[Elecraft] P3 Firmware Checksum failure - Supplemental

[Paul M Dunphy]

On 1/19/2013 7:40 PM, Bill K9YEQ wrote:
> Looks to me like you do not have a connection via the USB to RS232.  Try
> restarting your PC.  Then find a port with the P3 utility that demonstrates
> you are connected.  I just did the update with no issues.  I did have to
> find the correct port, as the port assignments can change based on the
> amount of stuff you have hooked up and the order in which they are
> reassigned.  I run a W2, K3, P3, Kat500, KX3, etc.  Hope that helps you
> understand the potential issue with the ports and that sometimes they get
> reassigned.
>
> 73,
> Bill
> K9YEQ
>
>

Hi Bill,

      Thanks for the suggestion.  I don't have a USB to RS232 
connection, but rather a real DB9 Port.  I'm pretty sure it is the 
correct port.  I know Windows can reassign ports at times, and I think I 
have eliminated that.

     The reason I believe that to be so is because with the P3 Utility 
program, on the Ports tab, the Test Communications button returns the 
message "P3 Waiting for firmware load. RS-232 speed 38400 bit/sec." when 
clicked.

      Also, when I direct the P3 utility to "Send Checked Items to P3" 
(with MCU checked) under the Firmware tab, a progress bar appears on the 
utility program and works its way across the window, taking about a 
minute.  Simultaneously with this, a white progress bar appears on the 
P3 screen.  When they both complete after about a minute, that is when 
the P3 displays:

P3 BOOT LOADER
CHECKSUM TEST
FAILED CHECKSUM
READY FOR DOWNLOAD

    I have repeated this process a number of times.  I have power cycled 
the P3 and K2, and rebooted my PC.  I also disconnected the P3 from the 
K3 so that the RS232 DB-9 cable is connected to the P3 only, and not 
daisy chained further to the K3.  Every combination behaves 
consistently, giving the minute long wait with the P3 utility program 
and the P3 progress bars progressing as I would expect.  Then the P3 
display indicates a checksum error and says it is "READY FOR DOWNLOAD." 
The P3 Utility program seems to time out and display the following after 
5-10 seconds:

Error code 0xE2000048: No response to poll while synchronizing to buffer 
boundary
MCU verification failed. Reload MCU.
Click "Close" to close this window

     It's possible it is a communications problem or port mixup, but if 
it is, I can't understand why the P3 unit's progress bar would respond 
to the upload.

     I will pass all of this information along to Elecraft support. I 
was hoping someone else has encountered this, but it seems unique to 
me.  Everything worked fine until I tried to upgrade from firmware 
version 1.20 to 1.24.

73, Paul VE1DX