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• trying to get the GoodFET running on mac

  davedarko • 08/05/2022 at 11:30 • 4 comments

  
  # download mps compilers
  brew tap tgtakaoka/mspgcc
  
  # prepare folders
  
  sudo mkdir /opt/homebrew/lib/msp430 /opt/homebrew/lib/msp430/lib /opt/homebrew/include/msp430 /opt/homebrew/include/msp430/include
  sudo chown -R $(whoami) /opt/homebrew/lib/msp430 /opt/homebrew/lib/msp430/lib /opt/homebrew/include/msp430 /opt/homebrew/include/msp430/include
  
  # run install 
  brew install libc-msp430 gdb-msp430
  

  https://exfil.co/2016/02/11/goodfet-on-os-x/ 

  Found a good starting point to talk with the MSP430, but sadly it runs into a weird bootloader password issue.

  goodfet.bsl -P ./goodfet.hex --fromweb
  Use -h for help
  Use --fromweb to upgrade a GoodFET.
  MSP430 Bootstrap Loader Version: 1.39-goodfet-8
  Invoking BSL...
  Transmit password ...
  Use -h for help
  Use --fromweb to upgrade a GoodFET.
  MSP430 Bootstrap Loader Version: 1.39-goodfet-8
  Invoking BSL...
  Transmit password ...
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/usr/local/bin/goodfet.bsl", line 1987, in 
      main(0);
    File "/usr/local/bin/goodfet.bsl", line 1887, in main
      bsl.actionStartBSL()
    File "/usr/local/bin/goodfet.bsl", line 1166, in actionStartBSL
      self.txPasswd(self.passwd)                  #transmit password
    File "/usr/local/bin/goodfet.bsl", line 1136, in txPasswd
      wait=wait)           #if wait is 1, try to sync forever
    File "/usr/local/bin/goodfet.bsl", line 801, in bslTxRx
      rxFrame = self.comTxRx(cmd, dataOut, len(dataOut))  #Send frame
    File "/usr/local/bin/goodfet.bsl", line 480, in comTxRx
      rxHeader, rxNum = self.comRxHeader()        #receive header
    File "/usr/local/bin/goodfet.bsl", line 386, in comRxHeader
      if not hdr: raise BSLException("Timeout")
  __main__.BSLException: Timeout
  

  aha! So the tutorial uses a capital P where the flag should be a small p. Or not, maybe the password stuff is set somewhere else or while compiling. writing the ./prebuilt firmware worked.

  board=goodfet42 goodfet.bsl -p goodfet.hex
  

  Well that wasn't really a solution, but somehow I got it to except the firmware, probably by using the "fromweb" flag for it, where it wasn't confused by all that.

• but first, we must build a goodFET42

  davedarko • 07/18/2022 at 19:44 • 0 comments

  Sure, I could try and do the same hard work that plenty people have done before me, do miserably and fail - or I could just try and get stuff from back then working. So within chip shortage I tried to get hold of the MSP chip that's featured on the GoodFET, a DIY JTAG and more probe, that isn't obtainable anywhere. Thankfully everything I needed was accessible and so I started redesigning the GoodFET in KiCad, swapped some parts and added rounded corners basically and ordered the boards at OSHpark. Why did I do that? Because all the tutorials from 2010 basically start with "connect your GoodFET to the im-me messenger" and well I need one then, of course.

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