Restoring communication with your MTi

Restoring communication with your MTi

There are various reasons why you may not be able to (properly) communicate with your MTi. This article acts as a set of guidelines to (re-)gain communication with your device. It addresses the MTi 1-series, 10-series and 100-series. If you are facing issues that are not covered in this article, or if these guidelines have not solved your communication issue, please contact Support. 

Cables

For the MTi 10-series and 100-series, if you are using a USB to serial converter that is not supplied by Xsens, you will have to set the baud rate, specify its COM port and scan for that single port in MT Manager with the "Scan Single Port" button. When using the "Scan All Ports" button, MT Manager only scans for devices connected using Xsens converter cables. It is also useful to know whether the MTi is communicating at all. After powering on the MTi, it should automatically start outputting measurement data. Using serial monitoring software, such as PuTTY, you can monitor the COM port of the MTi and see whether it is outputting messages. 

Correct version MTSS

Make sure that you have installed the correct version of the MT Software Suite. Refer to the following article: 

https://base.xsens.com/hc/en-us/articles/209261969-Installing-the-correct-Software-Suite-for-different-generation-products

Firmware Updater

Check whether your device is detected by the Firmware Updater, and whether it is possible to upgrade the Firmware to its latest available version. In some cases this may solve communication issues. The Firmware Updater can be downloaded at:

https://www.xsens.com/mt-firmware/

Restore communication tool

MT Manager features a Restore Communication tool. It can be found under the Tools tab. The Restore Communication tool only works if your MTi connects over a COM interface (check this using e.g. Windows' Device Manager).

• If you are using an MTi 10-series or 100-series:
  • Open the Restore Communication tool and simply follow the guidelines.
  • Communication should be restored. 

• If you are using an MTi 1-series in combination with the Development Kit:
  • You can use MT Manager, but you will have to reset the device while not disconnecting the USB line (the COM port should stay alive). To do this you need a jumper wire which you can use to temporarily connect the nRST header pin to a GND header pin.
  • Connect the DK to the PC using the USB  cable.
  • Open MT Manager and start the Restore Communication tool.
  • Initiate the Restore Communication process on the COM port of the DK.
  • Connect pins nRST and GND.
  • Disconnect pins nRST and GND.
  • Communication should be restored. 

• If you are using the MTi 1-series and it is soldered in place, the procedure is described in section 7.2 of the Low Level Communication Document but this might require some translation to the MTi-1 as the USB-serial converter cable does not apply:
  • Switch PSEL to "00" to enable UART_FD. 
  • Open the UART to the MTi on 115200 8N1. 
  • Start sending repeatedly the value 0xDE with ~500us delay between them. 
  • Reset the MTi-1. Either pull the nRST line low for a short time or power cycle the MTi-1 (if possible). 
  • Keep sending 0xDE until Wakeup message to comes in. 
  • Communication should be restored.

Baud rate too low

When using the MTi with a serial to USB converter, MT Manager may not be able to connect with the device if its baud rate is set to 4800 or 9600 bps. In order to re-connect with the MTi in MT Manager, first try the above solutions. If none of these work, you will have to reset the baud rate manually. You can do this in MT Manager by using a direct USB connection (instead of a serial to USB converter). If a direct USB connection is not available, you can use low level communication in order to reset the baud rate of the device. Refer to the LLCP document for more information on low level interfacing and the setBaudrate command. 

Drivers

It is important that you have the correct drivers installed.

• If you are using the MTi with a cable that includes a USB to serial converter (i.e. CA-USB#-MTi), the correct drivers are included in the MT Software Suite, by default at: 
  C:\Program Files\Common Files\Xsens USB-serial converter driver
  If you require separate drivers, you can download them here. 
   
• If you are using the MTi with the standard USB cable (CA-USB-MTi) (i.e. without a USB to serial converter) the correct drivers have to be installed.
  • For Windows: 
    • Make sure to have WinUSB installed.
  • For Linux:
    • libusb is included in the latest Linux kernel (Ubuntu).
    • In case the MTi is not recognized, visit https://github.com/xsens/xsens_mt to install the driver manually (e.g. on some versions of embedded Linux).