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blackbox on windows 7 - can't find prop — Parallax Forums

blackbox on windows 7 - can't find prop

sssidneysssidney Posts: 64
edited 2010-04-08 00:15 in Propeller 1
hi,

Has anyone tried payload, blackcat or blackbox on windows 7?· I appologize in advance if this is·known issue·that I missed. I can't connect to the prop. I can connect to the prop using the propeller tool on the same pc and usb com port i.e. get the usual:

Propeller chip version 1 found on COM7.

Propellent also works:
propellent "\program files\catalina\demos\blink.binary"

Here's what I tried:
C:\Program Files\catalina\demos>payload -p7 blink2
No Propeller found on port COM7

C:\Program Files\catalina\demos>payload -a1 blink2.binary
No Propeller found on any port

C:\Program Files\catalina\demos>catalina -lc -g -D DEMO blink2.c
Catalina Compiler 2.4
······· 1 file(s) moved.
Homespun Spin Compiler 0.27
parsing C:\Program Files\Catalina\target\lmm_blackcat.spin
parsing C:\Program Files\Catalina\target\Catalina.spin
parsing C:\Program Files\Catalina\target\Catalina_Common.spin
parsing C:\Program Files\Catalina\target\BlackCat_DebugCog.spin
parsing C:\Program Files\Catalina\target\Catalina_LMM.spin
parsing C:\Program Files\Catalina\target\Catalina_HMI_Plugin_HiRes_Tv.spin
parsing C:\Program Files\Catalina\target\Catalina_comboKeyboard.spin
parsing C:\Program Files\Catalina\target\Catalina_comboMouse.spin
parsing C:\Program Files\Catalina\target\Catalina_mouse.spin
parsing C:\Program Files\Catalina\target\Catalina_HiRes_TV_Text.spin
parsing C:\Program Files\Catalina\target\TV_Half_Height.spin
compiling lmm_blackcat.spin
compiling Catalina.spin
compiling BlackCat_DebugCog.spin
compiling Catalina_LMM.spin
compiling Catalina_HMI_Plugin_HiRes_Tv.spin
compiling Catalina_comboKeyboard.spin
compiling Catalina_comboMouse.spin
compiling Catalina_mouse.spin
compiling Catalina_HiRes_TV_Text.spin
compiling TV_Half_Height.spin
compiling Catalina_Common.spin
writing blink2.binary
Writing listing to blink2.lst


C:\Program Files\catalina\demos>payload -d -a1 blink2
Catalina Payload 2.4
diagnostic level 1
arg: -a1
switch: -a1
auto mode will start at port COM1
arg: blink2
executable name = payload
Loading Propeller binary blink2.binary
File size = 9632
baudrate = 115200
timeout = 250
sync timeout = 100
reset delay = 0
interfile delay = 500
Trying COM1 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM2 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM3 ... opened port
Error: lfsr data incorrect at 253 - received 255 (expected 254)
Trying COM4 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM5 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM6 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM7 ... opened port
Error: no lfsr data received
Trying COM8 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM9 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM10 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM11 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM12 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM13 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM14 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM15 ... unable to open comport
Trying COM16 ... unable to open comport
No Propeller found on any port

C:\Program Files\catalina\demos>blackbox -p7 blink2
Catalina BlackBox Debugger 2.4

communications error - check port and baudrate, and that
the binary program loaded was compiled with -g or -g3
error - could not set virtual breakpoint


thanks!

Comments

  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,519
    edited 2010-04-05 00:28
    Hi sssidney,

    Blink is a plain-old LMM program, so if Payload is not working you can load it with Propellent and still use BlackBox. If Blackbox still doesn't work once the program is loaded, then I must have a serious comms problems with Windows 7.

    I'll investigate.

    Ross.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,519
    edited 2010-04-05 00:35
    Hi sssidney,

    Also, can you tell me what Propeller platform you have? I noticed Payload has an occasional problem when loading the Morpheus platform, but it works 100% with all my other Prop platforms (but admittedly I've only tested it under XP and Linux).

    Ross.

    Edit: sorry, just noticed the -D DEMO, which means you must have a Demo board!

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina

    Post Edited (RossH) : 4/5/2010 2:16:03 AM GMT
  • sssidneysssidney Posts: 64
    edited 2010-04-05 01:59
    Hey Ross,

    wow. It seems OK now. This worked:

    catalina -lc -g -D DEMO blink2.c
    (power cycle the board)
    propellent /port com7 .\blink2.binary
    blackbox -p7 blink2

    Do I need to power cycle before each download?

    Thanks for your help! I hope I didn't waste your time.
    Dave
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,519
    edited 2010-04-05 02:13
    Hi Dave,

    No, you shouldn't have to power cycle the board. But I notice you used Propellent to load the binary this time, not Payload. Did Payload still not work correctly?

    Ross.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
  • sssidneysssidney Posts: 64
    edited 2010-04-05 11:38
    I was not able to get payload to recognize the prop. I will try again tonight to give you more info on that.

    Here is what I got when I tried it yesterday:

    C:\Program Files\catalina\demos>payload -d -a1 blink2
    Catalina Payload 2.4
    diagnostic level 1
    arg: -a1
    switch: -a1
    auto mode will start at port COM1
    arg: blink2
    executable name = payload
    Loading Propeller binary blink2.binary
    File size = 9632
    baudrate = 115200
    timeout = 250
    sync timeout = 100
    reset delay = 0
    interfile delay = 500
    Trying COM1 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM2 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM3 ... opened port
    Error: lfsr data incorrect at 253 - received 255 (expected 254)
    Trying COM4 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM5 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM6 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM7 ... opened port
    Error: no lfsr data received
    Trying COM8 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM9 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM10 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM11 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM12 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM13 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM14 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM15 ... unable to open comport
    Trying COM16 ... unable to open comport
    No Propeller found on any port
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,519
    edited 2010-04-05 12:42
    @all,

    Anyone else with Windows 7 or Vista having problems using Payload?

    Has anyone with these platforms managed to use it successfully?

    Ross.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
  • kuronekokuroneko Posts: 3,623
    edited 2010-04-06 01:50
    RossH said...
    Anyone else with Windows 7 or Vista having problems using Payload?
    Same here under Vista, tracing looks the same with the exception that my prop'd port is COM4. I also get the bogus output for COM3 which definitely isn't used for prop connections.
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,519
    edited 2010-04-06 02:52
    @all,

    The stuff about COM3 just means the program could open that com port - if it can open the port it sends some data to it and then reads the response to see if it looks like there is a Propeller on the other end. If it decides it is not a Propeller it just closes the port and moves on. To stop this behaviour, use the command line switch -a4 to start auto-scanning at port 4. But then if you know your Prop is connected to port 4 you can just say -p4 and the program will not auto-scan at all.

    Please try a couple of different values of the reset delay parameter (e.g. -r 100, -r 500 or -r 1000) and see if this makes any difference. All this does is delay the time between opening the port and toggling the DTR line to reset the Prop. I don't really expect this to work, but it is worth a try - it seems more likely that the code I use to toggle DTR is just not working at all on Windows 7 or Vista - if you hava a scope handy, can you verify that the DTR line is being toggled, and/or that the Prop is receiving a reset request when Payload starts up?

    Thanks,

    Ross.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
  • kuronekokuroneko Posts: 3,623
    edited 2010-04-06 05:43
    RossH said...
    Please try a couple of different values of the reset delay parameter (e.g. -r 100, -r 500 or -r 1000) and see if this makes any difference.
    No difference for me. But I don't think that's the issue here. The reset gets through, i.e. I have a 2Hz pin 16 program in EEPROM and load a 1Hz pin 16+17 into RAM. The moment I start payload the latter stops and at some point the prop boot loader times out and continues from EEPROM.
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,519
    edited 2010-04-06 06:02
    Thanks Kuroneko,

    What may be happening is that Windows 7 and Vista do not give control back to the program fast enough after it requests the toggling of the DTR line (which does the Prop reset). In that case, the program may not be getting a chance to initiate the comms to the Prop before the Prop times out and proceeds to load a program from EEPROM. If that's what's happening, it could be a real $#@$#@! to fix because it means going deeper than just the normal serial comms API to get the timing accurate enough.

    I'll do a bit of of thinking and maybe post a new executable for you to try tomorrow.

    Anyone with a scope who can tell me what's actually happening with the signal timing under Windows 7 (or Vista)?

    Ross.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,519
    edited 2010-04-06 06:26
    @all,

    Something that may help if it is indeed a timing issue is raising the priority of payload. Can someone run it under Windows 7 or Vista using a command similar to the following?

    start/realtime/b payload <binary_filename>


    Thanks,

    Ross.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
  • kuronekokuroneko Posts: 3,623
    edited 2010-04-06 14:09 
    start/realtime/b payload <binary_filename>


    Has no effect here (Vista).
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,519
    edited 2010-04-07 03:12
    @all,

    Ok - I may have found the problem.

    Can someone please try the enclosed payload executable under Windows 7 and/or Vista?

    It seems to run very slowly for some reason, but I believe it should work this time. If so, I will prepare a patch release for Catalina.

    Thanks,

    Ross.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
    zip
    zip
    payload.zip
    13K
  • kuronekokuroneko Posts: 3,623
    edited 2010-04-07 03:23
    Works for me (but very slow as you mentioned).
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,519
    edited 2010-04-07 03:27
    Thanks Kuroneko,

    I'll see if I can also get a positive report on Windows 7 before I release it.

    I'm not exactly sure why its so slow. You could try adding '-b 256000; or '-b 4680800' to increate the baud rate - but I only ever test it at 115200.

    Ross.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,519
    edited 2010-04-08 00:15
    @all,

    I finally managed to track down a Windows 7 system and can confirm that the new version of Payload (posted above) works on that as well.

    This means Payload now works on all the versions of Windows I can find.

    I will post an "official" updated version tonight.

    Ross.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
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