Help with SPI Flash sample and Info

Question

Hi 
 
 I would like to include some flash in my project to store sensor readings. Please can you assist me with the SPI Flash sample and with some general questions on SPI flash chip compatibility. 
 
 I have a nRF52840 DK and I am using Zephyr Version 2.0.0. 
 
 I am trying to test the SPI Flash example found in the zephyr/samples/drivers/spi_flash directory. 
 
 The sample successfully compiles and flashes to my DK however there is an error when the application runs.

1) Is there something in the settings I am missing to get this working? 
 
 I see the devicetree for the DK refers to the following for the &qspi setting: 
 mx25r64: mx25r6435f@0 { compatible = "nordic,qspi-nor"; 
 etc... 
 
 I assume this is using a Nordic provided qspi-nor driver as the interface for this flash chip? 
 
 I would like to include a 512kb SPI NOR chip on my device. 
 For example, this: https://rocelec.widen.net/view/pdf/wjbo7ufnsm/SGSTS20956-1.pdf?t.download=true&u=5oefqw 
 or this: https://www.macronix.com/Lists/Datasheet/Attachments/8750/MX25V5126F,%202.5V,%20512Kb,%20v1.1.pdf 
 2) Is there any way to tell which specific manufacturers or chips the Nordic driver is compatible with that will help me with my selection or should all SPI NOR chips work with this driver? 
 
 3) Can the Nordic driver only handle Quad SPI chips or can it also work with Dual and Single SPI chips? 
 
 I see there is also a setting for: 
 compatible = "jedec,spi-nor"; 
 4) Is this a standard Zephyr driver for SPI-NOR? How does this this driver differ from the Nordic one? 
 
 Thank you for your help. 
 
 Regards, 
 Gary

Amanda Hsieh · Accepted Answer

Hi, 
 1) Is there something in the settings I am missing to get this working? 
 Are you using nRF52840DK or the custom board? Without modification, you should be able to run zephyr/samples/drivers/spi_flash on nRF52840DK. Maybe try to run nrfjprog --recover before running the test. 
 
 I assume this is using a Nordic provided qspi-nor driver as the interface for this flash chip? 
 Yes, see https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-zephyr/blob/4c5893f9683681bc7c63312a18a0f7af39a483ce/samples/drivers/spi_flash/boards/nrf52840dk_nrf52840.conf#L8 
 
 I would like to include a 512kb SPI NOR chip on my device. 
 JEDEC ID and the size should be all that's necessary to change in the overlay (.dts) file of your project. 
 
 2) Is there any way to tell which specific manufacturers or chips the Nordic driver is compatible with that will help me with my selection or should all SPI NOR chips work with this driver? 
 Most SPI NOR flashes (that run on ~3V) should work as far as we know. 
 
 3) Can the Nordic driver only handle Quad SPI chips or can it also work with Dual and Single SPI chips? 
 Yes, it also works with dual and single SPI. 
 
 4) Is this a standard Zephyr driver for SPI-NOR? How does this this driver differ from the Nordic one? 
 This is the Nordic driver used in the zephyr/samples/drivers/spi_flash sample. See https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-zephyr/blob/4c5893f9683681bc7c63312a18a0f7af39a483ce/samples/drivers/spi_flash/boards/nrf52840dk_nrf52840.conf#L8 https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-zephyr/blob/42a1b2637a135036c5355473058cef3d2821af2c/samples/drivers/spi_flash/src/main.c#L18 
 I am not familiar with the Zephyr driver for SPI-NOR, so not able to point out the difference. 
 
 Regards, Amanda