Un-crashing Netburner Mod5213

When programming the NetBurner Mod5213, I ran into the problem where I would get the error "Failed to Connect to Serial Port" and I could no longer download any programs (even ones that worked previously) to the board.

Apparently the code I was trying to run did something to make the 5213 very unhappy - such as a pointer to a bad location or something along those lines. So, it crashed and entered a state where it resets itself every few seconds which makes it impossible to program. A very helpful tech support person just walked me through the simple (haha) procedure to get out of this loop and back to programming. I'm posting the procedure here because it is apparently a very common problem.

-With power on and serial cable connected, Open MTTTY
-Connect to the board (File -> Connect)
-Cycle power to the board. (You should get the message "Waiting 5sec(s) to start 'A' to abort")
-Type in "A". (You should get a message with valid commands)
-To make sure it is working, load the original factory program from SerialLoad...
-Open Serial Load (Start -> Programs -> Netburner NNDK -> Serial Update Tool)
-Browse to the file Nburn -> MOD5213 -> original -> MOD5213FApp_APP.s19
-Click "Open"
-Click "Update"
-Go back to MTTTY and connect (if disconnected)
-Hit the reset button on the board. (You should get the Factory Demo program Main Menu)
-Fix whatever the heck caused this problem in the first place before trying to re-load the program

PMT Controller Update

I have updated the PIC code for the PMT Controller board. I've uploaded the latest code and also a new version of the spec which reflects the recent changes. You can download these items (and any other MPM documentation) here.


Some highlights from the recent updates...

• The interface between the controller and the PC has been redefined. Now whenever the controller receives any USB command from the PC, it returns a 54-byte array which contains the current status or settings of every controller register.
  
  
• The controller now detects overload errors when a type 3 PMT (Hamamatsu H7422P with cooler and protection circuit) is connected to any of the ports.

• The controller resets the PMT when it detects an error.

• There is an error counter for each channel (which rolls over at 255).

MPM Documentation

I have uploaded all of my documentation for the PMT Controller board and the USB to RS232 board. (Specs, Eagle files, and PIC code) I will keep updating this page with the most current versions of the documents.

Read more hardware/firmware docs ...

LS2K Macro - Version b1.2

I went to Weill to troubleshoot the macro on the MRC-1024 system there. I found that the "ScanStart" command, which is needed to acquire an image, was causing all of the trouble. The program crashes when this command is called from within a .dll. However, the command works fine when it is called directly from the script editor. Since the .dll was necessary to create my GUI used in all the previous versions, I had to abandon the GUI idea (at least for now) and control the scope using just a Visual Basic script.

The user can specify the number of rows and columns of image tiles, percentage overlap between tiles, directory for saving scanned images, and COM port by changing the default values in the script. In a later version, I will try to include some kind of pop-op input box for these values to make it a little more user-friendly.

Sushmita has successfully used the script to scan and save a series of tiled images. It works well except that the images do not line up perfectly along one edge when "stitched" together. This could be due to backlash in the XY stage motor or perhaps an issue with the image stitching software. We are currently working on this issue.

The script (version b1.2) and instructions on how to use it can be found here.

Note: The "ScanStart" command does work from within a .dll on our Radiance system, so it is possible to use a GUI-based macro for acquiring images on our scope in Ithaca.

Scanware - Version 0.2

Import and export feature for OME-XML data format has been added. Currently, only a portion of the XML schema is implemented for Scanware. The full implementation will be done a little later.

Integrated the Quinn-Curtis (QC) library. Charts, histograms and real-time graphics will be provided by the QC engine.

Read more ...

Download latest project source code.

Scanware - Version 0.1

The main change has been the addition of primary MFC Automation capability which enables Scanware to become a scriptable application. The simple sequence of opening the application and clicking the SCAN button can be automated using external VBScript client code.

Read more ...

Download latest project source code.

Autocorrelator Controller - Updated UI

The current version of the UI tool allows the user to continuously display the set of quick sweep samples in an oscilloscope-like fashion.

Also added a save feature to the user interface which enables data output to disk.

Read more ...

Download the latest project source code.