nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

RE: nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

Eyal_Gal — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 13:09:33 GMT

static bool fw_version_ok(dfu_init_command_t const * p_init)
{
    ASSERT(p_init != NULL);
    ASSERT(p_init->has_fw_version);

    if (  (p_init->type == DFU_FW_TYPE_APPLICATION)
       || (p_init->type == DFU_FW_TYPE_SOFTDEVICE))
    {
        return ((p_init->fw_version >= s_dfu_settings.app_version) || !NRF_DFU_APP_DOWNGRADE_PREVENTION);
    }
    else
    {
        return  (p_init->fw_version > s_dfu_settings.bootloader_version);
    }
}

This ctually explains it, for app and softdevice the code allows same version if it's allowed to downgrade, for bootloader it doesn't. Unless i literally change the code.

RE: nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

Hung Bui — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 10:42:08 GMT

Hi again,
Thanks. Yes it explains what you observed.
The version check is only performed if you do BLE DFU. The version check is a logic implemented in the bootloader.

RE: nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

Eyal_Gal — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 08:06:46 GMT

right you are, i'll explain again and give some more context.
writing the bootloader (only) code ourselves to a certain location and then setting the bootloader settings page with "valid_bl" works now, at least my POC(dind't use OTA really , i wrote the binary using j-link `loadfile` on a dev board....).

We have yet another method of performing DFU, using the BLE method.
I did the same actions as before, only i did not extract the binary from the .zip file and used the whole zip file. If i create a zip file of the APP only,even id i always use --application-version 1 the BLE DFU will work and upgrade, but for the bootloader it doesn't. The DFU probably when getting the init_command[] array from the .dat file inside the zip sees the bootloader version and it can also read the current one from the settings, and it says in a log message it's the same version and there for will not upgrade.

RE: nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

Hung Bui — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 07:48:05 GMT

Hi Eyal,

I'm not so sure what you meant by "only BLE requires version change ?" is it Application or Bootloader or Softdevice ?

The version verification is done before the bootloader setting is written. So if you write directly to the bootloader setting there will be no version check. If you want to do the check you need to do that in the application when receiving the image.

RE: nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

Eyal_Gal — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 18:59:20 GMT

worked eventually, yes, with no change of version, so only BLE requires version change ?

RE: nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

Hung Bui — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 09:35:20 GMT

Hi Eyal Gal,

OK. We will need to debug and check why bootloader can not be updated (but application can). I assume you have marked s_dfu_settings.bank_1 with NRF_DFU_BANK_VALID_BL ? Have you stepped into nrf_bootloader_fw_activate() ?

If you have marked, bl_activate() will be called. Inside that function we will check if the new bootloader has already replaced the old bootloader (memcmp) then we don't need to do anything just return and remove the NRF_DFU_BANK_VALID_BL on bank 1. If not we will overwrite the bootloader using nrf_dfu_mbr_copy_bl() . This function will use the MBR to replace the current bootloader and reset. The chip will boot into the new bootloader after that.

Please let me know what you find when stepping into the code of the bootloader. Please try to compare to when you do the successful update with the app instead of the bootloader to see if there is any difference.

RE: nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

Eyal_Gal — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 14:54:45 GMT

i don't try to update the app and bootloader at the same time. Also note that i don't need to recieve the image from anywhere , when the main.c code of the secure bootloader is run a flash area is already populated with the firmware and the settings page is already written with the right data.

I do separate binaries and separate OTA for bootloader and app DFUs.

RE: nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

Hung Bui — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 14:50:50 GMT

Hi Eyal Gal,

I don't think version check is performed after the bootloader receive new image. It's done in nrf_dfu_validation_prevalidate() before the image is received.
So I don't think it is causing the problem. Could you try modifying fw_version_ok() to not check for the version to see if it make any difference.
I think the problem here is that you can't update app and bootloader at the same time. You can see the combination list here: https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/ug_nrfutil/UG/nrfutil/dfu_package_combinations.html?cp=11_8_3_0

You would need to do it one by one.

RE: nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

Eyal_Gal — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 10:19:28 GMT

BTW if ignoring the version is a problem i understand i need to send new version using the init_command , any sample code for that because i didn't find any, i assume the data that goes there is the one in the .dat file generated by nrfutil pkg generate command

RE: nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

Eyal_Gal — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 09:50:59 GMT

1. yes we are using nrf sdk 15.2
2. we create a zip file for the app and bootloader (one for each) using the nrtutil.
3. version number is 1 for app, 1 for 1 for bootloader all the time as it is saved internally in the binary.
4. we download the .bin file inside the zip to the nordic using cellular and then update nrf_dfu_settings_t struct in the dfu settings page on the flash and restart. It works well for the app, not so much for the bootloader, so i wonder without changing the bootloader already installed in the field how can i force it to install and ignore the version "not changing"

RE: nrf dfu activated by bootloader settings page

Hung Bui — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 09:43:18 GMT

Hi Eyal,

I assume you are using nRF5 SDK.

Could you please clarify you want to activate by a command from the "client side" /master side or you want to activate the firmware by bootloader setting ? Could you give some more information on what you want to achieve ?

Bootloader version check you can find at fw_version_ok() in nrf_dfu_ver_valication.c