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P2D2 trials and tribulations update — Parallax Forums

P2D2 trials and tribulations update

Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
edited 2020-05-08 05:00 in Propeller 2
Where where where have I been?

But before I begin, I sincerely apologize to all those who have been waiting for a P2D2, especially those who didn't have access to a P2.

To keep it short I've been too run down and stressed to even talk to anyone, which can happen very easily ever since my chemo (and still) it seems. Perhaps the stress is from trying to get these p2d2s assembled and just right but shipped yesterday!. There have been quite a few rejects and even when my pcb assembly friend has been available there were still many problems and too many delays.

Since this pcb is so packed it makes it hard to rework and also tiny QFN packs with tiny corner pads on the USB chip don't help either. Even the switching regulator doesn't always sit right on the board and trying to rework it gently can result in a damaged board. It's a tight little corner I painted myself into.

So for the last few months I have been doing a lot of software and some hardware testing, kinda waiting for an opportunity to get my pcbs assembled by my friend who has been very busy otherwise.

But now in the last few weeks I've been busier than a one-armed bricklayer in Baghdad, reworking pcbs and analyzing what is going wrong. I've made changes to the pcb to make it more manufacturable. However I spent way too long on the USB chip as this is mostly in jmg's hands and it seems that the USB serial library from Silabs has a few bugs that only I seem to uncover. It scrambles USB>UART data under certain conditions which jmg can't reproduce and I can very easily (and prove it is the ub3 too) :):(
(Update: jmg confirms problems, but I have a version that never seems to play up at 57.6k baud).

Originally the chip I designed in wasn't going to do USB, just handle reset and a few other things Then I was swayed to the dark side with a USB capable chip instead. This is fine really except I really had to squeeze things in there plus I didn't want to be bogged down with USB serial firmware, which I left to jmg. Now I am ripping out that otherwise good chip from the board and putting usb on a little pcb module that mounts over the same place, but using a CP2102N for USB serial with the option to upgrade it back to the ub3 later because if it is reliable, it will be much better.

So I will have another micro on the main board in its place, probably a little XMC1100 in a TSSOP16 pack which is much easy to rework if necessary, but less likely to need it. Plus it has 64K Flash and 16K RAM and I can load it with a version of Forth and simply reprogram it from a P2 I/O all without ever having to touch one bit of ARM assembly language on it. Support micro firmware problems solved!

I will also produce the P2PAL pcb (and P2LAB) at the same time and it will also have USB serial on it, so I can use this as an option instead of the tiny usb pcb perhaps. Anyway, I'm giving myself options and getting a few different versions of the bare pcb made and an improved stencil too. I expect to finalize all the revisions and have them sent out sometime next week.

In the meantime I am sending out some of these P2D2s I have although I don't want to assemble anymore of this version unless I have to. I find the USB serial works reliably for me and TAQOZ at 57600. I can push it much faster but if I do it eventually it glitches somehow and scrambles rx data so that instead of 1234 it receives it as 2341. TAQOZ can be really hard on USB serial!

I can send out the current r4 boards to those who want them now. The enhanced r5 may take a few weeks longer but I expect them to be easily assembled and to have no production impediments and easy to rework if they aren't quite right.

Rev 5 of the P2D2 will have these little changes:

Better SMD pads and tenting of vias around the switching regulator (and UB3 USB r4A version for testing).
USB to be moved to a tiny rider PCB that sits in the same place but connects to the main pcb via a 5-pin header, a bit like a built-in PropPlug with a micro USB connector, but snug and tight.

On the main pcb in place of the old USB stuff I will have a tiny 16 pin TSSOP micro that will do this:

Drive P2 RESET high through a resistor. The P2 reset is normally pulled low as default and cannot start-up unless it gets the all-clear from the monitor micro which also looks after brown-outs and slow ramps.

P2 RESET CONDITIONS:
1.8V drops below a threshold
Reset button is pressed or external reset.
USB DTR is short pulsed during normal serial load operation (not just on change)
Watchdog timeout - (off by default until user triggers it - see commands)

ALSO:
If a valid DTR pulse is detected it will then also pullup P59 for a second or so to disable Flash and SD booting.
If the reset button has a long press it will pullup P59 for a reset into serial or ROM.

AT POWERUP:
Load I2C Si5351A Clock Gen configuration

SERIAL COMS FROM P2 COMMANDS:
- RESET P2
- SD POWER ON
- SD POWER OFF
- SD POWER RESET
- READ VDD VOLTAGE (1.8V)
- READ TEMPERATURE
- READ VREF
- RETRIG/START WATCHDOG (off at reset)

(optional but easy to do)
- READ/WRITE SPI FLASH
- READ/WRITE SD FLASH
- READ/WRITE I2C


BTW, TAQOZ has had massive updates which resulted in a new memory map and code that smoothly exceeds the 64kB limit and the new image footprint by default is 128k although loading everything and the kitchen sink hasn't exceeded 55kb yet. I had to force code to compile elsewhere to test this though. Proper vocabularies have been added which is important for verbose dictionaries such as TIA, the interactive P2 assembler. There are a lot of other enhancements too. TED, the screen editor is next which will result in a completely stand-alone system where I can assemble a whole new kernel if necessary. The system will have a backup mechanism via the support micro in case I manage to brick the P2 boot firmware.
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Comments

  • Great to hear Peter, thanks for the update

    There are certainly some tiny parts now available, that do amazing things. Can't help think we need occular implants to prototype them, though.
  • WOHOOO @"Peter Jakacki" is back!!!! And with a load of news as well... I am very happy to see you again on the forum, albeit I have been following Taqoz updates via your Dropbox Folder. It's relieving to hear from the Dragon's mouth that you're OK, up and running.
    Thank you again for Taqoz and all of your job - it is a tool with tremendous power and a joy to program with once you make your head around The Forth.
    About the P2D2, I'll go with the two ordered if there are enough boards from @ErNa, I don't really need a fast USB on those that have to be embedded in some test systems.
  • Thanks jurop, I will organize those boards after I check with ErNa if he is still talking to me. Otherwise I will send them direct.
  • Thanks for the update Peter, stay safe my friend.
  • ErNaErNa Posts: 1,738
    I'd like to talk even more to you, Peter and I'm glad to see you back on the forum. So let us do a quick start. ..
  • Hi Peter! Glad to have you back on the forums. Sorry to hear about all of your difficulties.
  • Glad to hear that you've been looking after yourself Peter, even with the troubles.

    Your contributions are always valued.
  • Wow

    Im amazed what your projects go to
  • Sending peace and love to you Peter. As far as I’m concerned you can take as much time as you need on this. You’ve gone above and beyond for us all at this point.
  • Thank you for the update, Peter. Stay well!

    Rev 5 sounds like a winner!
  • I'm certainly willing to wait for R5, Peter. Your physical and mental health are far more important than the delivery date of a piece of hardware. Be well, mate!
  • I'm very happy to wait. Be safe and healthy.
  • MJBMJB Posts: 1,235
    I am relieved to hear you are welĺ and back.

    whenever you can give a total price for the rev5 bundle to europe
    I wilĺ paypal to eventually start with p2 as well.

    and all the best for your health.
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2020-05-12 06:39
    There's been a break-through with the EFM8UB3 USB serial chip. Apparently there is a bug in silicon where the rare rxd leading edge can trigger a false tx interrupt, but there is a workaround which requires checking the flag anyway. jmg has been at this tooth and nail and pulling all his hair out and I tried the umpteenth "give-it-a-go" version from him, and to my amazement it worked all the way up to the standard 921600 baud with whatever I threw at it. You can run the chip much faster but I think it's the driver that has some limitation built into it and all you need is a magic number like 5 for the baud-rate to select 8Mbd or something like that.

    I will let him tell his side of that if he likes, but right smack bang in the middle of me coming to grips with new support micro replacements this has caused me to rethink this for a moment. I asked him if the UB3 could have a simple I2C slave function and also smarter reset button action. While I wait for him to ponder that I will make an A version of r4, perhaps it will then be the r5 instead which controls P2 reset directly and fixes up some of the other issues. This I can have ready to send off tomorrow. This current version can still do smart reset though which validates the DTR pulse and forces the P2 into serial mode for loading, and where a long press of the reset button can also cause it to bypass Flash/SD boot allowing quick access to the ROM.

  • I've been testing the USB serial at higher baud rates. I even set it to 8Mbd using TeraTerm baud rate code (divider value) of 3 and sent TAQOZ.FTH source code to it with no line delays. It compiled perfectly. Then I set TAQOZ to "12 M CONBAUD" and tried a baud code of 2 in TeraTerm which worked and compiled perfectly.

    Man, this is going too far, so I went to 24Mbd with a code of 1 and then it was garbled. Finally!
    But wait, it recognized input, only the output was garbled. That could be something to do with the drive level. When I type WORDS it responds with lots of garbage, but it responds. So I will find out what is happening on the scope and fix it if I can. Imagine that, a serial port that works at 24Mbd! Even if the throughput for it isn't there, it's still a huge plus.
  • jmgjmg Posts: 15,140
    I've been testing the USB serial at higher baud rates. I even set it to 8Mbd using TeraTerm baud rate code (divider value) of 3 and sent TAQOZ.FTH source code to it with no line delays. It compiled perfectly. Then I set TAQOZ to "12 M CONBAUD" and tried a baud code of 2 in TeraTerm which worked and compiled perfectly.

    Man, this is going too far, so I went to 24Mbd with a code of 1 and then it was garbled. Finally!
    But wait, it recognized input, only the output was garbled. That could be something to do with the drive level. When I type WORDS it responds with lots of garbage, but it responds. So I will find out what is happening on the scope and fix it if I can. Imagine that, a serial port that works at 24Mbd! Even if the throughput for it isn't there, it's still a huge plus.

    :) There are some caveats here I will expand on :

    UB3.Tx can work faster than UB3.RX can, and you can set UB3.TX all the way up to 24Mbd, but it cannot quite Rx at that speed, as there are not enough sample slots per bit.

    12MBd UB3.Rx will be marginal, as that has 4 samples per bit, but it might be ok some of the time :)

    I've found 6MBd and 8Mbd are looking reliable with 2 stop bits, in packets of up to a tad over 1536 bytes (the on chip Rx buffer) Below 6MBd 1 stop bit is ok.

    When sending long sustained streams, you need to keep under the PC+USB VCPxpress limits, which are in the 3~4Mbd ball park.
    UB3.TX will self limit, without dropping characters, but UB3.RX will simply over-run as there is no handshake.

    Any Baud value of the form 24M/N is legal, and current silabs release driver has a regression, that needs N to be entered for > 1MBd (That's why Peter is using 3 & 2 above to set 8MBd and 12MBd)
  • Wow that is sounding really impressive, well done jmg.

  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2020-05-14 03:47
    Well that makes sense at 24Mbd because the P2 receives ok but sending out data at 24Mbd would not leave enough sampling time for the UB3 UART and so it comes back scrambled. I already have the P2 use 3 stop bits when sending data so that seems to keep the UB3 UART happy at 12MBd then.
    But it definitely works at 12Mbd. I've downloaded code into it without any line delays and this is when I ask it to list its dictionary at that speed (in the blink of an eye) and it seems fine.
    TAQOZ# WORDS
    1C3D3: P2EVAL CONVGA VEMIT VGA vcold VCH VCH8 VCH8A _hp VCH4 VCH2 VCH1 CHAR++ FONTGEN VSCROLL NEWLINE
    VHOME TERM NS BOTTOM >VXY VXY> row1 col1 VXY b/l _scrolls vflg row col csp CSP lsp LSP FONT5X7
    *TEXT* SUBS GAMMA _th gam/ gam* NEGATIVE N SHADOWS PALMASK COLORS BUTTON -BEST SLIDESHOW RESUME
    REPLAY WATCH LOAD-FRAME BMV$ ?MEDIA-KEYS VIEW-FRAME VIEWH VIEWN VIEWF VIEWP FRAME+ FRAME- BSECTS
    frame skips wspd ?BOUNCE NEGATE! BOUNCE hbounce vbounce SETWIN !WIN XRES YRES BMVBUF hwin vwin
    *BMV* >>| |<< PLAYALL track PITCH FWD REW PAUSE TRACK$ PLAY$ PLAY PLAY# WAVE.TASK ?WAVE GETWAV
    PLAY.TASK dacbits PLAYBUF AUDIO AOUT STOP OPEN-EXT$ VOL vol* vol/ lch rch wavflg _pitch samrate
    wavsz wavsect wavbuf2 wavbuf wavblk# ROUT LOUT *WAVE* MODULATE WAVES PLOTWAV scrbl ax ao FBSAVE
    FBGRAB BMPTBL BMPHDR VIEWSEC VIEW$ VIEW OPEN.BMP$ V$ VFLIP *BMP* SHOW BLANK FRAMES SYNCH LUMA
    lm VFILL CLRSCR BOX PANEL FRAME RECT VLINE HLINE LINETO X+- Y+- Y2 X2 BR BL TR TL PEN> >PEN
    _pen1 _paper1 PLOT PIXEL! PLOT8 PLOT1 tex @XY CENTER Y+! X+! !XY XY! XY@! Y@ X@ h w y x scr*
    height width _y1 _y _x1 _x -VGA -MONO -C64 -TERM -MAC !PAL PAL2 PAL1 !COL >RGB RGB> SCREEN
    vgadac REVERSE PLAIN brown gray coal white magenta cyan blue yellow green red black P&P PAPER@
    PAPER PEN@ PEN rm scrsz SETBMP 900p 768p 384p 540p V148 1080p 144p 180p 360p V74 720p 384v
    V65 768v 300v V40 600v 120v 240v V25 480v V/2 .VGA !VGA VSYN vms HSYN VCLK VRES V/ BPP BPP@
    SCR PAL rows cols VW@ V@ VW! V! vcnt hcnt vint BMP tim *TIM* LISTING ASM: FORTH: doNEXT END-CODE
    end TIA: CODE ASSEMBLER *TIA* MAIN ~E ~B ~D ~W ~? ~Y ?? SYSINFO .DEVICES .USAGE .UBYTES SFBYTES
    lsi2c .I2C .ASBYTES .MODULES CRLF+ ?PINS ?PIN FCACHE SRRDS srinc .SR SRID SR! SRW! SRC! SRWRS
    SRWRP !SR SRRD SR SR@ SRW@ SRC@ *SPIRAM* RECLAIM STRIP STRIPIT DECOMP SEENFA SEE SEECFA ?NAME
    .NAME ?THENS .SEE ?LOOPS ?DOS CASE? ?GOTO .LCON ?CRLF fad? if? -if +if .LIT .W10 -ind +ind
    INDENT .STR .M: .ASC .D $ 'EMIT (DS) (LC) (.") (AS) (") (S) (R) (IF) (L) (W) SEE@ xcfa @SEE
    @SEE+ @SEE++ eflg? dflg? wsrc wptr wnfa wcode ind ex ifs dflg *DECOMPILER* .FDT .TIME .DAY
    .DATE .DT .6 DAY@ DATE@ TIME@ DT@ BCDDEC DATE! DAY! TIME! UTIME! UTIME@ RTC !RTC I2CLOAD RDRTC
    rtcbuf I2CREG@ RTC@ I2CREG! RTC! RTCB! RTC? *RTC* I2C.KHZ I2C I2CC@ I2CRDREG nakI2C@ I2C@ I2C!
    I2CWR I2CRD I2CRD? i2cdev <I2C> I2C> BU BACKUP$ BACKUP MBR! BIX LISTBLOCKS EDITBLOCK VK .EDIT
    bn .BLOCK FORMAT FORMAT.ROOT .DISK .FREE .FAT .PS .res FORMAT.FAT !FATS !FATX !FSINFO #s/c
    CLSZ .MBR .MB .MBS FORMAT.MBR .CHS ?FS .SD .SPEEDS .SPD *DISK* QV cat RENAME RENAME! RENAME#
    FLOAD DEL-FILE pwd CD cwd OPEN-FILE OPEN-FILE$ FOPEN REOPEN-FILE FOPEN$ MAKE mk$ mk ClaimClusters
    FreeDir? FFIND FOPEN# >F83 GETF$ file$ -fsize -fclstl -fdate -ftime -fclsth -fadate -fcdate
    -fctime -fcms -atr -ext -fname dirbuf FWRITE FREAD FGET FLOADS ls .LIST (.LIST) (SLIST) (DIR)
    udir lscnt ACTIVE? .FNAME .FTIME .FDATE .ASMONTH .FYEAR DIRW .DIR DIR .ENTRY .DATE .DECX GAP
    .NAME @DIR @FNAME MOUNTED? ?MOUNT MOUNT GETFAT ?FREE FSIZE@ @FSIZE S>D I>S S>C# S>C C>S2 C>S
    D>S D>C I>D #C FreeClusters? CLUSTER@ @CLUSTER FAT2 FAT1 CD# FCLOSE CLOSE-FILE OPEN-SECTOR
    CWD ROOT FATSZ @FAT @BOOT CWD! @CWD @ROOT SD SDC! SD! SDC@ SDW@ SD@ SDADR @OPEN @FILE SECTOR
    SECTORF SDRDS SDWAIT SDRDX SDRD SDRDBLK FLUSH ?FLUSH SDWRS SDWR SDWR? B>S RW? RWS RWC RW wm
    RO .OCR .CSD .TRANS .TACC TACC tval .xs .CURRENT .ma ma .CARD .CID .MFG .TITLE .*** .LINE@
    .LINE !SD !SD! BITS@ CSD@ XSHR SDDAT! SDSTAT DAT? ACMD SDRES CMD TOKEN SDCLK3 RELEASE SDCLK
    SD? !SDIO SDPINS SDSPI SDCS SDDO SDDI SDCK SDBUF+ !SDBUF SDBUF fsize fcl fdate ftime fch f?
    cwd$ fatsz sdsz cwdsect fat2 fat1 cwdir rootdir mksiz used% freecl usedcl lastcluster freeclusters
    volname serial extsig ldn bbsect infosect rootcl fat? s/f s/p hidden media fats rsvd s/c b/s
    oemname fat32 parsig parts bitbuf blklen sdhc fq file# wrens wrflg sdcmd _fkey mntd _fwrite
    _fread opensect filesect readsect seccrc sdsum @sdwr @sdrd sdsize csd cid ocr sdvars *EASYFILE*
    VOLTS@ SETADC AMIN AREF aref amin ADC V DAC HILO PULSES PULSE PW SMPS TRI PWM! PWM BLINK DUTY
    SETNCO NCO HZ KHZ MHZ MUTE WRFNC NSCNT NCOCNT OPEN-DRAIN SINK SOURCE !OUT !IN PINM 14P CLOCKED
    OPEN 10ua 100ua 1ma 150K 15K 1K5 FAST *SMARTPINS* FILTER! CRUISE CLKMHZ! RCFAST RCSLOW !CLKHZ
    CLKHZ1! CLKHZ! HZ! clkfreq CLKMHZ USEXTAL USEPLL CLKSRC +SS PLLDIV +PPPP VCOMUL XIDIV PLLOFF
    PLLEN CLK! pf +CC CLKSET _fin _clk *P2CLOCK* CONBAUD RXD TXD BAUD -bit dl fibos fibo module
    HERE: TABLE MBXEMIT CONOUT +BUF =BUF bufsz bufwr bufptr NULL KEY: EMIT: TABS TAB .SUCCESS .OK
    .io .DEC2 PINS PIN _pinmode DUMPZ dz .CONS .VARS .CONVARS .CV .CTRLS WORDS MWORDS MOD? LWORDS
    CFA>NFA .NFA PAGE0 >! $+ X$ C$= $= a>A .MEM U.R D.R D. .DP >STR .DECS D.DECS #S, #c .BYTES
    .BITS SPINNER _sp _el REVECTOR +-! | w ~b ?UNTIL TIMEOUT? TIMEOUT +POLL POLL: !POLLS POLLS
    VOCAB (VOCAB) SEARCH-VOCABS +VOCAB @VOCAB FORTH vocabs #vocabs EVALUATE EVALKEY nx' CALL$ ->
    <- %white %cyan %magenta %blue %yellow %green %red %black %WRAP %BOLD %REVERSE ATR %PLAIN asw
    %CURSOR %ERLINE %ERSCN %CLS %XY .PAR CUR %PAPER COL %PEN ESCB %HOME ESC *ANSI* LOCAL REMOTE
    PAGER .HERE PROMPT! .M TRACE! RUN: RUN 1M 64KB _vspin _vgacfg _baud _clkcfg _cpuhz _xin KBDAT
    KBCLK CLKDLY CLKREG INB INA OUTB OUTA DIRB DIRA PTRB PTRA PB PA IRET1 IJMP1 IRET2 IJMP2 IRET3
    IJMP3 TAQOZ# AT == ^ !& & *** ALIAS CPA! VEC0 *EXTEND* DUP OVER 3RD 4TH OVER+ SWAP ROT -ROT
    ROT4 -ROT4 DROP 2DROP 3DROP NIP 2SWAP 2DUP ?DUP AND ANDN OR XOR NOT ROL ROR ROR? >> << SAR
    2/ 2* 4/ 4* 16<< 8<< 9<< 16>> 8>> 9>> REV REVB |< >| BMASK 1& >N >B >9 >W BITS SIGN HUBEXEC
    = <> 0= 0<> 0< < U< > U> <= => WITHIN DUPC@ C@ W@ @ C+! C! C@++ W+! W! +! ! M! D@ D! DWIDTH
    BIT! SET CLR SET? 1+ 1- 2+ 2- 4+ + - b++ UM* * W* LW* DM* / U/ U// UM/ // */ U*/ UM// QROTATE
    QVECTOR LOG EXP C++ C-- W++ W-- ++ -- RND GETRND SQRT SETDACS ~ ~~ W~ W~~ C~ C~~ L>S L>W W>B
    W>L B>W B>L MINS MAXS MIN MAX ABS -NEGATE ?NEGATE NEGATE -1 ON TRUE FALSE OFF GOTO IF ELSE
    THEN BEGIN UNTIL AGAIN WHILE REPEAT SWITCH CASE@ <CASE> BREAK CASE ADO DO LOOP +LOOP UNLOOP
    FOR NEXT ?NEXT I J LEAVE ?LEAVE IC@ I+ BOUNDS H L T F R HIGH LOW FLOAT MSBOUT LSBOUT MSBIN
    PIN! PIN@ WRPIN WXPIN WYPIN RDPIN RQPIN AKPIN RDPINC WAITPIN WRACK pIN @PIN WAITX SETCT1 WAITCT1
    REBOOT RESET 0EXIT EXIT EXIT; NOP EXECUTE CALL JUMP COGMOD LOADMOD >R R> >L L> !SP DEPTH P2?
    COG@ COG! LUT@ LUT! COGID COGINIT COGSTOP NEWCOG COGATN POLLATN SETEDG POLLEDG BMP CLKMHZ KEY
    WKEY KEY! KEY@ keypoll CON MOUT NONE COM CTRL! DISCARD CONKEY CONEMIT SEROUT MBX MBO .EMIT
    EMIT EMITS EMIT! EMIT@ CRLF CR CLS SPACE SPACES RAM DUMP! DUMP DUMPW DUMPL DUMPA DUMPAW QD
    QW ?ERROR CONSOLE PROMPT DEBUG lsio TRACE UNTRACE COG LUT KB MB M . PRINT .AS .AS" .DECL .DEC4
    HOLD #> <# # #S <D> U. .DEC .BIN .H .B .BYTE .W .WORD .L .LONG .ADDR .ADRX PRINT$ LEN$ UPPER$
    " ." PRINT" CTYPE NUMBER ?EXIT ERASE FILL CMOVE <CMOVE LMOVE s ms us CYCLES DELAY DELAYS INS
    CNT@ LAP LAP@ .LAP .LAPS .CLK .ms HEX DEC BIN .S W wORDS @WORDS GET$ SEARCH ufind $># uprompt
    uaccept unum uemit ukey delim names TASK REG @WORD SPIN || , [W] ["] NULL$ $! $= (ASM) (CODE)
    FIND$ FORGET CREATE$ CREATE: VAR pub pri pre public private : ; [ ] ' := :=! ALIGN DATCON ALLOT
    HERE @HERE @CODES SETORG uhere uwords flags orglen org@ !org org bytes words longs byte word
    long res [C] GRAB [G] NFA' NFA+ CPA CFA \ --- ( { } IFNDEF IFDEF .VER TAQOZ MSAVE MLOAD FL
    TERM AUTO SPIRD SPIRL SPIWR SPIWB SPICE SPIWC SPIWW SPIWM SPIWL SPIPINS SPIRX SPITXE SPITX
    CLKS TXDAT I2C.STOP I2C.START I2C.RESTART I2C.WR I2C.RD WAIT CLKDIV RCSLOW HUBSET WP WE CLKHZ
    ERROR SFPINS SF? SFWE SFCMD SFWD SFSID SFJID SFER4 SFER32 SFER64 SFER SFERP SFWRP SFBU SFRE
    SFRDS SFWRS SFC@ SFW@ SF@ SF .SF *SPIFLASH* outbox inbox BUFFERS @VGA END  1396 ---  ok
    TAQOZ#
    
  • Remember "Viatel" at 1200/75 baud Peter?

    What you need is just 10^4 times that
  • jmgjmg Posts: 15,140
    edited 2020-05-14 06:27
    Well that makes sense at 24Mbd because the P2 receives ok but sending out data at 24Mbd would not leave enough sampling time for the UB3 UART and so it comes back scrambled. I already have the P2 use 3 stop bits when sending data so that seems to keep the UB3 UART happy at 12MBd then.
    But it definitely works at 12Mbd.
    Seems to :)
    I checked that again, and I can send a packed 1536 bytes via FT232H, using 2 stop bits, which takes 1408us at 12Mbd, and UB3 receives that packed burst ok, into the large Rx Buffer. (these are half duplex tests)

    Checking with 1 stop bit confirms it drops characters, so 12M.8.n.2 is needed
    I've downloaded code into it without any line delays and this is when I ask it to list its dictionary at that speed (in the blink of an eye) and it seems fine.
    That dictionary is about 7760 bytes, so it must have some inter-char delays, meaning those are not packed. The driver + USB pipeline can sustain about 4Mbd averaged, but the UB3 can accept moderate (~1536 max) bursts at 12M.8.n.2
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,066
    Tubular wrote: »
    Remember "Viatel" at 1200/75 baud Peter?

    What you need is just 10^4 times that

    The first modem I designed did 1200 baud hdx sync for mainframes 2780 bisync. Loooong time ago ;)
  • Hey Peter,

    I didn't realize your P2D2 efforts have been so challenging, with personal health and stress mixed in. Everything you described about hardware development is a familiar part of the process I have come to know at Parallax. Just this afternoon I was talking with Chip about expectations around P2 accessory boards, and how expensive/consuming it is to make an electronic product. Sometimes these designs also get unnecessarily complicated to support every possibility, but with very little gain to the developer. I'm sure you've spent a thousand hours on P2D2 and expectations for this little board will be $30, common to most PCBs this size.

    Many forum members are interested in the outcome, so stick with it - but not at the expense of stress.

    We are expecting Rev C chips soon and I will see that we get some off to you at the earliest possibility.

    Ken Gracey
  • Sorry to hear you're having a hard time lately, Peter. I hope the struggle eases soon, and don't push yourself too hard to get the P2D2s out faster at the expense of your well being. We've mastered patience out of necessity, so we can wait as long as you need to get it right while taking care of yourself.
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2020-05-19 14:42
    This USB serial has been taking a lot longer than I expected but it seems to be working well, even at 8Mbd. I've been asking jmg to add some enhancements to it and in the process I hacked my r4 in a couple of places.

    1) Pull-down on P2 RESn with active drive from UB3 (no power-up/down or brown-out hiccups)
    2) DTR load pulse validation - simply opening and closing ports etc will not trigger a reset.
    3) Valid DTR load pulse enables P59 pullup thus forcing serial load mode regardless of SD and Flash bootability
    4) Short reset press = normal boot ; long reset press = disable Flash and SD boot (enter TAQOZ ROM or debugger etc)
    5) Reset button and external reset actually disable SDON which cuts the SD power and is sensed as a reset request by the UB3

    There are a couple of other things we are sorting out, but it looks like I may be able to use the UB3 both as USB serial and support functions.
    Certainly the fact that new firmware can be loaded over USB is a feature although this is normally only done once.
    The auto P59 pullup on valid DTR pulse means that I can leave my bootable SD card inserted and still load up the board serially.
    I've tested this on PNut34s and instead of loadp2, I have using OzPropdev's Python P2 loader which I have just abbreviated to loadp2.py. This loader seems to work a bit better in terms of timing with this DTR load pulse validation.

    I also noticed that I used to get some RTC corruption on power-up sometimes, but now with these mods which keep the P2 in reset until the UB3 says go, the RTC doesn't glitch. Even if the UB3 hasn't booted or can't because the voltage is too low, the pull-down resistor on P2 RESn stops it from trying to run (and do whatever).

    Item 4 with the reset button isn't quite right yet in the firmware, it's the other way around, but a short press or external pulse should always cause a normal reset. So that will be fixed or left as a normal reset.

    BTW, the UB3 firmware can be reloaded by forcing a UB3 pin low on plug-in. I'm going to try and bring that pin out on r5 just to make it that bit easier if it ever needs reloading. At present I solder a tiny button to the top of the USB connector as ground and the other leg has a short wire going to the UB3. Press the button as you insert the cable and it uses the internal USB HID bootloader.

    Once I am convinced that it will do what it needs to, then the r5 artwork will be sent off. This means r5 won't look much different, with the same USB. Nonetheless, I will have an alternate version available anyway, as well as the P2PAL and P2LAB boards about 3 weeks away now from being assembled and ready to ship.


    Baking (make and burn) TAQOZ on Linux (with a bootable SD still in)
    00:16 TAQOZ$ bake P2 taqoz
    preprocessing files .....
    assembling .spin2 file .....
    Loading binary .....
    
    Python Prop2 loader Ver 1.2 14th Jan 2019 - ozpropdev
    Python version: 3.6.9 (default, Apr 18 2020, 01:56:04) 
    [GCC 8.4.0] 
    
    Scanning ports....
    /dev/ttyUSB0 = Prop_Ver G
    Project =  taqoz.bin on /dev/ttyUSB0
    HUBSET #1 Ok
    HUBSET #2 Ok
    Loading TXT ....complete
    
  • Super work, Peter!
  • roglohrogloh Posts: 5,122
    edited 2020-05-20 00:54
    Once I am convinced that it will do what it needs to, then the r5 artwork will be sent off. This means r5 won't look much different, with the same USB. Nonetheless, I will have an alternate version available anyway, as well as the P2PAL and P2LAB boards about 3 weeks away now from being assembled and ready to ship.

    To clarify Peter, is the alternate version you mention in this quote above the one without the USB chip on the main board, ie. on a separate rider board attached to the top? I'm still a bit confused with all these changes that have been discussed. It sounds like you've got the USB going at least and now intend to keep it on r5 main board which was different to your plans before the recent breakthrough.

    In my case I'm keen to get some on USB board serial capability to operate the board standalone initially and my enclosure is height constrained as well, so extra add on rider boards may not be that ideal for me. Also I need to drive out TX/RX and reset (which I'd tri-state / pull low) from my own system board into the P2 as well, for both re-programming and run-time serial access, so hopefully these don't interfere in normal operation if your USB port is not used once the P2D2 gets fitted inside my enclosure. That would be a preferable way for an embedded P2D2 to operate when fitted in another system board in general so people don't lose main serial access and can still control reset if they need to.

    The P2PAL still sounds good and I'm happy to wait for that too, now you are back on it. I'd definitely be keen to see how that design goes and its final size etc because it may save me trying to get some HyperRAM fitted on my own board which won't be nearly as ideal with the extra wiring lengths and extra connectors it would be passing through that way. In comparison your P2PAL HyperRAM signal traces should be much shorter.
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2020-05-20 01:27
    Sorry about the confusion. When we tried and tried and couldn't get the UB3 to operate reliably and jmg couldn't duplicate the bug I was seeing, I made the decision to cut my losses and switch over to the hybrid USB serial and separate support chip. However, almost within days jmg duplicated the bug and eventually found it was due to a silicon bug, with a quick fix in s/w. So I put my support micro on hold as I tested this and found ti worked reliably up to 8M. Woo hoo! But could we get the support functions in there, at least for these existing pcbs? Yes, no, and kinda yes. I was just about to shelve it all again and then (under some pressure) jmg made the reset stuff work again.

    So now I've decided that the support functions are reliable and sufficient for now, plus the UB3 firmware can be upgraded via USB in the future. But I have to decide if I use the existing boards since I don't want to hack them I would need firmware that used the existing reset pullup method.

    Therefore, this week I intend to send out the r5 artwork using the UB3 as it is now with the new firmware and the reset and pcb changes mentioned. So as not to delay anything else any further I will get the P2PAL and P2LAB at the same time and also an alternative P2D2 with a separate support micro and USB serial, just for testing at this stage, but also as a backup or future model.

    BTW, the rider pcb I mentioned last time is not riding above the height of the whole pcb, just above the pcb itself, so only slightly elevated. The support micro is buried beneath it.
  • jmgjmg Posts: 15,140
    edited 2020-05-20 01:45
    rogloh wrote: »
    In my case I'm keen to get some on USB board serial capability to operate the board standalone initially and my enclosure is height constrained as well, so extra add on rider boards may not be that ideal for me. Also I need to drive out TX/RX and reset (which I'd tri-state / pull low) from my own system board into the P2 as well, for both re-programming and run-time serial access, so hopefully these don't interfere in normal operation if your USB port is not used once the P2D2 gets fitted inside my enclosure. That would be a preferable way for an embedded P2D2 to operate when fitted in another system board in general so people don't lose main serial access and can still control reset if they need to.
    Yes, the UB3 enables TXD & P59 pins on Device open (serial connect), and disables them on device close (serial disconnect) so they can be driven from another host.
    One mode the UB3 is tested in, is power-only USB cables.
    The reset push button works in both power-only USB cable, and full USB cable modes, so that means from our own system board, you can control std-boot, or force-serial boot (revised to short / long (>1s) reset widths)

    Under investigation is allowing DTR widths to control Serial Boot (default short), or flash boot, or SD Boot, which may be useful for close-case / more remote type developments.

  • Thanks Peter for these extra details.
  • I think I'm completely confused now. I paid for a P2D2 board. Which rev will I get? Also, can I pay more and get one or both of the other boards at the same time?
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