I’ve been using your Beagle I2C/SPI Protocol Analyzer, and now I’m trying out your Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter. Using the I2C/SPI Activity Board, I want to do something simple like turn on an LED.  What steps do I need to take to perform this action?

Thank you for your question! The I2C/SPI Activity Board is a great tool for both the expert as well as the novice developer.  The board is great in assisting with debugging a system against working slave devices and also helps differentiate between hardware and software bugs.

Following are the steps it takes for turning on the LED of the Activity board.

1. Connect the Aardvark adapter to one of the two 10-pin headers on the Activity board. Also connect the Aardvark adapter to your Host PC using a USB cable.
2. Launch the Control Center Serial Software and connect to the Aardvark adapter:

   1. Under the Adapter tab, click Connect.
   2. You should see the Aardvark adapter. Select the adapter and click OK.

3. Select I2C:

   1. Under the Adapter tab, select I2C + GPIO.

4. Enable I2C pull-ups:

   1. Under the Adapter tab, select I2C Pull-ups.

5. Enable target power to the Activity cards;

   1. Under the Adapter tab select Target Power (Pin 4,6)
   2. Click on 5 V.

6. Write to the Port expander I2C slave on the Activity card that controls the 8 LEDs:

   1. In the I2C Control pane (on the left side), select Master. This configures the Aardvark adapter as the I2C master.
   2. Enter 0x38 into the text box next to Slave Addr.  This is the slave address of the port expander.
   3. Enter 03 00 into the Message box and click on Master Write.  This initializes the port expander.
   4. Clear the previous data in the Message box and enter 01 FE and click on Master Write.

7. The top LED (D0) should light up green.

For another example about using the Activity Board, refer to our knowledge base article How to Read and Write to an I2C EEPROM Using the Aardvark Adapter and Control Center.

Additional resources that you may find helpful include the following:

• Aardvark I2C/SPI Host Adapter User Manual
• Aardvark adapter Quick Start Guide
• Control Center Software User Manual
• Activity Board User Manual

We hope this answers your question. If you have other questions about our host adapters or other Total Phase products, you can contact us and request a demo that applies to your application, as well as ask questions about the Promira Serial Analyzer and other Total Phase products.

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