PSDsoft Express, Rlink, PSD813F1 -- error programming EEPROM section

[don]

Posted on March 15, 2006 at 14:04

PSDsoft Express, Rlink, PSD813F1 -- error programming EEPROM section

[don]

Posted on May 17, 2011 at 12:10

I just started using an RLINK instead of my old FlashLink parallel dongle. I'm having a problem that's been reported elsewhere but the solutions mentioned there are not working.

The problem occurs ONLY when I'm trying to program the EEPROM section of the PSD813F1. It occurs when using either PSDsoft Express or WinFLink. The error message is a familiar one, I'm sure: ERROR: Data (0603) Hint: Programming failure. If I then verify the part, I get the same error messages plus: Hint: Error: Programmation does not match the image in the file. At least 1 differences found, in these sectors: 0x0200. I am using PSDsoft Express 8.64. I first installed Rlink using the drivers on the Raisonance disc, and later I reinstalled the driver that was distributed with PSDsoft Express from within a DOS box as described in the Rlink_ReadMe.pdf file. Rlink passes both connection and target connect tests. FlashLink still programs the part correctly and with no errors. Can anyone offer any further suggestions? Thanks.

[rtarrant]

Posted on May 17, 2011 at 12:10

I was having the same problem when PSDSoft was just beginning to offer compatability with the PSD42xx. Make sure that when you installed 8.64, that you installed in the same directory you installed the previous version of PSDSoft under. My error was that I installed to a different directory and was still opening the old exe.

In the help screen, it actually said I was running 8.64, but i was really running mostly 8.5 If that doesn't help, then you may need to wait for the next version for RLINK compatability.

[don]

Posted on May 17, 2011 at 12:10

Thanks, rangers641.

Unfortunately I did install the latest version of PSDsoft Express in the same directory as the previous version, which in any case was 8.63. (I did make a mistake on my first attempt to do so, doing the install while PSD-X was still running. This resulted in no error message or warning, but did not actually update the .exe file). I also updated PSD-X on an older PC, just to be sure the problem wasn't related to the hyperthreading dual core on my new workstation. The old machine did the very same thing as the new one when using Rlink to write to EEPROM. By the way, as far as I can tell, the Rlink is in fact writing the EEPROM correctly, since the PSD part boots and runs on the target board even though this error is reported (the boot code resides in the first 2000h bytes of the EEPROM). I wonder if this could be some dumb problem with the verification process going past the end of the EEPROM section? My next experiment (when I get in to work on Monday) will be to program the part with Rlink, then verify it using FlashLink. It's at least possible that this is a spurious error message. As I said, I only get it when I'm programming the EEPROM section; the PLD, Flash, and User Code sections all program without any errors. By the way, if it does turn out that the part is being programmed correctly (just verified incorrectly), how do I go about reporting this bug to the developers of PSD-X? Is this forum posting sufficient? I had one other observation about a difference in the programming process when using Rlink. I notice that I get a dialog asking whether I want to do a full chip erase, even when I've selected only one section of the chip to program. This does not occur when I'm using FlashLink unless I've selected the ''All'' sections option. Was this change made on purpose? Will I actually get a full chip erase if I say yes, even though I'm trying to update only one section? Besides being annoying, this seems more than a little dangerous -- it would be very easy to hit the wrong option here.

[don]

Posted on May 17, 2011 at 12:10

Okay, I have further information about this problem.

First, I should state that I am using the Rlink to reprogram a chip that has been previously used in a board, not a raw chip. The EEPROM section of this chip has been written to in the course of normal operation of the target board (all four sectors). However, the image that I'm loading contains no data in sectors 1-3, only in sector 0. So. When I program the chip using Rlink and verify it using FlashLink, I get a very interesting result: EEPROM sector 0 is programmed perfectly and verifies correctly, but verification fails on the first byte of sector 1. I suspect that PSD-X (when using Rlink) is taking a short cut. I think it's only programming EEPROM sectors (or possibly, individual bytes) if the image file contains data in that sector/byte. This appears to be true even when I say ''Yes'' when it asks me whether I want to perform a full chip erase. I'm going to try two further experiments -- first, I'll program a new, unprogrammed chip to see if it passes verification (I predict it will). Then, I'll see if I can load an image that contains data in all four sectors of the EEPROM and get a good verification (again, I predict it will). ... Yes, a raw chip programs and verifies correctly with Rlink. What's more, if I write back to the EEPROM its exact contents, it programs and verifies correctly. But if the chip contains some EEPROM data in any location that the image wants to be 0xFF, verification fails at that address. It looks like Rlink is not erasing (i.e. overwriting) any location in EEPROM where the image file contains 0xFF. In other words, it's assuming that the EEPROM is erased before being programmed. It does so even when I instruct it to do a ''full chip erase''. I'm guessing that this is due to the difference between the 813F1 and the other PSD parts, all of which have Flash instead of EEPROM in this region. No doubt the Flash would be erased by a full-chip erase, but EEPROM is not. How can I bring this bug to the attention of the PSDsoft Express developers? Thanks.

[joseph2399]

Posted on May 17, 2011 at 12:10

Please send PSD product related questions to:

mailto:apps.psd@st.com

Programming the PSD813F1 is currently only supported by FlashLink.

[don]

Posted on May 17, 2011 at 12:10

Thanks for that information. You might want to make note of this fact somewhere on the RLINK-ST product page, so that others in my situation won't be taken by surprise.

Will the PSD813F1 eventually be supported under Rlink? Is it still possible to purchase a FlashLink? It doesn't appear on your page of development tools. If not, it seems you have something of an orphan part in the PSD813F1. As I noted above, it would appear that it's possible to program a *new* PSD813F1 using Rlink. The problem only arises when trying to change a byte in the EEPROM section to 0xFF from some other value. Fortunately, most of the time I don't have to change the EEPROM data.

[stabista]

Hello! Can you help me? I`m tried to connect to the target board with PSD813F1 on it via RLink v3.4, used its default 24-pin cable (JTAG uPSD 20-pin adapter don`t work with this target board) and 4-pin JTAG configuration - TDI/TDO + TMS/TCK (JTAG from RLink cable to the JTAG connector on the target board). Windows XP + PSDSoft 8.66, drivers for RLink installed by its first connection to the PC (Jungo?). What I am do wrong?

[stabista]

I suppose I shall not can connect to the target board with PSD813F1 on it via R Link v3.4 and PSDSoft 8.66 for reading or writing PSD?