Dangerous Prototypes Open Source Hardware

BP3 connection issues

January 04, 2010, 05:38:57 pm

I just got my BP3 today, and I'm having a hard time connecting to it to flash the newest firmware.  I also can not use tera-term to connect to it to get a prompt.  After several tries it will eventually flash the firmware and does "Verify Error" from 0x400 to 0xB66.

tlab

Re: BP3 connection issues

Reply #1 – January 04, 2010, 05:44:23 pm

What speed are you using the bootloader? You might have a 'slow' pic that doesn't like the high speed. The verify error is normal, as that's where the bootloader lives.

Re: BP3 connection issues

Reply #2 – January 04, 2010, 06:05:36 pm

I've tried at the default 9600

Re: BP3 connection issues

Reply #3 – January 04, 2010, 06:22:01 pm

That's an unusual problem. Are there any loose connections between the PIC and FTDI chip?

Re: BP3 connection issues

Reply #4 – January 04, 2010, 06:22:41 pm

But you did manage to bootload successfully? Could you connect before you upgraded?

Re: BP3 connection issues

Reply #5 – January 04, 2010, 06:44:39 pm

I didn't try to connect to it before I upgraded it.  I just tried to upgrade it first thing. 

The mode light does come on when I jumper PGC and PGD and plug it in.  I can also get the mode light to come on sometimes if I'm in the terminal and just hit random keys, but nothing ever shows on the screen.  I'm using tera-term with vt100 on com2 which is the port the bus pirate is on.

I checked the 4 lines running from the FTDI to the PIC chip and they all measure less than 1ohm.. usually .2-.3 ohms.

Re: BP3 connection issues

Reply #6 – January 04, 2010, 07:02:21 pm

Try to make the mode LED light by:

enter
enter
M
enter
2
enter

If this works, maybe there's an unsoldered pin in the transmit line. The mode should not light just by random characters, is the terminal configured for 115200bps?

Maybe this will help:
http://whereisian.com/forum/index.php?t ... 59#msg1459

Are you following the upgrade instructions exactly, including erasing the PIC first, then pressing the green play button when complete?

Re: BP3 connection issues

Reply #7 – January 04, 2010, 07:11:58 pm

the teraterm.ini fixed it.  Not sure why, because I've used it before with freescale chips and it worked fine.  But anyways everything seems to be ok now..

Re: BP3 connection issues

Reply #8 – January 04, 2010, 07:32:34 pm

I'm really glad, this was a head scratcher for me. Is there any chance you have the old copy I can take a look at? This seems to be a new problem that's cropping up. Where did you download your teraterm (there's a couple versions out there)?

Re: BP3 connection issues

Reply #9 – January 04, 2010, 07:34:03 pm

I downloaded it from http://www.ayera.com/teraterm/

I think my problem may have been the baud rate setting.