sysbuild + MCUboot can't resolve SPI NOR symbols (NCS v2.7.0)

[ando20]

I'm using Zephyr/NCS v2.7.0 with a custom multi-image project based on sysbuild. My top-level project has a sysbuild.conf at the root, and a sysbuild/ folder containing a mcuboot.conf that enables CONFIG_SPI_NOR=y, CONFIG_MULTITHREADING=y, etc. Despite this, building fails with an error like:

```
/opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-zephyr-eabi/12.2.0/../../../../arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/ld.bfd: zephyr/drivers/flash/libdrivers__flash.a(spi_nor.c.obj):(.rodata.spi_nor_0_config+0x0): undefined reference to `__device_dts_ord_24'
```

This implies MCUboot can't resolve the SPI NOR driver, even though it's configured and works in the main app. I've verified that CONFIG_SPI_NOR is enabled for MCUboot via build logs.

Project structure looks like this:

project/
├── sysbuild.conf

├── CmakeLists.txt.conf

├── prj.conf

├── pm_static.yml

├── sysbuild/
│ └── mcuboot.conf

│ └── CMakeLists.txt

│ └── mcuboot.overlay

Any ideas why the SPI NOR driver instance isn’t being linked correctly into MCUboot? Do I need to mirror the devicetree overlay into sysbuild/mcuboot.overlay, or manually define a node alias to make it resolve properly?

I am happy to share the contents of any of these files on the public forum.

[Håkon Alseth]

Hi,

 

In your build folder, more specifically at this location:

build/MY_APP_NAME/zephyr/include/generated/zephyr/devicetree_generated.h

there will be a list at the top of this file, looking like this:

 * Node dependency ordering (ordinal and path):
 *   0   /
 *   1   /aliases
 *   2   /analog-connector
 *   3   /chosen
 *   4   /soc
 *   5   /soc/interrupt-controller@e000e100
 *   6   /soc/gpiote@4002f000
 *   7   /soc/peripheral@40000000
 *   8   /soc/peripheral@40000000/gpio@842500
 *   9   /coex
 ....
 

nr 24 in this list will correspond to the non-enabled device in your device tree:

(.rodata.spi_nor_0_config+0x0): undefined reference to `__device_dts_ord_24'
```

I highly suspect that is your SPI flash.

Is this enabled in your mcuboot.overlay file?

 

Could you share your full build output as well?

 

Kind regards,

Håkon

[ando20]

Hi Håkon, thank you for the fast reply!

In my devicetree_generated,h I can see:

```

 *   22  /soc/gpiote@40006000

 *   23  /soc/gpio@50000000

 *   24  /soc/spi@40023000

 *   25  /soc/spi@40023000/external_flash@0

 *   26  /soc/spi@40023000/external_flash@0/partitions

 *   27  /soc/spi@40023000/external_flash@0/partitions/partition@e7000

 *   28  /fstab/lfs
```

I have attempted to modify my mcuboot.overlay to enable this devices, currently it is as follows:

```

/ {

    chosen {

        nordic,pm-ext-flash = &external_flash;

        zephyr,code-partition = &slot0_partition;

    };

};

&spi2 {

    compatible = "nordic,nrf-spi";

    status = "okay";

    cs-gpios = <&gpio0 6 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>; // Flash SPI CS pin

    pinctrl-0 = <&spi2_default>;

    pinctrl-1 = <&spi2_sleep>;

    pinctrl-names = "default", "sleep";

    external_flash: external_flash@0 {

        compatible = "jedec,spi-nor";

        status = "okay";

        reg = <0>;

        spi-max-frequency = <130000000>;

        jedec-id = [ c8 40 18  ];

        size = <0x8000000>; // 128Mbit

        has-dpd;        // Device Power Down

        t-enter-dpd = <10000>;

        t-exit-dpd = <35000>;

        partitions {

            compatible = "fixed-partitions";

            #address-cells = <1>;

            #size-cells = <1>;

            slot1_partition: partition@0 {

                label = "image-1";

                reg = <0x00000000 0x000e7000>;

            };

        };

    };

};

```

 Below is my full build output:

Fullscreen build_output_for_Hakon.txt Download

-- west build: making build dir /home/ee/juna-fw/build pristine
-- west build: generating a build system
Loading Zephyr module(s) (Zephyr base): sysbuild_default
-- Found Python3: /usr/bin/python3 (found suitable version "3.10.12", minimum required is "3.8") found components: Interpreter
-- Cache files will be written to: /root/.cache/zephyr
-- Found west (found suitable version "1.4.0", minimum required is "0.14.0")
-- Board: JUNA, qualifiers: nrf52840
Parsing /home/ee/ncs/zephyr/share/sysbuild/Kconfig
Loaded configuration '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/_sysbuild/empty.conf'
Merged configuration '/home/ee/juna-fw/sysbuild.conf'
Configuration saved to '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/zephyr/.config'
Kconfig header saved to '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/_sysbuild/autoconf.h'
--
*****************************
* Running CMake for mcuboot *
*****************************

-- Application: /home/ee/ncs/bootloader/mcuboot/boot/zephyr
-- CMake version: 3.21.0
Loading Zephyr default modules (Zephyr base).
-- Found Python3: /usr/bin/python (found suitable version "3.10.12", minimum required is "3.8") found components: Interpreter
-- Cache files will be written to: /root/.cache/zephyr
-- Zephyr version: 3.6.99 (/home/ee/ncs/zephyr)
-- Found west (found suitable version "1.4.0", minimum required is "0.14.0")
-- Board: JUNA, qualifiers: nrf52840
-- Found host-tools: zephyr 0.16.1 (/opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1)
-- Found toolchain: zephyr 0.16.1 (/opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1)
-- Found Dtc: /opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin/dtc (found suitable version "1.6.0", minimum required is "1.4.6")
-- Found BOARD.dts: /home/ee/juna-fw/boards/chiaro/JUNA/JUNA.dts
-- Found devicetree overlay: /home/ee/ncs/bootloader/mcuboot/boot/zephyr/app.overlay
-- Generated zephyr.dts: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot/zephyr/zephyr.dts
-- Generated devicetree_generated.h: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot/zephyr/include/generated/devicetree_generated.h
-- Including generated dts.cmake file: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot/zephyr/dts.cmake
Parsing /home/ee/ncs/bootloader/mcuboot/boot/zephyr/Kconfig
Loaded configuration '/home/ee/juna-fw/boards/chiaro/JUNA/JUNA_defconfig'
Merged configuration '/home/ee/ncs/bootloader/mcuboot/boot/zephyr/prj.conf'
Merged configuration '/home/ee/ncs/nrf/subsys/bootloader/bl_override/override_external_mcuboot.conf'
Merged configuration '/home/ee/ncs/nrf/subsys/partition_manager/ext_flash_mcuboot_secondary.conf'
Merged configuration '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot/zephyr/.config.sysbuild'
Configuration saved to '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot/zephyr/.config'
Kconfig header saved to '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot/zephyr/include/generated/autoconf.h'
-- Found GnuLd: /opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1/arm-zephyr-eabi/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/ld.bfd (found version "2.38")
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 12.2.0
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 12.2.0
-- The ASM compiler identification is GNU
-- Found assembler: /opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/arm-zephyr-eabi-gcc
CMake Warning at /home/ee/ncs/nrf/lib/flash_patch/CMakeLists.txt:8 (message):

----------------------------------------------------------
--- WARNING: To maintain the integrity of secure boot, ---
--- enable CONFIG_DISABLE_FLASH_PATCH in production. ---
----------------------------------------------------------


-- Using ccache: /usr/bin/ccache
CMake Warning at /home/ee/ncs/zephyr/CMakeLists.txt:895 (message):
No SOURCES given to Zephyr library: drivers__spi

Excluding target from build.


MCUBoot bootloader key file: /home/ee/ncs/bootloader/mcuboot/root-ec-p256.pem
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot
--
*****************************
* Running CMake for juna-fw *
*****************************

-- Found Git: /usr/bin/git (found version "2.34.1")
-- [MunkeiVersionFromGit] Version: 4.1.0
Git tag: [v4.1.0]
Git hash: [5b017006]
Git branch: [ncs_upgrade]
Git dirty: [dirty]
Decorated: [v4.1.0-15-g5b017006]
Identifiers: []
Metadata: []
SemVer: [4.1.0]
Loading Zephyr default modules (Zephyr base).
-- Application: /home/ee/juna-fw
-- CMake version: 3.21.0
-- Found Python3: /usr/bin/python (found suitable version "3.10.12", minimum required is "3.8") found components: Interpreter
-- Cache files will be written to: /root/.cache/zephyr
-- Zephyr version: 3.6.99 (/home/ee/ncs/zephyr)
-- Found west (found suitable version "1.4.0", minimum required is "0.14.0")
-- Board: JUNA, qualifiers: nrf52840
-- Found host-tools: zephyr 0.16.1 (/opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1)
-- Found toolchain: zephyr 0.16.1 (/opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1)
-- Found Dtc: /opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin/dtc (found suitable version "1.6.0", minimum required is "1.4.6")
-- Found BOARD.dts: /home/ee/juna-fw/boards/chiaro/JUNA/JUNA.dts
-- Generated zephyr.dts: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/zephyr.dts
-- Generated devicetree_generated.h: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/include/generated/devicetree_generated.h
-- Including generated dts.cmake file: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/dts.cmake


Parsing /home/ee/juna-fw/Kconfig
Loaded configuration '/home/ee/juna-fw/boards/chiaro/JUNA/JUNA_defconfig'
Merged configuration '/home/ee/juna-fw/prj.conf'
Merged configuration '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/.config.sysbuild'
Configuration saved to '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/.config'
Kconfig header saved to '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/include/generated/autoconf.h'
-- Found GnuLd: /opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1/arm-zephyr-eabi/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/ld.bfd (found version "2.38")
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 12.2.0
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 12.2.0
-- The ASM compiler identification is GNU
-- Found assembler: /opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/arm-zephyr-eabi-gcc
-- Using ccache: /usr/bin/ccache
CMake Warning at /home/ee/ncs/zephyr/CMakeLists.txt:895 (message):
No SOURCES given to Zephyr library: ..__nrf__subsys__caf__modules

Excluding target from build.


-- Including signing script: /home/ee/ncs/nrf/cmake/sysbuild/image_signing.cmake
CMake Warning at /home/ee/ncs/zephyr/CMakeLists.txt:2027 (message):
__ASSERT() statements are globally ENABLED


-- Setup Protobuf...
-- Found Nanopb: /home/ee/ncs/modules/lib/nanopb
-- Found protoc: /home/ee/ncs/modules/lib/nanopb/generator/protoc
--2025-06-17 14:34:42-- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/boost-ext/sml/v1.1.11/include/boost/sml.hpp
Resolving raw.githubusercontent.com (raw.githubusercontent.com)... 185.199.110.133, 185.199.111.133, 185.199.109.133, ...
Connecting to raw.githubusercontent.com (raw.githubusercontent.com)|185.199.110.133|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 126527 (124K) [text/plain]
Saving to: ‘/home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/boost/sml.hpp’

0K .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... 40% 1.82M 0s
50K .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... 80% 7.44M 0s
100K .......... .......... ... 100% 15.2M=0.03s

2025-06-17 14:34:42 (3.46 MB/s) - ‘/home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/boost/sml.hpp’ saved [126527/126527]

-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw
-- Found Python3: /usr/bin/python3 (found version "3.10.12") found components: Interpreter
-- Found partition manager static configuration : /home/ee/juna-fw/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 'settings_storage' 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 'littlefs_storage' 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.
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/ee/juna-fw/build
-- west build: building application
[8/21] Performing build step for 'juna-fw'
[0/1] Re-running CMake...
-- [MunkeiVersionFromGit] Version: 4.1.0
Git tag: [v4.1.0]
Git hash: [5b017006]
Git branch: [ncs_upgrade]
Git dirty: [dirty]
Decorated: [v4.1.0-15-g5b017006]
Identifiers: []
Metadata: []
SemVer: [4.1.0]
Loading Zephyr default modules (Zephyr base (cached)).
-- Application: /home/ee/juna-fw
-- CMake version: 3.21.0
-- Cache files will be written to: /root/.cache/zephyr
-- Zephyr version: 3.6.99 (/home/ee/ncs/zephyr)
-- Found west (found suitable version "1.4.0", minimum required is "0.14.0")
-- Board: JUNA, qualifiers: nrf52840
-- Found host-tools: zephyr 0.16.1 (/opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1)
-- Found toolchain: zephyr 0.16.1 (/opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1)
-- Found BOARD.dts: /home/ee/juna-fw/boards/chiaro/JUNA/JUNA.dts
-- Generated zephyr.dts: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/zephyr.dts
-- Generated devicetree_generated.h: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/include/generated/devicetree_generated.h
-- Including generated dts.cmake file: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/dts.cmake
Parsing /home/ee/juna-fw/Kconfig
Loaded configuration '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/.config'
Merged configuration '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/.config.sysbuild'
No change to configuration in '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/.config'
No change to Kconfig header in '/home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/include/generated/autoconf.h'
-- Using ccache: /usr/bin/ccache
CMake Warning at /home/ee/ncs/zephyr/CMakeLists.txt:895 (message):
No SOURCES given to Zephyr library: ..__nrf__subsys__caf__modules

Excluding target from build.


-- Including signing script: /home/ee/ncs/nrf/cmake/sysbuild/image_signing.cmake
CMake Warning at /home/ee/ncs/zephyr/CMakeLists.txt:2027 (message):
__ASSERT() statements are globally ENABLED


-- Setup Protobuf...
-- Found protoc: /home/ee/ncs/modules/lib/nanopb/generator/protoc
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw
[1/415] Preparing syscall dependency handling

[6/415] Generating include/generated/version.h
-- Zephyr version: 3.6.99 (/home/ee/ncs/zephyr), build: v3.6.99-ncs2
[415/415] Linking CXX executable zephyr/zephyr.elf
Memory region Used Size Region Size %age Used
FLASH: 765296 B 945664 B 80.93%
RAM: 159136 B 256 KB 60.71%
IDT_LIST: 0 GB 32 KB 0.00%
Generating files from /home/ee/juna-fw/build/juna-fw/zephyr/zephyr.elf for board: JUNA
image.py: sign the payload
image.py: sign the payload
[11/21] Performing build step for 'mcuboot'
[1/190] Preparing syscall dependency handling

[7/190] Generating include/generated/version.h
-- Zephyr version: 3.6.99 (/home/ee/ncs/zephyr), build: v3.6.99-ncs2
[185/190] Linking C executable zephyr/zephyr_pre0.elf
FAILED: zephyr/zephyr_pre0.elf zephyr/zephyr_pre0.map /home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot/zephyr/zephyr_pre0.map
: && ccache /opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/arm-zephyr-eabi-gcc -gdwarf-4 zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr_pre0.dir/misc/empty_file.c.obj -o zephyr/zephyr_pre0.elf zephyr/CMakeFiles/offsets.dir/./arch/arm/core/offsets/offsets.c.obj -fuse-ld=bfd -T zephyr/linker_zephyr_pre0.cmd -Wl,-Map=/home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot/zephyr/zephyr_pre0.map -Wl,--whole-archive app/libapp.a zephyr/libzephyr.a zephyr/arch/common/libarch__common.a zephyr/arch/arch/arm/core/libarch__arm__core.a zephyr/arch/arch/arm/core/cortex_m/libarch__arm__core__cortex_m.a zephyr/arch/arch/arm/core/mpu/libarch__arm__core__mpu.a zephyr/lib/libc/minimal/liblib__libc__minimal.a zephyr/lib/libc/common/liblib__libc__common.a zephyr/soc/soc/nrf52840/libsoc__nordic.a zephyr/drivers/clock_control/libdrivers__clock_control.a zephyr/drivers/console/libdrivers__console.a zephyr/drivers/flash/libdrivers__flash.a zephyr/drivers/gpio/libdrivers__gpio.a zephyr/drivers/pinctrl/libdrivers__pinctrl.a zephyr/drivers/serial/libdrivers__serial.a zephyr/drivers/timer/libdrivers__timer.a modules/nrf/lib/fprotect/lib..__nrf__lib__fprotect.a modules/nrf/drivers/hw_cc3xx/lib..__nrf__drivers__hw_cc3xx.a modules/mcuboot/boot/bootutil/zephyr/libmcuboot_util.a modules/hal_nordic/nrfx/libmodules__hal_nordic__nrfx.a modules/segger/libmodules__segger.a -Wl,--no-whole-archive zephyr/kernel/libkernel.a -L"/opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-zephyr-eabi/12.2.0/thumb/v7e-m+fp/hard" -L/home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot/zephyr -lgcc zephyr/arch/common/libisr_tables.a -mcpu=cortex-m4 -mthumb -mabi=aapcs -mfpu=fpv4-sp-d16 -mfloat-abi=hard -mfp16-format=ieee -Wl,--gc-sections -Wl,--build-id=none -Wl,--sort-common=descending -Wl,--sort-section=alignment -Wl,-u,_OffsetAbsSyms -Wl,-u,_ConfigAbsSyms -nostdlib -static -Wl,-X -Wl,-N -Wl,--orphan-handling=warn -Wl,-no-pie /home/ee/ncs/nrfxlib/crypto/nrf_cc310_platform/lib/cortex-m4/hard-float/no-interrupts/libnrf_cc310_platform_0.9.19.a /home/ee/ncs/nrfxlib/crypto/nrf_cc310_bl/lib/cortex-m4/hard-float/no-interrupts/libnrf_cc310_bl_0.9.12.a && cd /home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot/zephyr && /usr/local/bin/cmake -E true
/opt/toolchains/zephyr-sdk-0.16.1/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-zephyr-eabi/12.2.0/../../../../arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/ld.bfd: zephyr/drivers/flash/libdrivers__flash.a(spi_nor.c.obj):(.rodata.spi_nor_0_config+0x0): undefined reference to `__device_dts_ord_24'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed.
[16/21] Generating ../dfu_application.zip
FAILED: _sysbuild/sysbuild/images/bootloader/mcuboot-prefix/src/mcuboot-stamp/mcuboot-build /home/ee/juna-fw/build/_sysbuild/sysbuild/images/bootloader/mcuboot-prefix/src/mcuboot-stamp/mcuboot-build
cd /home/ee/juna-fw/build/mcuboot && /usr/local/bin/cmake --build .
ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed.
FATAL ERROR: command exited with status 1: /usr/local/bin/cmake --build /home/ee/juna-fw/build

[Håkon Alseth]

Hi,

 

Are you missing CONFIG_SPI=y in mcuboot?

ando20 said:

compatible = "nordic,nrf-spi";

You should consider using "nordic,nrf-spim" instead, as this will enable DMA usage (NRF_SPI vs. NRF_SPIM hardware module)

 

Kind regards,

Håkon

[ando20]

Hi,

```

CONFIG_SPI=y
```

Is enabled in mcuboot.conf and I can see that it is present in the: build/mcuboot/zephyr/.config.

I will look at enabling spim once this build issue is resolved.

Thank you,

Andy

[Håkon Alseth]

Hi Andy,

 

From the build log, it does not seem that mcuboot picks up the .conf / .overlay in /home/ee/juna-fw/sysbuild/ folder.

You should see a line similar to this (i just took hello world and added these):

-- Found devicetree overlay: /opt/ncs/zephyr/samples/hello_mcuboot/sysbuild/mcuboot.overlay
...
Merged configuration '/opt/ncs/zephyr/samples/hello_mcuboot/sysbuild/mcuboot.conf'

To make sure that the build system has loaded the files.

Could you try deleting your build folder and re-run west build -b ... cmd?

A bit of a side-track: This line indicates that you run as root?

...
-- Cache files will be written to: /root/.cache/zephyr
...

 

Although it is not technically an issue build-wise, I would strongly recommend not building as root unless you're in a vm or a container.

 

Kind regards,

Håkon