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MSP432P401R: Custom BSL: "always invoke" option and IP-protect?

Philip Pemberton
Intellectual 255 points

Part Number: MSP432P401R

I'd like to replace the BSL on an MSP432P401R with a custom one (to support a proprietary protocol). To this end, I'd like to know if the following things are possible:

  • Have the BSL start on boot up, always. Don't check an I/O pin, just run the BSL.  (The intent is to have the BSL run a quick hardware test on boot and drop into the loader if this fails)
  • IP protect the BSL so that it cannot be read out via JTAG or an error in the main application code (as the BSL will contain encryption keys)

My goal is to put the bootloader into the BSL section of info-flash so I'm not wasting system flash on a bootloader  (I might need to use quite a lot of it!).

The sticking point is IP protection: can this be configured to cover the BSL info-flash?

Thanks,

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 25045 points

    Hello,

    Philip Pemberton said:
    The sticking point is IP protection: can this be configured to cover the BSL info-flash?

    You can only use the IP protection on Flash main memory Bank 0 (first 128KB), therefore your Custom BSL should reside in Bank 0.

    Philip Pemberton said:
    My goal is to put the bootloader into the BSL section of info-flash so I'm not wasting system flash on a bootloader  (I might need to use quite a lot of it!).

    How much space were you planning to use?? You can only use 8KB of the Info memory as the other 8KB are allocated for the TLV and the Flash Mailbox.

    Having your custom BSL at the beginning of the flash will help with "The intent is to have the BSL run a quick hardware test on boot and drop into the loader if this fails", no need to have any invoke sequence as the reset vector will reside in your custom BSL.

    BTW, we developed a custom BSL for the BLE OAD example, (located at the beginning of the flash) maybe this something that you might be interested and feel free to let us know if you have further questions.

      Best regards,

        David

  • 0 in reply to DavidL
    Intellectual 255 points
    Sounds like the best bet is to follow a classic "partitioned" flash layout then -- with our bootloader in the first few K of main Flash (protected with the IP Protection feature), and the main app following it.

    Are there any areas of Info Flash which can be used for customer applications, e.g. storing a customer-assigned serial number or rarely-changed configuration?
    If not -- it seems like reserving a sector after the bootloader under a separate IP-protection range lock might be the way to go.
  • 0 in reply to Philip Pemberton
    TI__Mastermind 25045 points

    Hello,

     If you are not planning to use TI's BSL, you could re-purpose that area (8KB - 0x202000 to 0x203FFF) for that " e.g. storing a customer-assigned serial number or rarely-changed configuration".

      Best regards,

       David  

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