nRF9160dk FOTA using external flash, ncs 2.0.2

Question

Hi,

I am using nRf9160dk with mcuboot secondary image on external flash base on AZURE_FOTA example, ncs 2.0.2.

Found the bootloader cannot runs primary image.

So, I need advice on how to set up the mcuboot secondary with SPI flash.

*** Booting Zephyr OS build v3.0.99-ncs1-1  ***
I: Starting bootloader
W: Failed reading sectors; BOOT_MAX_IMG_SECTORS=128 - too small?
E: Image in the primary slot is not valid!
E: Unable to find bootable image

Checked the partition with west build -t partition_manager_report .

+------------------------------------------+
| 0x0: external_flash (0x800000 - 8192kB)  |
| 0x0: mcuboot_secondary (0x70000 - 448kB) |
+------------------------------------------+

  flash_primary (0x100000 - 1024kB):
+--------------------------------------------------+
| 0x0: mcuboot (0xc000 - 48kB)                     |
| 0xc000: EMPTY_0 (0x4000 - 16kB)                  |
+---0x10000: mcuboot_primary (0xe8000 - 928kB)-----+
+---0x10000: tfm_secure (0xc200 - 48kB)------------+
| 0x10000: mcuboot_pad (0x200 - 512B)              |
+---0x10200: mcuboot_primary_app (0xe7e00 - 927kB)-+
| 0x10200: tfm (0xc000 - 48kB)                     |
+---0x1c200: tfm_nonsecure (0xdbe00 - 879kB)-------+
| 0x1c200: app (0xdbe00 - 879kB)                   |
+---0xf8000: nonsecure_storage (0x8000 - 32kB)-----+
| 0xf8000: settings_storage (0x2000 - 8kB)         |
| 0xfa000: littlefs_storage (0x6000 - 24kB)        |
+--------------------------------------------------+

  otp (0x2f4 - 756B):
+------------------------------+
| 0xff8108: otp (0x2f4 - 756B) |
+------------------------------+

  sram_primary (0x40000 - 256kB):
+--------------------------------------------------+
+---0x20000000: sram_secure (0x10000 - 64kB)-------+
| 0x20000000: tfm_sram (0x10000 - 64kB)            |
+---0x20010000: sram_nonsecure (0x30000 - 192kB)---+
+---0x20010000: nrf_modem_lib_sram (0x44e8 - 17kB)-+
| 0x20010000: nrf_modem_lib_ctrl (0x4e8 - 1kB)     |
| 0x200104e8: nrf_modem_lib_tx (0x2000 - 8kB)      |
| 0x200124e8: nrf_modem_lib_rx (0x2000 - 8kB)      |
+--------------------------------------------------+
| 0x200144e8: sram_primary (0x2bb18 - 174kB)       |
+--------------------------------------------------+

My configuration as follows:

child_image\mcuboot\boards\nrf9160dk_nrf9160_mcuboot.overlay

/ {
	chosen {
		nordic,pm-ext-flash = &mx25r64;
	};
};

&spi3 {
	compatible = "nordic,nrf-spim";
	status = "okay";
	pinctrl-0 = <&spi3_default_alt>;
	pinctrl-1 = <&spi3_sleep_alt>;
	pinctrl-names = "default", "sleep";
	cs-gpios = <&gpio0 25 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
	mx25r64: mx25r6435f@0 {
		compatible = "jedec,spi-nor";
		reg = <0>;
		spi-max-frequency = <80000000>;
		label = "MX25R64";
		jedec-id = [c2 28 17];
		size = <67108864>;
	};
};

&pinctrl {
	spi3_default_alt: spi3_default_alt {
		group1 {
			psels = <NRF_PSEL(SPIM_SCK, 0, 13)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(SPIM_MOSI, 0, 11)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(SPIM_MISO, 0, 12)>;
		};
	};

	spi3_sleep_alt: spi3_sleep_alt {
		group1 {
			psels = <NRF_PSEL(SPIM_SCK, 0, 13)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(SPIM_MOSI, 0, 11)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(SPIM_MISO, 0, 12)>;
			low-power-enable;
		};
	};

};

child_image\mcuboot\prj_mcuboot.conf

CONFIG_SPI=y
CONFIG_SPI_NOR=y
CONFIG_SPI_NOR_FLASH_LAYOUT_PAGE_SIZE=4096

CONFIG_MULTITHREADING=y

# MCUboot requires a large stack size, otherwise an MPU fault will occur
CONFIG_MAIN_STACK_SIZE=10240

CONFIG_DEBUG_OPTIMIZATIONS=y

# Enable flash operations
CONFIG_FLASH=y

# This must be increased to accommodate the bigger images.
CONFIG_BOOT_MAX_IMG_SECTORS=256

nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns.overlay

/ {
    	chosen {
    		nordic,pm-ext-flash = &mx25r64;
    	};
};

&spi3 {
	compatible = "nordic,nrf-spim";
	status = "okay";
	pinctrl-0 = <&spi3_default_alt>;
	pinctrl-1 = <&spi3_sleep_alt>;
	pinctrl-names = "default", "sleep";
	cs-gpios = <&gpio0 25 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
	mx25r64: mx25r6435f@0 {
		compatible = "jedec,spi-nor";
		reg = <0>;
		spi-max-frequency = <80000000>;
		label = "MX25R64";
		jedec-id = [c2 28 17];
		size = <67108864>;
	};
};

&pinctrl {
	spi3_default_alt: spi3_default_alt {
		group1 {
			psels = <NRF_PSEL(SPIM_SCK, 0, 13)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(SPIM_MOSI, 0, 11)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(SPIM_MISO, 0, 12)>;
		};
	};

	spi3_sleep_alt: spi3_sleep_alt {
		group1 {
			psels = <NRF_PSEL(SPIM_SCK, 0, 13)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(SPIM_MOSI, 0, 11)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(SPIM_MISO, 0, 12)>;
			low-power-enable;
		};
	};

};

pm_static.yml

#include <autoconf.h>
#include <devicetree_legacy_unfixed.h>

external_flash:
  address: 0x0
  device: mx25r6435f
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x800000 
mcuboot_secondary:
  address: 0x0
  device: mx25r6435f
  region: external_flash
  size: 0x70000

prj.conf

#
# Copyright (c) 2020 Nordic Semiconductor ASA
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Nordic-5-Clause
#
# General config
CONFIG_REBOOT=y

# Log
CONFIG_LOG=y
CONFIG_LOG_MODE_IMMEDIATE=y

# LTE link control
CONFIG_LTE_LINK_CONTROL=y
CONFIG_LTE_NETWORK_MODE_LTE_M=n
CONFIG_LTE_NETWORK_MODE_NBIOT=y
CONFIG_LTE_AUTO_INIT_AND_CONNECT=n

# AT Host
CONFIG_UART_INTERRUPT_DRIVEN=y
CONFIG_AT_HOST_LIBRARY=y

# MQTT
CONFIG_MQTT_KEEPALIVE=900

# Azure IoT Hub library
CONFIG_AZURE_IOT_HUB=y
CONFIG_AZURE_IOT_HUB_DEVICE_ID="nordic_960074368"
# Host name must be configured if DPS is not used
CONFIG_AZURE_IOT_HUB_HOSTNAME=""
# Change the security tag to the tag where relevant certificates are provisioned
CONFIG_AZURE_IOT_HUB_SEC_TAG=11
# Uncomment to get more verbose logging when debugging
# CONFIG_AZURE_IOT_HUB_LOG_LEVEL_DBG=y

# Uncomment and configure the options below to use DPS for device provisioning
CONFIG_AZURE_IOT_HUB_DPS=y
CONFIG_AZURE_IOT_HUB_DPS_ID_SCOPE="0ne0053A4FD"


# Azure FOTA
CONFIG_CJSON_LIB=y
CONFIG_AZURE_FOTA=y
CONFIG_AZURE_FOTA_APP_VERSION_AUTO=n
CONFIG_AZURE_FOTA_APP_VERSION="v0.0.1"
CONFIG_AZURE_FOTA_TLS=y
# Change the security tag to the tag where the certificates are provisioned
# for the server where the FOTA image is hosted
CONFIG_AZURE_FOTA_SEC_TAG=10
# Uncomment the below line to get more debug logging
# CONFIG_AZURE_FOTA_LOG_LEVEL_DBG=y

# Heap and stacks
CONFIG_HEAP_MEM_POOL_SIZE=6144
CONFIG_MAIN_STACK_SIZE=1536

# Settings, needed for Azure Device Provisioning Service
CONFIG_FLASH=y
CONFIG_FCB=y
CONFIG_SETTINGS=y
CONFIG_SETTINGS_FCB=y
CONFIG_MPU_ALLOW_FLASH_WRITE=y

# Networking
CONFIG_NETWORKING=y
CONFIG_NET_NATIVE=n

# Modem library
CONFIG_NRF_MODEM_LIB=y

# newlibc
CONFIG_NEWLIB_LIBC=y
CONFIG_NEWLIB_LIBC_FLOAT_PRINTF=y

# FOTA Download
CONFIG_FOTA_DOWNLOAD=y
CONFIG_FOTA_DOWNLOAD_PROGRESS_EVT=y
CONFIG_AZURE_FOTA_FILE_PATH_MAX_LEN=200

# Download Client
CONFIG_DOWNLOAD_CLIENT=y
CONFIG_DOWNLOAD_CLIENT_HTTP_FRAG_SIZE_1024=y
CONFIG_DOWNLOAD_CLIENT_STACK_SIZE=4096
CONFIG_DOWNLOAD_CLIENT_LOG_LEVEL_INF=y
CONFIG_DOWNLOAD_CLIENT_BUF_SIZE=2300

# DFU Target
CONFIG_DFU_TARGET=y

# Application update support
CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT=y

# Image manager
CONFIG_IMG_MANAGER=y
CONFIG_IMG_ERASE_PROGRESSIVELY=y

#################################################
# Config using external flash memory and littleFS.
#################################################
CONFIG_SPI=y
CONFIG_SPI_NOR=y
CONFIG_SPI_NRFX_RAM_BUFFER_SIZE=32
CONFIG_FLASH=y
CONFIG_FLASH_PAGE_LAYOUT=y
CONFIG_FLASH_MAP=y
CONFIG_FILE_SYSTEM=y
CONFIG_FILE_SYSTEM_LITTLEFS=y
CONFIG_SPI_NOR_FLASH_LAYOUT_PAGE_SIZE=4096
# Need this when storage is on flash
# CONFIG_MPU_ALLOW_FLASH_WRITE=y

CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY=y

Håkon Alseth · Accepted Answer

Hi Marshall and Rung 
 
 My deepest apologies for the inconvenience. 
 Unfortunately, there is another breaking change in NCS v2.1.0, that blocks for using SPI based flash ("spi_nor") in mcuboot. 
 You will need in total 2 changes: 
 1. in your child_image/mcuboot.conf, you will need to add this symbol when using SPI and flash: 
 CONFIG_PM_OVERRIDE_EXTERNAL_DRIVER_CHECK=y 
 
 2. In addition, there is a bug with the flash_device that mcuboot picks up through the "partition manager" script system. 
 This line in ncs_v2.1.0/nrf/cmake/partition_manager.cmake: 
 https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-nrf/blob/v2.1.2/cmake/partition_manager.cmake#L215 
 
 Shall be changed to: 
 DEVICE "DT_CHOSEN(nordic_pm_ext_flash)" 
 
 The second point is handled in this PR, but due to release-note changes as well, it is not easy to cherry pick directly: 
 https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-nrf/pull/9169 
 
 Could you try these two steps and report back if this helps the scenario? 
 
 Kind regards, 
 Håkon

nRF9160dk FOTA using external flash, ncs 2.0.2

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