.. Instructions to set up the embedded toolchain and to build an example project. .. Author: Thomas Van Hoof .. STATUS: production ################################################ Setting Up the Toolchain for Embedded Developers ################################################ Instructions to set up the embedded toolchain and to build an example project. .. rubric:: Quick Navigation .. contents:: :local: :depth: 2 .. hint:: The tutorials that were followed to make this guide can be found :ref:`at the bottom of this document `. ---- ************************ Installing the Toolchain ************************ GCC for ARM =========== :abbr:`GCC (GNU Compiler collection)` is the compiler. GCC for ARM can be downloaded from `launchpad `_ or `arm_developer `_. To install GCC, open a terminal and go to the directory where you downloaded the GCC archive. :: $ sudo mkdir /usr/local/gcc-arm/ $ sudo chown /usr/local/gcc-arm/ $ tar -xjf gcc-arm-none-eabi-.tar.bz2 -C usr/local/gcc-arm/ .. _gcc-folder: Add GCC to your system path. The system path can be modified by editing the ``.bash_profile`` file in your home directory. To find the folder where GCC was extracted run the following command :: $ ls /usr/local/gcc-arm | grep gcc-arm-none-eabi Add the following line at the end of ``.bash_profile`` :: export PATH=/usr/local/gcc-arm/gcc-arm-none-eabi-/bin:$PATH Finally, test your installation :: $ arm-none-eabi-gcc --version arm-none-eabi-gcc (GNU Tools for ARM Embedded Processors) 5.4.1 20160919 (release) [ARM/embedded-5-branch revision 240496] Copyright (C) 2015 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. openOCD ======= :abbr:`OpenOCD (open on-chip-debugger)` is the software that provides a link between the debugging software (`gdb`) and the hardware debugger. OpenOCD can be downloaded from `github `_. To install it, open ``gnuarmeclipse-openocd-osx-.pkg``. The package will be installed in ``/Applications/GNU\ ARM\ Eclipse/OpenOCD/``. Test your installation :: $ openocd --version Open On-Chip Debugger 0.10.0+dev-g0ecee83 (2017-02-10-15:11) Licensed under GNU GPL v2 For bug reports, read http://openocd.org/doc/doxygen/bugs.html nRF5X Command Line Tools ======================== The nRF5X Command Line Tools are a set of tools provided by Nordic to easily flash a target. To install the nRF5X Command Line Tools you first need to install `brew `_. Then open a terminal and type :: $ brew cask install nrf5x-command-line-tools Test your installation :: $ nrfjprog --version nrfjprog version: 9.3.1 JLinkARM.dll version: 6.12g For programming multiple targets in parallel, it is advised to install ``pynrfjprog``. It is an python API for nrfjprog and can be installed via pip3 (if you do not have python 3 installed first install it ``brew install python3``) :: $ pip3 install pynrfjprog Nordic SDK ========== The Nordic :abbr:`SDK (Software Development kit)` is a a set of libraries and drivers. The Nordic SDK can be downloaded from `Nordic `_. Extract the downloaded content, and place it in a convenient directory for you to work in. Since Nordic does not know what compiler is used, it is necessary to change the default makefile. This makefile is in ``/components/toolchain/gcc/Makefile.possix``. Set the value of ``GNU_INSTALL_ROOT`` to ``/usr/local/gcc-arm/gcc-arm-none-eabi-VERSION``. (`VERSION` should be set according to :ref:`your gcc installation `.) *************************** Building an Example Project *************************** Compiling an Example Project without BLE ======================================== In the SDK there are a few examples that we can use to test the complete toolchain. These can be found in ``/examples``. In this tutorial, we will compile a blinky project with FreeRTOS. In ``/examples/peripheral/``, you will find a lot examples. For now we are interested in ``blinky_freertos``. Since our development board uses the pca10040 we will go in the corresponding directory. There is only one ``blank`` directory in it. Now we need to choose how to build, so we will go further within armgcc. This is where you will choose the makefile for the project. The directory we are now in is ``/examples/peripheral/blinky_freertos/pca10040/blank/armgcc``. To compile the project, type :: $ make mkdir _build Compiling file: nrf_log_backend_serial.c .... Compiling file: SEGGER_RTT_printf.c Assembling file: gcc_startup_nrf52.S Compiling file: system_nrf52.c Linking target: _build/nrf52832_xxaa.out text data bss dec hex filename 12112 116 4580 16808 41a8 _build/nrf52832_xxaa.out Preparing: _build/nrf52832_xxaa.hex Preparing: _build/nrf52832_xxaa.bin Nordic provides a flash functionality within the makefile. To use this, type :: $ make flash Flashing: _build/nrf52832_xxaa.hex nrfjprog --program _build/nrf52832_xxaa.hex -f nrf52 --sectorerase Parsing hex file. Erasing page at address 0x0. Erasing page at address 0x1000. Erasing page at address 0x2000. Applying system reset. Checking that the area to write is not protected. Programing device. nrfjprog --reset -f nrf52 Applying system reset. Run. Congratulations, the program that you have built is now running on the microcontroller. Compiling an Example Project with BLE ===================================== .. note :: If you have not built the example project without BLE, do this first In order to get BLE working, we need to flash 2 hex files. This can be done in 2 manners. The first hex file contains the softdevice for BLE connectivity. This can be found in ``/components/softdevice/``. Here you will find many softdevices. In this tutorial the ``s132`` softdevice will be used. .. hint :: More info about softdevices can be found in `the documentation provided by Nordic `_. Manual flashing of softdevice ----------------------------- Go in the terminal to the directory ``/components/softdevice/s132/hex``. First erase the memory of the controller to avoid conflicts :: $ nrfjprog -f nrf52 -e Flashing the softdevice :: $ nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program s132_nrf52_3.0.0_softdevice.hex Parsing hex file. Reading flash area to program to guarantee it is erased. Checking that the area to write is not protected. Programing device. Using the makefile for softdevice flashing ------------------------------------------ The softdevice can also be flashed from within the project directory of the example project, which is ``/examples/ble_peripheral/ble_app_hrs_freertos/pca10040/s132/armgcc/``. This can be done by :: $ make flash_softdevice Flashing: s132_nrf52_3.0.0_softdevice.hex nrfjprog --program ../../../../../../components/softdevice/s132/hex/s132_nrf52_3.0.0_softdevice.hex -f nrf52 --sectorerase Parsing hex file. Erasing page at address 0x0. Erasing page at address 0x1000. ... Erasing page at address 0x1E000. Applying system reset. Checking that the area to write is not protected. Programing device. nrfjprog --reset -f nrf52 Applying system reset. Run. Flashing the main project ------------------------- When that is done, continue by building the example project in ``/examples/ble_peripheral/ble_app_hrs_freertos/``. These steps are the same as for a project without BLE :: $ make mkdir _build Compiling file: nrf_log_backend_serial.c ... Compiling file: softdevice_handler.c Linking target: _build/nrf52832_xxaa.out text data bss dec hex filename 53272 160 7180 60612 ecc4 _build/nrf52832_xxaa.out Preparing: _build/nrf52832_xxaa.hex Preparing: _build/nrf52832_xxaa.bin This needs to be followed by :: $ make flash Flashing: _build/nrf52832_xxaa.hex nrfjprog --program _build/nrf52832_xxaa.hex -f nrf52 --sectorerase Parsing hex file. Erasing page at address 0x1F000. ... Erasing page at address 0x2C000. Applying system reset. Checking that the area to write is not protected. Programing device. nrfjprog --reset -f nrf52 Applying system reset. Run. Using merghex ------------- Mergehex is a program from the Nordic nRF5X Command Line Tools, that merges two ``.hex`` files into one. :: merghex -m -o Once you have the single output file you can flash it with :: $ nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program Parsing hex file. Reading flash area to program to guarantee it is erased. Checking that the area to write is not protected. Programing device. .. _external-tutorials: ****************** External Tutorials ****************** * `programming an nrf52 on a mac `_ * `embedded soft dev `_ * `gnu arm eclipse `_ * `Nordic devzone `_