Simple problem that I can't figure out for the life of me. The serial debug port on my AT91SAM7XC-EK board isn't printing anything when I load up any of the example projects. I've configured the connection properly and I know the projects are running, they just aren't printing anything to hyperterminal. Any ideas? Is there a default jumper or setting somewhere I need to change?

Hello,

There is no specific jumper settings. Firstly you can check that your hyperterminal session is configured in 115200, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no flow control.

Hmmm. Well I know hyperterminal is configured correctly so I don't know what is up. I'll post if I figure out though

I'm looking through the SAM-BA guide and just want to check up on something. When it says

"Warning: The USB cable must NOT be connected to the board for an RS232 use, otherwise the USB interface is chosen by default.",

it just means that if you want to flash the board using the "RS232 COM PORT" you must not have the USB cable plugged in, right? It's not saying that if you flash the board using the USB connection that you can't be connected using the "SERIAL DEBUG PORT" for debugging purposes. Or am I wrong?

You are right.
If you want to program the board with the DGBU you must not have the USB cable plugged in.

OK. Well, I can program the board fine using the USB cable, but when I run my programs I never receive the DBGU_print statements in the project code.

The example projects say to connect using something like hyperterminal to the board using
115200 bauds
8 bits of data
no parity
1 stop bit
no flow control

What connection should I be setting this up with? The USB port, RS232 com port or the Serial debug port? And should I be powering the board using the wall wart when using the dbgu unit? I've read all the guides and haven't found one that explains something this basic. (I guess this would be better suited in the "Compiler, Linker, Debugger" forum - sorry about that)

You have to use the DBGU port.

I'm still not getting it to work, so I'm going to explain my problem in more detail.

The instructions for all the sample applications consist of something very close to this

1. Build the program and download it inside the evaluation board. Please refer to the SAM-BA User Guide, the GNU-Based Software Development application note or to the IAR EWARM User Guide, depending on your chosen solution.
2. On the computer, open and configure a terminal application (e.g. HyperTerminal on Microsoft Windows) with these settings:
* 115200 bauds
* 8 bits of data
* No parity
* 1 stop bit
* No flow control
3. Start the application.
4. < Description of program's activity >. In the terminal window, the following text should appear (values depend on the board and chip used):

-- Getting Started Project xxx --
-- AT91xxxxxx-xx
-- Compiled: xxx xx xxxx xx:xx:xx --

5. < more application specific stuff >

I can't get anything to appear on the terminal. I've tried the following
1) USB cable attached to computer, Serial Debug Port connected to USB-serial adapter (Hyperterminal to serial COM port)
2) USB cable attached to wall wart, Serial Debug Port connected to USB-serial adapter (Hyperterminal to serial COM port)
3) USB cable attached to computer (Hyperterminal to USB COM port)
In case 3 it isn't actually connecting to the USB COM port though (I thought COM3 was the USB COM port but realize now that it is not) because the board is not recognized by Windows (unknown device in device manager). The only time Windows does recognize it is after I have erased the memory and plugged it back in to flash it. Is this normal?

Also, just to be absolutely clear, the DBGU is the Serial debug port, right? Or is there something like the TWI that doesn't have dedicated headers?

Yes this is normal if you have loaded your program in flash. If you want to have your board recognized the device have to boot from ROM (SAMBA boot). But if you execute your program out of flash then SAMBA boot is not executed, thus the board is not recognized (i.e. SAMBA Boot didn't run).


I think there is something wrong with your USB to Serial adapter. It could be useful to test it on a PC with a COM port.


You are right

Would a few of you who can see the basic printf statements in the sample projects please tell me how you connect to the device (both physically and with software)?

I'll try to find a machine with a COM port and let you know if that changes anything. Thanks for the reply!

I have used a computer with a COM port but there was still no activity on hyperterminal.

I am using GCC to compile the projects - has anyone heard of there being problems with the GNU project files? I really need to get this working if I am going to be able to develop anything other than turning on and off PIO lines...

I was wondering if you were able to get it work ? cuz I have more or less the same problem..no action on Hyperterminal..Also I can't debug through norflash..I'm using sdram..I couldn't figure out how I can communicate through hyperterminal with my board (AT91SAM9260-EK) ??? any idea?

Unfortunately, I was never able to get it to work.

Hi

Please check out the uTasker project. It supports the DBGU as UART in interrupt and DMA modes. It has projects for standalone GNU, Rowley GCC, IAR4, IAR5 and Keil uVision. There are no known problems with the DBGU as UART and all projects use it successfully. Also the DBGU UART is simulated in real-time in the uTasker SAM7X simulator. The only real restriction of the DBGU as UART is that it can only do 8 bit characters and supports neither timeouts nor RS485 mode as the main USARTs do - however the uTasker MODBUS module (for example) can still successfully use the DBGU for a serial MODBUS master or slave in RTU mode.

Regards

Mark

www.uTasker.com