Freemaster can't detect on any of specified UART communication ports

[slmt053]

when I writted the program,connecting the board MPC5744P and open the freemaster,I find the freemaster tell "No board detected on any of specified UART communication ports".I want to slove the problem. Thanks you in advance.

[MichalH]

Hello,

I will need more information about what you have already tried, what is your freemaster_cfg.h file and how is your project set up. The most common reasons for not being able to connect are:

• Missing FreeMASTER driver code in the project. You need to add all the driver files and configure the driver in freemaster_cfg.h. In this file, you select the FMSTR_TRANSPORT to be FMSTR_SERIAL or FMSTR_CAN or other. Then you also need to define what low-level communication driver to use (define FMSTR_SERIAL_DRV or FMSTR_CAN_DRV with a low-level driver name).
• Bad UART baudrate setting or target clock settting. These two issues are closely related. When using UART, you need to specify the baudrate at which to communicate. This is easy on PC, but it may be a challenge in the target application as the baudrate heavily depends on clocks settings, dividers etc. FreeMASTER driver does not configure the UART; it is the main application's responsibility to configure and enable UART module before calling FMSTR_Init()

You can define FMSTR_DEBUG_TX as 1 in the freemaster_cfg.h which will make the driver to transmit a dummy sequence +@V onto UART bus periodically. With this, you should be able to hook a logic analyzer to see start bit width and determine if the communication is correct.

Did you try any FreeMASTER-enabled example application on your target platform?

BTW: In any case, you should be able to establish a basic connection without dealing with any of the above using a JTAG probe (P&E Micro) and access the memory directly without any CPU cooperation.

Regards,
Michal

[Renjie-Wang]

I am also encountering the same issue while using Free Master.

After installing Free Master 3.2, I proceeded to install the corresponding driver, FMASTERSCIDRV.exe. When I open Free Master's "Tool-Connection wizard-Use direct connection to on-board USB port," an error message appears stating, "No board detected on any of specified UART communication ports."

My computer has recognized Com8, and I have successfully used this port for program downloading. However, I am unable to connect to Free Master.

[iulian_stan]

Hi @Renjie-Wang,

Does your embedded application include FreeMASTER Driver and configure it to operate it UART mode ?
Just to make sure - what you installed (FMASTERSCIDRV.exe) is a package that includes FreeMASTER Driver source code. FreeMASTER Driver is a C library that allows the target to communicate with the FreeMASTER PC tool.

Also could you provide more information about your setup:
What board and development environment are you using ?

[Renjie-Wang]

Hi

I am using the MPC5744P-DEV-KIT-REVE-QSG development board, as shown in the figure below.

I'm not clear about what "configuring the environment" means. I have followed the instructions in the 'Model_Based_Design_Toolbox_MPC57xx_Series_Quick_Start_Guide' to configure the development board, and I have implemented all the steps mentioned in the document without performing any additional operations.

If there are any other configuration steps required, please provide detailed instructions or send me the operation manual. I am a beginner in this field.

[iulian_stan]

Hi @Renjie-Wang,

In order to use FreeMASTER tool you need to include and configure a small library (FreeMASTER Driver) in the embedded application. This library handles the communication with the PC Tool. In case of MatLAB, it should be done via a dedicated, custom Simulink block.

While looking through the Quick Guide I did not see any mentions of FreeMASTER, so I assume it is not included the presented example application.

MatLAB support is handled by a Model-Based Design Toolbox (MBDT) team. Could you raise a separate thread in the corresponding community space. They may point you to an ready to use FreeMASTER example and provide instruction on how to use it.