Zephyr/mcuboot QSPI driver buffer alignment

[Stephan Walter]

We ran into an issue when trying to use mcuboot on nRF53 with an external QSPI flash.

In hal_nordic/nrfx/drivers/src/nrfx_qspi.c, the function nrfx_qspi_write has the following check:

if (!nrfx_is_in_ram(p_tx_buffer) || !nrfx_is_word_aligned(p_tx_buffer))

But in sdk-zephyr/drivers/flash/nrf_qspi_nor.c, the function qspi_nor_write has this check:

} else if (!nrfx_is_in_ram(src)) {

If qspi_nor_write is called with a non-aligned buffer, nrfx_qspi_write will be called directly, which will fail.

This has happened for us with mcuboot, specifically in the function boot_copy_region in mcuboot/boot/bootutil/src/loader.c

I can't tell where this should best be fixed, and Issues are deactivated on Github, so I'll report it here.

Possibly mcuboot could be modified to have proper alignment.

[Simon]

Would you be able to make a pull request: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/57409/process-for-contributing-to-nrf-connect-sdk?

If not, please tell me and I'll do it/make an internal ticket.

Best regards,

Simon

[Stephan Walter]

Hi Simon,
I don't know what the proper fix for the alignment would be, the CMakeLists addition is just a hack in my view. I also have not looked into mcuboot thourougly to be able to fix the issue with reading the secondary slot.

Best regards,

--Stephan Walter

[Simon]

I created an internal ticket. I'll keep you updated.

Best regards,

Simon

[jm_laird]

Hi Simon,

Has this issue been fixed now?

Thanks,
Jamie

[Simon]

I got in contact with someone internally that will look into this. I'll keep you updated.

Best regards,

Simon