sysbuild & mcuboot custom pm_static.yml partition table matches default layout but will not build

[Ryan S]

Hi,

I am nrf52dk/nRF52832 (512kB flash) nordic peripheral_lbs sample as a test environment for establishing OTA updates. In my product firmware, I am facing a situation where I need to reduce the size of mcuboot partition to 0x9000 (36kB). I would like to reallocate the freed up space to the primary and secondary partitions. 

I have viewed many of the tickets on this forum for help - which have helped me reach the stage that I am so far. 
Adjusting the slots sizes with MCU Boot

MCUBoot, Zephyr, and static partition manager 

The following command gives me this output. 

west build -b nrf52dk/nrf52832 --sysbuild -d build . -t partition_manager

I have checked that the size of the peripheral_lbs firmware should fit inside the image partitions. However, when I try to build the full application with 

west build -b nrf52dk/nrf52832 --sysbuild -d build .

I get the following error

←[0mninja: error: '_sysbuild/mcuboot_primary_app_hex', needed by 'mcuboot_primary.hex', missing and no known rule to make it

-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/build_app/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main 
-- Found partition manager static configuration : C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/pm_static.yml
Partition 'mcuboot' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_pad' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_primary' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_primary_app' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_secondary' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'settings_storage' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/build_app/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main 
-- Found partition manager static configuration : C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/pm_static.yml
Partition 'mcuboot' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_pad' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_primary' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_primary_app' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_secondary' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'settings_storage' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
Partition 'mcuboot_primary' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_primary_app' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_secondary' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'settings_storage' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
Partition 'mcuboot_secondary' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'settings_storage' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/build_app
←[92m-- west build: building application
←[0mninja: error: '_sysbuild/mcuboot_primary_app_hex', needed by 'mcuboot_primary.hex', missing and no known rule to make it
FATAL ERROR: command exited with status 1: 'C:\ncs\toolchains\ce3b5ff664\opt\bin\cmake.EXE' --build C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/build_app

Here is the .yml file I used to define the partitioning 

app:
  address: 0x9200
  end_address: 0x43800
  region: flash_primary
  size: 0x3A600 # -200?? 

mcuboot:
  address: 0x0
  end_address: 0x9000
  placement:
    before:
    - mcuboot_primary
  region: flash_primary
  size: 0x9000

mcuboot_pad:
  address: 0x9000
  end_address: 0x9200
  placement:
    before:
    - mcuboot_primary_app
  region: flash_primary
  size: 0x200

mcuboot_primary:
  address: 0x9000
  end_address: 0x43800
  orig_span: &id001
  - mcuboot_pad
  - mcuboot_primary_app # originally just app
  region: flash_primary
  sharers: 0x1
  size: 0x3A800
  span: *id001

mcuboot_primary_app:
  address: 0x9200
  end_address: 0x43800
  orig_span: &id002
  - app
  region: flash_primary
  size: 0x3A600 # 200 less due to padding
  span: *id002

mcuboot_secondary:
  address: 0x43800
  end_address: 0x7E000
  region: flash_primary
  size: 0x3A800

settings_storage: 
  address: 0x7E000
  end_address: 0x80000
  placement: 
    after: mcuboot_secondary
  region: flash_primary
  size: 0x2000


sram_primary:
  address: 0x20000000
  end_address: 0x20010000
  region: sram_primary
  size: 0x1000 # previously 10000

Previously, I was getting some issues about too many or too little gaps in the partition table. However that seems to have resolved itself. If anyone could also explain what that means in relation to dynamic and static partitioning - that would be divine. Here is the error I got for context 

-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/build/peripheral-lbs-s
-- Found partition manager static configuration : C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/pm_static
Partition 'mcuboot' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_pad' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_primary' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_primary_app' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_secondary' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'settings_storage' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition manager failed: Incorrect amount of gaps found in static configuration. There must be exactly one gap namic partitions (such as 'app'). Gaps found (0): The most common solution to this problem is to fill the smalle until there is only one gap left. Alternatively re-order the already defined static partitions so that only one
Failed to partition region flash_primary, size of region: 524288
Partition Configuration:
app:
  size: 239104
mcuboot:
  size: 36864
mcuboot_pad:
  size: 512
mcuboot_primary:
  size: 239616
mcuboot_primary_app:
  size: 239104
mcuboot_secondary:
  size: 239616
settings_storage:
  placement:
    after: mcuboot_secondary
  size: 8192

[AHaug]

Hi,

I think one of the best resources to start with is to go through this exercise with focus on the multi-image builds and partition manager section: https://academy.nordicsemi.com/courses/nrf-connect-sdk-intermediate/lessons/lesson-8-bootloaders-and-dfu-fota/

I will revisit this case tomorrow and go over it once again and fill in some gaps that I see the lesson might miss and/or if you have posted any additional follow up questions by then

Kind regards,
Andreas

[Ryan S]

Hi Andreas, 

Thanks for responding. I have actually done that lesson and finished that course. I just checked over it again to see if I missed anything regarding this. I would have thought that the following section would have been useful, but unfortunately has not been updated for the v2.7.0 SDK - so doesn’t really help for my debugging purposes 

academy.nordicsemi.com/.../

In my error messages,  can see that “Partition ‘mcuboot_primary_app’ is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined”. Surely this must have something to do with the message since “mcu_primary_app_hex is missing and no known rule to make it”? 

Do you have any idea why my custom partitions are not being accepted as statically defined? 

Thank you

[AHaug]

Great! Thats good, then we have a common foundation for both of us w.r.t what we know. W.r.t the update: the author is working on updating the course, but it has taken longer time than expected to do so.

Ryan S said:

“Partition ‘mcuboot_primary_app’ is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined”.

This is just a message w.r.t what the build system should create partitions for dynamically or statically. In this case, it will not create a dynamic partition since there exists such a partition in the pm_static.yml stating where it should have its start address and where it should have its end address. Same goes for the other partitions mentioned here. From this point, the dynamical partitioning system will take every other required partition such as companion components or custom storage partitions and fit them in per the spec you've specified in the static partitioning and the configuration of said partitions.

Ryan S said:

Do you have any idea why my custom partitions are not being accepted as statically defined? 

Could you upload a minimal project (static partitioning, prj,conf and relevant other src code) and I'll have a closer look at it after the weekend?

Kind regards,
Andreas

[Ryan S]

I see. 

I have updated the pm_static.yml to mirror the partitions.yml file (with changes to addresses) in build/partitions.yml obtained by building without pm_static.yml. This zip file attached is essentially a fork of https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-nrf/tree/main/samples/bluetooth/peripheral_lbs but with the added pm_static.yml and the following config updates: 

prf.conf

CONFIG_NCS_SAMPLE_MCUMGR_BT_OTA_DFU=y
CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT=y

sysbuild.conf

SB_CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT=y
SB_CONFIG_PARTITION_MANAGER=y

There was a typo in my original post where I wrote partition_manager instead of partition_manager_report. Here is the correct build command: 

west build -b nrf52dk/nrf52832 --sysbuild -d new_build_sysbuild . -t partition_manager_report

You should be able to replicate the following:

-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/new_build_sysbuild/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main
-- Found partition manager static configuration : C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/pm_static.yml
Partition 'mcuboot' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_pad' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_primary' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_primary_app' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'mcuboot_secondary' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
Partition 'settings_storage' is not included in the dynamic resolving since it is statically defined.
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/new_build_sysbuild
←[92m-- west build: running target partition_manager_report
[1/1] cmd,exe /C "cd /D C:\Users\Ryan\Downloads\peripheral-lbs...eripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/new_build_sysbuild/partitions.yml" 
  flash_primary (0x80000 - 512kB):
+-------------------------------------------------+
| 0x0: mcuboot (0x9000 - 36kB)                    |
+---0x9000: mcuboot_primary (0x3a800 - 234kB)-----+
| 0x9000: mcuboot_pad (0x200 - 512B)              |
+---0x9200: mcuboot_primary_app (0x3a600 - 233kB)-+
| 0x9200: app (0x3a600 - 233kB)                   |
+-------------------------------------------------+
| 0x43800: mcuboot_secondary (0x3a800 - 234kB)    |
| 0x7e000: settings_storage (0x2000 - 8kB)        |
+-------------------------------------------------+

  sram_primary (0x10000 - 64kB):
+-------------------------------------------+
| 0x20000000: sram_primary (0x10000 - 64kB) |
+-------------------------------------------+

This seems fine, but when I try to flash I get this error again:

Building peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main
C:\Windows\system32\cmd,exe /d /s /c "west build --build-dir c:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/new_build_sysbuild c:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main"

ninja: error: '_sysbuild/mcuboot_primary_app_hex', needed by 'mcuboot_primary.hex', missing and no known rule to make it
FATAL ERROR: command exited with status 1: 'C:\ncs\toolchains\ce3b5ff664\opt\bin\cmake.EXE' --build C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/peripheral-lbs-sysbuild-main/new_build_sysbuild

 *  The terminal process terminated with exit code: 1. 
 *  Terminal will be reused by tasks, press any key to close it. 

Thank you Andreas!

[GNotman]

Ryan S I was seeing the same issue when trying to use a static partition layout which I had previously used with SDK v2.5 (I am now using v2.9).

Here are some of the relevant entries from my pm_static.yml;

mcuboot_primary_app:
  address: 0x020200
  end_address: 0x0f0000
  size: 0x0cfe00
  region: flash_primary
  #span: [tfm_nonsecure, tfm]
  span: [app, tfm]
  inside: [mcuboot_primary]
  placement:
    after: [mcuboot_pad]

tfm:
  address: 0x020200
  end_address: 0x030000
  size: 0x00fe00
  region: flash_primary
  inside: [tfm_secure]
  placement:
    after: mcuboot_pad

tfm_nonsecure:
  address: 0x030000
  end_address: 0x0f0000
  size: 0x0c0000
  region: flash_primary
  span: [app]
  inside: [mcuboot_primary]
  placement:
    after: [tfm_secure]

app:
  address: 0x030000
  end_address: 0x0f0000
  size: 0x0c0000
  region: flash_primary
  inside: [tfm_nonsecure]

In my mcuboot_primary_app partition entry, if I list it as spanning [tfm_nonseucre, tfm]. I get the same ninja error. However, using [app, tfm] works even though tfm_nonsecure and app both share the same address space. 

It seems that when defining a span partition, it does not like it if any of the span items are themselves span partitions.

Your mcuboot_primary partition spans [mcuboot_pad, mcuboot_primary_app] but mcuboot_primary_app is also a span partition. Both your app and mcuboot_primary_app entries cover the same address range, but mcu_primary_app is a span and app is not. 

Have you tried using the following for your mcuboot_primary entry:

mcuboot_primary:
  address: 0x9000
  end_address: 0x43800
  orig_span: &id001
  - mcuboot_pad
  - app
  region: flash_primary
  sharers: 0x1
  size: 0x3A800
  span: *id001

[Ryan S]

Thank you so much!

This solution worked for me as well. 

[BrianW]

Thanks, this was also a blocking issue for me. btw, this appears to only be an issue with sysbuild (the old multi-image build does not bug in this case).