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best environment for legacy C6713 board support

Gary Cordelli
Prodigy 90 points

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: UNIFLASH

My situation: support for a C6713-based board (modeled on the DSK6713) designed for us by a 3rd party vendor has been involuntarily transferred back to us -- sans tools.

So, the question is: what is the best way to outfit myself to support this board?  By support, I mean mainly the ability to re-program the C6713 code in Flash, but there is always the possibility I will have to troubleshoot some problem and provide a bug fix.

My understanding is that the original code was developed in Code Composer Studio 3.x (now sure what the "x" was in those days)  We have the source files and the final hex file and various other build inputs/products -- what appears to be an entire directory of everything as it was the last time the code was built in 2008 (!).  What we don't have is any way of (re)building the binary or programming it on a board.  This is a low volume product, but we will have to build additional units this year.  We may also have to perform maintenance on an existing board that could require re-programming the existing HEX.  And, as I noted, we may at some point have to make a source modification, rebuild, and reprogram units.

What is the best way to outfit ourselves to be able to do this without introduction a lot of uncertainties into the process?  Does it make sense to simply buy an old C6713 DSK to get the CCS tools that were presumably used to create and program this HEX in the first place?  The vendors (scant) documentation mentions using a "XDS510PP Plus JTAG" pod and the dread phrase "Emulator Parallel Cable" -- am I to understand this was a JTAG interface that connected to the development PC using an old-fashioned parallel printer port?  If so, is that what would ship with a C6713 DSK as of today, or is there a USB version?  Should we install WinXP on a PC to support the old CCS, since I've read about issues with running this under Win7?  Or does it make sense to try to install a new CCSv6 under Win7 and try to convert the project files from CCSv3.x to CCSv6 flavor?  The docs also mention an FBConfig1.cdd file (of which we have a copy) and its use by a certain "Flashburn" utility.  There seems to be a freeware Flashburn utility v3.11 available for C6000-based boards using CCSv3.  Does this come with the C6713 DSK, or does it need to be procured separately from its creator (Software Design Solutions, apparently)?

Please advise.

  • 0
    TI__Guru**** 163055 points
    Moving from CCSv3.x to CCSv6 can be a big jump depending on the project. The project structure is different the compiler is a couple generations newer...

    If you purchase a CCS license today (which would be v6) we can give you access to CCSv3.3. If you were to buy a C6713 DSK it could come with CCSv3.x but it is a limited version that only works with the DSK and would not work with your own board. Note that CCSv3.x is going to pop up some errors when installing on Win7/8, especially if 64bit. The important part is to get the proper drivers from the debug probe vendor.

    As far as a debug probe I would not recommend getting an old Spectrum Digital XDS510PP, instead they have a USB model (510USB) that works with CCSv3.3.

    For flashing it sounds like Flashburn was used. You could try to use the free version from Software Design Solutions. The free version had support for a number of development boards. You typically had to purchase an SDK to port it to your own board. I bet that is where the FBConfig1.cdd file comes from. I haven't used flashburn in many years but I would try using that config file with the free version and see if it does the trick.

    Regards,
    John
  • 0 in reply to JohnS
    TI__Guru**** 483471 points
    If you do decide to try using CCSv6 with the C6713DSK, I suggest looking at this article to help get started:
    http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/C6713DSK_in_CCSv5

    It mentioned CCSv5 but also applies to CCSv6

    Thanks
    ki
  • 0 in reply to Ki
    Prodigy 90 points

    Hmmm.  Things seem to be pushing us to make a bifurcated decision -- one solution to allow us to continue to produce units and another solution to plan for future capabilities in case we ever need to modify the code.

    Assuming this is a reasonable read of the situation, is there in fact any kind of rational approach to allow us to simply program additional boards with the same HEX file we already have?  My understanding is that the FlashBurn utility is not stand-alone, but rather requires CCS.  I'm far more experienced with the production of microcontroller-based systems, so it's odd to discover that no one appears to sell a tool just to program the Flash via JTAG on a DSP-based board.  The MSP430 has alternative sources for production programming using TI's FET hardware without actually needing a license for a full development toolset, yet a similar solution on the TMS320 side does not seem to exist. 

    It seems that the C6713DSK is of no help because that won't program anything other than a direct DSK clone (I am trying to get a copy of the schematics now to compare, but I presume there is enough different to preclude the use of the CCSv3.x + Flashburn utility for programming our board.  The alternative seems to be a full CCSv6 license -- potentially with a downgrade to v3.3 if necessary to have the programming environment match the HEX and CDD files we have -- along with a full license of Flashburn 4 to work on a non-DSK platform.  Although this seems like a lot of toolset just to program a Flash, it frankly would be worth the trouble if it was known to work and not just be a fishing expedition.  If this is indeed required just to do the programming, it sounds like it has the benefit of also being useful for any software maintenance that might be required in the future.  I simply can't tell if there is a lesser solution that could serve as a stepping-stone just to allow programming of additional boards without modifications.

  • 0 in reply to Gary Cordelli
    TI__Guru**** 163055 points
    The key difference between MCUs like MSP430 and DSPs like this C6713 is that you are comparing a device with onchip flash and a device where you have placed a flash chip beside it. For devices with onchip flash we support programming the flash directly as part of the program load in the development environment as well as standalone flash programming tools (like Uniflash). For programming external flash this is a bit different as the type of flash present is not known and needs to be defined. The method for programming the flash can also vary. Generally it involves loading flash programming program into RAM that is capable of programming your selected flash memory, streaming the program that is to be loaded to flash to the programming program which then writes it to flash.

    With Flashburn 4 Software Design Solutions does enable you to program the flash without CCS being present. They have a trail version that you could test out.