Several issues with Clicker 2 dsPIC33 board
Posted: 15 Nov 2023 19:09
Greetings.
I have bought 20x Clicker 2 for dsPIC33, together with the same number of Buggy, and a few clicker sensor boards, since I'm teaching Embedded Systems here at the University of Genova, Italy.
However, after the first class, I'm already facing several issues that I never had with my previous boards (dsPIC dem 2 from microchip).
I'm using the mikrobootloader, so the clicker board is connected only through USB to the PC. I'm using MPLAB X to generate the hex file.
So, the first issue is the oscillator setup. I was reading some old posts, and I'm wondering: can we use the #pragma directives to change the setup of the board? Or we are bound to some initial choice made by the bootloader? And if so, which setup is that? By reverse engineering, it seems that with no further configuration, the device runs with FOSC = 140 MHz. Is that correct? Can we use the registers to change the oscillator settings?
Besides the issue of the oscillator, I now have a problem with 3 boards.
For one of them, the "CHG" LED (red) lights up as soon as I attach the USB, even if the battery is not connected. If the battery is connected to the buggy, and the USB cable is detached, the CHG led stays off. After letting it run for a while, the LED is now quickly blinking.
For the other two boards, I have problems with both running the firmware and the bootloader.
Sometimes, I press the reset button, and nothing happens. The device does not enter the bootloader and cannot be seen from the Mikrobootloader.
Sometimes, if I press the reset for a prolonged time, it enters the bootloader. However, this behavior cannot be reproduced effectively.
In the meantime, the firmware simply doesn't run and the dsPIC is sort of "freezed".
Turning the on/off switch doesn't make the bootloader or the pre-loaded firmware start. This behavior does not depend on the fact that the clicker 2 board is connected to the buggy or not.
Finally, some other times after programming a board, or just reconnecting the USB cable, I get "Reset device to reenter bootloader mode." multiple times.
I hope you can help us because we've spent a good chunk of money to get all these setups for the students.
Best,
Enrico
I have bought 20x Clicker 2 for dsPIC33, together with the same number of Buggy, and a few clicker sensor boards, since I'm teaching Embedded Systems here at the University of Genova, Italy.
However, after the first class, I'm already facing several issues that I never had with my previous boards (dsPIC dem 2 from microchip).
I'm using the mikrobootloader, so the clicker board is connected only through USB to the PC. I'm using MPLAB X to generate the hex file.
So, the first issue is the oscillator setup. I was reading some old posts, and I'm wondering: can we use the #pragma directives to change the setup of the board? Or we are bound to some initial choice made by the bootloader? And if so, which setup is that? By reverse engineering, it seems that with no further configuration, the device runs with FOSC = 140 MHz. Is that correct? Can we use the registers to change the oscillator settings?
Besides the issue of the oscillator, I now have a problem with 3 boards.
For one of them, the "CHG" LED (red) lights up as soon as I attach the USB, even if the battery is not connected. If the battery is connected to the buggy, and the USB cable is detached, the CHG led stays off. After letting it run for a while, the LED is now quickly blinking.
For the other two boards, I have problems with both running the firmware and the bootloader.
Sometimes, I press the reset button, and nothing happens. The device does not enter the bootloader and cannot be seen from the Mikrobootloader.
Sometimes, if I press the reset for a prolonged time, it enters the bootloader. However, this behavior cannot be reproduced effectively.
In the meantime, the firmware simply doesn't run and the dsPIC is sort of "freezed".
Turning the on/off switch doesn't make the bootloader or the pre-loaded firmware start. This behavior does not depend on the fact that the clicker 2 board is connected to the buggy or not.
Finally, some other times after programming a board, or just reconnecting the USB cable, I get "Reset device to reenter bootloader mode." multiple times.
I hope you can help us because we've spent a good chunk of money to get all these setups for the students.
Best,
Enrico