How do I inspect the version of firmware in a file or loaded on my device?
For various reasons, a developer or field technician may want to inspect a device with an InSight Adapter or InSight USBLink programmer to assess which version of software it is running (rather than querying the device at runtime through software). Alternatively, a developer/technician may have a catalog of EBL or HEX files for EM2xx chips, and he/she wants to determine which files are newer, and perhaps even which versions of firmware those files represent.
One use case is an EM250 programmed with a custom application image, where multiple versions with different timestamps may exist, so the technician wants to know which …Read More >
How do I create my own XDV files for loading predetermined manufacturing tokens?
On the subject of tokens (non-volatile settings used in the EmberZNet platform), although many customers use the EM2xx_Patch or EM2USBPatch utility to alter the manufacturing token data on each device at manufacturing time, it is possible, as explained in the EmberZNet Utilities Guide (document 120-4020-0000), to manually create an XDV file that can contain manufacturing token data. This XDV file can then be used with EM2xx_Load or EM2USBLoad to load this data into your devices in addition to any normal flash data (such as bootloader and/or application firmware).
To help understand this process, you should first gain familiarity …Read More >
What does the etrim.exe utility do?
Etrim is an Ember utility used to
post-process the binaries for AVR MCUs, including the ATmega128L (used
with the EM2420) and the ATmega32L (used with the EM260). It does two
things related to the Ember bootloaders for AVR: For the V1 standalone
bootloader (BIN files), it trims off leading and trailing zeros that
would interfere with the bootloader (hence, its name). It also adds
some header info and some tags to create EBL files for use with the V2
Standalone bootloader.
Note that etrim.exe should only be run on MPDS-Code binary output,
with INTVEC_BASE address defined at 0×100. If producing alternate
output formats with the IAR …Read More >
What is a firmware HEX file and what do I do with it?
Beginning with EmberZNet 3.0, Ember includes firmware images in HEX file format. This FAQ
explains the purpose of these files and how they can be loaded onto
Ember chips.
The HEX file is a new file format
that Ember has started using for pre-built binaries provided in the
EmberZNet stack installations. The file type is based on the Intel
standard HEX format and can be loaded with any supported Ember
programming device, including the InSight Adapter, USB Link, or a gang
programmer such as the Hi-Lo Systems ALL-100 or ALL-400. Note that the
InSight Adapter and USB Link devices require version 2.0 or later of
the SIF Toolkit …Read More >
How can I perform RF tests with the EM260?
EM260 stack releases ship with an em260haltest.xpv image in the “build”
folder. This can be used to perform HALtest functionality via the
virtual UART (a serial port emulated over the SIF lines, available
through the InSight Adapter).
Use of EM260 HALtest is described in AppNote 5041, which can be found in your documentation/app_notes folder. …Read More >
Can I use the RFEval firmware with my normal development kit?
Note: RFEval firmware is not supported on the EM260.
The RFEval Firmware and functions that are included with Insight
Desktop 1.2 and later can be used with your EM250 dev kit or the RFEval
kit.
There will be some differences:
The RFEval kit comes with
half-wave antennas providing about 6dB end to end gain (3dB transmit,
3dB receive). If you look at the output of the modules themselves they
are equivalent.
One other difference is deep sleep mode; it is much
easier to achieve true deep sleep mode for current measurements with
the RFEval kit.
…Read More >
Where can I download the latest release of InSight Desktop, xIDE, or the EmberZNet stack?
All official software releases and documentation are available from the software area of this web site.
All
developers who have a current maintenance contract (depending on your
purchase details) should have access. If you do not have access to this area of the site please contact your FAE, sales representative, or distributor. …Read More >
What do the displayed results in the Nodetest RX command output mean?
When the “RX” command is used in Ember’s Nodetest firmware to place the device into ongoing RX (receive) mode, the serial output will display received packet information such as:
These fields can be interpreted as follows:
Here's a brief description of the results in the RX mode of nodetest:
num : Total packets received
oflo : Number of overflow errors. Stat is only updated when the next good packet is received.
seq : Sequence number received in the packet.
per : Packet error rate (missed packet percentage over the test), calculated using num and seq.
err : This is a link quality indicator (LQI) value of the received packet and represents the …Read More >
