Faulty Software causing EVAL board crashes and destruction

[scope]

Posted on March 04, 2015 at 19:45

BEWARE

to anyone attempting to use these EVAL L647x boards and the stsw-spin002 GUI,

the code is faulty

. DON'T attempt to evaluate this hardware unless you know how to deal with the buggy code.  The L6470 is STELLAR, the motor runs with no audible noise. Never seen anything like it. I literally cannot hear the motor run at 100 s/s in a quiet room with my ear right next to the motor. The dSPIN Eval GUI is buggy: ♯ wont run on a good XP SP2 machine with the necessary add ons. Another User mentioned that and got no support. Clearly ST are hiding something. ♯ installs on Win 7 machine but W7 finds it incompatible- sets it to run under XP SP2 mode. No excuse for issuing old buggy code for such a new, flagship product  line. This GUI does is pass a set of register values to/from the board, how hard can that be to fix? XP is no longer supported, time to make this SW grow up. ♯ bad crashes:   *corrupted register data to/from the board,   * 6472 registers change on their own. spurious data sent to the board (caught motor pulses on a scope that were not sent under command),   *hard crashes that destroyed two L6472s   * GUI crashes and indicates faults that are not on the board,   *GUI crashes (locks up) if allowed to run for 10 minutes to an hour, can be restarted   * GUI crashes and cannot be restarted The GUI, however, does seem to operate OK if the parameters are passed to the board, then the board is disconnected using the Tools ''Connect board'' menu item- just reconnect the board later when changes are to be made. The USB cable must remain connected to supply power while the GUI is disconnected. The problem is not the board (usually) in the above faults as the motor will continue to run OK, but the GUI freaks out and has to be restarted. The L6472 hardware is also unstable. It freaks out when motor voltage is too high or too low. BEWARE of the 6472 if you need a wide speed range, its a current control method it will freak out hard if the motor voltage is too high. Theres no excuse for this or STs

refusal

to support their product. The  ICs are stellar, the documentation and support are sub -par and thats a shame for ST which is (or was) a giant in the semiconductor industry since the 1980s. #l6472 #l6470 #crash #dspin-gui

[Enrico Poli]

Posted on April 08, 2015 at 14:57

Dear Mr. Campbell,

I apologize for all the troubles you faced using our evaluation software and for all queries left without support.

This is not the way that STMicroelectronics wants to collaborate with its customers.

Let me try to remedy.

Windows XP\7 compatibility

The GUI is compatible with both Windows XP and Windows 7. Compatibility issues were reported about the STEVAL-PCC009V2 firmware, but I think it is not your case. Please, share your configuration and the error message shown by the OS.

Crashes

The software development team constantly works for improving the GUI making it more stable and user-friendly, but your experience shows that a stronger effort is needed. We recently released the revision 2.0 of the GUI. Please, check if this new version fixes the bugs. Otherwise I'll be glad to collect all your feedbacks for improving the software.

L6472 instability

Please, share more details about your findings. In particular the L6472 configuration and the operating conditions causing the anomalous behaviour.

Damaged boards

Considering the severe issues caused by the lack of support, we will send a new set of boards to replace the damaged ones. Just send me a mail with the material you need and the shipping address.

Best Regards

Enrico Poli

BEWARE

to anyone attempting to use these EVAL L647x boards and the stsw-spin002 GUI,

the code is faulty

. DON'T attempt to evaluate this hardware unless you know how to deal with the buggy code.  The L6470 is STELLAR, the motor runs with no audible noise. Never seen anything like it. I literally cannot hear the motor run at 100 s/s in a quiet room with my ear right next to the motor. The dSPIN Eval GUI is buggy: # wont run on a good XP SP2 machine with the necessary add ons. Another User mentioned that and got no support. Clearly ST are hiding something. # installs on Win 7 machine but W7 finds it incompatible- sets it to run under XP SP2 mode. No excuse for issuing old buggy code for such a new, flagship product  line. This GUI does is pass a set of register values to/from the board, how hard can that be to fix? XP is no longer supported, time to make this SW grow up. # bad crashes:   *corrupted register data to/from the board,   * 6472 registers change on their own. spurious data sent to the board (caught motor pulses on a scope that were not sent under command),   *hard crashes that destroyed two L6472s   * GUI crashes and indicates faults that are not on the board,   *GUI crashes (locks up) if allowed to run for 10 minutes to an hour, can be restarted   * GUI crashes and cannot be restarted The GUI, however, does seem to operate OK if the parameters are passed to the board, then the board is disconnected using the Tools ''Connect board'' menu item- just reconnect the board later when changes are to be made. The USB cable must remain connected to supply power while the GUI is disconnected. The problem is not the board (usually) in the above faults as the motor will continue to run OK, but the GUI freaks out and has to be restarted. The L6472 hardware is also unstable. It freaks out when motor voltage is too high or too low. BEWARE of the 6472 if you need a wide speed range, its a current control method it will freak out hard if the motor voltage is too high. Theres no excuse for this or STs

refusal

to support their product. The  ICs are stellar, the documentation and support are sub -par and thats a shame for ST which is (or was) a giant in the semiconductor industry since the 1980s.