Lpc2000

Hey guys,

I recently mentioned a problem where the Philips Flash utility 
partially works with my lpc2114 board and gives communication errors 
whenever attempting to Erase Flash or Download code to the board. 

I troubleshooted the RS232 interface, and all rs232 signals are 
working OK now, but I still get comm errors with the Phillps 
Utility. I think that I'm possibly dealing with a more serious 
problem here, as I can't even download code into flash memory of the 
same board thru the JTAG interface. 

I sometimes use the Debug Utility in the IAR Software as an 
alternative to flash program and debug applications on the lpc2114 
chip. This surely works. However, the above method didn't even work 
with the same board. The IAR flash programming tool executed 
normally while downloading code unto the board. However afterwards, 
the memory dump showed no sign that the flash memory got programmed. 
The application's memory area showed nothing but 1's or 0xFF's, 
while the reset vectors supposedly points to the bootloader and not 
the application.

Let me know what you think. I think that I'm possibly dealing with a 
corrupted chip.

Leighton

Leighton,

I had problems downloading when I used to use a particular USB-RS232 
adapter which funnily enough was based on an older Philip's chipset. 
There does not appear to be any problem if I use an internal coms port 
or a Silabs based USB adapter. This may be related to some timeout or 
handshake issue. Even at lower baud-rates I would have coms failures.

The laptop I used at the time was running on a power-pack and I would 
also notice mains leakage on the order of 100's of microamps (it 
bites!). This may not be a problem but I use my own isolated USB coms now.

Could your problem be anything along these lines?

*Peter*



Leighton Rowe wrote:

> Hey guys,
>
> I recently mentioned a problem where the Philips Flash utility 
> partially works with my lpc2114 board and gives communication errors 
> whenever attempting to Erase Flash or Download code to the board. 
>
> I troubleshooted the RS232 interface, and all rs232 signals are 
> working OK now, but I still get comm errors with the Phillps 
> Utility. I think that I'm possibly dealing with a more serious 
> problem here, as I can't even download code into flash memory of the 
> same board thru the JTAG interface. 
>
> I sometimes use the Debug Utility in the IAR Software as an 
> alternative to flash program and debug applications on the lpc2114 
> chip. This surely works. However, the above method didn't even work 
> with the same board. The IAR flash programming tool executed 
> normally while downloading code unto the board. However afterwards, 
> the memory dump showed no sign that the flash memory got programmed. 
> The application's memory area showed nothing but 1's or 0xFF's, 
> while the reset vectors supposedly points to the bootloader and not 
> the application.
>
> Let me know what you think. I think that I'm possibly dealing with a 
> corrupted chip.

> I had problems downloading when I used to use a particular USB-
RS232 
> adapter which funnily enough was based on an older Philip's 
chipset. 
> There does not appear to be any problem if I use an internal coms 
port 
> or a Silabs based USB adapter. This may be related to some timeout 
or 
> handshake issue. Even at lower baud-rates I would have coms 
failures.
> 
> The laptop I used at the time was running on a power-pack and I 
would 
> also notice mains leakage on the order of 100's of microamps (it 
> bites!). This may not be a problem but I use my own isolated USB 
coms now.
> 
> Could your problem be anything along these lines?
> 
> *Peter*

Well, the philips utility's communicating with the lpc thru the 
internal com port. I get the same problem at different baud rates, 
but I'm not sure whether or not the problem's a handshaking issue.

The philips synchronizes OK, so probably the RTS line's functioning 
correctly. So the handshaking's probably working right.

The only set of clues I could look at now is the serial data log 
between the PC and the lpc. I haven't yet figured out the returned 
code (bytes) from the lpc yet. However, looking at the communication 
log during an 'erase command' sequence, I see the philips utility 
synchronize with the '?' OK and then continues to communicate bytes 
until the lpc stops responding. Nothing happens for a while and then 
the communications error shows up (definitely a timeout issue). There 
isn't any immediate sign of framing errors occuring.

I don't know much about the philips bootloader protocol, but I think 
there's a good chance that the chip's not sending the right response 
bytes, leading to a comm timeout. I'll probably have to reproduce & 
post the communication log later.

Leighton