Storing to flash storage

RE: Storing to flash storage

SpencerEtn — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 14:37:04 GMT

Sure, no problem. I will follow up on the other question when I go through the other post. Thanks Sigurd!

Best,

Spencer

RE: Storing to flash storage

Sigurd Hellesvik — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 13:19:39 GMT

Hi Spencer,

This post is about adding new, custom data to flash.
Questions 2 and 3 is about how BLE Mesh handles existing settings.

In the interest of keeping this tidy, could you make a new post for question 2 and 3?
When you do, please add information on your mesh model configuration of the application in the post.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

RE: Storing to flash storage

Sigurd Hellesvik — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 12:10:11 GMT

Hi Spencer,

NVS and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Settings will use the same Storage area when handled by the device tree.

The other alternative to managing flash is using the Partition Manager.

For discussion on how to use NVS and Bluetooth LE Settings at the same time, along with a solution, see This post.

Does the post I linked have the solution you needed?

I will answer question 2 and 3 in another answer shortly.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

RE: Storing to flash storage

SpencerEtn — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 18:12:34 GMT

Hi Sigurd,

Sorry for the late response; I was out of office, but I was able to build and use the NVS sample you linked after linking the nvs files to my project. Going forward with nvs and flash, my colleagues have some additional queries related to them.

We are able to read and write bytes using the nvs functions, but we have noticed that after bluetooth provisioning the same area we are writing to with the nvs functions are being overwritten by the configuration data. If we direct the nvs writes to a particular location where the ble stack is not writing to, will this be fine? (creating a new flash area in linker script).

We had compiled a couple questions regarding the flash storage and nvs functionality. If this is too long for this thread or would be better suited in a new thread please feel free to let me know!

1. How do we control the address to be written and what is the recommended location to be used for nvs functions?

We see the storage variable being used in the flash_area_offset() function so we are thinking we need to add variable in the linker script similarly to that, but we are not too sure.

2. After provisioning and sending control commands such as like the on/off generic light, etc. we have observed that data is continuously being written to flash one after another. We are wondering if it is really necessary to write this sort of information to flash?

We observed in the gatt.c; an example function is db_hash_store() that will write to the flash memory.

3. Similarly related to the second question, the RPL (replay messages) related information is being written to memory. Can we allocate some max memory for replay messages and what is the default value for size of these messages?

We found that in settings.c the bt_mesh_rpl_pending_store() function was writing RPL stuff but we didn't necessarily want to store so much information in the flash related to replay messages.

Best Regards,

Spencer

RE: Storing to flash storage

Sigurd Hellesvik — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 12:29:05 GMT

Hi Spencer

[quote user="SpencerEtn"]I thought I posted an update but I guess it didn't post. I figured out the error with the undefined references were because the nvs.h file was not linked to any nvs.c file in the zephyr library. [/quote]

This seems wierd.

Are you able to build and run the NVS sample I linked to earlier?
Cause if you are Zephyr should be able to handle the NVS functionality.

I am able to build this sample, without modifying any libraries.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

RE: Storing to flash storage

SpencerEtn — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 12:14:12 GMT

Hey Sigurd,

I thought I posted an update but I guess it didn't post. I figured out the error with the undefined references were because the nvs.h file was not linked to any nvs.c file in the zephyr library. The issue I have now is when adding the nvs.c file to be part of the libzephyr.a project it's not able to read the other library files like <driver/flash.h>. I've looked at the CMakeLists but didn't find anything there. I know this is not so much Nordic related but do you know how to add to the library correctly?

Thanks,

Spencer

RE: Storing to flash storage

Sigurd Hellesvik — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 08:56:17 GMT

Hi Spencer

At this point, I would be better able to help you if I could try to run the code myself.
Are you able to make a smallest possible sample to replicate the problem, then upload it as a zip to this site?

If do not want it to be public, I could make the case private; Let me know if I should.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

RE: Storing to flash storage

SpencerEtn — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 17:06:28 GMT

Hi Sigurd,

Sorry I don't know how I missed that.. I have updated my prj.conf file to add all the other missing config flags as the sample project. Unfortunately I am still getting the same error... I appreciate all your help thus far!

Regards,

Spencer

RE: Storing to flash storage

Sigurd Hellesvik — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:55:09 GMT

Hi Spencer

To use NVS, you need to configure for this.

I advise you to compare the prj.conf and your project and the NVS sample I linked previously to find what configuration works best for you project.
But the specific error you get is probably due to missing:

CONFIG_NVS=y

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

RE: Storing to flash storage

SpencerEtn — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:22:11 GMT

Hi Sigurd,

Yes I did find it. I'll post the general configuration settings inside.

CONFIG_NCS_SAMPLES_DEFAULTS=y

# General configuration
CONFIG_SYSTEM_WORKQUEUE_STACK_SIZE=2048
CONFIG_FLASH=y
CONFIG_FLASH_MAP=y
CONFIG_FCB=y
CONFIG_SETTINGS=y
CONFIG_HWINFO=y
CONFIG_LOG=y
CONFIG_LOG_PRINTK=y

CONFIG_DK_LIBRARY=y
CONFIG_BT_MESH_DK_PROV=y

CONFIG_PWM=y

Thanks,

Spencer

RE: Storing to flash storage

Sigurd Hellesvik — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:15:50 GMT

Hi Spencer,

nRF Connect SDK projects are set up in a specific way. See the Zephyr Hello World sample for how it looks:

Your main file will be located in a "src/" folder. The prj.conf I refer to is the file located in the same folder as "src".

To learn more about the basics of nRF Connect SDK, see the nRF Connect SDK Tutorial series.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

RE: Storing to flash storage

SpencerEtn — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 13:39:29 GMT

Which one? My system finds a bunch when I type it in. Anything in particular I should be looking for inside of it?

RE: Storing to flash storage

Sigurd Hellesvik — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 09:56:37 GMT

Hi Spencer

How does your prj.conf look?

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

RE: Storing to flash storage

SpencerEtn — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 16:02:26 GMT

Hi,

I'm using Segger Embedded Studio. Sure, here is the error log. It's quite long so if you want anything more specific let me know! Thanks.

app/libapp.a(NVSAbstraction.o): in function `NVSAbstraction::testing()':
undefined reference to `nvs_init'
c:/users/e0645950/documents/otherbranches/champ2_central_uc_fw/nordicsdk/nrf_connect_sdk/v1.5.1/toolchain/opt/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\E0645950\Documents\OtherBranches\champ2_central_uc_fw\NordicSDK\NRF_Connect_SDK\nrfConnectprj\champ_light_build_nrf52833/../../../../CHAMPSourceCode/PIC_SDK_AbstractionLayer/HardwareAbstraction/NVSAbstraction.cpp:92: undefined reference to `nvs_read'
c:/users/e0645950/documents/otherbranches/champ2_central_uc_fw/nordicsdk/nrf_connect_sdk/v1.5.1/toolchain/opt/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\E0645950\Documents\OtherBranches\champ2_central_uc_fw\NordicSDK\NRF_Connect_SDK\nrfConnectprj\champ_light_build_nrf52833/../../../../CHAMPSourceCode/PIC_SDK_AbstractionLayer/HardwareAbstraction/NVSAbstraction.cpp:100: undefined reference to `nvs_write'
c:/users/e0645950/documents/otherbranches/champ2_central_uc_fw/nordicsdk/nrf_connect_sdk/v1.5.1/toolchain/opt/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\E0645950\Documents\OtherBranches\champ2_central_uc_fw\NordicSDK\NRF_Connect_SDK\nrfConnectprj\champ_light_build_nrf52833/../../../../CHAMPSourceCode/PIC_SDK_AbstractionLayer/HardwareAbstraction/NVSAbstraction.cpp:104: undefined reference to `nvs_read'
c:/users/e0645950/documents/otherbranches/champ2_central_uc_fw/nordicsdk/nrf_connect_sdk/v1.5.1/toolchain/opt/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\E0645950\Documents\OtherBranches\champ2_central_uc_fw\NordicSDK\NRF_Connect_SDK\nrfConnectprj\champ_light_build_nrf52833/../../../../CHAMPSourceCode/PIC_SDK_AbstractionLayer/HardwareAbstraction/NVSAbstraction.cpp:106: undefined reference to `nvs_write'
c:/users/e0645950/documents/otherbranches/champ2_central_uc_fw/nordicsdk/nrf_connect_sdk/v1.5.1/toolchain/opt/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\E0645950\Documents\OtherBranches\champ2_central_uc_fw\NordicSDK\NRF_Connect_SDK\nrfConnectprj\champ_light_build_nrf52833/../../../../CHAMPSourceCode/PIC_SDK_AbstractionLayer/HardwareAbstraction/NVSAbstraction.cpp:116: undefined reference to `nvs_read_hist'
c:/users/e0645950/documents/otherbranches/champ2_central_uc_fw/nordicsdk/nrf_connect_sdk/v1.5.1/toolchain/opt/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\E0645950\Documents\OtherBranches\champ2_central_uc_fw\NordicSDK\NRF_Connect_SDK\nrfConnectprj\champ_light_build_nrf52833/../../../../CHAMPSourceCode/PIC_SDK_AbstractionLayer/HardwareAbstraction/NVSAbstraction.cpp:126: undefined reference to `nvs_write'
c:/users/e0645950/documents/otherbranches/champ2_central_uc_fw/nordicsdk/nrf_connect_sdk/v1.5.1/toolchain/opt/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/../../../../arm-none-eabi/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\E0645950\Documents\OtherBranches\champ2_central_uc_fw\NordicSDK\NRF_Connect_SDK\nrfConnectprj\champ_light_build_nrf52833/../../../../CHAMPSourceCode/PIC_SDK_AbstractionLayer/HardwareAbstraction/NVSAbstraction.cpp:135: undefined reference to `nvs_write'
ld returned 1 exit status
Build failed

*edited to make shorter

RE: Storing to flash storage

Sigurd Hellesvik — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 15:00:51 GMT

Hi Spencer,

Which tool are you using to build your project?

Could you post the full error log?

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

RE: Storing to flash storage

SpencerEtn — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 12:50:23 GMT

Hi Sigurd,

I saw the example and document and it does look like that's a step in the right direction. However, when trying to implement it in my code I get an error saying "undefined reference to xxx" where xxx are the different nvs functions like nvs_init, nvs_read, etc. But for some reason, I only get this error when I'm trying to rebuild the solution; I can compile the file I have with the nvs functions by itself and it will compile. I'm not sure why I would be getting undefined references then... any advice?

Thanks,

Spencer

RE: Storing to flash storage

Sigurd Hellesvik — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 14:52:49 GMT

Is the Non-Volatile Storage Driver what you are looking for?
For an example, see NVS: Non-Volatile Storage sample.

There might be some complications when the Bluetooth driver and NVS tries to use flash at the same time, but it should be possible to solve this. See this case for a case where this happened.

If you face any problems with your implementation, let me know, and I will try to help.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

RE: Storing to flash storage

SpencerEtn — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 14:11:13 GMT

Hi Sigurd,

Yes, we want to be able to store specific device information and sensor readings to flash storage if possible.

RE: Storing to flash storage

Sigurd Hellesvik — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 12:09:02 GMT

Hi Spencer

Just to clarify:

Do you want to store data not related to the Bluetooth to flash storage?

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik