section '.init' will not fit in region 'UNPLACED_SECTIONS' and region 'UNPLACED_SECTIONS' overflowed by 76048 bytes

[thoric_fish]

I am trying to transition my Nordic SDK v12 project from Keil to Segger Embedded studio. I followed the tutorial steps such as placing ses_nrf_51_startup.s file in Internal Files of the SES project.I downloaded the Section Placement XML from Nordic. I then switched the project linker to GNU and imported the XML into the Section Placement of the project. The XML file is below. But when I try building the code I get many errors. The first errors I get is: section '.init' will not fit in region 'UNPLACED_SECTIONS' and region 'UNPLACED_SECTIONS' overflowed by 76048 bytes. I searched online and some Devzone posts also say to import the thumb_crt0.s file from the SES folder into the SES project. I tried that and added the thumb_crt0.s file to the project's Internal Files section, but this did not fix the issue either.

How should I fix the issue? I also attached my code with the Keil and Segger project files in a zip file for reference below.

!DOCTYPE Linker_Placement_File>
<Root name="Flash Section Placement">
  <MemorySegment name="$(FLASH_NAME:FLASH)">
    <ProgramSection alignment="0x100" load="Yes" name=".vectors" start="$(FLASH_START:)" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" name=".init" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" name=".init_rodata" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" name=".text" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" name=".dtors" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" name=".ctors" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" name=".rodata" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" name=".ARM.exidx" address_symbol="__exidx_start" end_symbol="__exidx_end" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" runin=".fast_run" name=".fast" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" runin=".data_run" name=".data" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" runin=".tdata_run" name=".tdata" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" keep="Yes" load="Yes" runin=".fs_data_run" name=".fs_data" />
  </MemorySegment>
  <MemorySegment name="$(RAM_NAME:RAM);SRAM">
    <ProgramSection alignment="0x100" load="No" name=".vectors_ram" start="$(RAM_START:$(SRAM_START:))" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="No" name=".fast_run" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="No" name=".data_run" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="No" name=".tdata_run" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="No" keep="Yes" name=".fs_data_run" address_symbol="__start_fs_data" end_symbol="__stop_fs_data" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="No" name=".bss" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="No" name=".tbss" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="No" name=".non_init" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" size="__HEAPSIZE__" load="No" name=".heap" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="8" size="__STACKSIZE__" load="No" place_from_segment_end="Yes" name=".stack" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="8" size="__STACKSIZE_PROCESS__" load="No" name=".stack_process" />
  </MemorySegment>
  <MemorySegment name="$(FLASH2_NAME:FLASH2)">
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" name=".text2" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" name=".rodata2" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="Yes" runin=".data2_run" name=".data2" />
  </MemorySegment>
  <MemorySegment name="$(RAM2_NAME:RAM2)">
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="No" name=".data2_run" />
    <ProgramSection alignment="4" load="No" name=".bss2" />
  </MemorySegment>
</Root>

keil_segger.zip

[Vidar Berg]

Hi,

I ported ble_app_hrs in SDK 12.3.0 to SES at a while ago. Maybe you can use it to compare against, it's attached below. Note: I didn't follow the tutorial, but tried to copy the way SES nRF52 projects are set up in SDK 15.

nRF5_SDK_12.3.0_SES_51_example.zip

[thoric_fish]

Hi Vidar,

Is there also a way to port the example to SDK 12.1? 

[Vidar Berg]

Hi,

Did you try to debug the original project I sent you? It has logging over RTT enabled by default, so log messages should get displayed in the debug terminal. Output when I run the sample on a 51 DK here:

[thoric_fish]

Hi Vidar,

We tried debugging the original SES example you sent over, but we get no output in the debug terminal when we try running & debugging the example code. We attached a screenshot of the debug terminal. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you!

We are also not sure what values we should place in the Section Placement Macros field for the Debug configuration? Should we just copy the FLASH_START and SRAM_START values from the Keil project of ble_app_hrs SDK v12.3? 

Or should only the Section Placement Macros for the Common configuration be filled?

[Vidar Berg]

Can you pause the debugger before taking the screenshot? I would like to see the register and disassembly view.

thoric_fish said:

Or should only the Section Placement Macros for the Common configuration be filled?

 Yes, unless you need to use different linker settings for debug builds.

[thoric_fish]

Hi we paused the debugger and took a screenshot. But we were not sure if there is an exact time we should pause the debugger?

[Vidar Berg]

I would expect the program to get stuck somewhere if you're not reaching main(). Let it run for a few seconds and check if it always ends up at the same address. Also, try to determine if it may be going in a reset loop. 

[thoric_fish]

Hi Vidar,

We are still trying to figure this out and will post an update soon. Is there a version of this SES example we can run on a PCA10040 or PCA10056 NRF52 DK board to make sure the problem is not with the hardware?

[Vidar Berg]

Hi,

I haven't ported it the nRF52, but you can try to program the hex file below using nrfjprog and see if it works. It's compiled from the original project I sent you. 

nrfjprog --program ble_app_hrs_w_s130.hex --chiperase --reset

ble_app_hrs_w_s130_ses.hex

[thoric_fish]

Hi Vidar,

Which debugger should I use after I program the hex file into the nRF52? 

[Vidar Berg]

You can program it to your nRF51 and see if it starts advertising as "Nordic HRM". Are you testing this on a Nordic nRF51 DK?

[thoric_fish]

Hi Vidar,

We were able to successfully program the hex file into the nRF51 and the Bluetooth advertising was successful. However, we are still unable to program the nRF51 DK using Segger Embedded Studio.

We reran the debugger again and it keeps ending up at the same address 0x00000596. We searched other Devzone posts and found this post: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/16623/ble_app_uart_s110_pca10028-can-t-run

Bjorn said: "0x00000596 is the Master Boot Record(MBR), so I suspect that you have not flashed the SoftDevice correctly." But we checked the NRF51 DK and it shows the S130 SoftDevice is in the DK board memory. So we are confused as to why the debugger is running into this issue.