Mini EVK Evaluation Kit ReadMe File
Release 1.02, October 2006

Copyright © 20052006 Echelon Corporation
All Rights Reserved

1         Overview

This file contains important information for the Echelon® Mini EVK Evaluation Kit that is not included in the Mini EVK documentation.

For the latest information about updates to the Mini EVK product and examples that it contains, see the Mini EVK Web page at www.echelon.com/mini.  For the latest information about updates to the Interoperable Self-installation (ISI) library included with the Mini EVK, see the ISI Web page at www.echelon.com/isi.

2         Contents

1      Overview.. 1

2      Contents. 1

3      Requirements. 2

3.1       PC Hardware Requirements. 2

3.2       PC Software Requirements. 2

4      Documentation. 2

5      Repairing Software Installations. 2

6      Known Problems. 3

6.1       Installation Fails with Insufficient Privileges. 3

6.2       3150 EVB Evaluation Board Images. 3

6.3       RoHS-Compliant Evaluation Boards. 4

6.4       Library Paths Must Be Fully Specified. 4

6.5       Example Application LED Interactions. 4

6.6       Monitor & Control C# Example Application. 5

6.7       Touch I/O Memory Usage for 10Mhz 3120 E4 Neuron Chips. 5

 

3         Requirements

3.1      PC Hardware Requirements

The following are minimum requirements:

3.2      PC Software Requirements

The following are minimum requirements:

4         Documentation

Please see the Mini EVK User’s Guide, the Mini EVK Hardware Guide, the ISI Programmer’s Guide, and the online reference help available after installing the product.  These guides are the primary reference for all of the product features.

5         Repairing Software Installations

This software product is installed using Microsoft Windows Installer technology.  Some components of this product were also present in earlier installations of Echelon products that did not follow the Windows Installer installation rules.  As a result, installing some older Echelon products after installing this product may revert some files to obsolete versions.  Workaround: If you experience unexpected software behavior changes as a result of another software installation, you can repair this product installation through the following procedure:

  1. Open the Windows Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
  3. Click program to be repaired in the program list.
  4. Click Click Here for Support Information.
  5. Click the Repair button.
  6. Repeat 3 – 5 for each program to be repaired in the Add or Remove Programs program list.

The programs that you may need to repair in the Add or Remove Programs program list include the following:

  1. Echelon Mini EVK
  2. Echelon Interoperable Self-Installation Developer’s Kit
  3. Echelon OpenLDV 3.3
  4. LonMark Resource Files 13.00

6         Known Problems

The Mini EVK 1.02 release has the following known problems.  Numbers in parentheses at the end of the descriptions are Echelon's internal problem tracking IDs.

6.1      Installation Fails with Insufficient Privileges

In some circumstances, installing the Mini EVK can fail due to insufficient privileges.  The installer error dialog will state “Error 1303.  The installer has insufficient privileges to access this directory…”, and it will give you a choice of Retry or Continue.  In most cases, the failure is temporary, and Retry will succeed.  Workaround: If Retry does not succeed, follow these steps to install the Mini EVK 1.02 software:

  1. Log in as a full Windows administrator.
  2. Disconnect your computer from the network.
  3. Disable all Virus protection software.
  4. Disable firewalls.
  5. Close all windows.

These steps are only needed temporarily to install the program.  You should return any security setting to its previous state after the installation is complete.  (41825)

6.2      3150 EVB Evaluation Board Images

The FT and PL 3150 EVB Evaluation Boards include a pre-release version of the ISI 3 library.  This version of the ISI library does not clear the connection table correctly when leaving a connection on a connection member, preventing the device from joining a new connection.  This error has been corrected in the ISI 3 libraries and example images included with Mini EVK 1.02.  However, the images pre-loaded into the FT 3150 and PL 3150 EVBs still contain this error.  Workaround: Use the Mini EVK to re-load the FT 3150 or PL 3150 EVB with the updated software.  For the FT 3150 EVB, this image will by default be found at “c:\LonWorks\Import\Echelon\MiniKit\MGDemo FT 3150.ndl”.  For the PL 3150 EVB, this image will by default be found at “c:\LonWorks\Import\Echelon\MiniKit\MGDemo PL 3150.ndl”.

6.3      RoHS-Compliant Evaluation Boards

Mini EVK 1.02 includes evaluation boards that meet the requirements of the EU directive for the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS directive).  The RoHS-compliant versions of the PL 3120, PL 3150, and FT 3150 EVB Evaluation Boards are software-compatible to their predecessors, which were included in earlier versions of the Mini EVK.

The RoHS-compliant FT 3120 EVB Evaluation Board is not software-compatible to its predecessor, as the newer board uses version 16 system firmware.  Mini EVK 1.02 defaults to the RoHS-compliant version of the FT 3120 EVB.  Workaround: To use a pre-RoHS FT 3120 EVB, select the FT 3120 Evaluation Board (801-0442-01).NbHwt hardware template when building applications.  You can identify the pre-RoHS version of the FT 3120 EVB by the 801-0442-01 part number, which is shown on a sticker on the EVB. (39885)

6.4      Library Paths Must Be Fully Specified

When setting library file paths in the Mini EVK, a fully-qualified path with drive letter must be specified, or the library will not be found.  Workaround: Always include the full path with drive letter when specifying a library file. (36705)

6.5      Example Application LED Interactions

When an EVB with the MGDemo example loaded is connected with another EVB with the MGLight example loaded and the C# Monitoring and Control example application is used to change the connected switch on the MGDemo MiniGizmo, the MGLight MiniGizmo may appear out of synch—the light on the MGDemo MiniGizmo may be on and the one on the MGLight MiniGzimo might be off at the same time, or vice versa.  Workaround: The C# Monitoring and Control example application focuses on a single device rather than a group of devices.  The input network variable update that changes the MGDemo EVB's light state does not affect the MGLight EVB's state.  Connections with some number of MgSwitch, MGDemo, and MGLight devices will always be in synch within the connection, but a monitoring and control tool may not always be able to update the entire connection without running the risk of making undesired state changes to other networked devices.

6.6      Monitor & Control C# Example Application

When using the Monitor & Control example with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003, use the "Debug" and "Release" configuration.  When using the example with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, use the "Debug (.NET 2.0)" and "Release (.NET 2.0)" configuration. You can select the active configuration from the configuration manager, or via the batch build tool, both available through the Visual Studio Build menu.

When using the Monitor & Control example with Visual Studio 2005 and version 2 of the .NET framework, conditional compilation is used to disable a new system check for illegal cross thread calls.  This is done within the constructors of the following classes: AddDeviceForm, ChangeSNForm, ISIInfoForm, MonitorControlMain, and MonitorControlResultsPane.

You can read more about the CheckForIllegalCrossThreadCalls property online at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.control.checkforillegalcrossthreadcalls.aspx and at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms171728.aspx.

6.7      Touch I/O Memory Usage for 10Mhz 3120 E4 Neuron Chips

The Mini EVK 1.01 release and higher includes new Touch I/O library support that fixes a problem with the use of Touch I/O by 20MHz Neuron® Chips.  This new implementation requires more EEPROM space for applications linked for the Cypress 3120E4 Neuron Chip.  This additional space is required for 20MHz use, but can be eliminated for 10MHz use. (36053)

Workaround: To reduce memory usage for Cypress 3120E4 Neuron Chips running at 10MHz, follow these steps:

  1. Open Windows Explorer and browse to the LonWorks Images\Ver13 folder where the LonWorks directory is c:\LonWorks by default, but you may have changed that.
  2. Rename the “B3120E4.SYM” file to “B3120E4_20MHZ.SYM.”
  3. Rename the “B3120E4_10MHZ.SYM” file to “B3120E4.SYM.”
  4. Recompile your 3120 based application.