Problem to communicate with W7100-S2E-100

Question

Hi, We designed a WIZnet W7100-S2E-100 on communication board, and are having problems communicating to it. I am trying to communicate to the WIZnet chip using the WIZnet config tool (WIZ107SR/108SR configuration tool) through a 100M Ethernet RJ45 port, with no success. My colleagues indicated the chip is supposed to arrive programmed, but I don’t know how to check this. I am comparing the behavior I see on our board to a purchased WIZnet module: Can the WIZnet ICs we use on our boards be programmed with a different firmware than the WIZnet Module? The behavior I see and describe below indicates there may be a different firmware: On the purchased module, I see the RJ45 Yellow LED blinking as soon as I power the Module with 3.3V. On our board, I don’t see the LED blinking when the board and WIZnet IC are powered, and also with a scope the LED is constantly driven with 3.3V (LEDs off). On both the purchased module and on our board I can see the WDI signal from the WIZnet IC to the TPS3833 watchdog, toggles once every 1msec to service the watchdog. When I connect an Ethernet RJ45 cable, and Search for the WIZnet using the configuration tool: With the purchased module, the configuration tool finds the WIZnet IC. With our board, the configuration tool does not find the WIZnet IC. Any suggestions what may be the problem with the W7100-S2E-100 which prevents it from operating, and communicating to the configuration tool? Thanks, Doron

jameskim · Answer

Hi Doron, There are so many reason why W7100-S2E doesn’t work unlike what you expect. It may have a wrong firmware on it or your hardware design, especially between W7100A-S2E and RJ45, may have some mistake. Can you get data from UART of W7100A-S2E? Standard firmware enables debug message by default and you could see its debug messages with its firmware version and local network setting information at boot. If you can see it then your board design between W7100A-S2E and RJ45 must have some mistake. As another possibility, sometimes some customer uses a wrong RJ45. Which RJ45 do you use? Is it transformer embedded one? If you use a pure RJ45, do you use a transformer between our chip and a pure RJ45 you use? May I see your schematic at least only a part of between W7100A-S2E and RJ45? It will help us with investigation of cause. Thank you. BR, James.

doronfael · Answer

Hello James, See enclosed schematics of the Wiznet page of our schematics. In your permission I would like to concentrate on the basics first: 1. When comparing he behaviour of the Wiznet WIZ107SR modle to our board, we see the module has the RJ45 LED blink as soon as the module is powerred even if no RJ45 cable is connected. On our own board on the other hand the LED does not blink after power up, and I verified with a scope the relevant signals are constantly high (LED off). Is the W7100-S2E-100 IC that we purchaced supposed to be programmed with the same firmware as the Wiznet WIZ107SR Module? Are we correct to expect the LED to blink when the W7100-S2E-100 is powered and no RJ45 cable is connected? Another observation which may be relevant is we do see on both the purchased module and on our board - the WDI signal from the WIZnet IC to the TPS3833 watchdog, toggles once every 1msec to service the watchdog. Am I corrcet to assume this means the W7100-S2E-100 IC on our board is running firmware which services the external watchdog? On our board we had a design mistake, and the Ethernet signals were connected by mistake to an SGMII port of an Ethernet switch instead to a 1000/100/10-baseT port of the switch. I have made blue wire modifications to cut the connection to the SGMII switch port, and connect to magnetics + RJ45 using equal length blue wires (to Pulse H6062FNL transformer + Amphenol RJHSE-3081 RJ45 connector). After the modification, I wasn’t able to communicate to the WIZnet chip using the WIZnet config tool through an Ethernet RJ45 cable. In an attempt to communicate to th Wiznet IC through the RS232 TX and RX, we have downloaded the “WizISP for iMCU W7100 software”, and were tryng to use a USB to serial donle to communicate to the TX and RX RS232 signals of our Wiznet IC. Un-fortunately the utility kept giving us a message " COM port synchronization timeout! The COM port will be closed! Please check your board and try again" What are the next steps…

jameskim · Answer

Hello Doron, Sorry for my late response. I missed your email because our forum site didn’t send me the notification of new post although I set “Notification” on this forum. Anyway, please refer to my below answers. [quote]1. When comparing he behaviour of the Wiznet WIZ107SR modle to our board, we see the module has the RJ45 LED blink as soon as the module is powerred even if no RJ45 cable is connected. On our own board on the other hand the LED does not blink after power up, and I verified with a scope the relevant signals are constantly high (LED off). Is the W7100-S2E-100 IC that we purchaced supposed to be programmed with the same firmware as the Wiznet WIZ107SR Module? Are we correct to expect the LED to blink when the W7100-S2E-100 is powered and no RJ45 cable is connected?[/quote] [color=#FF0000]With only this symptom, I can’t guess what the problem is. But with 2nd symptom, I’m sure that W7100A-S2E has a proper firmware inside and runs correctly.[/color] [quote]3. On our board we had a design mistake, and the Ethernet signals were connected by mistake to an SGMII port of an Ethernet switch instead to a 1000/100/10-baseT port of the switch. I have made blue wire modifications to cut the connection to the SGMII switch port, and connect to magnetics + RJ45 using equal length blue wires (to Pulse H6062FNL transformer + Amphenol RJHSE-3081 RJ45 connector). After the modification, I wasn’t able to communicate to the WIZnet chip using the WIZnet config tool through an Ethernet RJ45 cable.[/quote] [color=#FF0000]Could you search W7100A-S2E chip via ethernet with WIZ107SR Configuration Tool before this modification? Anyway, I really want to look at the schematic of the part of Switch which it is connected to, from W7100A-S2E and H6062FNL including RJ45.[/color] [quote]4. In an attempt to communicate to th Wiznet IC through the RS232 TX and RX, we have downloaded the “WizISP for iMCU W7100 software”, and were tryng to use a USB to serial donle to communicate to the…

doronfael · Answer

Hi James, Thanks for the reply. Are the WizNet107SR module, and a purchased W7100-S2E-100 IC both programmed with the same firmware? If all else is the same between the Module and Wizne IC on our board, should we expect the RJ45 LED to blink as soon as the Wiznet IC is powered on our board, and there is no Ethernet link? Thanks, Doron

jameskim · Answer

Hello, [quote]1. Are the WizNet107SR module, and a purchased W7100-S2E-100 IC both programmed with the same firmware? [/quote] Basically, yes. Firmware version inside module or W7100A-S2E depends on when you purchased it. But you can update it with the latest one later. [quote]2. If all else is the same between the Module and Wizne IC on our board, should we expect the RJ45 LED to blink as soon as the Wiznet IC is powered on our board, and there is no Ethernet link?[/quote] Yes, RJ45 LED should light on when it powers on if Ethernet cable plugs. So if RJ45 LED doesn’t light on, it must have some problem in hardware. Thank you. BR, James.