There are lots of previous discussions on this board about how to do it. I did a field upgrade bootloader for our msp430 product, took about 3 weeks to get the whole process well automated.

Lloyd

--- In m..., Howard Hansen wrote:
>
> How do you design a MSP430 product so it is field upgradeable?
>
> Howard

Beginning Microcontrollers with the MSP430

http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/MSP430_Flasher_-_Command_Line_Programmer

create a BAT file, they show an example bat

perhaps this:

MSPFET - FREE MSP430 flash programming utility
http://kurt.on.ufanet.ru/
* 100% FREE;
* Uses JTAG or BSL interface for programming;
* Loads memory dump as HEX;
* Supports BIN, TI TXT, HEX file formats;
* Fuse blow feature (works only with Fusee adapter or TIUSB)
* Tiny (less than 100Kb), does not require installation;
* Command line support, Drag'n'Drop;
* Operating Systems: Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP.

--- In m..., "merapcb" wrote:
>
> For field firmware upgrades, it seems cumbersome and unnecessary to send a technician with a version of IAR in order to flash a board. Is there no simple (stand alone) utility that can be used so all they have to do is select the right HEX and flash it?
>

On 28/05/2010 07:32, merapcb wrote:
>
> Yes, perhaps this is a step in the right direction. But, I would
> still prefer something where the user does not have to make **any**
> selections (apart from selecting the HEX file that is). MSP type and
> actions to perform (i.e. for example not to erase Info Memory) would
> be pre-programmed.
>
> Wishful thinking?

Probably.

There is also the Elprotronic FET-Pro430
(http://www.elprotronic.com/fetpro430.html). There is a free version,
but the pro version comes with an API so you can write your own
programming software.

The Softbaugh programmer software also comes in free and paid for
versions, but it only seems to work with their own adapters.
http://www.softbaugh.com/ProductPage.cfm?strPartNo=PrgUSBP. You can
define a programming project which saves the device and programming
options, so perhaps this would give you the lack of choice you are
looking for?

You could try msp430-jtag, as it is possible to set up scripts for it
and avoid user interaction. But I never got it to work, even though
msp430gdb + msp430gdbproxy worked well for me.That would be another
option for your own programmer (something to spawn msp430gdb +
msp430gdbproxy).

Finally you could try doing something with the bootstrap loader. The
MSP430 Memory Programmer User Guide comes with an application called
"BSL_Scripter", which you could probably wrap up easily enough. However,
the big stumbling point for us (using it as a field programmer) was that
to be able to unlock the device and selectively erase memory you had to
know exactly what the last 16 interrupt vectors are to use as the
password. Different versions may have different addresses, so it was
going to be too error prone.

I'd be interested in hearing whether I've missed anything because we've
gone down the Olimex route and I'd rather have something else, for the
same reasons as merapcb.

Cheers.

How do you design a MSP430 product so it is field upgradeable?

Howard
OneStone wrote:
>
> Why not simply design your products to be field upgradable from the start?
>
> Al
>
> merapcb wrote:
> > For field firmware upgrades, it seems cumbersome and unnecessary to
> send a technician with a version of IAR in order to flash a board. Is
> there no simple (stand alone) utility that can be used so all they
> have to do is select the right HEX and flash it?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >

merapcb,
We were able to adapt the software and hardware in TI's SLAU265G document to do this for the F5438 board.
I will have to add that the process was far from painless both software and hardware wise, but now all we need is a pc or laptop,
a serial cable, and the TI.txt hex file to upgrade flash.

Good luck,
Mike Raines

________________________________
From: m... [mailto:m...] On Behalf Of merapcb
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2010 2:04 AM
To: m...
Subject: [msp430] Utility for flashing only?

For field firmware upgrades, it seems cumbersome and unnecessary to send a technician with a version of IAR in order to flash a board. Is there no simple (stand alone) utility that can be used so all they have to do is select the right HEX and flash it?

"merapcb" :

>
> Yes, perhaps this is a step in the right direction. But, I would still
> prefer something where the user does not have to make **any** selections
> (apart from selecting the HEX file that is). MSP type and actions to
> perform (i.e. for example not to erase Info Memory) would be
> pre-programmed.
>
> Wishful thinking?

I used the msp430downloader.exe from the "GCC toolchain for MSP430"
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mspgcc
(you need to extract several dll's and python files too and something from
the CVS, so well it was a puzzle ;-)

I put all in a zip - you can download it here:
http://www.boerde.de/~matthias/msp430downloader/

You can use the "downloader.m43" to set all the required parameters, the
user only has to follow the instructions on screen and have to press "OK".
It was working for the 64k versions, not tried it for the 128k or 5x MSP's
yet.

You have to replace the msp430.dll with the version of your JTAG adapter
(or the version from TI), my version is using the olimex-msp430.dll.

M.

To do our small production we normally use the Elprotronic FET-Pro430
software. Surely not a "simple" solution but it can handle every need:
http://www.elprotronic.com/fetpro430.html

There's a lite free edition available.

regards
Pietro

On Fri, May 28, 2010 at 8:32 AM, merapcb wrote:

>
> Yes, perhaps this is a step in the right direction. But, I would still
> prefer something where the user does not have to make **any** selections
> (apart from selecting the HEX file that is). MSP type and actions to perform
> (i.e. for example not to erase Info Memory) would be pre-programmed.
>
> Wishful thinking?
> --- In m... , Hani Chahine
> wrote:
> >
> > Check Out:
> >
> > http://www.olimex.com/dev/msp-jtag-iso.html
> >
>

Yes, perhaps this is a step in the right direction. But, I would still prefer something where the user does not have to make **any** selections (apart from selecting the HEX file that is). MSP type and actions to perform (i.e. for example not to erase Info Memory) would be pre-programmed.

Wishful thinking?
--- In m..., Hani Chahine wrote:
>
> Check Out:
>
> http://www.olimex.com/dev/msp-jtag-iso.html
>

Why not simply design your products to be field upgradable from the start?

Al

merapcb wrote:
> For field firmware upgrades, it seems cumbersome and unnecessary to send a technician with a version of IAR in order to flash a board. Is there no simple (stand alone) utility that can be used so all they have to do is select the right HEX and flash it?
>