How to connect to my LaunchPad TM4C123G

Question

I have spent some time trying to connect to my LaunchPad TM4C123G using the mspdebug toolchain on my macbook (10.10), but no luck.

While trying to run $ mspdebug rf2500 I get

usbutil: unable to find a device matching 0451:f432

I did some googling and it seems to me the mspdebug toolkit might not be suitable for my version of the LaunchPad. Could this be?

After checking my $ system_profiler SPUSBDataType I got the following:

      Product ID: 0x00fd
      Vendor ID: 0x1cbe  (Texas Instruments - Stellaris)
      Version: 1.00
      Serial Number: 0E205EE1
      Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
      Manufacturer: Texas Instruments
      Location ID: 0x14100000 / 14
      Current Available (mA): 500
      Current Required (mA): 250

This indicates to me that at least the OS is able to recognise the device, right? If so, what other toolchain could I use to connect to the device.

@ChrisStratton yes it does have two, and I've tried both and they both produce the same `mspdebug` message. But, only one USB is detected using the Apple `system_profiler`. It's the top one "USB connector for power & emulation (programming/debugging)". — Morgan Wilde, Feb 22 '15 at 18:45
As your board is one of TI's ARM parts rather than one of their MSP430 ones, most like a tool called "mspdebug" is not applicable. I say most likely, because sometimes projects evolve beyond their origins, but I'm not immediately seeing evidence that this one has. — Chris Stratton, Feb 22 '15 at 18:48
@ChrisStratton would you be able to suggest an alternative or at least a direction in which I could search for one? — Morgan Wilde, Feb 22 '15 at 18:49
Not specifically, but it looks like CodeComposerStudio might be an option (at least in a Linux VM). Natively in OSX you could probably do something with generic gcc-arm tools and a universal SWD adapter. Embedded work on OSX is getting more practical, but it is sometimes necessary to adapt from open source solutions intended for Linux, and you can run into unique problems with OSX serial drivers grabbing multifunction debug adapters in an exclusive way. — Chris Stratton, Feb 22 '15 at 18:54
I use lmflash for the tiva C (formerly stellaris from formerly company luminary micro thus lm) on Linux so I assume you can on the mac as well. Mspdebug is definitely for the msp430 but not the tiva c — old_timer, Feb 23 '15 at 03:00
Did you visit the [http://www.ti.com/tm4c123g-launchpad](http://www.ti.com/tm4c123g-launchpad) web page, as suggested by the "README First" page that should have come with your device? Have you tried any of the software on that page or on the ["TI LaunchPad EK-TM4C123GXL"](http://www.ti.com/ww/en/launchpad/launchpads-connected-ek-tm4c123gxl.html) page? How can we make the ["Tiva TM4C123G LaunchPad Blink the RGB"](http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/Tiva_TM4C123G_LaunchPad_Blink_the_RGB) tutorial better for Mac users? — David Cary, Feb 23 '15 at 03:16
@DavidCary - it's not my question, but I'm sure not seeing anything obviously applicable to (or matching a keyword search for) a Mac or OSX, despite there being a picture of what appears to be a macbook in one of the illustrations. **So I'd say you could indeed do a lot if you intend to support development on a Mac through anything other than Energia** — Chris Stratton, Feb 23 '15 at 16:52
@ChrisStratton: I hope I haven't given the wrong impression. By "we", I meant "people who can edit the ['Tiva TM4C123G LaunchPad Blink the RGB'](http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/Tiva_TM4C123G_LaunchPad_Blink_the_RGB) page", which includes Morgan Wilde, Chris Stratton, and myself, as well as people who work for TI. If there is anything you, dear reader, think could be improved on that page, feel free to change it yourself. — David Cary, Feb 23 '15 at 18:17

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 23 '15 at 18:16

As a satisfactory solution for the time being I started using Energia. I still had to search for the appropriate settings in order to run anything on my LaunchPad TM4C123G. So I decided to spare people some time, and decided to post a step by step walkthrough here.

First, plug in the USB to MicroUSB cable to the top slot of the LaunchPad, as so. And make sure the switch (at the top left) is switched to the "DEBUG" position.

enter image description here

Next download the Energia IDE, there's a nice bundle for the Mac on their site. Once you're done with the setup, open it and search the toolbar for the "Board" section. Once there, select the appropriate setting. In my case it was the one with the checkmark in the screenshot.

enter image description here

Finally, to make sure everything is OK, try and run the provided empty program on your board with the "Upload" button.

enter image description here

If the connection was established and your source compiled and delivered, the status area should look similar to this one.

+1 looks good. Congratulations on getting it working, and thank you for making it easier for the next Mac user. I added a link on page ["Tiva TM4C123G LaunchPad Blink the RGB"](http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/Tiva_TM4C123G_LaunchPad_Blink_the_RGB) to this post -- feel free to edit that page if you think you can make it more useful to the next Mac user. — David Cary, Feb 23 '15 at 18:35
I didn't have LaunchPad(Tiva C) show up on the "Tools" menu only the msp ones. — Kevin, Apr 26 '19 at 21:00

How to connect to my LaunchPad TM4C123G

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