MCU boot with external Flash littles partition and Secondary image partition

RE: MCU boot with external Flash littles partition and Secondary image partition

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 13:30:32 GMT

Hi,

Your setup doesn't seem to catch the littlefs partition.

I took your former example, and edited it. It does seem to successfully register littlefs in pm, as well as the external flash region:

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../2021_5F00_04_5F00_13_5F00_app_5F00_program_5F00_nordic.zip

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: MCU boot with external Flash littles partition and Secondary image partition

Waqas Qammar — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 12:39:26 GMT

yes I did multiple times and I physically checked this file there is no ID. but I not down one thing while doing configuration. this log message is appeared.

Dropping partition 'littlefs_storage' since it is statically defined.
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to

and I can see there is nothing in the build.pm.config

PM_MCUBOOT_ADDRESS=0x0
PM_MCUBOOT_SIZE=0xc000
PM_MCUBOOT_NAME=mcuboot
PM_MCUBOOT_ID=0
PM_mcuboot_ID=PM_MCUBOOT_ID
PM_0_LABEL=MCUBOOT
PM_EMPTY_0_ADDRESS=0xc000
PM_EMPTY_0_SIZE=0x4000
PM_EMPTY_0_NAME=EMPTY_0
PM_EMPTY_0_ID=1
PM_empty_0_ID=PM_EMPTY_0_ID
PM_1_LABEL=EMPTY_0
PM_MCUBOOT_PAD_ADDRESS=0x10000
PM_MCUBOOT_PAD_SIZE=0x200
PM_MCUBOOT_PAD_NAME=mcuboot_pad
PM_MCUBOOT_PAD_ID=2
PM_mcuboot_pad_ID=PM_MCUBOOT_PAD_ID
PM_2_LABEL=MCUBOOT_PAD
PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_ADDRESS=0x10000
PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_SIZE=0x78000
PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_NAME=mcuboot_primary
PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_ID=3
PM_mcuboot_primary_ID=PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_ID
PM_3_LABEL=MCUBOOT_PRIMARY
PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_SPAN="mcuboot_pad app spm"
PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_APP_ADDRESS=0x10200
PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_APP_SIZE=0x77e00
PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_APP_NAME=mcuboot_primary_app
PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_APP_ID=4
PM_mcuboot_primary_app_ID=PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_APP_ID
PM_4_LABEL=MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_APP
PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_APP_SPAN="app spm"
PM_SPM_ADDRESS=0x10200
PM_SPM_SIZE=0xc000
PM_SPM_NAME=spm
PM_SPM_ID=5
PM_spm_ID=PM_SPM_ID
PM_5_LABEL=SPM
PM_APP_ADDRESS=0x1c200
PM_APP_SIZE=0x6be00
PM_APP_NAME=app
PM_APP_ID=6
PM_app_ID=PM_APP_ID
PM_6_LABEL=APP
PM_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY_ADDRESS=0x88000
PM_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY_SIZE=0x78000
PM_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY_NAME=mcuboot_secondary
PM_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY_ID=7
PM_mcuboot_secondary_ID=PM_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY_ID
PM_7_LABEL=MCUBOOT_SECONDARY
PM_OTP_ADDRESS=0xff8108
PM_OTP_SIZE=0x2f4
PM_OTP_NAME=otp
PM_SPM_SRAM_ADDRESS=0x20000000
PM_SPM_SRAM_SIZE=0x10000
PM_SPM_SRAM_NAME=spm_sram
PM_SRAM_SECURE_ADDRESS=0x20000000
PM_SRAM_SECURE_SIZE=0x10000
PM_SRAM_SECURE_NAME=sram_secure
PM_SRAM_SECURE_SPAN="spm_sram"
PM_SRAM_PRIMARY_ADDRESS=0x20010000
PM_SRAM_PRIMARY_SIZE=0x30000
PM_SRAM_PRIMARY_NAME=sram_primary
PM_NUM=8
PM_ALL_BY_SIZE="mcuboot_pad otp EMPTY_0 mcuboot spm spm_sram sram_secure sram_primary app mcuboot_primary_app mcuboot_secondary mcuboot_primary"

RE: MCU boot with external Flash littles partition and Secondary image partition

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 10:49:19 GMT

Hi,

I cannot see anything wrong with your setup. The symbol you are failing on shall be defined in your-build-folder/pm.config (values might differ from your config, but the defines should be in this file):

$ cat pm.config | grep little -i
PM_LITTLEFS_STORAGE_ADDRESS=0x0
PM_LITTLEFS_STORAGE_END_ADDRESS=0x6000
PM_LITTLEFS_STORAGE_SIZE=0x6000
PM_LITTLEFS_STORAGE_NAME=littlefs_storage
PM_LITTLEFS_STORAGE_ID=0
PM_littlefs_storage_ID=PM_LITTLEFS_STORAGE_ID
PM_littlefs_storage_IS_ENABLED=1
PM_0_LABEL=LITTLEFS_STORAGE
PM_ALL_BY_SIZE="external_flash mcuboot_pad otp EMPTY_0 littlefs_storage mcuboot spm spm_sram sram_secure sram_primary sram_nonsecure mcuboot_secondary app mcuboot_primary_app mcuboot_primary"

When changing anything in the partition scheme, I would strongly recommend that you delete your build folder, then regenerate your project. Could you try this?

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: MCU boot with external Flash littles partition and Secondary image partition

Waqas Qammar — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 07:48:17 GMT

Hi Håkon,

I have did the changes that you suggest of adding

external_flash:
address: 0x800000
region: external_flash
size: 0x0

in the partition file but still I am getting build errors. here is the screen shot of error and my code

This is my pm_static.yml

external_flash:
  address: 0x800000
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x0
  
littlefs_storage:
  address: 0x0
  device: mx25r6435f
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x800000

This is mcuboot.conf

# Nordic specific external flash stuff
CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH=y
CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEV_NAME="MX25R6435F"
CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_BASE=0x0
CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_SIZE=0x2000000

This is main file and the source of the error is line 27 which is that pm_littlefs_storage_ID not found.

/*
 * Copyright (c) 2012-2014 Wind River Systems, Inc.
 *
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 */

#include <zephyr.h>
#include <logging/log.h>
#include <drivers/uart.h>

#include <fs/fs.h>
#include <fs/littlefs.h>
#include <storage/flash_map.h>
#include "wmbus.h"

LOG_MODULE_REGISTER(app);


/* Matches LFS_NAME_MAX */
#define MAX_PATH_LEN 255

FS_LITTLEFS_DECLARE_DEFAULT_CONFIG(storage);
static struct fs_mount_t lfs_storage_mnt = {
		.type = FS_LITTLEFS,
		.fs_data = &storage,
		// .storage_dev = (void *)FLASH_AREA_ID(littlefs_storage),
		.storage_dev = (void *)FLASH_AREA_ID(storage),
		//.storage_dev = (void *)FLASH_AREA_ID,
		.mnt_point = "/lfs",
};

Here is the spm.conf

# Configuration copied from the nRF Secure Partition Manager (SPM) sample:
CONFIG_IS_SPM=y
CONFIG_FW_INFO=y
CONFIG_GPIO=n

# Make watchdog timers non-secure (so they can be used in the non-secure image).
# CONFIG_SPM_NRF_WDT_NS=y

Here is the cmakelist.txt

# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13.1)
if (EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/spm.conf")
  set(spm_CONF_FILE
    prj.conf
    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/spm.conf
  )
endif()

if (EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/mcuboot.conf")
    list(APPEND mcuboot_OVERLAY_CONFIG
      "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/mcuboot.conf"
      )
endif()

if (EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/boards/nrf9160dk_nrf9160ns.overlay")
  set(mcuboot_DTC_OVERLAY_FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/boards/nrf9160dk_nrf9160ns.overlay")
  set(spm_DTC_OVERLAY_FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/boards/nrf9160dk_nrf9160ns.overlay")
endif()
set(PM_STATIC_YML_FILE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/pm_static.yml)

find_package(Zephyr REQUIRED HINTS $ENV{ZEPHYR_BASE})

project(NB_IOT_MBUS_GW)

zephyr_include_directories(include)


target_sources(app PRIVATE src/main.c src/wmbus.c)

add_subdirectory(drivers)

Here is the overlay file

/ {
	chosen {
		zephyr,bt-uart=&uart0;
	};
};

&i2c2 {
    compatible = "nordic,nrf-twim";
    status = "okay";
    sda-pin = <26>;
    scl-pin = <27>;

    pcf85263a@51 {
        compatible = "nxp,pcf85263a";
        label = "PCF85063A";
        reg = <0x51>;
    };

};

&uart1 {
	status = "okay";
	current-speed = <9600>;
	tx-pin = <06>;
	rx-pin = <07>;
};


&spi3 {
	compatible = "nordic,nrf-spim";
	status = "okay";
	sck-pin = <13>;
	mosi-pin = <11>;
	miso-pin = <12>;
	cs-gpios = <&gpio0 25 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
	mx25r6435f: mx25r6435f@0 {
		compatible = "jedec,spi-nor";
		label = "MX25R6435F";
		reg = <0>;
		spi-max-frequency = <40000000>;
		wp-gpios = <&gpio0 8 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
		hold-gpios = <&gpio0 10 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
		jedec-id = [c2 28 17];
		size = <67108864>;
		has-dpd;
		t-enter-dpd = <10000>;
		t-exit-dpd = <35000>;
	};
};

RE: MCU boot with external Flash littles partition and Secondary image partition

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 07:21:49 GMT

Hi,

You need to define the "external_flash" region. Try adding this to the top of your pm_static.yml:

external_flash:
  address: 0x800000
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x0

In addition, you should add the similar configuration to your prj.conf:

CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH=y
CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEV_NAME="MX25R6435F"
CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_BASE=0x0
CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_SIZE=0x0800000

The project still didn't compile at my end, I needed to add the "include" folder to the project. This is done by adding this line to your CMakeLists.txt:

zephyr_include_directories(include)

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: MCU boot with external Flash littles partition and Secondary image partition

Waqas Qammar — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 12:19:24 GMT

Hi Håkon,

I have applied the above-suggested techniques but I was getting this error.

Firmware/ncs/bootloader/mcuboot/boot/zephyr/flash_map_extended.c: In function 'flash_area_id_from_multi_image_slot':
Firmware/ncs/bootloader/mcuboot/boot/zephyr/include/sysflash/sysflash.h:15:40: error: 'PM_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY_ID' undeclared (first use in this function); did you mean 'PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_ID'?
#define FLASH_AREA_IMAGE_SECONDARY(x) PM_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY_ID

Firmware/ncs/bootloader/mcuboot/boot/zephyr/flash_map_extended.c: In function 'flash_area_id_to_multi_image_slot':
Firmware/ncs/bootloader/mcuboot/boot/zephyr/include/sysflash/sysflash.h:15:40: error: 'PM_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY_ID' undeclared (first use in this function); did you mean 'PM_MCUBOOT_PRIMARY_ID'?
#define FLASH_AREA_IMAGE_SECONDARY(x) PM_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY_ID

Firmware/ncs/nrf/include/flash_map_pm.h:32:22: error: 'PM_external_flash_ID' undeclared here (not in a function)
#define PM_ID(label) PM_##label##_ID

I have used this method of defining littlefs storage and all are giving errors.

#include <fs/fs.h>
#include <fs/littlefs.h>
#include <storage/flash_map.h>

#if (CONFIG_SPI_NOR - 0) || DT_NODE_HAS_STATUS(DT_INST(0, jedec_spi_nor), okay)
#define FLASH_DEVICE DT_LABEL(DT_INST(0, jedec_spi_nor))
#define FLASH_NAME "JEDEC SPI-NOR"
#elif (CONFIG_NORDIC_QSPI_NOR - 0) || DT_NODE_HAS_STATUS(DT_INST(0, nordic_qspi_nor), okay)
#define FLASH_DEVICE DT_LABEL(DT_INST(0, nordic_qspi_nor))
#define FLASH_NAME "JEDEC QSPI-NOR"
#else
#error Unsupported flash driver
#endif

LOG_MODULE_REGISTER(app);

/* Matches LFS_NAME_MAX */
#define MAX_PATH_LEN 255

FS_LITTLEFS_DECLARE_DEFAULT_CONFIG(lfsstorage);
static struct fs_mount_t lfs_storage_mnt = {
		.type = FS_LITTLEFS,
		.fs_data = &lfsstorage,
		//.storage_dev = (void *)DT_FLASH_AREA_STORAGE_ID,
		//.storage_dev = (void *)FLASH_AREA_ID(storage),
		.storage_dev = (void *)FLASH_AREA_ID(external_flash),
		.mnt_point = "/lfs",
};

when I don't use pm_static.yml. and simple pm.yml and spm.conf These errors don't appear but I am stuck at a different location. While the program executes, I am unable to call the

err = uart_callback_set(uart, uart_callback, (void *)uart);
	__ASSERT(err == 0, "Failed to set callback");

and the program restarts. I think this is due to SPM attachment and some secure and non-secure regions. The program restarts every time. If you can help it would be highly appreciated.

I have attached the complete program for you

Complete program

RE: MCU boot with external Flash littles partition and Secondary image partition

Håkon Alseth — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 10:02:45 GMT

Hi,

[quote user="waqas_qammar"]

littlefs_storage:
address: 0xfa000
placement:
before:
- end
region: flash_primary
size: 0x6000

so clearly old storage_partition is not being deleted and littlefs is not poiting to the new storage_parttion that I have created in the external_flash in the overlay file above.

[/quote]

There's no logic that tells the "storage" to point to your external flash.

If you do not specify the storage of different partitions, you will end up with the default setup, which is that there's a external_flash partition, which is not populated and freely available to the application, not mcuboot or other partitions. If this is what you want, that is fine; but it seems you want to point mcuboot and lfs to your flash device? If that is so, you have to specify this using pm_static.yml.

[quote user="waqas_qammar"]2. HOw to create the partition in the same way as I have made for sotrage_parttion for secondary Image. I mean whats is the name of old partitions that I have to delete and what name should I made for new partitions such that it starts working with the new partition and both secondary image and LittleFs storage would point to new external flash partitions.[/quote]

You specify both lfs and mcuboot_secondary to point to your "external_flash" region in pm_static.yml, as described in my first post. They shall not overlap in terms of addresses.

[quote user="waqas_qammar"]As far as the pm_static.yml is concerned, I don't want to statically allocate at this time. I wanted to use an overlay file to create partitions region initially. the default partitions in the internal flash have also created this way as I saw the files of SDK and I have also seen examples online which use this method. but unfortunately, I am not successful in implementing that.[/quote]

As mentioned, you need to specify this. the partition manager will not assign a flash to given partitions unless you explicitly tell it to.

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: MCU boot with external Flash littles partition and Secondary image partition

Waqas Qammar — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 08:20:58 GMT

Hi Håkon,

Thanks for reaching out.

I was already including spm.conf file and was adding overlay and spm.conf in my cMakelists.txt but now I changed that and make the If conditions as you have mentioned above. I have tried the above solution of creating a mcuboot.conf file and copying the configurations (CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL...) to that file, after doing that and compiling, to my surprise the external flash was totally not included in the build/partition.yml. When I copied those configurations (CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL...) back from mcuboot.conf to prj.conf, the external flash section start appearing again in the build/partition.yml as you can see in my initial attachment. There are two problems.

1. The liilefs storage is pointing to the internal memory and to the same partition that I have deleted the node in overlay file and it is not pointing to external flash. so the external flash partition is not recognizing. Here is my overlay file.


/ {
	chosen {
		zephyr,bt-uart=&uart0;
	};
};

/delete-node/ &storage_partition;

&i2c2 {
    compatible = "nordic,nrf-twim";
    status = "okay";
    sda-pin = <26>;
    scl-pin = <27>;

    pcf85263a@51 {
        compatible = "nxp,pcf85263a";
        label = "PCF85063A";
        reg = <0x51>;
    };

};

&uart1 {
	status = "okay";
	current-speed = <9600>;
	tx-pin = <06>;
	rx-pin = <07>;
};


&spi3 {
	compatible = "nordic,nrf-spim";
	status = "okay";
	sck-pin = <13>;
	mosi-pin = <11>;
	miso-pin = <12>;
	cs-gpios = <&gpio0 25 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
	mx25r6435f: mx25r6435f@0 {
		compatible = "jedec,spi-nor";
		label = "MX25R6435F";
		reg = <0>;
		spi-max-frequency = <40000000>;
		wp-gpios = <&gpio0 8 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
		hold-gpios = <&gpio0 10 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
		jedec-id = [c2 28 14];
  		size = <0x0800000>; /* flash capacity in bits */
  		has-be32k;
  		has-dpd;
  		t-enter-dpd = <10000>;
  		t-exit-dpd = <35000>;
	};
};


&mx25r6435f {
 	partitions {
  		compatible = "fixed-partitions";
  		#address-cells = <1>;
  		#size-cells = <1>;
		storage_partition: partition@40000 {
   			label = "storage";
   			reg = <0x00040000 0x00020000>;
  		};
 	};
};

Here is the build/partition.yml section

littlefs_storage:
address: 0xfa000
placement:
before:
- end
region: flash_primary
size: 0x6000

so clearly old storage_partition is not being deleted and littlefs is not poiting to the new storage_parttion that I have created in the external_flash in the overlay file above.

2. HOw to create the partition in the same way as I have made for sotrage_parttion for secondary Image. I mean whats is the name of old partitions that I have to delete and what name should I made for new partitions such that it starts working with the new partition and both secondary image and LittleFs storage would point to new external flash partitions.

3. As far as the pm_static.yml is concerned, I don't want to statically allocate at this time. I wanted to use an overlay file to create partitions region initially. the default partitions in the internal flash have also created this way as I saw the files of SDK and I have also seen examples online which use this method. but unfortunately, I am not successful in implementing that.

RE: MCU boot with external Flash littles partition and Secondary image partition

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 15:20:11 GMT

Hi,

Do you want the mcuboot_secondary partition to be on your external flash?

I don't know how you have configured mcuboot, but this will also need to have a specific configuration that tells it that there's a external storage available.

First you need to alter your CMakeLists.txt file, to allow adding mcuboot specific configurations and overlay.

You can overload the configuration by adding this to the top of your CMakeLists.txt (just below the cmake_minimum_required()):

if (EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/spm.conf")
  set(spm_CONF_FILE
    prj.conf
    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/spm.conf
  )
endif()

if (EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/mcuboot.conf")
    list(APPEND mcuboot_OVERLAY_CONFIG
      "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/mcuboot.conf"
      )
endif()

if (EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${BOARD}.overlay")
  set(mcuboot_DTC_OVERLAY_FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${BOARD}.overlay")
  set(spm_DTC_OVERLAY_FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${BOARD}.overlay")
endif()

Now, you can create my_application/mcuboot.conf, which holds flash specific configurations (taken from your current configuration):

CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH=y
CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_DEV_NAME="MX25R6435F"
CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_BASE=0x0
CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_SIZE=0x0800000

The above is similar to how it is setup in the documentation:

https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/scripts/partition_manager/partition_manager.html#pm-external-flash

If you want to specify the mcuboot secondary slot to external flash, you need to adjust your my_application/build/partitions.yml and place this in the application folder as "pm_static.yml" (my_application/pm_static.yml).

This is covered more in detail in the documentation: https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/scripts/partition_manager/partition_manager.html#static-configuration

Here's an example on the secondary slot, pointed to your flash device:

mcuboot_secondary:
  address: 0x0
  device: mx25r6435f
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x800000

Kind regards,

Håkon