nRF9160 Custom Board won't jump to application correctly.

[Jack Panetta]

Hi,

I've been developing an application with the nRF9160 dev kit. We have just received the first rev of our custom hardware with an nRF9160 on it. I am trying to program the "secure_boot" application as well as our main application onto the custom board.

I can successfully program the "secure_boot" sample app and am getting the correct debug outputs. I can also successfully program my custom application. However, the bootloader can't successfully jump to my application. After setting some breakpoints I can see that it's throwing an error when calling this line of the "secure_boot" application:

Line 407 (main.c):        reset_ns()

My Target Output in SES displays: "Stopped by vector catch"

My application stops at line 97 of fault_s.S:   eors.n r0, r0

When I click "Attach Debugger" in my main application's solution I get this debug output:

***** HARD FAULT *****
Fault escalation (see below)
***** BUS FAULT *****
Precise data bus error
BFAR Address: 0x50008120
***** Hardware exception *****
Current thread ID = 0x200205f4
Faulting instruction address = 0x0
Fatal fault in ISR! Spinning...

Here are the steps I am taking:

(It works fine on the dev board but breaks on my custom board)

1. Erase all from the target

2. Program secure_boot

3. Program my application

Thanks,

Jack

[Jack Panetta]

Programmed the Modem FW and now it works!

[Håkon Alseth]

Glad to hear that upgrading the modem fixed the issue. If you ever get stuck while in debug mode, be aware of this errata (and it's workaround):

https://www.nordicsemi.com/DocLib/Content/Errata/nRF9160_EngA/latest/ERR/nRF9160/EngineeringA/latest/anomaly_160_17

 

Kind regards,

Håkon

[jlienau03]

I'm actually getting a very similar error with my custom board and followed similar steps.  Programmed secure boot and then programmed a modified at_client application,.  I then power cycled the unit and I get virtually the same error.  I'm using a terminal program with a USB->serial bridge on the UART ports, this is what's output over the UART:

Secure Boot: SPU: set SRAM region 30 as Non-Secure                             
Secure Boot: SPU: set SRAM region 31 as Non-Secure                             
Secure Boot: configure peripherals                                             
Secure Boot: MSP_NS 200265f0                                                   
Secure Boot: prepare to jump to Non-Secure image                               
***** HARD FAULT *****                                                         
  Fault escalation (see below)                                                 
***** BUS FAULT *****                                                          
  Precise data bus error                                                       
  BFAR Address: 0x50008120                                                     
***** Hardware exception *****                                                 
Current thread ID = 0x20023130                                                 
Faulting instruction address = 0x0                                             
Fatal fault in ISR! Spinning... 

Any ideas?

[Martin]

OK. I have the same issue. The question is how do you program the Modem FW in your custom board?

[Håkon Alseth]

Martin said:

OK. I have the same issue. The question is how do you program the Modem FW in your custom board?

 

You can program the modem as you would on the nRF91 DK, by downloading the latest one:

https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-Tools/Development-Kits/nRF9160-DK/Download#infotabs

Then connecting your debugger (note: not all debuggers support Cortex M33! See here for an overview: https://wiki.segger.com/Software_and_Hardware_Features_Overview) to your external board to program.

If using the nRF9160-DK as an external programmer, you should set the "VDD_IO" switch in the lower left corner to 3V, then power your external board with VDD from the DK. Use the "DEBUG OUT" in the upper left corner to connect to your board.

 

Kind regards,

Håkon