[SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Kevin — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 20:35:13 GMT

@bjorn-spockeli yes, I'm looking for the same solution discovered by Keton (original linker file was lacking .bootloaderSettings section) but for the nRF51 since the location of the bootloader settings will likely be different.

EDIT @bjorn-spockeli I realized I could just look at the linker script of the bootloader I am using to find the corresponding locations in memory: /** Location of bootloader setting in at the last flash page. */ BOOTLOADER_SETTINGS (rw) : ORIGIN = 0x0003FC00, LENGTH = 0x0400

I also found that the BLE_UUID_DFU_SERVICE is missing from the advertised services list in main.c. Until I added this I could not write to the service to place the board in dfu mode.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

bjorn-spockeli — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:06:09 GMT

@kevinpk: A linker script that is compatible for nRF51 and SDK v12.2.0?

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Kevin — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 22:31:40 GMT

Does anyone have the equivalent linker file settings for an nRF51?

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Justin — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 18:54:23 GMT

In SDK12.2 the GCC linker script for experimental_ble_app_buttonless_dfu still seems to be missing these sections.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Raj — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 17:22:10 GMT

@keton and @lalit thank you fast response. And it working when I sent 0x01 manually to control point characteristic

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Keton — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 15:35:34 GMT

@Raj make sure that you edited ble_dfu service files and added write permission to dfu control point: devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../

Also in case of SDK12 bootloader nRF Connect app won't detect dfu service inside your application. You have to manually enable control point notifications and write 0x01.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Lalit Kumar — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 15:32:37 GMT

Did you burn the bootloader first?

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Raj — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 15:31:09 GMT

Hi, I'm working on button_less_dfu project in sdk12 and I made the changes in linker script as mentioned above and added write property to rx characteristic in ble_dfu.c but still it not switching to boot loader it showing error as "device does not have DFU enabled" in nRF Toolboox. I'm working on eclipse windows plat form can any one help me to solve these.

I'm also tried with @keton attached files it also giving same error.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

bjorn-spockeli — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 07:37:19 GMT

@keton: You are correct, the bootloaders settings section is missing from the linker script. I'øll make sure that this is posted under the SDK v12.0.0 Known Issues thread. Thanks for finding this :)

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Keton — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 15:53:21 GMT

Just for clarification:

When I was writting about linker file problems I was referring to .fs_data section in SDK11, for example this: devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../ or this: devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../ It's relevant because it's another example of messed up linker file and flash section in gcc not because it's bootloader related. Till SDK12 dfu used device_manager module and bug was (is?) in peer_manager.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Lalit Kumar — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 15:44:24 GMT

I can confirm that the changes have resolved the problem.

But this seems to be an issue in the SDK12 only. I checked SDK11 hrs_dfu examples, in the linker files the bootloader region is not mentioned, and the dfu_settings are similar for SDK11 and SDK12, both expecting .bootloaderSetting as mentioned by @Keton. This issue never occured in SDK11.

Also in the secure_dfu_gcc_nrf52_debug.ld, the bootloader address is stored in UICR address, so it looks like it should be recovered during when we try to enter DFU mode, but that isn't happening in SDK12. For now I'll go with the solution provided by @Keton, but it would be great if someone from Nordic could confirm that this is happening only in SDK12.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Lalit Kumar — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 15:44:21 GMT

Thanks, the solution works :). I'll dig in deep to find out why this wasn't happening in previous SDKs.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Keton — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:40:39 GMT

and it seems we have a winner :)

That's how bootloader section definition looks like:

MEMORY
{
  /** Flash start address for the bootloader. This setting will also be stored in UICR to allow the
   *  MBR to init the bootloader when starting the system. This value must correspond to
   *  BOOTLOADER_REGION_START found in dfu_types.h. The system is prevented from starting up if
   *  those values do not match. The check is performed in main.c, see
   *  APP_ERROR_CHECK_BOOL(*((uint32_t *)NRF_UICR_BOOT_START_ADDRESS) == BOOTLOADER_REGION_START);
   */
  FLASH (rx) : ORIGIN = 0x75000, LENGTH = 0x9000

  /** RAM Region for bootloader. This setting is suitable when used with s132. */
  RAM (rwx) :  ORIGIN = 0x20002C00, LENGTH = 0x5380

  /** Location of non initialized RAM. Non initialized RAM is used for exchanging bond information
   *  from application to bootloader when using buttonluss DFU OTA.
   */
  NOINIT (rwx) :  ORIGIN = 0x20007F80, LENGTH = 0x80

  /** Location of bootloader setting in flash. */
  BOOTLOADER_SETTINGS (rw) : ORIGIN = 0x0007F000, LENGTH = 0x1000

  /** Location in UICR where bootloader start address is stored. */
  UICR_BOOTLOADER (r) : ORIGIN = 0x10001014, LENGTH = 0x04

  /** Location of mbr params page in flash. */
  MBR_PARAMS_PAGE (rw) : ORIGIN = 0x0007E000, LENGTH = 0x1000

  /** Location in UICR where mbr params page address is stored. */
  UICR_MBR_PARAM_PAGE(r) : ORIGIN = 0x10001018, LENGTH = 0x04
}

SECTIONS
{
  /* Place the bootloader settings page in flash. */
  .bootloaderSettings(NOLOAD) :
  {

  } > BOOTLOADER_SETTINGS

  /* Write the bootloader address in UICR. */
  .uicrBootStartAddress :
  {
    KEEP(*(.uicrBootStartAddress))
  } > UICR_BOOTLOADER

  /* Place the mbr params page in flash. */
    .mbrParamsPage(NOLOAD) :
  {

  } > MBR_PARAMS_PAGE

  /* Write the bootloader address in UICR. */
  .uicrMbrParamsPageAddress :
  {
    KEEP(*(.uicrMbrParamsPageAddress))
  } > UICR_MBR_PARAM_PAGE

  /* No init RAM section in bootloader. Used for bond information exchange. */
  .noinit(NOLOAD) :
  {

  } > NOINIT
  /* other placements follow here... */
}

note the .bootloaderSettings section. I'm no expert in gcc linker files but it seems ok. Now take a look at buttonless_dfu example .ld file:

/* Linker script to configure memory regions. */

SEARCH_DIR(.)
GROUP(-lgcc -lc -lnosys)

MEMORY
{
  FLASH (rx) : ORIGIN = 0x1f000, LENGTH = 0x61000
  RAM (rwx) :  ORIGIN = 0x20002128, LENGTH = 0xded8
}

SECTIONS
{
  .fs_data :
  {
    PROVIDE(__start_fs_data = .);
    KEEP(*(.fs_data))
    PROVIDE(__stop_fs_data = .);
  } > RAM
} INSERT AFTER .data;

INCLUDE "nrf5x_common.ld"

note that there's no .bootloaderSettings here nor in nrf5x_common.ld.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Lalit Kumar — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:36:32 GMT

I have not implemented ".bootloaderSettings", will look at it. If this was a bug in SDK11 too, I didn't have any problem in it. I have been using DFU with GCC since SDK9 and haven't experienced this issue. Might be luck, but I'll take a look.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Lalit Kumar — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:20:21 GMT

Your files work. Seems like a problem with GCC setup then. I'd like to mention that in the Makefile of bootloader, in target flash I have removed --chiperase, so that the softdevice is not removed. I doubt that is the cause but thought it might be worth mentioning. I'll wait for a response from nordic team. Thanks for help :)

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Keton — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:07:38 GMT

Update .zip: dfu.zip

bootloader nrf52832_xxaa_s132.hex

EDIT:

I took a look how bootloader setting address is defined and this seems like relevant part:

#if defined (__CC_ARM )

    uint8_t  m_dfu_settings_buffer[CODE_PAGE_SIZE] __attribute__((at(BOOTLOADER_SETTINGS_ADDRESS)))
                                                   __attribute__((used));

#elif defined ( __GNUC__ )

    uint8_t m_dfu_settings_buffer[CODE_PAGE_SIZE] __attribute__ ((section(".bootloaderSettings")))
                                                  __attribute__((used));

So for Keil you have a fixed address but for gcc there should be a custom section in linker file named ".bootloaderSettings". Question is have you implemented it? I think that it should be placed in both bootloader and application linker file.

And this is very similar to fstorage bug form SDK11 where the difference between Keil and gcc was exactly the same as here - fixed flash address vs. custom section.

EDIT2:

Following linker file for buttonless_dfu app fixes the problem:

/* Linker script to configure memory regions. */

SEARCH_DIR(.)
GROUP(-lgcc -lc -lnosys)

MEMORY
{
  FLASH (rx) : ORIGIN = 0x1f000, LENGTH = 0x61000
  RAM (rwx) :  ORIGIN = 0x20002128, LENGTH = 0xded8
  
  /** Location of bootloader setting in flash. */
  BOOTLOADER_SETTINGS (rw) : ORIGIN = 0x0007F000, LENGTH = 0x1000
}

SECTIONS
{
   /* Place the bootloader settings page in flash. */
  .bootloaderSettings(NOLOAD) :
  {

  } > BOOTLOADER_SETTINGS
  
  .fs_data :
  {
    PROVIDE(__start_fs_data = .);
    KEEP(*(.fs_data))
    PROVIDE(__stop_fs_data = .);
  } > RAM
} INSERT AFTER .data;

INCLUDE "nrf5x_common.ld"

Original one was lacking .bootloaderSettings section

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Lalit Kumar — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:05:28 GMT

Please provide bootloader .hex and update .zip. I'll also check with Keil and see how it works. This might be a bug in SDK12.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Keton — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:02:30 GMT

I see on difference that may be significant - I use Keil 5.21a. I don't want to spread FUD here but there was some kind of problem related to experimental_section_vars (used in fstorage module) and gcc in SDK11. It resulted in wrong memory map and overwriting parts of the program.

This part of your log:

:INFO:Erasing old settings at: 0x200021ac
:INFO:Erasing: 0x200021ac, num: 1
:INFO:Erase failed: 6
:INFO:Failed to erase bootloader settings

hints that something is wrong with flash access. For comparison my instance of ble_app_buttonless_dfu show following:

:INFO:Erasing old settings at: 0x0007f000
:INFO:Erasing: 0x0007f000, num: 1
:INFO:Writing 0x00000057 words
:INFO:Writing settings...
:INFO:Obtained settings, enter dfu is 1

Note that bootloader configuration page address is different. By default bootloader flash starts at 0x73000 and is 0xB000 (45kb) long. Address 0x0007f000 points to 508th kilobyte of flash, more or less where bootloader ends. Address 0x200021ac from your log points to ~536 megabyte of flash which is most likely outside of nRF52 address space. So it's likely that some macro that should calculate bootloader address doesn't work for gcc. For reference I can attach my bootloader .hex and update .zip so you can rule out hardware problem.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Keton — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 10:01:38 GMT

this is very puzzling as everything seems to be ok at your side.

Could you please do a full chip erase, flash bootloader+softdevice and upload via ota package containing experimental_ble_app_buttonless_dfu with the only modification from stock SDK would be adding write permission to dfu control point as I've described here: devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../

If that won't work I give up as identical setup is working for me.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Lalit Kumar — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 09:23:12 GMT

Edited the question to include the logs.

RE: [SDK12][PCA10040]ble_app_buttonless_dfu not resetting to bootloader

Keton — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 08:29:13 GMT

Could you show your log output when you manually trigger the bootloader by holding BUTTON4 and powering the board on? Also do you get "bootloader ready" state (LED2 and LED4 on) when you do so?