b-parasite-esp32/resources.md
rbaron 66a0d8e4e3 Serial upload works.
Currently uploading via the Arduino IDE and PlatformIO works. But it's not perfect yet:
1. We're using a custom-compiled bootloader for the e73 board, which is nice;
2. We're still using `board = adafruit_feather_nrf52832` in the `platformio.ini` file. Using our custom board `boards/e73-tbb.json` doesn't work yet. Uploading results in a `*** [upload] IndexError : list index out of range` error. Most likely has to be fixed in https://github.com/platformio/platform-nordicnrf52/blob/develop/builder/main.py.
2021-02-10 09:36:58 +01:00

4 KiB

My development board

Articles

  • Great article about using Rust and Apache Mynewt, but also covers J-Link, ST-Link, openocd, unlocking the nrf52. Link on medium

nrf command line utilities

  • nrfjprog Used for programming hex files using the J-Link programmer.
  • nrfutil Used for DFU - device firmware update - via the USB port. No J-Link. This is what Adafruit uses for uploading code via USB. This is "higher level" and requires a pre-existing bootloader in the nrf52 chip that understands DFU. The Adafruit_nRF52_Bootloader is such a bootloader, which we can burn using nrfjprog + J-Link once. Adafruit has its own version, adafruit-nrfutil.

SWD vs. Bootloader vs. DFU

  • How nrfutil is used in the platformio nordicnrf52 package: link
  • Seems like we can use DFU if we install a DFU-enabled bootloader like the Adafruit_nRF52_Bootloader
  • Using the adafruit nrf52 bootloader with the E73-TBB link

Burning the Adafruit bootloader

  1. $ brew cask install nordic-nrf-command-line-tools -> Didn't work. I had to manually install the pkgs from nordic
  2. pip install intelhex
  3. PATH=$PATH:/Users/rbaron/.platformio/packages/framework-arduinoadafruitnrf52/tools/adafruit-nrfutil/macos make BOARD=feather_nrf52840_express all

Burning our custom bootloader

The error I was making was using a non-softdevice bootloader. The following works:

# Compile
$ PATH=$PATH:/Users/rbaron/.platformio/packages/framework-arduinoadafruitnrf52/tools/adafruit-nrfutil/macos make BOARD=e73_tbb all

# Flash (make sure you use the _s132_ hex file)
$ JAVA_HOME=/Users/rbaron/homebrew/Cellar/openjdk/15.0.1 nrfjprog --program _build/build-e73_tbb/e73_tbb_bootloader-0.4.0-2-g4ba802d_s132_6.1.1.hex --sectoranduicrerase -f nrf52 --reset

Now we can drop the JLink and use the USB serial for uploading/monitoring.

Uploading with nrfutil

$ ~/.platformio/packages/framework-arduinoadafruitnrf52/tools/adafruit-nrfutil/macos/adafruit-nrfutil dfu genpkg --dev-type 0x0052 --sd-req 0x00B7 --application .pio/build/e73-tbb/firmware.hex dfu-pkg.zip
Zip created at dfu-pkg.zip

$ ~/.platformio/packages/framework-arduinoadafruitnrf52/tools/adafruit-nrfutil/macos/adafruit-nrfutil dfu serial --package dfu-pkg.zip -p /dev/cu.usbserial-14330 -b 115200
Upgrading target on /dev/cu.usbserial-14330 with DFU package /Users/rbaron/dev/parasite/code/parasite/dfu-pkg.zip. Flow control is disabled, Dual bank, Touch disabled
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Activating new firmware
Device programmed.