Controlling GPIO within nrfjprog

[Jon]

Hello,

I have a product with QSPI flash that I would like to use nrfjprog to program the flash part. However, the QSPI flash's VCC is controlled (via a FET) from a GPIO line. I am looking for a way to have nrfjprog enable the GPIO line before attempting to access the QSPI flash (so that the flash is powered up). Is there a way from qspiinit.ini to do this?

Thanks,

Jon

[Vidar Berg]

Hello Jon,

Unfortunately, nrfjprog currently does not have a setting to let you define the IO state for a particular GPIO during QSPI programming. I will make a feature request for it internally. In the meantime, maybe you can use pynrfjprog instead. Here is an example script proposed by one of the developers:

from pynrfjprog import LowLevel
from pathlib import Path
import logging
# Uncomment to enable verbose log output
# logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
target_cp = LowLevel.CoProcessor.CP_APPLICATION
debugger_snr = 960158306 # Update with your snr here
hex_to_flash = Path('qspi_hex.hex')
if not hex_to_flash.exists():
    raise AssertionError(f"Selected hex {hex_to_flash} file does not exist")
with LowLevel.API("NRF53", log=True) as api:
    # Connect and halt target core
    print("Connect to target")
    api.connect_to_emu_with_snr(debugger_snr)
    api.enable_coprocessor(target_cp)
    api.select_coprocessor(target_cp)
    api.connect_to_device()
    api.halt()
    # Disable MPU/SPU if enabled. Behaviour is device spesific.
    # For nRF53 it will issue a system reset w/halt
    print("Disable bprot")
    api.disable_bprot()
    
    # Example set GPIO P0.31 low (will light up LED4 on nRF53 DK)
    # Refer to device datasheet for addresses and values
    print("Set pin low")
    pin = 31
    gpio_base = 0x50842500
    gpio_dirset = gpio_base + 0x018
    gpio_outclr = gpio_base + 0x00C
    val = (1 << pin)
    api.write_u32(gpio_dirset, val, False)
    api.write_u32(gpio_outclr, val, False)
    # Enable qspi module
    api.qspi_init()
    
    # Do the programming yourself using QSPI functions
    addr = 0 # Address 0 is start of QSPI 
    data_len = 100
    data = list(range(0, data_len)) # data = [0,1,2,3 ... , 99]
    api.qspi_erase(addr, LowLevel.QSPIEraseLen.ERASE4KB) # Erase first page
    api.qspi_write(addr, data) # Write data
    # Read and verify
    device_data = api.qspi_read(addr, data_len) 
    assert data == list(device_data)
    # Optionally reset programmed device
    print("Applying pin reset")
    api.pin_reset()
    print("Done")

Optionally you can try to use the program_file function. But we do not guarantee that there will not be a reset during programming (which will result in the GPIO being reset

from pynrfjprog import LowLevel
from pathlib import Path
import logging
# Uncomment to enable verbose log output
# logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
target_cp = LowLevel.CoProcessor.CP_APPLICATION
debugger_snr = 960158306 # Update with your snr here
hex_to_flash = Path('qspi_hex.hex')
if not hex_to_flash.exists():
    raise AssertionError(f"Selected hex {hex_to_flash} file does not exist")
with LowLevel.API("NRF53", log=True) as api:
    # Connect and halt target core
    print("Connect to target")
    api.connect_to_emu_with_snr(debugger_snr)
    api.enable_coprocessor(target_cp)
    api.select_coprocessor(target_cp)
    api.connect_to_device()
    api.halt()
    # Disable MPU/SPU if enabled. Behaviour is device spesific.
    # For nRF53 it will issue a system reset w/halt
    print("Disable bprot")
    api.disable_bprot()
    
    # Example set GPIO P0.31 low (will light up LED4 on nRF53 DK)
    # Refer to device datasheet for addresses and values
    print("Set pin low")
    pin = 31
    gpio_base = 0x50842500
    gpio_dirset = gpio_base + 0x018
    gpio_outclr = gpio_base + 0x00C
    val = (1 << pin)
    api.write_u32(gpio_dirset, val, False)
    api.write_u32(gpio_outclr, val, False)
    # Program your hex file
    print("Programming device")
    api.erase_file(hex_to_flash) # Optional: erase memory before writing
    api.program_file(hex_to_flash)
    api.verify_file(hex_to_flash) # Optional: verify after write
    # Optionally reset programmed device
    print("Applying pin reset")
    api.pin_reset()
    print("done")

Best regards,

Vidar