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MCU LD

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Georgens, Tom

MCU LD

Hello -

I am building a K3 kit and all was going well with the checkout and test
when I decided to download the latest version of the firmware. The
download failed and now the K3 displays "MCU LD" whenever it is turned
on. The K3 utility programs no longer can talk the to the K3. My
original PC was using a USB to serial cable and worked fine through all
the calibration steps. I used another USB to serial adapter that was
compatible with the K3 USB to serial software but it did not work
either. I tried yet another PC that has a native serial port, but no
luck with that as well.

In verbose mode, the utility program says it is sending ";" at various
baud rates and I presume it is getting no response.

I suppose it is possible that the serial port failed after working for
about 10 minutes, but it seems unlikely. All the boards seem to be
seated well and I doubt it is a connection problem

At this point, the K3 seems to have corrupted firmware, but it can no
longer talk to a PC in order to do a new download. Not sure what to try
next.

Any suggestions welcome

73, Tom W2SC

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Bill W4ZV

Re: MCU LD

Georgens, Tom wrote

At this point, the K3 seems to have corrupted firmware, but it can no
longer talk to a PC in order to do a new download. Not sure what to try
next.

Don't panic! Disconnect the K3's APP power connector for a few minutes. Then connect your true serial cable (not USB) and try again. It will probably start loading again automatically when you open the K3 Utility.

The K3 does a nice job of protecting itself from update problems.

73 & GL!

Bill

Dick Dievendorff

Re: MCU LD

In reply to this post by Georgens, Tom

Contact [hidden email]. Gary has some voltage checks on the
KIO3 to run. Also try once turning everything off (K3 power supply,
computer) and retry the load.

Dick, K6KR

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 6, 2009, at 2:20 PM, "Georgens, Tom" <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Hello -
>
>
>
> I am building a K3 kit and all was going well with the checkout and
> test
> when I decided to download the latest version of the firmware. The
> download failed and now the K3 displays "MCU LD" whenever it is turned
> on. The K3 utility programs no longer can talk the to the K3. My
> original PC was using a USB to serial cable and worked fine through
> all
> the calibration steps. I used another USB to serial adapter that was
> compatible with the K3 USB to serial software but it did not work
> either. I tried yet another PC that has a native serial port, but no
> luck with that as well.
>
>
>
> In verbose mode, the utility program says it is sending ";" at various
> baud rates and I presume it is getting no response.
>
>
>
> I suppose it is possible that the serial port failed after working for
> about 10 minutes, but it seems unlikely. All the boards seem to be
> seated well and I doubt it is a connection problem
>
>
>
> At this point, the K3 seems to have corrupted firmware, but it can no
> longer talk to a PC in order to do a new download. Not sure what to
> try
> next.
>
>
>
> Any suggestions welcome
>
>
>
> 73, Tom W2SC
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

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Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

AC7AC

Re: MCU LD

In reply to this post by Georgens, Tom

CONTENTS DELETED

The author has deleted this message.

Doug Joyce

Re: MCU LD

In reply to this post by Georgens, Tom

Hi Tom: After having built my K3 (s/n 2432) back in Jan, I agreed to build
one for a good friend last month and ran into somewhat the same problems.

The build went well, the unit received on the three bands from the XG2 at 1
microvolt and the K3 Utility would do the 5 and 50 watt TX Gain calibration
as well as the filter set up in both the main Rx and the KRX3 sub receiver.

The new K3 unit (s/n 3288) came with MCU Ver 3.14 and DSP Ver 2.16 installed
and I decided to do an firmware upgrade to 3.19 / 2.17. The K3 Utility
(Ver 1.2.8.10) is installed on a Dell D830 notebook and I'm using a native
serial port directly to the K3 - this configuration has been used to do
about 12 updates to my own K3 since I built it in Jan/09 all with no
problems. When the K3 Utility was used to check the Firmware in the new K3,
it confirmed the MCU, FPF and DSP1, but not DSP2. It acted as if the Aux
DSP board for the KRX3 wasn't there. I tried to upload a full new Firmware
vers set and it would load correctly the new MCU and FPF but would not load
the new version of either DSP1 or DSP2. At the end of the load attempt the
new MCU and FPF would remain but it would revert back to the original DSP1
Ver 2.16.

I contacted K3Support and had prompt replies from both Dale and Gary and we
tried various things. After checking and rechecking the connectors between
the RF board and the Front Panel board, as well as the connectors between
the DSP boards and the Front Panel board they asked me to measure the
voltage at U1 pin 8 on the KIO3 board. It needs to be at least - 5 V DC.
Mine was ok so then they sent me replacement Main and Aux DSP boards to
try. Unfortunately the results were the same with the new Main DSP board.

At this point Dale asked that I return the K3 to Aptos, which I did. It's
there now and scheduled to be checked out Tues or Wed of this week.

Good luck in getting yours fixed. I'll update you once I find out anything
further with this one.

73, Doug VE3MV

----- Original Message -----
From: "Georgens, Tom" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Sunday, September 06, 2009 5:20 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] MCU LD

> Hello -
>
>
>
> I am building a K3 kit and all was going well with the checkout and test
> when I decided to download the latest version of the firmware. The
> download failed and now the K3 displays "MCU LD" whenever it is turned
> on. The K3 utility programs no longer can talk the to the K3. My
> original PC was using a USB to serial cable and worked fine through all
> the calibration steps. I used another USB to serial adapter that was
> compatible with the K3 USB to serial software but it did not work
> either. I tried yet another PC that has a native serial port, but no
> luck with that as well.
>
>
>
> In verbose mode, the utility program says it is sending ";" at various
> baud rates and I presume it is getting no response.
>
>
>
> I suppose it is possible that the serial port failed after working for
> about 10 minutes, but it seems unlikely. All the boards seem to be
> seated well and I doubt it is a connection problem
>
>
>
> At this point, the K3 seems to have corrupted firmware, but it can no
> longer talk to a PC in order to do a new download. Not sure what to try
> next.
>
>
>
> Any suggestions welcome
>
>
>
> 73, Tom W2SC
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
>