CC3220SF: SLImageCreator "Timeout reading data"

 We have observed that if we use the dummy certificate for the mcuimage.bin, the flashing process is successful.

However, sometimes the following error occurs:

ERROR:slbootloader.slbootloader:--- error during get storage list 

If we remove all files from the Uniflash project and only encrypt the mcuimage.bin with the dummy certificate, then no error occurs.

If we flash only the mcuimage.bin, but with our key the flashing process is also successful. So there is a correlation with the amount of files and/or flash size?

Hi Sebastian,

Yes, it may to be related to issue with data transfer but it is hard to say. Have you check integrity of your UART signal (e.g. with oscilloscope with active probe)? For Uniflash CLI you can use verbose mode (-e), but I don't think this will be much useful. Yes, when UART data transfer is done, image is verified against signature and filesystem is created. This can take while depending of status of SPI flash.

• Do you use vendor authentication or you have code signing certificate from supported CA? If 2nd option is used, you can try embedded programming?
• Do you use SPI flash from recommanded list?
• Have tryed do SPI flash swap to determine if issue is not related to some particular SPI flash chips?
• What device do you use to flash CC3220? (XDS110, FTDI, etc.)?

Jan

Hi Jan,

thank you for your response!

• We did do not an UART signal integrity yet.
• We use vendor authentication
• We use flash from recommanded list but in larger size (MX25R6435F)
• We did not swap the flash chip 
• We use the USB-UART Bridge CP2105 for flashing

Sebastian

Hi Sebastian,

Can you try with "classic" FT232RL or CDC (XDS110) from LaunchPad? I have seen many weird problems with Silabs CP21xx chips. At some applications is behaviour of CP21xx chips unpredictable.

Jan

Hi Jan,

ok we will try this tomorrow and see if there is some difference.

Thank you!

Sebastian 

We haven't been able to flash via JTAG yet.
That's not so easy with our hardware. We're still working on it!

We also had problems activating verbose mode (-e) SLImageCreator
doesn't seem to support this?

We did more flash tests. We used devices that could always be flashed successfully (A) and devices that had always been faulty (B) or (C) only sometimes showed errors.
We did two tests with a few large files and one test with many small files.
We wanted to find out whether a large image increases the error rate when flashing or whether the number of files might cause problems.

Our tests showed that the error rate increases with a significant increase in the image size by adding large files. Our firmware V35 has a size of ~1.6MB. With an image size of 2.6MB, the devices that had always worked before also started generating errors. However, an image with a size of 1.8MB showed different behavior (see test 1). Here, all devices that were previously faulty were successfully flashed! The flash test of many small files showed no errors. The error can therefore be influenced by the image size or the number of large files. However, there appears to be no direct connection.

Test 1: We flashed the mcuImage.bin (284KB) and the necessary vendor certificates + two extra files of 734KB. The total image has a size of ~1.8 MB.
Result of test 1: All previously faulty and non-faulty devices (A, B, C) were successfully flashed four times.

Test 2: The mcuImage.bin (284KB) and the necessary vendor certificates + three extra files of 734KB. The total image has a size of ~2.5 MB
Result of test 2: All previously faulty devices (B) could not be flashed successfully even once.
All devices that always or occasionally worked (A, C) had an error in 3 to 5 flash processes.

Test 3: The mcuImage.bin (284KB) and the necessary vendor certificates + 40 small files of 1KB.
The total image has a size of ~0.42 MB.
Result of test 3: All devices (A, B, C) were flashed successfully.

So, we are more or less still at the same point. We are still trying to flash via XDS.
I don't think it is impossible that the CP2105 chip is responsible for this, but it is unlikely for me.
The flash process always stops at 99%. A few KB before the end. I can't imagine how the CP2105 could be influenced to cause problems every time just before the end of a flash file, unless the baud rate is changed just before the end, or something like that. It would be interesting to know what SLImageCreator does at the end at 99%!?
I can imagine that a certain number of bytes could lead to an overflow error in the software. That is why it occurs with certain image sizes and not with others.

Hi,

You cannot program SPI flash using JTAG, you need to use UART. Verbose mode is supported by dslite.bat at leat at my old Uniflash version (4.6.0). I am not sure if its supported by newer versions.

If you have programmed vendor catalogue inside OTP part of flash, you can try to use embedded programming. Also SPI flash chip exchange may to be interesting as I suggested before.

Jan

Hi,

There is no way to increase the baud rate since the boot loader section which is used during initial programming is hard coded to 921600bps.

The fact that they stop at ~99% with different numbers is irrelevant since it depends on the size of the image. It just says that the final step fails.

In this final step, it takes time since the file system is being created and it takes time mainly to delete the SFLASH locations.

Looking on the specific Macronix flash, it takes a typical 40mSec to erase a 4KB sector.

Rough calculation and assuming only typical values are met and not max values (which can reach 210mSec), you get to 10 seconds for each 1MB (250 sectors * 40mSec).

So for examples like 2.5MB you easily reach 25 seconds just erasing the locations (you need to add the actual writing, encrypting files, etc).

Adding the time it takes to program it over UART, you get to long periods.

Having said that, actual programming should succeed and not like they see.

It is hard to debug boot loader phases but maybe in this case it would make sense to try and use CC31xx NWP device where the logger is exposed even during bootloader mode. Since it only have 2MB flash, it will need soldering of your 8MB flash but it is compatible and should do the trick.

As for XDS, this is what we use so I cannot comment on the stability and robustness of the CP part.

Regards,

Shlomi

Hi Shlomi,

thanks for your idea of ​​a CC31xx. That would certainly be one way. However, we are currently in the middle of production and
we need a faster solution. Is it possible to get an insight into the source code or something that will help us understand the process better?

Best regards,
Sebastian

The source code of Uniflash cannot be shared and it will not help much.

The only thing that could help is to see what is going on under the hood, i.e. in the boot loader.

can you share Uniflash log?

it should be under C:\Users\<your user>\.SLImageCreator\temp.

Shlomi

Hello Shlomi,

The log on that path is generated when I try to flash via UNIFLASH and not with command line. Since we have the custom board which uses CP2105, we could not use UNIFLASH. 

With Command line we generally flash our devices. The requested log of this error can be found below

C:\ti\uniflash_8.6.0>dslite.bat --mode cc32xx project program --name ProductionR0_35 --project_path C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects --port COM12
Executing the following command:
> C:\ti\uniflash_8.6.0\simplelink\imagecreator\bin\SLImageCreator.exe project program --name ProductionR0_35 --project_path C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects --port COM12

For more details and examples, please refer to the UniFlash Quick Start guide.

Updated project path to (C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects)

------------------------



Copyright 2014 TI.com. All rights reserved, SimpleLink programming image builder
Builder = 5.0.0.5

Interface version   = 1.0.2.16
Recommended command line window resolution W124 X H67

The output directory is  :[C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_image]
The XML file is          :[C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_image\ImageConfig.xml]

Validate the XML against the schema.

The XML validation passed.


------------------------

 Commands Set Number = 0
        CommandNum = 0
                CommandFormatStorage:
        CommandNum = 1
                CommandWriteCertificateStore:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_cs\Vendor_certCatalog.lst
                FileSystemName = /sys/certstore.lst
                File max size is 7000 bytes, actual size 664 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 4 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 2
                CommandWriteServicePack:
                Service pack versions, NWP = (3, 21, 0, 0)  MAC = (2, 7, 0, 0)  PHY = (2, 2, 0, 7)
                Max Service Pack file size = 131072
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_sp\sp_3.22.0.1_2.7.0.0_2.2.0.7.bin
                FileSystemName = b'/sys/servicepack.ucf\x00'
                File max size is 131072 bytes, actual size 74852 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 66 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 3
                CommandWriteSystemFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_fs\sys\ap.cfg.bin
                FileSystemName = 1
                File max size is 158 bytes, actual size 158 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 4
                CommandWriteSystemFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_fs\sys\device.name.bin
                FileSystemName = 5
                File max size is 98 bytes, actual size 98 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 5
                CommandWriteSystemFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_fs\sys\dhcpsrv.cfg.bin
                FileSystemName = 3
                File max size is 12 bytes, actual size 12 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 6
                CommandWriteSystemFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_fs\sys\httpsrv.cfg.bin
                FileSystemName = 4
                File max size is 387 bytes, actual size 387 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 7
                CommandWriteSystemFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_fs\sys\ipcfg.bin
                FileSystemName = 17
                File max size is 200 bytes, actual size 200 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 8
                CommandWriteSystemFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_fs\sys\mode.cfg.bin
                FileSystemName = 0
                File max size is 80 bytes, actual size 80 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 9
                CommandWriteSystemFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_fs\sys\sta.cfg.bin
                FileSystemName = 12
                File max size is 116 bytes, actual size 116 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 10
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = ../files\tmp.tmp
                FileSystemName = @@.tmp
                File max size is 255 bytes, actual size 0 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 1 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 11
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpew7jjszb
                FileSystemName = Vendor_cert_trusted
                File max size is 824 bytes, actual size 824 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 12
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmp_ua7_xcb
                FileSystemName = data1
                File max size is 1391 bytes, actual size 1391 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 1 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 13
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpgw82gu95
                FileSystemName = passmgn
                File max size is 984 bytes, actual size 984 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 1 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 14
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmp9gtvhpw6
                FileSystemName = Vendor_ota_cert
                File max size is 396 bytes, actual size 396 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 1 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 15
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpjr7rkevn
                FileSystemName = Vendor_root_ca_cert
                File max size is 933 bytes, actual size 933 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 1 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 16
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpz5m0mqm4
                FileSystemName = /config/alarm.json
                File max size is 48 bytes, actual size 48 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 17
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmp2irdo3p1
                FileSystemName = /config/app.cfg
                File max size is 542 bytes, actual size 542 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 18
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmp3o7xubc6
                FileSystemName = /config/commands.json
                File max size is 175 bytes, actual size 173 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 19
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpwy5fboc9
                FileSystemName = /config/common.cfg
                File max size is 417 bytes, actual size 417 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 20
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpy48g0wug
                FileSystemName = /config/email.cfg
                File max size is 875 bytes, actual size 875 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 21
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpkv9d6200
                FileSystemName = /config/radarmcu.cfg
                File max size is 2031 bytes, actual size 1972 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 22
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpp5cuayd2
                FileSystemName = /config/room.json
                File max size is 226 bytes, actual size 226 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 23
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmp9r3j5tbe
                FileSystemName = /config/sensor.json
                File max size is 118 bytes, actual size 118 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 24
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpjgtf58zr
                FileSystemName = /config/app.json
                File max size is 720 bytes, actual size 720 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 25
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmp5wst6lnu
                FileSystemName = /config/settings.json
                File max size is 196 bytes, actual size 196 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 2 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 26
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpd_82_ma1
                FileSystemName = /sys/vital_signs_tracking_68xx_demo.bin
                File max size is 751680 bytes, actual size 751680 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 370 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 27
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmplpz6rdxw
                FileSystemName = /sys/mcuflashimg.bin
                File max size is 1048576 bytes, actual size 294252 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 514 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 28
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpeesjpu7g
                FileSystemName = /www/css/bootstrap.min.css
                File max size is 155845 bytes, actual size 155845 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 78 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 29
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmp6gvr42bt
                FileSystemName = /www/css/main.css
                File max size is 32881 bytes, actual size 32881 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 18 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 30
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpx2srti51
                FileSystemName = /www/device.html
                File max size is 23599 bytes, actual size 23599 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 12 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 31
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmp5stg7mtp
                FileSystemName = /www/easy_config.html
                File max size is 28034 bytes, actual size 28034 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 14 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 32
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpol0s6kgs
                FileSystemName = /www/index.html
                File max size is 23798 bytes, actual size 23798 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 12 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 33
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpxsuy_dss
                FileSystemName = /www/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js
                File max size is 78743 bytes, actual size 78743 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 40 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 34
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmp495wnxh3
                FileSystemName = /www/network.html
                File max size is 33473 bytes, actual size 33473 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 18 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 35
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpnba2wlky
                FileSystemName = /www/support.html
                File max size is 21158 bytes, actual size 21158 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 12 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 36
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = C:\Users\Vendor-001\.SLImageCreator\projects\ProductionR0_35\sl_temp\tmpkc6rqbnh
                FileSystemName = /www/wifi.html
                File max size is 53562 bytes, actual size 53562 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 28 blocks on the device
        CommandNum = 37
                CommandWriteFile:
                FileLocation = ../files\CrashMiniDump.bin
                FileSystemName = /tmp/CrashMiniDump.bin
                File max size is 24576 bytes, actual size 1 bytes
                After running the extracting the file will require 7 blocks on the device

        For Set Number = 0 ,
        Set Files will require 1234 blocks on the device after running the extraction  ( Programming image is not included )

------------------------
        The actual size of the image data is 1605632 bytes
                => The  image data requires minimum of 394 blocks on the device.

Block size is 4096 bytes.
Configured Storage size is 2048 blocks.


Total size of image( 394 blocks )
        Total size of user files after extraction( 636 blocks )
        Total size of FileSystem( 4 blocks )

        Total System files after extraction(includes reserved space for system files)( 620 blocks )
                Total reserved for system files ( 620 blocks )
                        Service pack after extraction size ( 66 blocks )
                        Application code  after extraction size ( 514 blocks )
                        Kept for system files ( 32 blocks )
                System files after extraction size (includes the service-pack) ( 598 blocks )
        Reserved size for the Image (includes image protecting) ( 416 blocks )
         ==> After the extraction the set will require total size of 1676 blocks.<==
         ==> During the extraction process the set will require total size of 1676 blocks.<==

Non-encrypted files generated successfully.



Finished successfully.

------------------------




INFO:slbootloader.slbootloader:Connecting to device
INFO:slbootloader.slbootloader:--- Please power off the device ---
Press ENTER to continue
INFO:slbootloader.slbootloader:Power off
INFO:slbootloader.slbootloader:Set break signal
INFO:slbootloader.slbootloader:--- Please power on the device ---
INFO:slbootloader.slbootloader:Power on
INFO:slbootloader.slbootloader:Clear break signal
INFO:slbootloader.slbootloader:Connection succeeded
INFO:slbootloader.slbootloader:Received storage list
Preparing...: 100% (89716/89716)OTP already locked !!!!!
Preparing...: 100% (1008/1008)OTP already locked !!!!!

Modified capacity = 2!!!

Image Programming: 99% (1589248/1593024)Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "SLImageCreator.py", line 5740, in <module>
  File "SLImageCreator.py", line 5735, in main
  File "SLImageCreator.py", line 5704, in cmdline
  File "SLImageCreator.py", line 4439, in command_project_program
  File "SLImageCreator.py", line 3010, in program_image_from_project
  File "SLImageCreator.py", line 3221, in program_image
  File "slbootloader\slbootloader.py", line 802, in fs_programming
  File "slbootloader\slbootloader.py", line 741, in _fs_programming_chunk
  File "slbootloader\slbootloader.py", line 320, in _expect_ack
  File "slbootloader\slbootloader.py", line 352, in _read_data
slbootloader.slbootloader.BootLoaderError:
Error: SLImageCreator.exe: BootLoaderError, Timeout reading data
[38480] Failed to execute script 'SLImageCreator' due to unhandled exception!

Regards,

Swapnil

Hi,

I didn't notice that you are using the vendor certificate feature.

Can you tell what happens if the vendor certificate is not used?

It is an easy test where you can use the TI catalog instead and link the files you secured against TI catalog and not your catalog.

I am just trying to see if it is related.

Shlomi

Also, is it possible to measure the time until it return an error on a non-working case?

I have a hunch where it is coming from but I need you to measure the time.