How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

RE: How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

DarrellH — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 19:43:30 GMT

Link is broken

RE: How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

tesc — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 14:31:29 GMT

Hi,

I am sorry for the delay!

So in that case you should have a look at Getting started with Nordic's Secure DFU bootloader, a step by step guide. This guide goes through all the steps required for performing DFU with your own set of keys and with an example you build yourself.

You should find the application hex file in a build directory from the same folder as the project file (or somewhere very close in the file hierarchy.)

Regards,
Terje

RE: How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

dportz — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 18:45:08 GMT

Hi tesc,

Thank you very much for your reply. We're trying to make hex files that can be flashed to the nrf board, just like the hex file (test images) you provide in the SDK. Since it is a secure dfu, we cannot use the example images because they would not contain our public key that corresponds to the private key that we will be inserting in the software packages that will be pushed out for the OTA DFU.

Alternatively, if you could provide instructions on modifying your example images to use our key, that would be great!

As for my understanding of the examples, I have successfully flashed the board with not only the test images (and verified that they are able to perform DFUs), but I have also built and programmed the dfu/secure_bootloader project in SES (and verified that it is able to perform DFUs). The problem is that we are unable to:

-Adapt the project in SES to the Arduino IDE

-Modify the prebuilt DFU images to use our key

-Make a DFU image like the prebuilt BUT containing our key

All we need to do is get one of the above three items working.

Thank you for your help!

David

RE: How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

tesc — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 16:58:57 GMT

Hi,

Have you had a look at the DFU bootloader examples, and went through the DFU process manually and gotten a solid understanding of the steps involved? It is not 100 % clear to me what you are trying to set up, but you should be able to do almost anything using "User Build Step" options in SES.

There are two types of files in the secure_dfu_test_images folder. The .zip files are DFU packages, while the .hex files are various combinations of SoftDevices, setting pages, DFU bootloaders and applications. Note that in the DFU packages, SoftDevice, bootloader and application are separate parts (not merged into one hex file). Generating a DFU package for updating both bootloader and SoftDevice is done by providing two hex files to nrfutil.

The example packages contains only one type of update, either bootloader, SoftDevice, or application. Combinations are possible, but then the package contains multiple images.

Regards,
Terje

RE: How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

awneil — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 20:00:37 GMT

You asked how to down load a hex file.

But doing DFU is different.

You need the bootloader, and the files have to be specially prepared.

RE: How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

dportz — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 19:51:38 GMT

Dear awneil,

I really appreciate your help, but I just said that programming it did not work.

I used the (SES Target>Download File>Intel Hex) command. I used the hex file created as documented. It still does not work.

RE: How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

awneil — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 19:43:29 GMT

[quote userid="81073" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/49070/how-do-i-create-a-firmware-software-hex-file/195756"]is there a way to program the merged hex file[/quote]

Yes - you just tell the tool the file, and program it!

The Intel Hex format includes all the necessary address information - that is the point of it!

RE: How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

dportz — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 18:35:00 GMT

Hi awneil,

I have now been able to merge the two files! You were right- SES does output a .hex version of the executable in the same folder as the .elf. My mistake was that I thought that it was somehow the softdevice.

I was able to run the mergehex command and generated the merged hex file with the executable and the softdevice. I chose to do this to the dfu ble project. I uploaded the merged hex file to the device (SES Target>Download File>Intel Hex) and when complete, it appears on the list of bluetooth devices. I can then connect to it, but I cannot perform the dfu OTA, as it simply rejects the zipped, certified package (connects, tries to send, then disconnects).

My question is: how can I program this merged hex file to the board with the SES tool (SES Target>Download File>Intel Hex)? I see the SES project does have a memory map file, and am unsure as to how the IDE could possibly know how to program the hardware without this file incorporated into the merged hex. I also looked at the size of the hex file, in comparison to the available flash size, and found that the hex file (400KB) should be overflowing both the SoftDevice partition and the Application partition...

Essentially, is there a way to program the merged hex file?

Thanks,

David

RE: How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

awneil — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 14:27:06 GMT

So convert the ELF to hex first.

SES does that by default.

RE: How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

dportz — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 14:20:30 GMT

Hi awneil, thank you for the hyper-fast reply!

I've looked into mergehex a bit, but it appears that it only merges hex files. We need to merge the .hex (soft device) with the .elf (software). Is this possible with mergehex?

David

RE: How do I create a firmware + software hex file?

awneil — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 13:35:18 GMT

https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/ug_nrf5x_cltools/UG/cltools/nrf5x_command_line_tools_lpage.html