[FAQ] AM62x, AM62Ax, AM62D-Q1, AM62P, AM62L, AM64x, AM243x: Compare OSPI Registers

Vaibhav Kumar

Part Number: AM625

Context:

In MCU+ SDK and MCAL SDK, often while debugging OSPI & FLASH related failures, we come at a stage where comparing the OSPI Controller Register helps us debug faster. Comparing each register and their respective bit fields takes considerable time.

This FAQ covers an easier way to differentiate between two sets of registers using a script and an XML file.

Current Method: Requires the user to look back and forth at the TRM Register bit field values and compare them, which consumes more time.

Proposed Method: The script will give you the differences, see a sample register(0xFC40000) difference as shown below:

2 months ago

+1 Vaibhav Kumar 2 months ago

TI__Guru 51633 points

Step 1: Getting the OSPI Register Dump Files

Once you have put a breakpoint at a certain point in your application code file/drivers, then you can proceed to open "Memory Browser" in CCS.

In "Memory Browser", enter the address 0xFC40000. There will be an option to "Save Memory"/"Export". Click the same and follow the next steps.

Provide the file path as follows and select the File Type as "TI Data". Note, here it says the file name as "dump1.txt". The other file where you will have different set of register values starting 0xFC40000, should be named as "dump2.txt".

Specify the Start Address as 0xFC40000 and number of memory words to read as 64. Please see the relevant screenshot.

Once done, you will end up having two sets of files "dump1.txt" and "dump2.txt".

+1 Vaibhav Kumar 2 months ago in reply to Vaibhav Kumar

TI__Guru 51633 points

Step 2: Preparing The Files

In the obtained file, remove the first line. The first line would like like this: "1651 9 fc40000 0 40 0" and get rid of the space at the bottom of the file as well.

So the file will have the register values one by one in the following format: (Attaching contents of a sample file)

+1 Vaibhav Kumar 2 months ago in reply to Vaibhav Kumar

TI__Guru 51633 points

Step 3: Running The Python Script

Create a separate directory to store the following files:

dump1.txt and dump2.txt

script.py, download this file, by clicking this:

Fullscreen script.py Download

import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET

def parse_registers_from_xml(xml_file):
    tree = ET.parse(xml_file)
    root = tree.getroot()

    registers = {}
    for reg in root.findall(".//register"):
        offset = int(reg.get("offset"), 16)
        reg_name = reg.get("id")
        bitfields = []
        for bf in reg.findall(".//bitfield"):
            bf_id = bf.get("id")
            begin = int(bf.get("begin"))
            end = int(bf.get("end"))
            bitfields.append({"id": bf_id, "begin": begin, "end": end})
        registers[offset] = {"name": reg_name, "bitfields": bitfields}
    return registers


def read_dump_file(filename):
    with open(filename) as f:
        lines = [int(line.strip(), 16) for line in f if line.strip()]
    return lines


def extract_bitfield_value(value, begin, end):
    width = begin - end + 1
    mask = (1 << width) - 1
    return (value >> end) & mask


def compare_dumps(xml_map, dump1, dump2):
    print("Comparing register dumps...\n")
    for i, (v1, v2) in enumerate(zip(dump1, dump2)):
        offset = i * 4
        if v1 != v2:
            reg = xml_map.get(offset)
            if not reg:
                print(f"Offset 0x{offset:02X}: Value changed from {v1:#010x} → {v2:#010x} (Unknown register)")
                continue

            print(f"Register @ 0x{offset:02X} ({reg['name']}):")
            print(f"    Old: 0x{v1:08X}")
            print(f"    New: 0x{v2:08X}")

            for bf in reg["bitfields"]:
                old_val = extract_bitfield_value(v1, bf["begin"], bf["end"])
                new_val = extract_bitfield_value(v2, bf["begin"], bf["end"])
                if old_val != new_val:
                    print(f"      → Bitfield {bf['id']} ({bf['begin']}:{bf['end']}) changed: {old_val} → {new_val}")
            print()


if __name__ == "__main__":
    xml_file = "register_map.xml"
    dump1_file = "dump1.txt"
    dump2_file = "dump2.txt"

    xml_map = parse_registers_from_xml(xml_file)
    dump1 = read_dump_file(dump1_file)
    dump2 = read_dump_file(dump2_file)

    compare_dumps(xml_map, dump1, dump2)

register_map.xml file, by clicking this: register_map.xml

Run the python script as follows> python script.py

Attaching a sample output:

Processors

Processors forum

[FAQ] AM62x, AM62Ax, AM62D-Q1, AM62P, AM62L, AM64x, AM243x: Compare OSPI Registers

Step 1: Getting the OSPI Register Dump Files

Step 2: Preparing The Files

Step 3: Running The Python Script