s130 2.0.0 ROM and RAM settings?

RE: s130 2.0.0 ROM and RAM settings?

Ole Bauck — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 11:50:00 GMT

Which chip revision is it? Check the build code (QFAAxx) and find the revision here.

RE: s130 2.0.0 ROM and RAM settings?

Roger Clark — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 22:52:18 GMT

The HRS example works using the pca10028 board for my generic device (I'm testing on a Waveshare BLE400 with a QFAA based module plugged in)

I copied ble_app_hrs_gcc_nrf51.ld to ble_app_hrs_gcc_nrf51QFAA.ld

I changed the MEMORY section

MEMORY
{
  FLASH (rx) : ORIGIN = 0x1b000, LENGTH = 0x25000
  RAM (rwx) :  ORIGIN = 0x20002080, LENGTH = 0x1f80
}

I also updated the Makefile

nrf51422_xxac_s130: LINKER_SCRIPT=ble_app_hrs_gcc_nrf51.ld

nrf51422_xxac_s130: LINKER_SCRIPT=ble_app_hrs_gcc_nrf51QFAA.ld

So that the new linker file is used

RE: s130 2.0.0 ROM and RAM settings?

Ole Bauck — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 13:32:29 GMT

It looks like we use Keil to generate the precompiled hex files.

I was wrong in my last comment, the 4.5KB used in the application will include the stack used, so the hrs example use less than 16KB of RAM by default. Also if the stack overlaps with the heap, you will get an error from the compiler during linking, so this is not the problem.

The difference between Keil and GCC is that GCC will place the stack at the top of the RAM (0x20004000 for 16KB ram) while Keil will place it after the heap (at SD ram size + app ram size + heap size + stack size) if heap is used, if not it will place it after application ram (heap is removed by keil if not used).

Can you post the memory settings in the linker script so that I can confirm that it is correct?

RE: s130 2.0.0 ROM and RAM settings?

Roger Clark — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 23:24:15 GMT

@Ole

The strange thing, is that the precompiled Hex code in the SDK does work on the 16k device (QFAAH3)

So assuming the Hex was compiled from the same source, the difference is only the compiler

I don't know what compiler Nordic use to make the precompiled hex, I guess its IAR or possibly Keil

I was going to try using the demo copy of Keil but I'd need to make a Keil project, so that would be one more unknown / variable in the mix.

RE: s130 2.0.0 ROM and RAM settings?

Ole Bauck — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 15:16:11 GMT

Try changing the heap size to 0 in arm_startup_nrf51.s. The SDK does not use heap (malloc/free), so if your application does not either you can safely set this to zero.

The hrs example will use just over 8KB for the SoftDevice and about 4.5KB in the application. Adding this with the heap and stack size of 2KB you will end up at about 16.5KB which is too much.

Also see this tutorial on RAM and ROM management on the nRF.

RE: s130 2.0.0 ROM and RAM settings?

Roger Clark — Sat, 03 Sep 2016 03:21:44 GMT

Has this issue been resolved ?

I have a similar issue, I can only get the ble_beacon to compile and run on a 16k / 256k, nRF51822 QFAA

If I try compiling the hrs example, it will only run on my QFAC 32k Ram evaluation board.

But. reducing the Ram size in the linker file doesn't seem to allow the hrs example to run.

(My board has the 32khz osc, so the only variable in this seems to be the ram size)

RE: s130 2.0.0 ROM and RAM settings?

Brook Gebremedhin — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 13:47:54 GMT

@olba , this issue of mine similar to this , could you have a look please ?

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../

RE: s130 2.0.0 ROM and RAM settings?

Ole Bauck — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 09:33:02 GMT

ble_app_beacon from SDK 11 works with SoftDevice S130 v2.0.0 (release version). How do you see that the example loads the alpha version of the SoftDevice (assuming you are not using SDK 11 alpha version)?

Do you have an external 32kHz crystal on your board? If not the example wont work out of the box. You should create your own boards file (similar to PCA10028.h or PCA20006.h) and if you are going to use internal 32kHz oscillator, change NRF_CLOCK_LFCLKSRC to use .source = NRF_CLOCK_LF_SRC_RC. Also change rc_ctiv (RC calibration interval) and rc_temp_ctiv (RC temperature calibration interval) to your needs (you can read more about them in nrf_sdm.h). The LEDs and buttons pin definitions should also be changed.

RE: s130 2.0.0 ROM and RAM settings?

gdou — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 16:22:55 GMT

Thanks Ole - I am using this: NRF51822-QFAB-R7, on a custom PCB board. And I was able to make blinky work with both S130 1.0.0 and S130 2.0.0 now. However my ble_app_beacon still does not work on either of them. I tried to use S130 2.0.0-7.alpha because in the SDK 11 ble_app_beacon example I see it loads this version of softdevice. Does ble_app_beacon work with the release version of SD (S130 2.0.0)?

RE: s130 2.0.0 ROM and RAM settings?

Ole Bauck — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 11:36:11 GMT

The ROM and RAM settings looks correct. Which chip version are you using (which module are you using)? Did you reset the chip after programming? ROM/RAM settings for S130 2.0.0-7.alpha is: ROM origin 0x1c000, RAM origin (minimum required memory): 0x1234. Why are you going to use the alpha version? I would strongly recommend using the release version.