Hi ,thank you for the fast answer.

When I connect it to the usb port Windows xp tell me that it does not recognize the device and connecting it I see that only the green power led turn on always and the busy led never.

Enrico Passoni
Technosystem srl.

This discussion has been continued by email...

Dear VincentC,

I am Tung, from VietNam. I meet this problem same as spectre. I have 2 Rlink programmer and one of them has broken. When i conntect USB port to PC, only Power led on Rlink board light. Busy led is off.

Can you help me to solve this issue ? I can not send it to you in France.

Best regards,
Tung.

Hi,

I can explain to you how to diagnose the problem if you have a multimeter and an oscilloscope, but probably you will not be able to repair it yourself.
Can you please tell me the version of the PCB of the broken RLink? (open the plastic box and read the version written on the PCB)

More importantly, we must avoid that your second RLink gets damaged... Can you send us the schematic of your target board? (email it at 'support@raisonance.com') If it is confidential we can sign a NDA, or maybe you can send a reduced version of the schematic, showing only the target CPU, power, clocks, debug connector, and all components that are connected to the debug signals?

Best Regards,

Vincent

Dear Vincent,

Thanks for your reply.
The version of board is Rlink V3.4 . I have multimeter and oscilloscope. Please show me how to diagnose this problem. I will send you the schematic of board which i am developing: bases one ST7FliteU05, 8 pins, internal RC clock 8MHz, power supply 5V.

Best regards,
Tung.

Hi,

I have seen your schematic. The RLink/ST7 connections are fine. However, I see the following problems...

Board power supply draws on the +-220V mains but does not isolate the 0/5V. That means that the ground of your board is connected to a phase of the mains.
I am not an expert in high voltage, but I would not touch this board (or anything that is connected to it, including the RLink, computer, keyboard, mouse, ...) while it is powered; There is a risk of electrical shock!

Lack of isolation of the mains caused the failure of your RLink. The ground of the board is connected to the ground of the RLink, which is connected to the ground of the USB, which is connected to the ground of the host computer, which is connected to the ground of mains, which should be the ground of your building. Therefore, when you make this connection, you connect one phase of the mains to the ground through the board/RLink/PC. The RLink then acts as a fuse and burns!

In these conditions, it is not possible to repair your RLink. There are probably many damaged components, and probably also on the PCB. You will have to purchase another RLink, and make sure that you are using an isolated power supply when you connect the RLink to the board. You can use 0/5V from an external supply, or an isolation for the mains. DO NOT try to isolate the computer. That could work, but it would result in having the ground of the computer connected to a phase of mains, which means you can kill yourself by touching the computer or the RLink!

In general, do not use mains at all if you have not received a specific training for avoiding accidents.

Best Regards,

Vincent

Dear Vincent,

I have not connected +-220VAc to board. When programming MCU, i used an isolated power supply and connected it directly to GND and Vcc on board.
If yes, can you help to show the way to diagnose this issue ?

Best regards,
Tung.

Hi,

I really don't see any other problem on your schematic. Have you ever programmed the target ST7 with an application that configures one of the ICC pins or RESET as output? If yes, that might have led to an electrical conflict, but the RLink is able to survive such conflicts for long periods. (at least 48 hours... I have not tested more than that) Have you plugged and unplugged the RLink a lot of times? (the USB connector must have a max number of cycles, altough it is probably huge)

Here is the picture for the first basic hardware checks: (plug the USB but not the target board)
ftp://www.raisonance.com/pub/forum/RLink_Diagnostic/RLinkDiag_1_PowerAndClock.jpg

This will tell us if the problem comes from the USB connector, protection diode, oscillator or from the RLink's ST7 itself.

Best Regards,

Vincent

Dear Vincent,

I used oscillator and mearsured frequency on OSCIN -OUT on ST7F651 on Rlink board. Frequency is arround 96Khz. Power supply arround 2.0V.
Is it possible the ST7F651 on board is died ?

Best regards,
Tung.

Hi,

Please confirm that you have checked the five points shown on the picture.
(I modified the picture for numbering the points...)

It is possible that the ST7 has died, although it takes a big overload to burn it.
Moreover, it would probably not result in a wrong frequency, because in RLink 3.4 the inverter of the ST7 is not used for generating the clock. There is an external inverter for that.

So from what you see, it think it could be the oscillator (crystal + inverter + capacitors + resistors) that has a problem, rather than the ST7. That would be good news because the parts that make the oscillator can easily be replaced, while you cannot replace the ST7. But that needs to be confirmed by all five checkpoints from the picture, as the problem could also come from power issues. And also I cannot imagine how the oscillator could be damaged before the other parts of the RLink...

Best Regards,

Vincent

Dear Vincent,

I've checked the five points show on the picture.
1. 5V
2. 4.8V
3. 0V
4. 0V
5. 96Khz

Can you continue to help me ?

Best regards,
Tung.

Hi,

What you observe can be explained by a defective oscillator: Crystal, inverter, capacitors, resistors, etc.
I just checked that if I remove the crystal from a working RLink, I have the same results as you (except frequency of 250KHz, but voltages are the same)
That does not mean that there are not other problems, in the ST7651 for example, but for sure nothing can work if you don't have a clean 12MHz clock on OSCIN.

Can you replace the 12MHz crystal by a new one and see if it makes a difference?
The other suspect components are the five components that are seen below the ST7651 on the picture. (2 33Pf capas, two resistors and the 74LVC1G04 inverter) I suggest you check all these components and their soldering and eventually replace them until you have a clean 12MHz on OSCIN.

If you manage to get a 12MHz clock but still no response from the ST7651, then that means the ST7651 is probably damaged and the RLink cannot be repaired. We can still check a few other things (reset, ...) but I have little hope.

Best Regards,

Vincent

Dear Vincent,

Thanks for your support.

ST7651 is probably damaged on my Rlink board.

Best regards,
TUng.