SES Setup Advice Breaks Examples: undefined reference to `__fs_data_load_start__', etc

[awneil]

This blog describes how to set up SES (Segger Embedded Studio) for use with nRF SDK:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/b/blog/posts/segger-embedded-studio-a-cross-platform-ide

The following modification is suggested in thumb_crt0.s - so that fstorage works:

ldr r2, =__tdata_end__
bl memory_copy
# ADD HERE ... 
ldr r0, =__fs_data_load_start__
ldr r1, =__fs_data_start__
ldr r2, =__fs_data_end__
bl memory_copy
# TO HERE ...

But this will break any example which does not use fstorage; eg the LED Softblink example:

undefined reference to `__fs_data_load_start__'
undefined reference to `__fs_data_start__'
undefined reference to `__fs_data_end__'

Is there a way to make this conditional on the use of fstorage?

Otherwise, I guess we'll just have to have two versions of thumb_crt0.s  ?

[Håkon Alseth]

Hi,

 

I can start with explaining what we do in newer SDKs that support SES. Here we have individual sections for several modules, like nrf_pwr_mgmt, nrf_log, softdevice/ble helper libraries etc.

All the sections in your project are wrapped inside one large "dynamic" section, named ".nrf_sections" (with provided __start / __end / __load symbols as well), which is handled in ses_nRF_Startup.s.

Is there a way to make this conditional on the use of fstorage?

 

Otherwise, I guess we'll just have to have two versions of thumb_crt0.s  ?

Unfortunately, I do not have a quick solution for fixing this issue.

You could port the handling to C, then guard it with #if NRF_FSTORAGE_ENABLED, but then the question is: in which file does this initialization belong? I suspect having two .s files is the lesser of two evils.

 

Best regards,

Håkon

[awneil]

Håkon Alseth said:

newer SDKs that support SES

How "new" is that?

I am using v15.0.0

[Håkon Alseth]

Hi,

 

If you're using SDK v14.1 or newer, I'd recommend using one of the example projects, which has SES-projects, instead of converting a project from IAR/Keil to SES.

This is the recommendation in the blog post as well: 

Note: From nRF5 SDK v14.1, Segger Embedded studio projects are officially supported. If using v14.1 or newer, please use the native SES-projects instead of the "import" function.

 

Best regards,

Håkon

 

[awneil]

I did use one of the SES example projects!

I am using SES v3.40.

[Håkon Alseth]

Aha, now I see the issue. Sorry for being (very, very) slow.

Because the file thumb_crt0.s is not copied, and you have code-bases with SDK <14.1 and SDK >=14.1, this will be a huge conflict.

This is not ideal at all.

 

I'll report this back to the owner of the blog post.

 

Best regards,

Håkon