Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

paulorrfilho — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 04:08:37 GMT

Have no idea how you got to this but it works for me as well. SDK 12.3.0 - 51422 board using Maurizio's settings.

Edit Dec/18/2019: actually I managed to build and load the blinky example to a 51422 board. I am also able to load the ble heart rate example but the board won't advertise.

Has anyone ever be able to load a code with Softdevice using SES to a nRF51 board? I have tried every single macros I found and it still does not work.

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Bjørn Kvaale — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 11:13:05 GMT

MaurizioBI believe the solution could be wrong section placement macros in SES. The settings for ROM & RAM in Keil for the ble_app_beacon ble_peripheral example in sdk 12.3 are the following:

Could you try setting the section placement macros in SES to the following values (Right click on Project -> Edit Options -> change to Common Configuration -> Linker tab -> double click on Section Placement macros):

FLASH_START=0x1B000

FLASH_SIZE=0x25000

RAM_START=0x20001870

RAM_SIZE=0x6790

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Bjørn Kvaale — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 11:12:06 GMT

You could use Keil, IAR or gcc. Keil has a code size limit, but if you are able to stay underneath that code size limit, it can be used for free.

You could use eclipse with gcc, but I've heard of some customers that have had quite a few issues with Eclipse too (just look at the comments section under the blog post).

Another solution (although maybe not doable for you) would be to use a 52810 or 52832 device. That way, SES support is included out of the box when you use a newer SDK version >= v14.1.

Also, I believe the solution could be wrong section placement macros in SES. The settings for ROM & RAM in Keil for the ble_app_beacon ble_peripheral example in sdk 12.3 are the following:

FLASH_START=0x1B000

FLASH_SIZE=0x25000

RAM_START=0x20001870

RAM_SIZE=0x6790

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Sergio T — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 09:36:11 GMT

Hi: I faced exactly the same issues with SES and nRF51 DK. The question is, what is the best tool to develop with nRF51? I must develop a product using nRF51822 and I am unable to start the project because I can't find any suitable tool. Any help?

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Bjørn Kvaale — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 08:46:07 GMT

MaurizioB Thank you for your feedback. I will report this internally. Have you taken a look at the comments in the blog post you followed? Especially these ones:

Have you tried turning logging on & running the program using Termite or TeraTerm or a similar program to see if the SRAM_START needs to be adjusted.

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Bjørn Kvaale — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 08:34:03 GMT

awneil The last SDK that was officially supported for the nRF51 is SDK 12.3, which MaurizioB is currently using.

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Bjørn Kvaale — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 08:33:03 GMT

Most likely Nordic did not have the free license option with Segger Embedded Studio with the 3.10f version. This option could have come at a later point in time.

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Omnipara — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 22:51:41 GMT

In my case I can make it work in debug mode but when run it without debugger it get stuck the same place as yours

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Omnipara — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 19:18:51 GMT

In Options ->Debug->Debugger->Target Device->nRF51822

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Omnipara — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 19:17:01 GMT

Like I said, when I changed my setting to nrf51822 in the debugger in target it went away. Or u can change it to

'__RAM_segment_end__' it should compile

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

awneil — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 19:05:42 GMT

So why not use a more recent SDK version ?

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

MaurizioB — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 15:47:02 GMT

I made some progress: now it builds and loads into the board. As the program executes, however, it gets stuck as the SoftDevice is called. The error message is: "Stopped by vector catch".

In addition/differently than explained in my first post, the settings with which I obtained this result are the following:

- Project-->Options-->LInker -->Linker set to GNU.

- In the project folder "Internal files" I deleted the file SEGGER_THUMB_Startup.s and replaced it with thumb_crt0.s (available in the "source" folder of the Segger installation directory and modified as indicated in the Nordic tutorial).

- Project-->Options-->Build-->Memory Map Macros set to: FLASH_START=0x1B000;SRAM_START=0x20002000 (NOTE: Pay attention to the S of SRAM)

- Project-->Options-->Build-->Memory Segments set to: FLASH RX 0x0001B000 0x00040000; SRAM RWX 0x20002000 0x00004000 (NOTE: Pay attention to the S of SRAM)

NOTE: 0x1B000 is the APP_CODE_BASE address for the soft device S130 2.0.1 used by the SDK 12.3.0.

With the above settings, the ble_app_beacon example compiles and loads but, as indicated above, the program execution gets stuck as soon as the SoftDevice is called. No clue why.

---------

Since Nordic obviously does not support nRF51 with SES, Nordic should clearly indicate it and avoid that their customers waste hours of works figuring out obscure configuration issues.

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

MaurizioB — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 13:16:05 GMT

Using the specific SES version reported in the Nordic tutorial was my second attempt... unfortunately I believe that that specific SES version is so old that is not even available in the SES download page anymore. I ended up downloading the closest version (3.10f) but then I encountered a problem with the free Segger license, that didn't allow me to use that SES version at all.

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

haxxa — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 11:53:34 GMT

Thanks I will give that a go, as a newbie these issues can be very frustrating. Just getting to a point where the included examples compile is an exercise in itself.

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

awneil — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 11:43:47 GMT

I've had this kind of problem before.

The lesson to learn is that you need to use the specific SES version stated by Nordic - this is a case where going for the latest is not the way to go. Especially as you are using a rather old SDK!

Segger is an independent company - their SES releases are not synchronised in any way to Nordic's SDK releases.

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/39878/segger-embedded-studio-4-10-for-arm/154692#154692

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/34784/conflicting-types-for-_putchar/137159#137159

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

haxxa — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 07:59:35 GMT

Did as you suggested (changed to GNU linker) and now I get:

Output/experimental_ble_app_blinky_pca10028_s130 nrf51422_xxac/Obj/ses_nrf51_startup.o: In function `SystemInit':
undefined reference to `__SRAM_segment_end__'

Didn't solve my issue unfortunately. In terms of setting target, did you set it through Target - Connect Jlink?

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Omnipara — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 04:17:29 GMT

Also in SES V4.12 they have added Segger Linker. U need to also disable that and use GNU linker with flash_placement.xml file

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Omnipara — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 04:14:37 GMT

I changed the target to nrf51822 and this undefined issue got resolved

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

haxxa — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 04:37:55 GMT

I just tried using SDK11, and still facing the same issue. Definitely something has changed in the latest Segger version as I can't build any imported Project without "undefined symbol: __SRAM_segment_end__" and thus nothing for the NRF51 Platform.

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

haxxa — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 08:10:19 GMT

I too am facing the exact same issue, no idea how to resolve it. I have also followed the sames steps as MaurizioB .

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

MaurizioB — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 14:58:25 GMT

Hello Bjorn,

In the latest version of SES there is no "Section Placement Macros" field: the closest I was able to find (hopefully it's the corect field) is: Project-->Options-->Build-->Memory Map Macros. In that field I wrote:

FLASH_START=0x1F000

SRAM_START=0x20002000

I don't know if the above values (reported in the tutorial for nRF52) are valid also for nRF51. In any case, after building, the same linking errors appear.

RE: Segger Embedded Studio not linking nRF51 SDK examples

Bjørn Kvaale — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 13:56:05 GMT

What did you write under the Section Placement Macros field? Did you remember to add FLASH_START & SRAM_START?