Feature request: DFU

[shayo]

• Type: Enhancement

I would very much like to transition to mbed OS5. However, it seems like DFU is not yet supported, which is a major blocker.
I would like to ask to include DFU support in OS5 along with:

1. single bank bootloader to allow large applications to be loaded
2. bootloader with watchdog support.

In general, it would be also nice to have improved method for selecting which bootloader to use in the online compiler IDE.

Target
NRF51DK

Toolchain:
GCC_ARM

mbed-cli version:
0.9.10

[BlackstoneEngineering]

Clarification, you mean Over The Air DFU for BLE, correct?
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[shayo]

Correct
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[pan-]

@nvlsianpu Could you comment on this issue ?
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[shayo]

Here is what I got from Andrea Corrado over email (Nov 21, 11:40 GMT):

"The NRF51 DK does not support DFU on the latest revisions of mbed; at the moment. Old examples should still work.
Nordic engineers are working on bringing back DFU and I’m helping them.

My attempts to update NRF51DK with nrftoolbox have all failed when I upload OS5 type applications. They work well with applications compiled with mbed-classic.

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[nvlsianpu]

Work on Bootloader for nRF5x @s13.x 2.x.x are in progress already. I must consider having either single bank and dual bank solutions apart from dual bank. Bootloader almost idenitical to those available in Nordic nRF5 SDK 11 will be provided in first step (http://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.nordic.infocenter.sdk51.v10.0.0%2Fexamples_ble_dfu.html&cp=4_0_2_4_3_1). Unfortunately there is no watchdog support incorporated in Nordic DFU examples. @shayo It will be helpful for me if you provide some more description on the requested watchdog feature.
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[shayo]

The watchdog feature is really important. Many apps use watchdog to make sure their app doesn't get stuck. Once this feature is activated, it cannot be turned off. Since DFU takes quite a bit of time, the dog needs to be kicked once in a while. Otherwise, the watchdog will kill the DFU process.
There has been several threads on Nordic forum on how to implement this. Please refer to:
https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/question/56888/wdt-in-bootloader/
https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/question/818/watchdog-timer/

Is there any timetable for releasing the new bootloader?
Many thanks for considering those features!

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[shayo]

In what ways are the bootloaders that you are working different than the default example provided in the SDK? What needs to be changed in order to make it work with OS5?
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[nvlsianpu]

In what ways are the bootloaders that you are working different than the default example provided in the SDK?

LED and button handling are removed. Rest of the code without changes.

FYI #3376

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[nvlsianpu]

I build single bank bootloader with WDT handling using this code https://github.com/nvlsianpu/nrf5_bootloader. It is a POC - contributions of improvements are highly welcomed (unfortunately I can't spend much time on this). This bootloader is incorporated in NRF51_DK_BOOT_WDT which was added here https://github.com/nvlsianpu/mbed/tree/nrf5_dfu_s13x_wdt.
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[shayo]

Dear @nvlsianpu,
Thank you for the effort. I will try to compile and test those today.
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[shayo]

@nvlsianpu , what would be needed to make NRF51_DK_BOOT_WDT work also for NRF52?
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[shayo]

@nvlsianpu , I am getting the following error message when trying to compile (even the regular NRF_51DK_BOOT):

...
Compile [100.0%]: test_env.cpp
Link:Proj_OS5
Elf2Bin: Proj_OS5
[ERROR] Data overlapped at address 0x3C000
[mbed] ERROR: "python" returned error code 1.
[mbed] ERROR: Command "python -u /Users/shayo/mbed/Proj_OS5/mbed-os/tools/make.py -t GCC_ARM -m NRF51_DK_BOOT --source . --build ./BUILD/NRF51_DK_BOOT/GCC_ARM" in "/Users/shayo/mbed/ProjR07_OS5"

Using the latest mbed master branch I did not get this data overlap error.
What does it indicate? that the app is too big and collides with the softdevice?
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[nvlsianpu]

Did you try to run a clean build?

mbed compile -m NRF51_DK -t GCC_ARM --vv -c

Data overlap could been cussed by your application's size (nrf51 bootloader code start form 0x3c000 - so it deduct 16 KB form flash available for an application). You could use additionally option

--profile small

in a mbed build command (it use settings from here https://github.com/ARMmbed/mbed-os/blob/master/tools/profiles/small.json) in order to apply min-size settings for your build.
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[shayo]

OK. I will try that. I also tried merging some of your changes to build 130 of the master branch, but i keep getting this error after the compilation:
...
Compile [100.0%]: test_env.cpp
Link: Proj
Elf2Bin: Proj
[ERROR] expected a string or other character buffer object

Is there a way to compile with verbose to see exactly where and why this crash occurs?
[Mirrored to Jira]