Tool for flashing nrf52840 SoC while doing Firmware upgrade

[Tamizh]

Hi,

I'm using nrf52840SoC(flashed with open-thread rcp firmware) on a custom IMX-ULL-6 board. Is Jlink the only way to flash the firmware into the nrf52840 SoC? 

I'm asking this because after product deployment, if I want to provide a firmware upgrade to the devices, it won't be possible to use JLink, right? 

So,

1)Is there any other way to flash the firmware into the SoC?

2) Which upgrade method do you suggest for my use case with a firmware upgrade?

[Marte Myrvold]

Hi,

You can use a bootloader to perform a device firmware update. With the OpenThread RCP application, the best option is to use serial recovery. With serial recovery, you can perform DFU at boot.
One of my colleagues has made some samples showcasing how to do this, both over UART and USB, which you can find here: https://github.com/hellesvik-nordic/samples_for_nrf_connect_sdk/tree/main/bootloader_samples/serial_recovery. This code is not thoroughly tested or qualified and should be considered provided “as-is”. Please test it with your application and let me know if you find any issues.

Best regards,

Marte

[Tamizh]

Hi Marte Myrvold ,

Sorry for the late response as I've faced a delay in receiving the custom board for checking.

While the UART serial recovery method you mentioned works flawlessly on the nrf52840dk board, I have not had the same success with my custom board using the wait method to enter recovery on each boot. Fortunately, this discussion has provided me with some useful insights.

 MCUBoot usb with openthread sample 

Could you guide me on where to make the changes referred to in that thread that supposedly worked? I couldn't locate the file.

Thanks

[Marte Myrvold]

Hi,

For custom boards, you must also set the clock config in MCUboot. Child images do not inherit this configuration from the board file, so you must explicitly set it in the child image's configuration. You can set this in child_image/mcuboot.conf.

Best regards,
Marte

[Tamizh]

Hi,

Can you specify the exact config name? 

For more info,

This is my mcuboot.conf

CONFIG_SIZE_OPTIMIZATIONS=y
CONFIG_SINGLE_APPLICATION_SLOT=y

# Enable MCUboot Serial Recovery
CONFIG_MCUBOOT_SERIAL=y
CONFIG_UART_CONSOLE=n

CONFIG_MCUBOOT_INDICATION_LED=y

CONFIG_BOOT_SERIAL_UART=y
CONFIG_BOOT_SERIAL_WAIT_FOR_DFU=y
CONFIG_BOOT_SERIAL_WAIT_FOR_DFU_TIMEOUT=5000

prj.conf is

#
# Copyright (c) 2020 Nordic Semiconductor
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Nordic-5-Clause
#

# Set OpenThread NCP architecture
CONFIG_OPENTHREAD_COPROCESSOR=y
CONFIG_OPENTHREAD_COPROCESSOR_RCP=y
CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT=y
# Logging
CONFIG_LOG=y
CONFIG_OT_COPROCESSOR_LOG_LEVEL_ERR=y
CONFIG_LOG_MAX_LEVEL=1
CONFIG_OPENTHREAD_DEBUG=y
CONFIG_OPENTHREAD_LOG_LEVEL_CRIT=y
CONFIG_LOG_BACKEND_SPINEL=y
CONFIG_LOG_BACKEND_RTT=n
CONFIG_LOG_BACKEND_UART=n
CONFIG_BOOT_BANNER=n

# Increase logging thread stack size due to Spinel backend needs
CONFIG_LOG_PROCESS_THREAD_STACK_SIZE=2048

# Enable OpenThread features set
CONFIG_OPENTHREAD_NORDIC_LIBRARY_MASTER=y

CONFIG_NET_L2_OPENTHREAD=y

# Generic networking options
CONFIG_NETWORKING=y

CONFIG_ASSERT=y
CONFIG_ASSERT_NO_COND_INFO=y
CONFIG_MBEDTLS_SHA1_C=n
CONFIG_FPU=y

My custom uart.overlay file

/* Copyright (c) 2020 Nordic Semiconductor ASA
 *
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Nordic-5-Clause
 */

&uart0 {
	current-speed = <115200>;
	status = "okay";
	hw-flow-control;
};

/ {
	/*
	* In some default configurations within the nRF Connect SDK,
	* e.g. on nRF52840, the chosen zephyr,entropy node is &cryptocell.
	* This devicetree overlay ensures that default is overridden wherever it
	* is set, as this application uses the RNG node for entropy exclusively.
	*/
	chosen {
		zephyr,entropy = &rng;
		zephyr,console = &uart1;
		zephyr,shell-uart = &uart1;
		zephyr,uart-mcumgr = &uart0;
		zephyr,bt-mon-uart = &uart0;
		zephyr,bt-c2h-uart = &uart0;
		zephyr,ot-uart = &uart0;
	};

	nrf_radio_coex: nrf_radio_coex_three_wire {
		status = "okay";
		compatible = "sdc-radio-coex-three-wire";
		req-gpios = < &gpio0 0x3 (GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH) >;
		pri-dir-gpios = < &gpio0 0x4 (GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH) >;
		grant-gpios = < &gpio0 0x2 (GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH | GPIO_PULL_UP) >;
		type-delay-us = < 0x8 >;
		radio-delay-us = < 0x5 >;
	};
};

&pinctrl {
	uart0_default: uart0_default {
		group1 {
			psels = <NRF_PSEL(UART_TX, 0, 29)>,
					<NRF_PSEL(UART_RTS, 1, 13)>;
		};
		group2 {
			psels = <NRF_PSEL(UART_RX, 0, 31)>,
					<NRF_PSEL(UART_CTS, 1, 15)>;
			bias-pull-up;
		};
	};

	uart0_sleep: uart0_sleep {
		group1 {
			psels = <NRF_PSEL(UART_TX, 0, 29)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(UART_RTS, 1, 13)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(UART_RX, 0, 31)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(UART_CTS, 1, 15)>;
			low-power-enable;
		};
	};

	uart1_me: uart1_me {
		group1 {
			psels = <NRF_PSEL(UART_TX, 0, 9)>;
		};
		group2 {
			psels = <NRF_PSEL(UART_RX, 0, 10)>;
			bias-pull-up;
		};
	};

	uart1_sleep_me: uart1_sleep_me {
		group1 {
			psels = <NRF_PSEL(UART_TX, 0, 9)>,
				<NRF_PSEL(UART_RX, 0, 10)>;
			low-power-enable;
		};
	};
};

&uart1 {
	status = "okay";
	current-speed = < 0x1c200 >;
	pinctrl-0 = < &uart1_me >;
	pinctrl-1 = < &uart1_sleep_me >;
	pinctrl-names = "default", "sleep";
};

Does any other thing need to be modified in the above configs?

Thanks.

[Marte Myrvold]

Hi,

The config depends on your clock source, and it should be the same as what you have defined for the board itself in the board files.

Here are two possibilities.
If you have, for example, a 32kHz RC clock source, then you should set the following:

CONFIG_CLOCK_CONTROL_NRF_K32SRC_RC=y
CONFIG_CLOCK_CONTROL_NRF_K32SRC_XTAL=n
CONFIG_CLOCK_CONTROL_NRF_K32SRC_RC_CALIBRATION=y

For a 32kHz crystal oscillator, you need to set this instead in the child image:

CONFIG_CLOCK_CONTROL_NRF_K32SRC_XTAL=y

Best regards,
Marte

[Tamizh]

Hi,

I've also added this and tested. But still it's not working. Are you seeing anything wrong in my above config files or do you have any other suggestions.

Thanks.

[Marte Myrvold]

Hi,

Are you able to run other programs successfully on your custom board?

Best regards,
Marte

[Tamizh]

Yes, I can run Applications like echo bot, Open thread, and even SMP_SVR without MCUboot. 
I'm able to send mcumgr commands and get responses while running SMP_SVR application(in the samples of nrf_sdk)

But this serial recovery Image only has issues. After flashing the above-mentioned serial recovery into the SoC, I'm able to see that the bootloader is waiting for the specified time for entering into Recovery( from the minicom logs).

But the problem is that mcumgr commands are getting NMP Timeout instead of a response like the above.

Am I missing anything here?

[Marte Myrvold]

Hi,

This error means that the mcumgr cannot connect to the device. It can be due to mcumgr not being present on the board, or that the connstring is incorrect. Can you verify that the device's serial port is the same as what you used in the connstring for acm0?

Best regards,

Marte