Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 10:28:52 GMT

I finally got an answer from our developers, and it seems that we do not yet have sysbuild support for what you are trying to do at this time. I am sorry that I mentioned Sysbuild earlier in this ticket, but I thought it was more ready than it is.

If you want to know more about when Sysbuild is ready for what you are trying to do, you can contact the Nordic Sales representative for your region.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 08:05:10 GMT

Thanks for the update. I will wait for your response.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 06:47:34 GMT

This is where I am at:

Before trying to add b0n to a custom network core image, I thought I should try to enable b0n with the default hci_rpmsg.
However, i got some errors during this that I have unfortunately not been able to resolve yet. I have asked our developers about this, but have yet to hear back from them so I pinged them again today.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 09:57:21 GMT

I am still looking into this, but it is taking some time, as sysbuild is new for us in technical support as well.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 19:13:50 GMT

Thanks for the suggestion.

adding following configurations in sysbuild.conf I haven enabled the MCUboot, b0 and s1_image for app core.

SB_CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT=y
SB_CONFIG_SECURE_BOOT=y
SB_CONFIG_SECURE_BOOT_APPCORE=y

I need to enable the bon and enable the netcore DFU update as well. But I can not add the following configuration in sysbuild.conf.
Where should I place these configuration?

SB_CONFIG_SECURE_BOOT_NETCORE=y
SB_CONFIG_NETCORE_APP_UPDATE=y

Also looking at the Kconfig.dfu of sysbuild , If I need a DFU package for netcore I need to include the hci_rpmsg. Which will include the sample hci_rpmsg project. How can I enable this feature and use the custom hci_rpmsg?

config DFU_MULTI_IMAGE_PACKAGE_NET
	bool "Network core update"
	depends on SUPPORT_NETCORE
	depends on !NETCORE_NONE
	depends on !NETCORE_EMPTY
	depends on SECURE_BOOT_NETCORE

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 12:06:19 GMT

[quote user="Dilawar Ali"]Putting them in programmer it looks like images are not correct.[/quote]

How so?

[quote user="Dilawar Ali"]In file "build/hrdfu/zephyr/.config" the MCUBOOT bootloader config is not set. Whereas it is defined in prj.conf. Also the partition table generated in build folder donot contain mcuboot_primary or mcuboot_primary_1.[/quote]

To enable mcuboot for a sysbuild project, you must set SB_CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT in sysbuild.conf.
You should not set mcuboot for the other images, I don't think.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 18:41:03 GMT

Using the method "Other way is to do multicore compilation using sysbuild, as described in the sampe "/multicore/Hello_World"

Only two images are generated "merged.hex" and "merged_CPUNET.hex". Putting them in programmer it looks like images are not correct.

In file "build/hrdfu/zephyr/.config" the MCUBOOT bootloader config is not set. Whereas it is defined in prj.conf. Also the partition table generated in build folder donot contain mcuboot_primary or mcuboot_primary_1.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 12:35:51 GMT

[quote user="Dilawar Ali"]One option is I can compile app core and modified hci_rpmsg separately and then use imagetool to generate the images.
[/quote]

Yep

[quote user="Dilawar Ali"]Other way is to do multicore compilation using sysbuild, as described in the sampe "/multicore/Hello_World".[/quote]

Also correct.

[quote user="Dilawar Ali"]The project "hrdfu" I shared I tried to use sysbuild for multicore compilation. But it failed to compile app core image.[/quote]

But you can build and flash it using nrfjprog no? Or do you miss the hex file as well?

[quote user="Dilawar Ali"]My aim is to keep both app and netcore in a same project. If the build system can generate dfu packages for me, that will be awesome. [/quote]

I asked our developers, and as far as I heard, we do not support automatic generating of DFU images for sysbuild yet. I would imagine that this is on a todo list somewhere.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 11:10:05 GMT

Things getting bit confusing. Here is what I understand, Please correct me if I am wrong.

One option is I can compile app core and modified hci_rpmsg separately and then use imagetool to generate the images.

Other way is to do multicore compilation using sysbuild, as described in the sampe "/multicore/Hello_World".
The project "hrdfu" I shared I tried to use sysbuild for multicore compilation. But it failed to compile app core image.

My aim is to keep both app and netcore in a same project. If the build system can generate dfu packages for me, that will be awesome.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 08:56:13 GMT

[quote user="Dilawar Ali"]sorry, the content in hrdfu.zip should be extracted in a folder "hrdfu". The app core project name is "hrdfu"[/quote]

Yes, I was able to figure that out yesterday, after adding a comment asking about it. That is why I deleted the comment. Sorry if that was confusing.

Anyhow. We are moving from Multi-image builds to sysbuild.
The prior is part of the nRF repos, and automatically generates DFU files for you.

The latte is part of the Zephyr repos, which has no such functionality. So you will have to generate your own DFU files with "imagetool sign".

To get an idea on how to use this command, you can build an non-sysbuild project with DFU files with "west -vvv build ..." to see the commands our build system uses to generate the update files.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 08:08:12 GMT

sorry, the content in hrdfu.zip should be extracted in a folder "hrdfu". The app core project name is "hrdfu"

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Sat, 13 Jan 2024 08:52:08 GMT

Please use the sdk version 2.5.1
I have attached the boards files. I am using ublox evk nora-B10. No other build flags are required.
devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../ubx_5F00_evknorab10_5F00_nrf5340.zip

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 12:45:26 GMT

[quote user="Dilawar Ali"]hrdfu.zip[/quote]

I will test to build the sample and see if I can see what goes wrong.
Which version of the SDK should I build for?
Which board should I build for?
Should I include any other build options?

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 20:41:35 GMT

Apologies for late reply. Got busy with other urgent tasks.

I created a sample project added the multicore compilation part as per defined in sample hellow world. Used the dynamic partition management.

I see there is a line in sysbuild.cmake "set(CPUNET_PM_DOMAIN_DYNAMIC_PARTITION hci_rpmsg CACHE INTERNAL "")"
So using this line we should use dynamic partition management.

Afterall the project compiles with no error but only netcore image is generated. No app core image is found.

Here is the partitions.yml content generated after build. I do not see any mcuboot_primary, mcuboot_primary_1, mcuboot_secondary, or mcuboot_primary_1.

app:
  address: 0x0
  end_address: 0x100000
  region: flash_primary
  size: 0x100000
external_flash:
  address: 0x0
  end_address: 0x800000
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x800000
otp:
  address: 0xff8100
  end_address: 0xff83fc
  region: otp
  size: 0x2fc
rpmsg_nrf53_sram:
  address: 0x20070100
  end_address: 0x20080000
  placement:
    before:
    - end
  region: sram_primary
  size: 0xff00
sram_primary:
  address: 0x20000000
  end_address: 0x20070100
  region: sram_primary
  size: 0x70100

Why the main appcore project fails to compile? I have attached the project files for details as well. Using hci_rpmsg sample this project works fine for app core and net core DFU.

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../hrdfu.zip

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 14:58:26 GMT

[quote user="Dilawar Ali"]That is why we require to define pm_static.yml file.[/quote]

It is not required for this.

The Partition Manager will automatically partition secondary mcuboot images to external flash if you have enabled external flash for the partition manager.

The same is true for file systems.

You can check this from the partiton report either from VS Code -> Memory Report or "west build -t partition_manager_report"

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 14:27:14 GMT

As show below in static file. We have an external flash. We want to place both app core and net core DFU images in external flash instead of the internal. We do not have enough space in internal. Also a region in external flash is dedicated for the file system to store the configuration and other data.

That is why we require to define pm_static.yml file.

external_flash:
  address: 0x0
  end_address: 0x200000
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x200000

mcuboot_secondary:
  address: 0x0
  device: mx25r16
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x100000

mcuboot_secondary_1:
  address: 0x100000
  device: mx25r16
  end_address: 0x13FFFF
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x40000

littlefs_storage:
  address: 0x140000
  device: mx25r16
  region: external_flash
  size: 0xC0000

mcuboot_primary_1:
  address: 0x0
  device: flash_ctrl
  end_address: 0x40000
  region: ram_flash
  size: 0x40000

ram_flash:
  address: 0x40000
  end_address: 0x40000
  region: ram_flash
  size: 0x0

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 12:54:59 GMT

[quote user="Dilawar Ali"]multiple things [/quote]

Please elaborate

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 11:04:48 GMT

I compiled the multicore sample, and that was without the static partitioning. That worked fine.
However I can not remove the static partitioning as there are multiple things dependent on it.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 07:42:54 GMT

Do you get the same error if you do not use static partitioning? (aka not have pm_static.yml)

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 19:04:40 GMT

I was not able to add the complete logs in code section. I have updated the above comment with error logs.

Sorry my mistake, mcuboot_primary is not in external flash. mcuboot_secondary and mcuboot_secondary_1 is in external flash.

Complete build logs are available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c9x6k_6xRPY5mrgrVODx276-YZKQ8OIk/view?usp=sharing

I was not able to attach log file here.

mcuboot_secondary:
address: 0x0
device: mx25r16
region: external_flash
size: 0x100000

mcuboot_secondary_1:
address: 0x100000
device: mx25r16
end_address: 0x13FFFF
region: external_flash
size: 0x40000

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 10:26:11 GMT

Please use "Insert-> Code" to paste long logs. It makes the case a lot easier to read. You can also edit previous comments.

Did you say that you put mcuboot_primary into external flash? This is where the app lives, and can not be moved entirely to external flash.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 18:13:02 GMT

Best approach for us is to use the multicore with sysbuild. I have added the configurations as per the sample. But I am facing compilation issues because we have static partitions defined where the mcuboot_primary and mcuboot_secondary both are placed in the external flash.

here is the pm_static_<board name>.yml

external_flash:
  address: 0x0
  end_address: 0x200000
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x200000

mcuboot_secondary:
  address: 0x0
  device: mx25r16
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x100000

mcuboot_secondary_1:
  address: 0x100000
  device: mx25r16
  end_address: 0x13FFFF
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x40000

littlefs_storage:
  address: 0x140000
  device: mx25r16
  region: external_flash
  size: 0xC0000

mcuboot_primary_1:
  address: 0x0
  device: flash_ctrl
  end_address: 0x40000
  region: ram_flash
  size: 0x40000

ram_flash:
  address: 0x40000
  end_address: 0x40000
  region: ram_flash
  size: 0x0

Compile output is:\

In file included from C:/ncs/v2.5.0/zephyr/include/zephyr/storage/flash_map.h:275,
                 from C:/ncs/v2.5.0/zephyr/subsys/mgmt/mcumgr/grp/img_mgmt/src/zephyr_img_mgmt.c:10:
C:/ncs/v2.5.0/zephyr/subsys/mgmt/mcumgr/grp/img_mgmt/src/zephyr_img_mgmt.c: In function 'img_mgmt_flash_area_id':
C:/ncs/v2.5.0/nrf/include/flash_map_pm.h:43:22: error: 'PM_mcuboot_primary_ID' undeclared (first use in this function); did you mean 'PM_mcuboot_secondary_ID'?
   43 | #define PM_ID(label) PM_##label##_ID
      |                      ^~~
C:/ncs/v2.5.0/nrf/include/flash_map_pm.h:48:35: note: in expansion of macro 'PM_ID'
   48 | #define FIXED_PARTITION_ID(label) PM_ID(label)
      |                                   ^~~~~
C:/ncs/v2.5.0/zephyr/subsys/mgmt/mcumgr/grp/img_mgmt/src/zephyr_img_mgmt.c:135:25: note: in expansion of macro 'FIXED_PARTITION_ID'
  135 |                 fa_id = FIXED_PARTITION_ID(SLOT0_PARTITION);
      |                         ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
C:/ncs/v2.5.0/nrf/include/flash_map_pm.h:43:22: note: each undeclared identifier is reported only once for each function it appears in
   43 | #define PM_ID(label) PM_##label##_ID
      |                      ^~~
C:/ncs/v2.5.0/nrf/include/flash_map_pm.h:48:35: note: in expansion of macro 'PM_ID'
   48 | #define FIXED_PARTITION_ID(label) PM_ID(label)
      |                                   ^~~~~
C:/ncs/v2.5.0/zephyr/subsys/mgmt/mcumgr/grp/img_mgmt/src/zephyr_img_mgmt.c:135:25: note: in expansion of macro 'FIXED_PARTITION_ID'
  135 |                 fa_id = FIXED_PARTITION_ID(SLOT0_PARTITION);

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:44:20 GMT

[quote user="Dilawar Ali"]Can we include the modified hci_rpmsg as a child image?[/quote]

You can do so, in which case you have some options:

The easiest solution, although not pretty, is to make changes directly to the nRF Connect SDK, for example by forking the SDK. See Adding your own code for some tips on this.

If you want to add it on a project level, then the solution will depend on which multi-image build tool is used: Multi-Image Builds or Sysbuild. Sysbuild will soon replace the multi-image build system we currently use by default, ref.

For multi-image builds, I know it has previously been a bit buggy to add a child image to a child image (which is what adding a netcore bootloader would be. In fact, when I search for the previous example we used to showcase this, I can not find it in v2.5.0. Instead, I find the Multicore sample, which uses sysbuild.

So, I would suggest using sysbuild if you want to include the hci_rpmsg with a bootloader automatically. See the Multicore

The last option is to do as you have done so far, and build the netboot sample standalone for your project. Then you can build the hci_rpmsg project with CONFIG_FLASH_LOAD_OFFSET to offset the start address with the bootloader size.
In this case, you also need to take care of signing of the network core image for DFU yourself I think.

Did this help?

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Dilawar Ali — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 15:50:24 GMT

We treat it as separate project. we compile it separate and flash the netcore bin file via Jflash.
Can we include the modified hci_rpmsg as a child image? It will be best case scenario.

RE: Add DFU support to custom HCI_RPMSG netcore image

Sigurd Hellesvik — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 12:40:36 GMT

Hi,

[quote user=""]modified hci_rpmsg project.[/quote]

The answer here depends on how you include the modified hci_rpmsg project into your application.

What is your method for having a custom image on the network core?

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik