Firmware update without DFU

Question

Hi, I am new to the Nordic environment. So far I have done all the integration by going through your examples code which is very good. 
 Now, one thing I have no knowledge about is updating the firmware image(non-secure + TF-M) without using DFU. 
 I do not want FW update over DFU for some personal reasons. 
 Please guide me to any reference or documentation for how to build a bootloader and configure the application image to run with the bootloader and do OTA update. 
 I do not know from where to start for implementing the OTA update. 
 Thank you in advance. 
 
 My setup: 
 NRF SDK: v2.2.0 
 Board: nRF5340-DK

Marte Myrvold · Accepted Answer

Hi, 
 Thank you for clarifying. As long as you have MCUboot enabled and save the image in the correct area in flash and with the correct metadata (header + trailer), then the transport method is irrelevant. To enable MCUboot you must set the following configuration in prj.conf: 
 CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT=y 
 The metadata can contain information about booting information, image hash, etc. You can find more about this, both header and trailer, in MCUboot Bootloader Design . There you will also find information about image slots, swapping, and more. 
 As for area in flash, when you enable MCUboot with the configuration above, the partition manager will automatically configure partitions. You can see the partitions after you have built the application by running the following command: 
 west build -t partition_manager_report 
 If you are using VS Code with our extension you can also see it by selecting the Memory report action, and going to Partitions in the generated report. As an example, adding MCUboot support to the Blinky sample, the partitions will look lilke this: 
 flash_primary (0x100000 - 1024kB):
+-------------------------------------------------+
| 0x0: mcuboot (0xc000 - 48kB) |
+---0xc000: mcuboot_primary (0x7a000 - 488kB)-----+
| 0xc000: mcuboot_pad (0x200 - 512B) |
+---0xc200: mcuboot_primary_app (0x79e00 - 487kB)-+
| 0xc200: app (0x79e00 - 487kB) |
+-------------------------------------------------+
| 0x86000: mcuboot_secondary (0x7a000 - 488kB) |
+-------------------------------------------------+

 sram_primary (0x40000 - 256kB):
+--------------------------------------------+
| 0x20000000: sram_primary (0x40000 - 256kB) |
+--------------------------------------------+ 
 As you can see, here the primary MCUboot image slot starts at 0xc000, and the secondary image slot at 0x86000. 
 Best regards, 
 Marte

Marte Myrvold · Answer

Hi, 
 Jithin A said: 1. How to insert header and trailer metadata to my application image? 
 You can use imgtool to sign images and add metadata, see the imgtool documentation . Additionally, you can generate private and public keys with imgtool. Make sure to add the --pad flag for the image trailer. 
 For an example on how to use imgtool for manually signing you can check out one of my colleagues examples: mcuboot_manual_sign . Please not that in that example, mcumgr is used, so the necessary commands will differ somewhat from what you should use. See the documentation above for more information about the different flags and which you should use. 
 Jithin A said: 2. How to write any data into the specific address in the flash? 
 If you use the function dfu_target_write() , the firmware image will be written into MCUboots secondary slot, see MCUboot-style upgrades for more information on this. 
 Best regards, 
 Marte

Marte Myrvold · Answer

Hi, 
 Great to hear that it works. 
 Jithin A said: I see it has also generated hex file for FOTA " app_moved_test_update.hex" 
 If you are interested, you can find more information about the generated build files in Output build files . If you scroll down you will also find information about MCUboot output build files. 
 Jithin A said: One last question, how can I program this hex file using your nRF Connect Desktop tool or if any other method. 
 You can program it using the nRF Connect Programmer in nRF Connect for Desktop, or you can use nrfjprog . 
 Best regards, 
 Marte

Marte Myrvold · Answer

Hi, 
 Please select Enable MCUboot in the Programmer. 
 You can also try using nrfjprog. For a list of commands see nrfjprog commands . 
 Best regards, 
 Marte

Firmware update without DFU

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