nRF52840 with SDK v17 - Application CRC check in secure bootloader always fails

RE: nRF52840 with SDK v17 - Application CRC check in secure bootloader always fails

PriyeshN — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 13:43:14 GMT

Thanks Hung,

I tried with 10.11.1 version of mergehex and now it works. Although, the read file (from nrfConnect programmer) and the merged hex still do not match (too many differences), but the functionality is working i.e. CRC check in bootloader is passing and code flow is now starting the application.

I agree with the comments from other members Farhang & droberson on below post:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/69940/nrf52840---problems-merging-and-flashing-secure_bootloader_uart_mbr_pca10056-and-ble_app_uart_pca10056_s140/286885

to have a warning flag against the new mergehex versions. Or a better suggestion would be to either resolve the bug and update mergehex or simply remove the buggy files from release section. This is simply wasting time of developers analyzing, debugging the issue before they post here as last retort.

Convey my thanks to Vidar Berg

RE: nRF52840 with SDK v17 - Application CRC check in secure bootloader always fails

Hung Bui — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 12:00:15 GMT

Please try to test with older version of mergehex as suggested by Vidar.
The flash dump after you flash 4 files separatedly and the flash dump after you flashed the merged hex file should be the same.

RE: nRF52840 with SDK v17 - Application CRC check in secure bootloader always fails

PriyeshN — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 09:12:36 GMT

Hi Hung,

I use the mergehex to merge different hex files only and not to generate DFU package. DFU package is generated using nrfutil.

Regards,

Priyesh

RE: nRF52840 with SDK v17 - Application CRC check in secure bootloader always fails

Hung Bui — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 09:09:01 GMT

Hi Priyesh,

I assume you only use mergehex for programming the device via SWD (programmer) interface not for generating the .zip file to do DFU ?
There is a chance that it's an issue with the mergehex file. Please have a look at this case: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/69987/latest-mergehex-output-fails-to-be-programmed-mergehex-9-8-1-produces-different-hex-than-10-12-1
You may need to use older version of mergehex.

RE: nRF52840 with SDK v17 - Application CRC check in secure bootloader always fails

PriyeshN — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 07:52:58 GMT

Hi Torbjørn,

I was in impression that mergehex got installed along with nrfutil as I never explicitly installed/used mergehex. Also, I followed the instructions on Nordic page for the usage of mergehex for merging the hex files:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/nordic/short-range-guides/b/software-development-kit/posts/getting-started-with-nordics-secure-dfu-bootloader#h61sjziauupw1j397q9s9ldr01q4j6d5

Appendix - Bullet 1 - "Combine application, bootloader and softdevice image - Bootloader setting"

On the link you shared for nrfutil, I don't see any help for merging the hex using nrfutil. Can you please help me in merging hex using nrfutill.

Thanks,

Regards,

Priyesh

RE: nRF52840 with SDK v17 - Application CRC check in secure bootloader always fails

ovrebekk — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 07:26:50 GMT

Hi Priyesh

My bad, talking to one of the DFU experts I realized mergehex is not supposed to be used for DFU purposes.

Instead you should use the nrfutil tool.

mergehex is only intended for use with nrfjprog, to allow you to program both application and SoftDevice in a single operation.

Best regards
Torbjørn

RE: nRF52840 with SDK v17 - Application CRC check in secure bootloader always fails

PriyeshN — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 12:13:52 GMT

Hi Torbjørn,

I do see some differences between two hex files, 10 hex records to be exact. Rest file matches entirely. The records are distributed throughout and not contiguous and neither bunched at the file boundary.

Regards,

Priyesh

RE: nRF52840 with SDK v17 - Application CRC check in secure bootloader always fails

ovrebekk — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 11:49:40 GMT

Hi Priyesh

Very interesting, thanks for sharing your results.

Did you try to compare the resulting hex files you got from mergehex and srec_cat.exe respectively, to see if there are any big differences?

Best regards
Torbjørn

RE: nRF52840 with SDK v17 - Application CRC check in secure bootloader always fails

PriyeshN — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 07:30:12 GMT

Hi Torbjørn,

Thanks for looking into this.

Yes, your expectation is correct. I did compare the two hex files and the application hex is smaller as the debug information is stripped.

I have an update for you on this. I was working on this yesterday and I tried by flashing all the 4 hex files separately (I prefer Jflash-lite) and surprisingly, it worked. :)

As my curiosity increased, I then doubted the mergehex utility. So, I went ahead and tried the ARM suggested srec_cat.exe utility to merge the hex files, and yes, this is also working.

I have updated my post-script files to use srec_cat utility for now, but, still don't know why there is such behavior.

Regards,

Priyesh

RE: nRF52840 with SDK v17 - Application CRC check in secure bootloader always fails

ovrebekk — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 07:21:14 GMT

Hi Priyesh

I assume you did the same exercise of merging the hex files after you optimized the release configuration?

Have you tried to compare the two hex files and see if there are any big differences?

Based on your comments I believe the only result should be that the application part is smaller, since there is no debug information and log functionality, or are there other changes?

Best regards
Torbjørn