Modem firmware updates via serial interface

RE: Modem firmware updates via serial interface

Naeem Maroof — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 12:36:19 GMT

Hi Johan,

I am not able to understand what you mean by broken interface.

After building, I flashed the sample with the same configurations, and I am able to send AT commands and receive response.

Let me know if we are on the same page.

Naeem

RE: Modem firmware updates via serial interface

Johan-Henry — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 12:52:48 GMT

Thanks Naeem.

Yes, by adding CONFIG_UART_0_INTERRUPT_DRIVEN=n the solution compiles now, but the AT command interface is broken and the modem does not respond to the serial AT commands. Is there any way to get upgrades over serial working without breaking the AT command interface?

Regards

Johan-Henry

RE: Modem firmware updates via serial interface

Naeem Maroof — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 12:37:59 GMT

Hi Johan,

Please add following lines at the end of your proj.conf and do a pristine build.

CONFIG_UART_0_INTERRUPT_DRIVEN=n
CONFIG_MCUMGR_SMP_UART=y
CONFIG_MCUMGR=y

Regards,

Naeem

RE: Modem firmware updates via serial interface

Naeem Maroof — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 15:27:16 GMT

Hi Johan,

I see it now.

I will look into it and will update you accordingly.

RE: Modem firmware updates via serial interface

Johan-Henry — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 15:01:45 GMT

Just adding CONFIG_MCUMGR_SMP_UART=y does not achieve anything according to this error message as it has other dependencies. If I add CONFIG_MCUMGR=y as well the build fails

RE: Modem firmware updates via serial interface

Naeem Maroof — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 14:50:47 GMT

Hi Johan, I forgot to mention that I built it for nCS v2.0.0.

I just created new free-standing application and chose serial-lte-modem application.

First built it for the 9160DK (ns). Next, added:

CONFIG_MCUMGR_SMP_UART=y

to the prj.conf, and did the pristine build.

RE: Modem firmware updates via serial interface

Johan-Henry — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 14:29:33 GMT

Hi Naeem

[quote userid="119245" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/96634/modem-firmware-updates-via-serial-interface/410393"]I just added this configuration in the serial lte modem app and was able to compile correctly.[/quote]

That is good news, I was not able to get the serial lte modem to compile when I added the fmfu_smp_svr configuration in prj.conf file. I am using v2.2.99-dev3. Is there a possibility that you can send the prj.conf file for the serial lte modem with SMP activated so that I can test please? That would be exactly what I require.

RE: Modem firmware updates via serial interface

Naeem Maroof — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 14:22:18 GMT

Hi Johan,

Yes you are right that XFOTA would download the target image from the url.

I was also thinking to refer you to fmfu_smp_svr sample.

What do you mean by "can not activate in serial_lte_modem application"?

I just added this configuration in the serial lte modem app and was able to compile correctly.

Also, what do you mean by "interfere with the at command parser"?

What interference or error you are getting?

Also,

we can see from the documentation of nrf9160, that:

A full modem firmware upgrade requires external flash.

Also (on the same page), full-upgrade (using wired connection) uses SMP protocol to provide interface over UART and enables the device to perform the update. The same protocol is used in fmfu_smp_svr sample.

RE: Modem firmware updates via serial interface

Johan-Henry — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 14:44:16 GMT

Hi Naeem, thanks for your reply.

As explained in the first post, I would like to upgrade the modem firmware over the nrf9160's serial uart interface. XFOTA cannot do that as far as I understand, it can only download binaries via http or am I wrong? Is there perhaps another way to use XFOTA to upgrade the modem firmware over serial uart without first storing the image on external flash? I do not want to add external flash to our product just for firmware updates if possible.

The fmfu_smp_svr sample seems to demonstrate what I would like to do, however it uses the CONFIG_MCUMGR_SMP_UART=y option which I cannot activate in the serial_lte_modem application as it seems to interfere with the at command parser of serial_lte_modem.

Do you have any suggestions for me to try?

Regards

RE: Modem firmware updates via serial interface

Naeem Maroof — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 14:23:41 GMT

Hi Johan,

Thank you for contacting DevZone at NordicSemi.

[quote user=""]but it seems that this implementation cannot co-exist with the serial_lte_modem application[/quote]

What do you mean by that?

Our serial_lte_modem application uses FOTA Download and Download client libraries along with other nCS libraries.

Moreover, serial_lte_modem (application) accepts both modem-specific AT commands and our proprietary AT commands.

Creating / designing a new AT command is at your discretion. However, XFOTA command from SLM-specific AT commands provides functionality for different types of FOTA requests. I hope it will be helpful.

With regards,

Naeem

RE: Modem firmware updates via serial interface

Johan-Henry — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 12:43:35 GMT

Some updates on my initial investigation, it seems the slm_at_host.c file provides a enter_datamode function. Would it be feasible to create a new at command to enable the datamode from where the fmfu serial packets can be handled similar to what is done in fmfu_firmware_upload?