_mmwave_sdk_68xx working

Part Number: IWR6843ISK
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: UNIFLASH, IWR6843, IWR1443, IWR1642

Hi,

I am trying to get started with IWR 6843 working in the mmWave_Demo_Visualizer.

I am on Linux ubuntu 16.04. (I have tried Windows aswell)

It seems that it is not possible to get any data from the radar. It says "waiting for data" in the mmWave_Demo_Visualizer. I have tried to switch the order of the data/user port to ACM1 and ACM2.

The device looks as follows: 

I Have tried to:

1) flashing the firmware with uniflash. I attach SOP2 while doing it.

1.1) I try to use automatic detection and choose IWR6843 as device, I end up with the error: 

However, if I choose "Device: Unable to determine (click to maually select)" 

It works but it looks as a completely different tool. 

I also did try to flash it it bu building with CCS. I got the following error: 

Worth mentioning is that I have used IWR1443 in the past and the waiting for data problem was present a year ago as well (on another computer though). However I always managed to get it working by power resetting it a couple of times or refreshing.

Could you please help me? 

Best regards. 

  • Part Number: IWR6843ISK

    Team,

    We face an error when loading the image of the people counting demo.
    The step 3 (flashing the image) fails:
    http://dev.ti.com/tirex/#/?link=Software%2FmmWave%20Sensors%2FIndustrial%20Toolbox%2FLabs%2FPeople%20Counting%20Demo%2F68xx%20-%20People%20Counting%20Demo

    -Is it a known issue?
    -Is a GEL file needed to init the board prior to load the firmware?
    -Is the board damaged?
    -Are there some tools (like self test) to check that the board is functional?

    Thanks in advance,

    A.

  • Some feedback I got: it could be an issue with the BSS firmware that might not be up to date in this board

    As a workaround try the follow that will update the BSS automatically:
         -In uniflash try to connect as IWR1642 instead of IWR6843
         -Flash the OOB demo from the latest SDK (as of today SDK v3.01 with OOB from this Link)
               then check that the OOB demo behaves as expected.
         - If it is the case then flash the lab you want to use (as of today from Industrial Toolbox 3.2.0 from this link )

    I will try to confirm if it works.

    A.

  • Hello,

    Please try the following steps:

    1. After you power-up the board, press the NRST (i.e. SW2) switch on the EVM.
    2. As you found from the other threads, please try to flash and run the SDK OOB demo.
    3. If the above procedure works, try flashing the people counting lab the same way i.e. press the NRST switch after power up before you try to flash the binary.

    Thanks
    -Nitin
  • Hi AnBer,

    This looks like a known bug with Uniflash that is currently being resolved.  In the meantime, here is the workaround:

    1. Upon opening uniflash, there is a "Detected Devices" tab, "New Configuration" tab, and "Create Session..." tab - you will work with the "New Configuration" Tab
    2. Use the search function to find IWr6843
    3. Follow the steps in the quickstart guide to finish flashing the board.

    Regards,

    Justin

  • Hi Amir,

    Looking at your Uniflash snapshot, this appears to be related to a bug we discovered in the latest version of Uniflash (4.6.0.2176) which causes Uniflash to signal successful flashing without actually flashing anything on the EVM.

    The auto-detect function in uniflash does not detect the IWR6843 EVM (ICB + ISK combo). This itself is not the issue but after failing to detect the device, the "Detected Devices" tab will prompt the user to select a device: "Device: Unable to determine (click to manually select)" If the user clicks this link and uses the search function to select IWR6843, uniflash will open an XDS110 session with a single text box to specify the image. If you browse to the image and press load, Uniflash will either fail or worse, print a message indicating Flashing completed successfully (and this happens very quickly) but it actually doesn't flash anything.

    The issue is that mmWave devices require a serial connection to flash but because of this bug, Uniflash opens an XDS110 connection which doesn't actually flash the new image so you're always running the factory flashed image.

    Please do not use the auto-detect and search function. Instead, under new configuration, press mmWave and then navigate to IWR6843 and press Start. This will open up the correct Serial connection with 4 text boxes. Browse to the demo binary in the MetaImage1/RadarSS box and press load. Make sure to press the NRST switch after applying power before you flash.

    The following thread provides more information and a snapshot of the correct Uniflash Interface you should see:

    e2e.ti.com/.../778472

    Please re-flash your EVM using the above process and re-run the demo.

    Regards
    -Nitin
  • Ok, I manage to get it work. 

    First I did get the error about permission opening the serial port. But once I press the NRST switch after applying power before you flash. It worked. 

    Worth mentioning in UniFlash 4.6.0 I only see Meta Image 1 and not RadarSS? 

    Thanks for the help.

  • Amir,

    Glad that it worked

    "Worth mentioning in UniFlash 4.6.0 I only see Meta Image 1 and not RadarSS?"

    This is fine as the latest mmWave SDKs generate a combined MetaImage for all mmWave devices and Uniflash text labels have been updated to match this. 

    Regards

    -Nitin