How do YOU navigate the documentation?

[scottm]

A constant source of frustration for me when working with Kinetis MCUs is the difficulty of finding relevant documentation.  To give an example, I've been trying to find information on the recommended setup for the VBAT pin on the K22F to avoid crashes from dead or missing batteries.

A Google search took me to someone else's site where I found 'Kinetis Peripheral Module Quick Reference', which is so far the only document I've found with anything like the answer I was looking for.

This document exists on NXP's site and can be found by searching for its name, but I've been all over the site browsing for it and I have yet to find it that way.

If I go to the documentation library, it won't let me search for all document types for a particular part - it returns no results.  If I pick one document type and search, then I can change my filters on the left side and see all documents.

In this case, that still does me no good.  It's not one of the 252 documents that show up under K2x, as far as I can tell.

The way I would logically expect it to work is that each level of the documentation hierarchy would list documents that apply to all devices below them, and documentation specific to lower levels (including to a particular device) would only show up at those lower levels.  That doesn't seem to be the case.  If I go down to a particular device, I miss many relevant app notes and user's guides.  If I start at a higher level, I have to sift through thousands of irrelevant documents specific to one development board or MCU.

What am I doing wrong here?  What is the expected route to this kind of documentation?

Scott

[Hui_Ma]

Hi Scott,

Thank you for the feedback about the NXP website.

I will share some of my experiences about how to find Kinetis related documents:

1> reference manual and datasheet could be found at each product related webpage;

2> Kinetis K family related application notes could be found at K60_100 product Documentation webpage (your mentioned  [KQRUG] document also could be found here);

3> Tower boards and FRDM boards user guide or quick start guide could be found at each board related webpage;

4> K22_120MHz includes some version products, related reference manual and datasheet need to check EB811 document at first.

Have a great day,
Ma Hui

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[scottm]

2> Kinetis K family related application notes could be found at K60_100 product Documentation webpage (your mentioned  [KQRUG] document also could be found here);

Why in the world would the K22_120 parts have app notes under the K60_100 family, and how is anyone supposed to know that?  

I'm asking about the process for finding this information more than about specific pieces of information.  To stick with my original example, I'm using a K22F_120 and I need to safely use the VBAT register file to save a few bytes of data.  Starting from www.nxp.com, can you walk me through exactly the sequence of clicks that I would be expected to follow to get that information?

Again, I know the actual answers now - that the VBAT register file is powered only through VBAT, that accessing it without VBAT powered will produce a hardfault, that there's no built-in mechanism to check if it's powered, and that it's recommended to use a dual Schottky diode to mix the power sources.  But how was I expected to come by that information?  If the documents exist under the K60_100 family, where is the reference that tells me to look there?  Should I be looking at the app notes for *every* family?

Thanks,

Scott