EDT, Inc.
2019 April 29
24
VisionLink F-series
Troubleshooting
Corrupted Firmware
In rare cases, the board firmware may become corrupted. Typically, the symptom is that the board is not recognized by
the operating system, or the computer itself will not boot with the board in it. In such cases, booting from the protected
(backup) sector will allow the board to be seen so that you can reprogram the programmable sector.
Each EDT frame grabber has both a protected (backup) and a programmable flash memory boot sector. The sector
from which the board will boot is determined by a jumper, which is preset to the programmable sector. If that sector
becomes corrupted, you can move the jumper so the board will boot from the protected sector.
Most often, firmware corruption is the result of an interrupted load process or an unanticipated interaction with the host
computer; if so, following the procedure below should solve the problem.
If the firmware file itself has become corrupted, first contact EDT for the current firmware you’ll need to replace it, and
then follow this procedure.
To reboot from the protected sector...
1.
If needed, move the new firmware file to the installation directory or to the appropriate
flash/
fpga
subdirectory.
2.
Power off the host and board.
3.
To avoid later confusion, remove any other EDT boards from the host.
4.
On the EDT board with the corrupted firmware, move the jumper from its programmable to its protected setting (to
locate this setting on your board, see
Firmware: FPGA Configuration (.bit) Files on page 22
5.
Power up the host and board.
6.
In the installation directory (see
), run...
pciload
The program outputs the date and revision number of the firmware in the flash memory
—
in this case, the date
and revision number that shipped as of your purchase date. If no errors are reported, you have successfully booted
from the protected sector.
7.
With the system still powered on, move the jumper back to its original position.
8.
Run...
pciload
firmware
...replacing
firmware
with the correct filename, as indicated in
Table 7
. If the feedback shows no errors, the new
firmware has been installed, although it is not yet running.
9.
Power off the host and board again.
10. Power on the system.
11. Run
pciload
with no arguments to verify the board is recognized and is running with the new firmware.
Troubleshooting
The EDT installation package includes numerous diagnostic programs, the most useful of which are briefly described
in
Example and Utility Applications on page 13
. You can use these programs to search for problems yourself or to
