Problems with OTA DFU in a 128kb chip

RE: Problems with OTA DFU in a 128kb chip

Asbjørn — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 09:02:14 GMT

@Michael, I would ask yo to open a new case here on DevZone with your setup and questions. Include chip revisions, SDK versions , which softdevice and other tools you're using. We try to keep the forum to one poster and avoid multiple questionnaires in one case.

RE: Problems with OTA DFU in a 128kb chip

Michael Gauland — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 22:43:12 GMT

I haven't been able to get this to work on the QFAB--when I try to install it, either with nrfjprog or the MCP, I am told:

ERROR: Hex file(s) contain addresses outside the code, RAM and UICR areas.

RE: Problems with OTA DFU in a 128kb chip

Ignacio Lopez — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 16:25:22 GMT

Thanks for your help Stefan. I have modified the size in the bootloader project to 0x3800(14kb) instead of 0x6000.

I have flashed the s110_nrf51822_7.0.0_softdevice.hex and also the bootloader from the last project you sent. I have manage to upload the application code ble_app_hrs_dfu.hex through the nrFToolbox for Android and then it works. The device starts advertising as the app code 'Nordic_HRM'. That's good progress, although I have tried to carry out another OTA DFU after the first one and the nRFToolbox prompted a 'GATT 133' error. After trying the second OTA DFU, the device does not advertise neither as a 'DfuTarg' nor as a 'Nordic_HRM'. If I power cycle the board it starts advertising again as 'Nordic_HRM' and trying another OTA DFU will prompt the same error.

Although I know the single-bank bootloader wont work with the DFU MCP. I wanted to see the DFU steps and I can see the error comes after sending the 0x01 command to the DFU control point. It seems that the bootloader cannot handle a DFU reset.

Could you test this on your side? Thanks

RE: Problems with OTA DFU in a 128kb chip

Stefan Birnir Sverrisson — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 13:06:48 GMT

Hi Ignacio

I have uploaded a new single-bank bootloader variant that should be compatible with the QFAB 128kB chip. The link to it is here. I have only tested it on QFAA 256kB hardware, so please test the bootloader on your QFAB chip and give your feedback to this thread. The bootloader is compressed as much as possible and it occupies 14kB on the chip, leaving 26kB free for the application.

I have uploaded application code with nRFToolbox for Android. As the Readme on Github says, you can not currently use the DFU function in Master Control Panel on Win PC for the application upload.

Update 16.10.2014 I have tested the bootloader to work on 128kB nRF51822-QFAB variant. I found out that 1 page of the application space is reserved for PStorage swap area and 1 page additionally is reserved by default for bonding information, so the application code maximum size is 24kB.

Update 23.10.2014 The QFAB bootloader is tested with Android nRFToolbox v1.10.0 and IOS Toolbox v1.3. It does not work with Master Control Panel provided for Windows, at least not yet with the latest version 3.7.0.

RE: Problems with OTA DFU in a 128kb chip

Ignacio Lopez — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 12:07:22 GMT

Hi Stefan,

Thanks for your reply. It seems that the single bank code takes 13.29kb and the bootloader coming with the SDK 6.1.0 takes 14.42kb. It is an improvement although the code is ready to work with a 256kb chip. Could you send the single bank bootloader and the hrm application code ready to work with the 128kb version? That would be very helpful.

RE: Problems with OTA DFU in a 128kb chip

Stefan Birnir Sverrisson — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:50:01 GMT

Have you looked at this single bank code? I think it would fit better to 128kB flash chip. However, it is ported to the SDK v5.2.0 and SD 6.0.0. The new S110 softdevice v7.0.0 is 88 kB , so there is only 40 kB available for bootloader, application and application data.

RE: Problems with OTA DFU in a 128kb chip

Asbjørn — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 11:15:59 GMT

Please see the comments in this thread.

It sounds like you are using the 128 kB version of the nRF51822 and this does not support softdevice update and the bootloader project would have to be moved so that it fits within the memory space of the 128 kB. By default it is set up to run on the 256 kB version and hence will be written to memory outside what's available on your chip.

RE: Problems with OTA DFU in a 128kb chip

Nikita — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 10:18:34 GMT

Describe all your steps in more detail.