Flash programming of TI DSP TMS320F243

[doran]

Hello everyone!

I'm working on a legacy motor control system which is built around the TI DSP TMS320F243.
On one day, the system failed and it was diagnosed, that the DSP was somehow malfunctioning, so we replaced it with a new one.
Of course, the flash content needs to be reprogrammed (I own the software and have the COFF file (.out file) on hand).
So I connected the board to an old WinXP PC running TI code composer studio (CCS) version 3.3 using a XDS510-USB2.0 emulator. In code composer studio, I can successfully connect to the device and upload the COFF file to RAM and execute the program and the system works then flawlessly.
However, using this method, the program is running from RAM only and is lost upon the next power cycle.
So I need to program the COFF file to the internal Flash memory of the TMS320F243.
Previously, I have done so using the "On-Chip Flash Programmer" available from the "Tools" menu bar item in code composer studio.

This time however, once opening the "On-Chip Flash Programmer", an error message box, as attached, appears.

We contacted TI regarding this issue, but they don't support these old devices anymore and recommend to redesign the board using more recent devices.....

But since the communication to DSP works and the system works when executed from RAM, we think that it is just a small setting in the code composer studio which may be wrong....

Do you guys have some ideas how to solve this problem or have some ideas what we could try out?

Thank you for any help!

Best regards,
Doran

[HirundoRustica]

Assuming that you are using XDS510, could it be that your WinXP computer still has Spectrum Digital tools and drivers installed ? if so, you might want to try "SDFlash" or "prg2xx" from Spectrum Digital ? Try to look for these programs also in CCS directories, as (I think) SDFlash was shipped with CCSv3.x (it has been 15 years, since I used CCSv3).

Unfortunately, TMS320F243 is EOL for some time now, and was designed, when built-in SCI Boot-ROM was not present, so I am not aware if you have any other options...

[doran]

Hi HirundoRustica,

Thanks for your answer. Yes, in the mean time I learned that the "On-Chip Flash Programmer" is for F24xx device only which does not include the F243.

Seems the only way is to use either SDFlash or prg2xx. However, unfortunately, I don't find those tools in the CCS installation directory.

Does anyone still have these tools and could send it to me?

Thank you very much in advance!

Best Regards,
Doran