Laboratory stand dedicated to MSI PRO Z690-A assembly guide

Introduction

This document describes the assembly procedure dedicated to the MSI PRO Z690-A testing stand.

Prerequisites

The below table contains information about all elements which are needed to create the testing stand.

MSI PRO Z690-A platform
RTE v1.1.0
Sonoff S20 type E
4x standard female-female connection wire 2.54 mm raster
7x standard female-female connection wire 2.54/2.00 mm raster
USB-UART converter with 4-wire cable
4-pin header 2.54 mm raster

Pre-setup activities

The following subsections describe the method of preparing all the components of the laboratory stand.

MSI PRO Z690-A

MSI PRO Z690-A platform should be prepared in accordance with the Motherboard assembly documentation.

RTE

RTE (acronym: Remote Testing Environment) should be prepared in accordance with Quick start guide documentation dedicated to the device.

Sonoff

The below section of the documentation is based on the EPSHome documentation

Open the Sonoff case.
Check if the headers are soldered to the board. If not - 4 pin header raster 2.54 mm should be soldered to the board in accordance with the below images.
Connect the USB-UART converter to the USB port.

Create a Sonoff configuration file. The file extension should be .yaml and it should contain the device configuration.

Example configuration:

esphome:
  name: XXXXXX
  platform: ESP8266
  board: esp01_1m

wifi:
  ssid: "XXXXXX"
  password: "XXXXXX"
  # manual_ip:
  #   # Set this to the IP of the ESP
  #   static_ip: 192.168.4.187
  #   # Set this to the IP address of the router. Often ends with .1
  #   gateway: 192.168.4.1
  #   # The subnet of the network. 255.255.255.0 works for most home networks.
  #   subnet: 255.255.255.0
  power_save_mode: none


  # # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "Sonoff1 Fallback Hotspot"
    password: "123456789"


captive_portal:

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:


ota:


binary_sensor:
- platform: gpio
  pin:
    number: GPIO0
    mode: INPUT_PULLUP
    inverted: True
  name: "Sonoff S20 Button"
  on_press:
    - switch.toggle: relay
- platform: status
  name: "Sonoff S20 Status"


switch:
- platform: gpio
  name: "Sonoff S20 Relay"
  pin: GPIO12
  id: relay

output:
- platform: esp8266_pwm
  id: s20_green_led
  pin: GPIO13
  inverted: True

light:
- platform: monochromatic
  name: "Sonoff S20 Green LED"
  output: s20_green_led

web_server:
  port: 80
  reboot_timeout: 0s

Run the docker container in the folder containing created .yaml configuration file:

docker run --rm -v "${PWD}":/config --device=/dev/ttyUSB0 -p 6052:6052 -it esphome/esphome

Open the browser and type into the web browser the following address:
```
http://localhost:6052/
```
Put the device in flash mode. Putting the device in this mode should be done in accordance with the documentation.
Change the upload method from OTA to /dev/ttyUSB0. After this operation, the new element with the name specified in esphome:name should be displayed.
Select the option Upload. After clicking, the program should generate the image, compile it and upload it to the device.
After successful upload replug the device to the USB (without the button pressed) to get out of the flashing mode.
Open connection to the device in the PC terminal by typing:
```
sudo minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB0 -o -b 115200.
```
Note: /dev/ttyUSB0 is example device - check whether USB0 is the correct one.
Check if the device is responsible - whether network connectivity information is generated.

Note: The effective range for this device is only a few meters.
Based on the minicom logs read the IP address assigned to the device.

Connections

The following sections describe how to enable all of the following features:

serial connection to the platform,
controlling power supply,
enabling basic power actions with the platform (power off/power on/reset),
external flashing with the RTE,
device power status readout.

Serial connection

Attach the jumpers in the RTE J16 header to enable header J18:

Jumper position (TX) Jumper position (RX)

EXT + COM EXT + COM
Connect the RTE J18 header to the platform JBD1 header as described in the table:

RTE MSI PRO Z690-A

J18 pin 1 (GND) JBD1 pin 1 (pin closer to JBAT1)

J18 pin 2 (RX) JBD1 pin 2 (pin further from JBAT1)

Note: Pins on JBD1 are not described in the documentation. They have been discovered experimentally. Pay attention to the connections.

Power supply controlling

Connect SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Platinum to Sonoff.

Basic power operations enabling

Connect the RTE J11 header to the platform JFP1 header as described in the table:

RTE	Msi Z690
J11 pin 9	JFP1 pin 6 (PWR_ON)
J11 pin 8	JFP1 pin 7 (RST)
J15 pin 1 (GND)	JFP1 pin 5 (GND)

External flashing enabling

Connect the RTE SPI header to the platform as described in the table:

RTE SPI header	MSI Z690-A
J7 pin 1 (Vcc)	JTPM1 pin 1 (SPI Power)
J7 pin 2 (GND)	JTPM1 pin 7 (GND)
J7 pin 3 (CS)	JTPM1 pin 5 (RESERVED / BIOS SPI CS pin)
J7 pin 4 (SCLK)	JTPM1 pin 6 (SPI Clock)
J7 pin 5 (MISO)	JTPM1 pin 3 (MISO)
J7 pin 6 (MOSI)	JTPM1 pin 4 (MOSI)

Note: external access to the flash chip is possible only from the JTPM header. JTPM1 is a 2mm pitch header, you will need 2mm to 2.54mm female-female dupont wires to connect to RTE.

Device power status readout

Connect the RTE J1 header to the platform JFP1 header as shown in the picture below:

The values of R1, R2, V1 and V2 should meet the relationship according to the formula R1/R2 = V2/V1. V1 cannot be greater than 3.3V (RTE property).

Complete Setup

After preparing all of the connections also three activities should be performed to enable all of the test stand features:

Connect Sonoff to the mains:
Connect the RTE to the Internet by using the Ethernet cable.
Connect the RTE to the mains by using the microUSB 5 V/2 A power supply.

Complete setup should looks as follows:

Complete

Theory of operation

The following sections describe how to use all of the enabled features:

serial connection to the platform,
controlling power supply,
enabling basic power actions with the platform (power off/power on/reset),
external flashing with the RTE,
device power status readout.

Serial connection

The method of setting and using serial connection is described in the Serial connection guide.

Power supply controlling

Power supply controlling (in this case: controlling the state of Sonoff) should be performed based on the sonoff.sh script implemented in meta-rte (OS image dedicated to the RTE platform).

Note, that before using the above-mentioned script, it should be modified and SONOFF_IP parameter should be set in accordance with obtained Sonoff IP address.

To perform basic power operations use the below-described commands:

Turn on the power supply:
```
./sonoff on
```
Turn off the power supply:
```
./sonoff on
```

Basic power operations

Basic power operations should be performed based on the rte_ctrl script implemented in meta-rte (OS image dedicated to the RTE platform). To perform basic power operations use the below-described commands:

Turn on the platform:
```
rte_ctrl pon
```
Turn off the platform:
```
rte_ctrl poff
```
Reset the platform:
```
rte_ctrl reset
```

Note, that in order for the above commands to work properly, the platform should be powered up: both Sonoff and the power supply must be turned on.

External flashing

The external flashing procedure should be performed based on the scripts implemented on the RTE platform. To perform the flashing operation reproduce, the below-described steps:

By using scp put the requested Dasharo file to the RTE:
```
scp <path_to_firmware>/<firmware_file> root@<RTE_IP>:/tmp/coreboot.rom
```
Where:
- path_to_firmware - path to firmware, which should send to RTE,
- firmware_file - the name of the firmware file, which should be sent to RTE,
- RTE_IP - IP address of the connected RTE.
Login to RTE via ssh or minicom.
Read the flash chip by executing the following command on RTE:
```
./flash.sh read tmp/dump.rom
```
If the reading was successful, the output from the command above should contain the phrase Verifying flash... VERIFIED.
Write the flash chip by executing the following command on RTE:
```
./flash.sh write /tmp/coreboot.rom
```
Do not interrupt the flashing procedure in any way (especially by changing connections). It may cause hardware damage!
If the reading was successful, the output from the command above should contain the phrase Verifying flash... VERIFIED.

Device power status readout

To read the current power status use the following command:

cat /sys/class/gpio/gpio12/value

Example output:

1 means that the platform is turned on.
0 means that the platform is turned off.

RTE	MSI PRO Z690-A
J18 pin 1 (GND)	JBD1 pin 1 (pin closer to JBAT1)
J18 pin 2 (RX)	JBD1 pin 2 (pin further from JBAT1)