MBR doesn't copy bootloader when upgrading

RE: MBR doesn't copy bootloader when upgrading

MC — Thu, 03 May 2018 13:34:16 GMT

Hi Einar, I just figured it out after several hours of trying.

It turns out, the issue was a bit odd and dificult to track down. We have a system, with a "main" processor and BLE module. I had the module connected to debugger the entire time, which is the key issue here.

After FW transfer and flashing, the main processor resets the device and power cycles the BLE module with it. By doing that, the debugger starts behaving strangly, so it is impossible to see what is going on in real time. When not in debugger mode, the nrf_dfu_mbr_copy_bl() function works as it should and replaces BL without problems. It seems that the power cycle's timing was just right to obscure the BL being copied.

Thank you very much for your time, I will close this question.

RE: MBR doesn't copy bootloader when upgrading

Einar Thorsrud — Thu, 03 May 2018 08:15:09 GMT

This puzzles me. Is anything erased or copied, or is the content of the bootloader region is flash identical before and after the call to nrf_dfu_mbr_copy_bl() and subsequent reset? What values do you use for the parameters in the nrf_dfu_mbr_copy_bl() call (particularly the length)?

RE: MBR doesn't copy bootloader when upgrading

MC — Thu, 03 May 2018 06:30:49 GMT

Bootloader's size iz 32100 Bytes to be exact.

RE: MBR doesn't copy bootloader when upgrading

Einar Thorsrud — Wed, 02 May 2018 13:39:10 GMT

One more thing: how large is your bootloader (the one you are copying)?

RE: MBR doesn't copy bootloader when upgrading

MC — Wed, 02 May 2018 13:30:38 GMT

Yes, we are using SDK 14.2, SoftDevice S132 version 5.1.0.

sd_mbr_command() doesn't return anything, it just resets the processor as it should when updating the bootloader. UICR.NRFFW[1] points to the second to last page in flash, 0x7E000. I had problems, when bootloader was too large and has written on that page. Since then, I moved bootloader start address for one page so the MBR settings page is always clear, which I verified through "memmory" tab in Segger embedded studio. I thought this was the problem, but it doesn't seem to be.

The last page 0x7F000 is reserved for bootloader settings.

When I call sd_mbr_command() I could see that something is being written to that page, but then it never gets cleared when MBR resets the processor, nor does the bootloader get swapped.

RE: MBR doesn't copy bootloader when upgrading

Einar Thorsrud — Wed, 02 May 2018 12:55:36 GMT

Hi,

Are you using SDK 14.2 with SoftDevice S132 version 5.0.0? What is the return value of the call to sd_mbr_command()? Is UICR.NRFFW[1] set to the start address of an unused flash page?