bst terminal resets Prop

SSteve

I'm using bst 0.19.3 under OS X 10.6.3 with a Propeller Professional Development Board. If I leave the bst terminal window open and connected when I compile and load to RAM, the prop gets reset when the terminal window comes to the front. Is this expected behavior? Is the terminal window only for use with Prop programs loaded into EEPROM?

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OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows

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pullmoll

SSteve said...
I'm using bst 0.19.3 under OS X 10.6.3 with a Propeller Professional Development Board. If I leave the bst terminal window open and connected when I compile and load to RAM, the prop gets reset when the terminal window comes to the front. Is this expected behavior? Is the terminal window only for use with Prop programs loaded into EEPROM?

I saw this with another hardware when the polarity of the DTR signal was wrong. I changed a NPN transistor to a PNP type to overcome the problems. If you have a terminal program where you can toggle DTR on and off, you could find out on which of the edges the PPDB resets: on DTR going down, or going up. I don't know if there are schematics for the PPDB. Does it also have a transistor for the DTR to reset signal line?

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Pullmoll's Propeller Projects

hover1

Here's the link to the schematic:

http://www.parallax.com/Portals/0/Downloads/docs/prod/schem/PPDB_A_Schematic.pdf

Jim

SSteve

Here are the PPDB schematics: http://www.parallax.com/Portals/0/Downloads/docs/prod/schem/PPDB_A_Schematic.pdf

There is an NPN transistor on DTR. But I'm a software guy so I really have no idea what that means.

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OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows

links:
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Our album on the iTunes Music Store

pullmoll

The schematics looks the same as it is/was on the DracBlade rev 5. I never could get either bstc or bst to work right under Linux until I replaced the transistor with a PNP type and changed the resistor on the base to a pull-up to 3.3V instead of pull-down. It has to do with the edge of the DTR signal where the reset happens. If it happens on the rising edge, then you will see a reset whenever a terminal program - such as the one in BST - will activate DTR.

I think that if you try e.g. gtkterm, which allows to toggle DTR, that you will see a reset happen when you turn it on after it was off, i.e. on the rising edge. With a PNP transistor the other, falling, edge is used to actually reset the propeller.

Don't ask me why the PPDB or the DracBlade don't show this kind of trouble under Windows. I can only imagine that Windows keeps DTR high all the time and that starting the serial terminal thus does not reset the propeller.

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Pullmoll's Propeller Projects

Post Edited (pullmoll) : 4/12/2010 5:07:28 PM GMT

SSteve

Thanks for the explanation. I don't imagine I'm going to be modifying the PPDB so I guess if I want to use bst's terminal it'll have to be with Prop programs in the EEPROM.

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OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows

links:
My band's website
Our album on the iTunes Music Store

BradC

pullmoll said...

Don't ask me why the PPDB or the DracBlade don't show this kind of trouble under Windows. I can only imagine that Windows keeps DTR high all the time and that starting the serial terminal thus does not reset the propeller.

Windows allows not touching the DTR on open, as does Linux. OSX does not.

Since I do my testing with a Prop-Plug, on OSX with a Prop-Plug you can load/run and bring the terminal forward once without it resetting. A disconnect/reconnect of the terminal will cause a reset. I don't know how the PPDB is put together, but I'd assume it's using the FTDI chip and configured the same as a Prop-Plug or Demo board. If it's a problem with that then I can fix it. If it's not and your're on OSX then I'm afraid you are SOL. I just can't get the port open without OSX hitting the DTR.

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You only ever need two tools in life. If it moves and it shouldn't use Duct Tape. If it does not move and it should use WD40.

SSteve

According to the PPDB schematic, the on-board USB-to-serial circuit is the same as the Prop-Plug. Does that mean I should be able to start the terminal without resetting the Prop?

If this is going to be some hair-pulling signal timing debugging nightmare, don't worry about it. I'm sure there are more productive ways you could be spending your time.

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OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows

links:
My band's website
Our album on the iTunes Music Store

BradC

SSteve said...
According to the PPDB schematic, the on-board USB-to-serial circuit is the same as the Prop-Plug. Does that mean I should be able to start the terminal without resetting the Prop?

Yes, you should. Which *precise* version of bst are you using right now? I made some changes to the latest pre-releases that might affect the state of the DTR on OSX.

SSteve said...

If this is going to be some hair-pulling signal timing debugging nightmare, don't worry about it. I'm sure there are more productive ways you could be spending your time.

Hair notwithstanding, I would like to fix it if I can.

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You only ever need two tools in life. If it moves and it shouldn't use Duct Tape. If it does not move and it should use WD40.

SSteve

Here's the version I'm using:



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OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows

links:
My band's website
Our album on the iTunes Music Store