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john.dill
6 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Aug 2010 : 16:27:05
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I have a Viper development kit that I've been unsuccessful at getting to work with my development environment.
The first hiccup I'm running into is that I can't seem to make a connection between the PC and the Viper using ActiveSync. I have a supposedly full null-modem serial cable (I can at least use hyperterminal between two computers and echo characters on each side), but following the process described in the forum fails.
I'm trying to follow the steps described here:
http://support.eurotech-inc.com/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=2
I'm not very familiar with Windows CE development, but it appears that the main issue is that there is no repllog.exe in the Windows subfolder on the Viper image that I have.
This is a list of files I see in the \Windows folder.
ceconfig.h
cemgrc.exe
cetlkitl.dll
cetlstub.dll
close.2bp
FTPD.tmp
netmui.dll
ok.2bp
stdsm.2bp
stdsm.bmp
tcpipc.dll
tlcesrv.dll
viewsm.2bp
viewsm.bmp
I can't seem to find a way to resolve this from the information I've been browsing, so looking for advice. My initial goal is to try to get eVC 4.0 working and be able to run a simple Hello World kind of program on the Viper from my PC.
Thanks for any suggestions.
John Dill |
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john.dill
6 Posts |
Posted - 27 Aug 2010 : 10:46:12
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First of all, thanks to Bruce for the great help yesterday.
While I'm able to run and execute a program on the Viper using eVC over a ethernet loopback connection, it troubles me that I can't seem to get ActiveSync working. Since I need serial comm functionality for my prototype software, getting ActiveSync to work seems to be a good test to verify if the serial port hardware is working.
I verified that repllog.exe is in my image in the \Windows directory (by first going to double clicking the 'My Device' icon, then going to View->Options... and deselecting the 'Hide protected operating system files (Recommeded)' option).
Since ActiveSync uses a serial interface, I thought I'd try running repllog and see if I can read its output in hyperterminal. According to some forum topics, I should see a 'CLIENT' string being sent out as the Viper device tries to communicate, but I get nothing. I'm connected to COM1 on the Viper board, and verified (using a digital multimeter) that the null-modem serial cable pinout has the following (1&6-4, 2-3, 3-2, 4-6&1, 5-5, 7-8, 8-7).
My question is if someone could verify that they can connect their Windows CE device to hyperterminal at the right baudrate using repllog with a serial connection (I'm using [19.2K 8N1 hardware] settings in HT), and see if they get the 'CLIENT' text or anything when starting the repllog.exe program.
On the other end, to test the PC with the ActiveSync program, I connected it to another PC with hyperterminal at the other end. I typed in the text 'CLIENT' in hyperterminal and after 'T' was typed, ActiveSync responded with 'CLIENTSERVER', which demonstrates the COM port on my ActiveSync PC is good, and the cable appears to be fine, and the protocol behavior matches what I've found on the forums.
At this point I'm questioning if my serial port has a configuration or hardware issue on my Viper development kit, so I'm investigating that at the moment.
Thanks for any help or suggestions you can provide.
John Dill
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Edited by - john.dill on 27 Aug 2010 10:47:32 |
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akidder
1519 Posts |
Posted - 27 Aug 2010 : 10:51:35
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Hi John. ActiveSync adds a lot of layers of complexity to your goal of testing serial communciations.
Take a look at the COMTERM application at topic 256, which will allow you to test data and even hardware handshaking, if required for your app. |
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john.dill
6 Posts |
Posted - 27 Aug 2010 : 11:22:27
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| Thank you, I'll try to run the application and see what I can get. Plus the code will be of great as a starting point. |
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john.dill
6 Posts |
Posted - 27 Aug 2010 : 12:42:01
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I tested the COMTerm app and found that when connected to HT, none of the Send streams I tried showed up on my PC's hyperterminal. However, characters I typed on my PC in HT did show up in the COMTerm app, so it can receive on COM1, COM2, COM4 (but not COM5 for some reason).
I suppose the next thing is to crack the development kit open and try to scope out the Tx lines and see if any signal is being generated. Or maybe there is a jumper that isn't configured appropriately. |
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akidder
1519 Posts |
Posted - 27 Aug 2010 : 14:19:36
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A few troubleshooting suggestions:
- make sure hardware handshaking is turned off on your PC's HyperTerminal app
- disconnect from the Viper and confirm that your cable is good by shorting TX and RX (pins 2 and 3 of a DB9); you will see a difference when you type on your PC between looped back and not
- you might also try TeraTerm, a more reliable PC terminal app (http://en.sourceforge.jp/projects/ttssh2/releases/)
An oscilloscope will be decisive in determining if data is flowing.
For those of you following this thread, John does know that the Viper and its PXA255 processor are at end of life and not recommended for new designs. He's doing some proof of concept work using the product he had on hand. |
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john.dill
6 Posts |
Posted - 27 Aug 2010 : 15:07:48
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Hardware handshaking was turned off.
The Rx/Tx shorting was able to receive characters typed in with HT with my cable. Still nothing when sending a stream in COMTest while connecting it to any COM on the Viper.
Do jumpers have any control over serial ports, and if so that could possibly lead to this behavior? The manual is a little confusing since in the diagram there appear to be 7 or 8 jumper slots but only 5 on the Viper board.
Anyways, I'll let you know what I scope out when I get it done. |
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john.dill
6 Posts |
Posted - 27 Aug 2010 : 17:21:40
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Well I tried to scope out COM1 on the connector and was able to see traffic coming in on the receive line when I sent a text file to the Viper, but still nothing coming out.
It seems odd that the receive would work and the transmit does not for a serial driver. I'll see if I can find something on serial comm configuration on the web; maybe something isn't set up right.
Otherwise, I may have to start investigating alternatives since Viper is out of life.
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akidder
1519 Posts |
Posted - 27 Aug 2010 : 18:09:37
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You might check to see which version of the Viper you've got. Is it v1i6, v2i4, or another version? This is printed in the silkscreen along the edge of the board. And if your Viper doesn't have PC104 connectors, you likely have a stripped down "Viper Lite", which will affect the available serial ports and the buffers installed.
After this response, I think it would make sense to take this discussion offline, as it's not of much value to our other readers. We can post a conclusion, if helpful. Drop us a line at support.us@eurotech.com to continue this discussion. |
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