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IWR6843ISK: Trying to use the SBL, but running into multiple issues...

Thomas Grounds
Prodigy 90 points
Part Number: IWR6843ISK

We've loaded the xwr68xx_sbl.bin, our traffic monitoring project, and the xwr68xx_mmw_demo.bin as the base code that we want the system to revert back to as follows:

If we just load the xwr68xx_sbl.bin file, then we get a count down from 90 on flashing a new binary image in our terminal screen.  If we load the sbl.bin and the .bin for Image 4, it appears to go directly to Image 4, without giving us a chance to send an upload to the board (no countdown).  We connect the board to the USB, and then connect the terminal software within about 3-4 seconds, but a CR/LF to the device indicates we're already at the CLI response, and the version command confirms the .bin we're running.  If we load all three, it appears to go directly to Image 2 before giving us a chance to send an upload to the board.

We're also having an issue trying to send an image to the SBL (when it is the only .bin loaded).  We're trying to use XMODEM 1K, but we can't seem to find terminal software on Ubuntu that the SBL will communicate with.  It also doesn't look like we can setup a CC project for the SBL code (easily) so that we can try to recompile it and/or debug it.

We need to be able to update the code in the field, so this utility is essential to our final product.

Let us know what else we can try.

Regards,

-Thomas Grounds

  • 0
    Prodigy 90 points

    We've found a work-around for Ubuntu sending the .bin files to the IWR6843ISK.  With just the xwr68xx_sbl.bin file loaded, we are able to upload our traffic monitoring .bin file, and it then appears to run.  We are able to use the CLI to send a Soft Reset Command, which restarts the SBL download process.  Code without the Soft Reset Command however, won't let us reset back to the SBL - however we can probably live with that for now.  The 90 seconds though is a problem - we need the SBL to switch faster than that.  Let us know how we can recompile the SBL.  It looks like that setting is in the sbl.h file at #define SBL_AUTOBOOT_COUNT                  90U.

  • 0 in reply to Thomas Grounds
    TI__Genius 10730 points

    Hi Thomas,

    Nice to talk to you again!

    I am marking the above comment as resolved but I am not closing this ticket. This is just so other customers can easily find your work around in this thread.

    First, I want to make you aware that each offset for the images is 512KB. Therefore some modifications may have to be made to fit the images > 512KB. The one in the second slot in the screen grab will be ok because it will flow into slot three. See this e2e thread of a reset customer using SBL: https://e2e.ti.com/support/sensors-group/sensors/f/sensors-forum/1210724/iwr6843aop-3dpc-backup-image-meta-image-4-slot-overwrites-sbl-image-utility 

    I would recommend reducing that #define SBL_AUTOBOOT_COUNT. To get started with rebuilding the SBL lib please see page 42, section 4.5.4 Advanced Build, of the SDK User's Guide in C:\<sdk download loc>\mmwave_sdk_03_06_00_00-LTS\docs.

    Thanks,

    Angie

  • 0 in reply to Angie Mitchell
    Prodigy 90 points

    Hi Angie,

    Good information, that will give us something to work on in regards to recompiling the SBL.  We were using Cutecom on Ubuntu to connect to the CLI port for the board with the SBL loaded but couldn't seem to get the XMODEM 1K mode to upload the file.  It kept erroring out.  So we ended up using the command "sx -X -k traffic.bin < /dev/ttyUSB0 > /dev/ttyUSB0" to send the file once the SBL had erased the flash and was in receive mode (and we released the CLI port that Cutecom was on).  So that was our specific workaround for Ubuntu.  We should be able to get setup for this through a remote session in just a few seconds.

    I'll keep the 512K boundary in mind when setting this up again, and we'll see if we can recompile the SBL for a shorter autoboot_count.

    Thanks,

    -Tom Grounds

  • 0 in reply to Thomas Grounds
    TI__Genius 10730 points

    Hi Tom,

    Sounds good! Let me know how this goes.

    Thanks,

    Angie

  • 0 in reply to Angie Mitchell
    Prodigy 90 points

    Hi Angie,

    Was able to get everything running this morning.  Lowering the SBL_AUTOBOOT_COUNT worked as expected.  However, I needed to modify SBL_METAIMAGE_OFFSET to (512U * 1024U) from the 256U setting in order for it to find the flashed meta image2.  The additional time that it takes for the bootloader (and a short delay to allow for selection of a new image) required that we make some timing adjustments in other parts of the system - but with that completed it appears to work as expected.  Thanks for all your help.  

    -TomG.