AM3359: CCS compile warning: ignoring #pragma DATA_SECTION [-Wunknown-pragmas]

Thank you so much.

Now I have changed to:

unsigned char ENI_test_array[12] __attribute__ ((section("eni_data")))={
    0x3c,0x3f,0x78,0x6d,0x6c,0x20,0x76,0x65,0x72,0x73,0x69,0x6f
};

refer to https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-6.5.0/gcc/Common-Variable-Attributes.html#Common-Variable-Attributes section ("section-name")

There's no warning any more, but I still can't find data in the allocated memory.

Did I do something wrong in .cfg file?

Is ENI_test_array used anywhere in your code? If it's not used, the linker likely optimizes it out.

Thank you, now I can put data in allocated memory.

I still have a question.

In linker.cmd file, the memory segment only includes: SRAM_LO, SRAM_HI, OCMC_SRAM and DDR3.

I can't put my data into these areas because data that program needs when running are stored there.

According to https://www.ti.com.cn/cn/lit/ug/spruh73q/spruh73q.pdf?ts=1630381254818&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.ti.com.cn%252Fproduct%252Fcn%252FAM3352 2.1 Memory map,

maybe there are other area I can store the data.

How can I use these area and arrange the memory map in ccs?

Thank you!

You can define additional memory sections in your own linker command file and add the linker command file to your project. Please refer here for more details.

Regarding linker command file syntax, you can either refer to linker.cmd generated by SYS/BIOS or the GNU linker command language documentation.

Regards,

Jianzhong

I have added a linker command file to my project:

MEMORY
{
    SDRAM : org = 0xA0000000, len = 0x20000000
}

SECTIONS
{
    eni_data : {*(eni_data)} > SDRAM
}

I have refered to the memory map:

In linker.cmd, the program has used address 0x80000000 ~ 0x9FFFFFFF.

DDR3 : org = 0x80000000, len = 0x20000000

So I want to use another half of this block (0xA0000000 ~ 0xBFFFFFFF) to store my data.

After I load the program, notification appears:

CortxA8: Loader: One or more sections of your program falls into a memory region that is not writable. These regions will not actually be written to the target. Check your linker configuration and/or memory map.

And the program can't run properly.

It seems that the error occurs because the memory I allocate can't be written, but according to the memory map, this block of memory is Ex/R/W.

How to resolve this problem? Or can you give me a block that can be written? Thanks a lot.

You need to enable that block of memory in GEL file. Please refer here: software-dl.ti.com/.../troubleshooting-data_verification_errors.html.

Are you using a platform file in your project, for example as shown below in project settings:

If that's the case, you'll also need to edit the platform. If not, then changing the GEL file should be enough.

Thank you so much. Now I can put my data in allocated memory.

But these days I found my program can't go into main() after I load it, like this:

I have tried many ways, like reset the hardware, reload the gel, etc. But they all don't work well. It seems that this problem is because I add the .cmd file and modify the gel.

.cmd:

MEMORY
{
    SDRAM : org = 0xA0000000, len = 0x20000000
}

SECTIONS
{
    eni_data : {
        KEEP(*(eni_data))
    } > SDRAM
}

The memory map is correct.

In .gel I add:

Do you know how to resolve this problem? Thank you!

Firstly, you can simply do the following in GEL file:

GEL_MapAddStr(0x80000000, 0, 0x40000000)

This means you enable 1G DDR. GEL file doesn't care how you divide the DDR into multiple sections.

Please also make sure your EVM has enough DDR. If you are using the AM3359 ICE EVM 2.1, then you're fine because it has 2GB DDR. You can verify memory 0xA0000000 is valid by going to CCS memory browser and see if you can change values at those memory locations.

Yingying Lu said:

It seems that this problem is because I add the .cmd file and modify the gel.

Did your program run as expected before you added this .cmd?

Jianzhong Xu said:

Did your program run as expected before you added this .cmd?

Yes, the program runs properly before I add my .cmd.

I think it's because my .cmd file went something wrong. Do you have any idea? Thank you.

After I load my program and stop it, I found the problem:

And according to .gel file, this area belongs to boot ROM,

When my .cmd is excluded from the project, the boot ROM area has no data and the program runs properly.

So I think maybe the program can't go into main() because it run into boot ROM in error.

Could you give me some advice on how to resolve this problem?

Thank you so much.

Hi,

According to SYS/BIOS User's guide, section 7.3.3, we can't define memory segments in supplemental .cmd file, because that is handled by the platform.

Can you try a few things?

1. Remove your .cmd file from the project. Add the following to you .cfg file:

Program.sectMap["eni_data"] = "DDR3";

This should place your data section "eni_data" into DDR3. Your program should run.

2. Edit the platform to increase DDR3 size to 0x40000000, according to SYS/BIOS User's guide, section 7.2.2.

This will allow you to fully utilize the 2GB DDR3 on the EVM (please verify your board has 2GB DDR3). However, this doesn't place your eni_data section at 0xA0000000. 

3. Instead of increasing DDR3 to 4GB, you can add a new section following the instructions from SYS/BIOS User's guide, section 7.2.2. For example, DDR3_new starting from 0xA0000000.

Then place your eni_data to DDR3_new in your .cfg file:

Program.sectMap["eni_data"] = "DDR3_new";

This should place your eni_data to 0xA0000000. When I tried this approach, the array was loaded to the desired location, but it was not initialized. I do not know why the array was not initialized at this point, but hopefully #2 above is good enough for you.

Regards,

Jianzhong

I tried following your advice, but met an error in editing platform:

It cost me a long time, more than 15 minutes, and end up with this error.

Do you know how to resolve it? Thank you.

Did #1 work for you?

How did you create your CCS project? Do you mind sharing it here?

#1 worked for me. But as you said, I must add external memory to platform, because I can't use 0xA0000000 without adding the new section.

I've also tried to use loadAddress and runAddress to 0x90000000, but it doesn't work either.

I don't know what's wrong with my XDCTools file, they seem to be error codes and can't be parsed. I just installed from the package: ti-processor-sdk-rtos-am335x-evm-04.02.00.09-Windows-x86-Install.exe

The project is not created by myself, it's a demo about EcMaster offered by other company.

I have changed to another PC (with CCS8.3.1, my own CCS is 9.3.0, I don't know if the CCS edition matters), test as your steps. This time I can edit the platform, but the result is the same as before. The program can't go into main() when the data exist in the allocated memory.

When I searched the solution before, I found a problem very like mine: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/60492948/stm32cubeide-break-at-address-xxx-with-no-debug-information-available-or-outs

It is said that the BOOT pin wasn't selected correctly, I don't know if it's related with my problem. Does evmAM3359 have similar setting? Because my program run into boot ROM area too.

Is this EVM what you're using: https://www.ti.com/tool/TMDSICE3359? This EVM does have various boot settings, but since your code ran well without the new memory section, it must already have correct boot setting.

CCS 9.3.0 should be fine, but your Processor SDK RTOS is pretty old. Can you try the latest RTOS SDK from https://www.ti.com/tool/PROCESSOR-SDK-AM335X? After installation, try to edit the platform from C:\ti\bios_6_76_03_01\packages. Also use XDC 3_55_02_22_core, as shown below: