Flashing multi-core application over terminal

Question

Hello,
I 'm trying to flash my multi-core application to the NRF5340DK using a terminal but having issues.
The application uses both network and application CPUs. After building the application I end up with multiple .hex files inside `./build/zephyr` and `./build/hci_rpmsg` folders.
So far I m using NRF Connect SDK v2.2.0 and I have tried to flash the hex files using a batch script from terminal using the following commands:
For network CPU:

set hex_file=".\bin\cpu_net\zephyr.hex"
echo Unlock and erase network cpu...
nrfjprog.exe -f nrf53 --coprocessor CP_NETWORK --recover
nrfjprog.exe -f nrf53 --coprocessor CP_NETWORK --eraseall
nrfjprog.exe -f nrf53 --coprocessor CP_APPLICATION --eraseall
nrfjprog.exe -f nrf53 --coprocessor CP_NETWORK --recover
nrfjprog.exe -f nrf53 --coprocessor CP_NETWORK --program %hex_file% --sectorerase --verify
echo Network cpu flash finished.

For application CPU:

set hex_file=".\bin\cpu_app\zephyr.hex"
echo Unlock and erase cpu
nrfjprog.exe -f nrf53 --coprocessor CP_NETWORK --recover
nrfjprog.exe -f nrf53 --coprocessor CP_APPLICATION --eraseall
echo Flash application cpu...
nrfjprog.exe -f nrf53 --coprocessor CP_APPLICATION --program %hex_file% --sectorerase --verify
echo Application cpu flash finished.

I have tried to replace the `zephyr.hex` files with `merged_CPUNET.hex` for network CPU and `merged.hex` for application CPU buth that did not work either.
The output I m getting is something like this:

...
[00:00:01.870,513] <err> bt_hci_driver: Endpoint binding failed with -11
[00:00:01.870,544] <err> bt_hci_core: HCI driver open failed (-11)
...

The application code seems to run fine if we exclude the BLE functionality.

If I try to flash the board using the vs code plugin then all runs smoothly and I notice that it splits the `merged_domains`.hex file into `GENERATED_CP_APPLICATION_merged_domains.hex` and `GENERATED_CP_NETWORK_merged_domains.hex` files and flash those to the board.
Question is how can I generate those files from the command line?
What files should I flash to network and application CPUs?
I would like to avoid the `west flash` command and make use of nrfjprog utility if possible.

Best regards,
Alex

noskillz88 · Accepted Answer

For anyone else trying to figure out how to split the "merged_domains.hex" into "app.hex" and "net.hex" ones, here is a python script I did and then integrated it into my flashing scripts:

import os
from pathlib import Path
import getopt, sys
from intelhex import IntelHex


def hex_refers_region(hex, region_start, region_end):
    for segment_start, _ in hex.segments():
        if region_start <= segment_start <= region_end:
            return True
    return False

def split_hex(hexPath):
    try:
        file_path = Path(hexPath)
        hex_dir, hex_name = file_path.parent, file_path.name
        hex_orig = os.fspath(hex_dir / hex_name)
        hex = IntelHex(hex_orig)

        net_flash_start = 0x01000000
        net_flash_end = 0x0103FFFF
        net_hex, app_hex = IntelHex(), IntelHex()

        if not hex_refers_region(hex, net_flash_start, net_flash_end):
            return -1
        elif (
            hex.minaddr() < net_flash_start
            or hex.maxaddr() > net_flash_end
        ):
            net_hex, app_hex = IntelHex(), IntelHex()
            for start, end in hex.segments():
                if net_flash_start <= start <= net_flash_end:
                    net_hex.merge(hex[start:end])
                else:
                    app_hex.merge(hex[start:end])

            hex_path = Path(hexPath)
            hex_dir, hex_name = hex_path.parent, hex_path.name
            net_hex_file = os.fspath(hex_dir / f"net.hex")
            app_hex_file = os.fspath(hex_dir / f"app.hex")
            #net_hex_file = os.fspath(hex_dir / f"CP_NETWORK_{hex_name}")
            #app_hex_file = os.fspath(hex_dir / f"CP_APPLICATION_{hex_name}")
            print(
                f"hex targets both nRF53 coprocessors;\n"
                f"splitting it into:\n{net_hex_file}\n{app_hex_file}"
            )
            net_hex.write_hex_file(net_hex_file)
            app_hex.write_hex_file(app_hex_file)
            return 0
        else:
            return 0
    except Exception as inst:
        print(type(inst))    # the exception type
        print(inst.args)     # arguments stored in .args
        print(inst)          # __str__ allows args to be printed directly,
                             # but may be overridden in exception subclasses

# Remove 1st argument from the
# list of command line arguments
argumentList = sys.argv[1:]

# Options
options = "f:"

# Long options
long_options = ["file"]

try:
    # Parsing argument
    arguments, values = getopt.getopt(argumentList, options, long_options)

    # checking each argument
    for currentArgument, currentValue in arguments:

        if currentArgument in ("-f", "--file"):
            split_hex(currentValue)
        else:
            print("Error: argument to hex file not found, re-run the script using -f / --file <file_path_to_hex>")

except getopt.error as err:
    # output error, and return with an error code
    print(str(err))

you will need to "pip install intelhex" package.

To run it just call the script from a terminal window, passing to it the path to your "merged_domains.hex" file:

python hexSplitter -f <path_to_merged_domains.hex>

Cheers,
Alex

Flashing multi-core application over terminal

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