STM32H7, weird behavior of HAL_FLASH_Program function - c

For the context, I'm writting a bootloader for my STM32H743XI cause I want to erase and upload code through USB without using pin.
So my bootloader start at 0x08000000, it's size is 21kB (17% of the first sector of 128kB), and I want to read/write data at the end of the sector which will be shared with my App. When I say end of the sector it's the last 10kB of the sector which means I start to R/W at 0x0801D800.
The structure that I want to R/W is 8x32bits cause if I understand well this is the size of a WORD on STM32H74x/5X devices.
This is my struct:
typedef struct
{
int32_t BootLoaderMode;
int32_t StartingPartition;
int32_t AppStartingError;
int32_t temp4;
int32_t temp5;
int32_t temp6;
int32_t temp7;
int32_t temp8;
} ExchangeWord_1;
I've got a pointer to an allocated struct:
ExchangeWord_1* m_ExchangeWord_1 = (ExchangeWord_1*)malloc(sizeof(ExchangeWord_1));
Before writing i unlock memory with:
HAL_FLASH_Unlock();
HAL_FLASH_OB_Unlock();
The write operation looks like (id=0 and the second parameter is my allocated struct):
void writeExchangeWord(uint16_t id, ExchangeWord_1* exchangeWord )
{
//unlock function
uint32_t flash_address = (0x0801D800+id*32);
uint32_t data_address = (uint32_t)exchangeWord;
HAL_FLASH_Program(FLASH_TYPEPROGRAM_FLASHWORD, flash_address, data_address);
//lock function
}
Then I lock the memory :
HAL_FLASH_Lock();
HAL_FLASH_OB_Lock();
So the first call of this works well and the debugger confirms it when I look at the memory:
[Flash memory on first call][1]:
https://i.stack.imgur.com/cH9fI.png
But on on the next call the memory is filled with 0, more weird at the third call it's mulpiple words starting at 0x0801D800 who are filled with 0.
The adress of my struct is well aligned (m_ExchangeWord_1 = 0x20001D60).
What I am missing? Do I need to clear some flags before/after writting?

Ok it's seems that it is impossible to write two time in a row at the same adress, i've read somewhere that we are only allow to switch a bit from 1 to 0 if we want to write multiple time without erasing. I moved my "shared area" in a specific sector that I have to erase each time I want to write on it.
My problem is solved.

Related

Understanding the writing to flash process in the STM32 reference manual

I am programming the stm32l412kb where at one point I will be writing data to flash (from UART). From the stm32l41xx reference manual, I understand the steps in how to clear the memory before writing to it but on page 84 there is one step that I do not know how to do when writing the actual data. That step is the
Perform the data write operation at the desired memory address
What data write operation is it mentioning? I can't see any register the memory address goes to so I assume its going to use pointers? How would I go about doing this?
Your help is much appreciated,
Many thanks,
Harry
Apart from a couple of things (e.g. only write after erase, timings, alignment, lock/unlock) their ain't much difference between writing to RAM and writing to FLASH memory. So if you have followed the steps from the reference manual and the FLASH memory is ready (i.e. cleared and unlocked) then you can simply take an aligned memory address and write to it.
STMs very own HAL library contains a function which does all the cumbersome boilerplate for you and allows you to "just write":
HAL_StatusTypeDef HAL_FLASH_Program(uint32_t TypeProgram, uint32_t Address, uint64_t Data)
Internally this function uses a subroutine which performs the actual write and it looks like this:
static void FLASH_Program_DoubleWord(uint32_t Address, uint64_t Data)
{
/* Check the parameters */
assert_param(IS_FLASH_PROGRAM_ADDRESS(Address));
/* Set PG bit */
SET_BIT(FLASH->CR, FLASH_CR_PG);
/* Program first word */
*(__IO uint32_t*)Address = (uint32_t)Data;
/* Barrier to ensure programming is performed in 2 steps, in right order
(independently of compiler optimization behavior) */
__ISB();
/* Program second word */
*(__IO uint32_t*)(Address+4U) = (uint32_t)(Data >> 32);
}
As you can see there is no magic involved. It's just a dereferenced pointer and an assignment.
What data write operation is it mentioning?
The "data write" is just a normal write to a address in memory that is the flash memory. It is usually the STR assembly instruction. Screening at your datasheet, I guess the flash memory addresses are between 0x08080000 and 0x00080000.
Ex. the following C code would write the value 42 to the first flash memory address:
*(volatile uint32_t*)0x00080000 = 42.
For a reference implementation you can see stm32 hal drivers:
/* Set PG bit */
SET_BIT(FLASH->CR, FLASH_CR_PG);
/* Program the double word */
*(__IO uint32_t*)Address = (uint32_t)Data;
*(__IO uint32_t*)(Address+4) = (uint32_t)(Data >> 32);

STM32, variable stored in flash could not be updated in other file

I use a STM32F411RE.
Since I've no more memory in my RAM. I decided to store large variable in my flash. For that I created a section in section.ld.
.large_buffer: ALIGN(4)
{
. = ALIGN(4) ;
*(.large_buffer.large_buffer.*)
. = ALIGN(4) ;
} >FLASH
In the main.c file, I declare the variable as follow :
uint8_t buffer[60 * 200] __attribute__ ((section(".large_buffer"), used));
At this point everything is OK, the buffer is not stocked in the RAM (bss), I can access it and rewrite it.
buffer[25] = 42;
printf("%d\n", buffer[25]); // 42
The problem comes when I want to edit the variable from an other file.
main.c
uint8_t buffer[60 * 200] __attribute__ ((section(".large_buffer"), used));
int main()
{
myFunc(buffer);
}
other.c
myFunc(uint8_t* buffer)
{
buffer[25] = 42;
printf("%d\n", buffer[25]); // 0
}
buffer never change in another file (passed as parameter).
Did I miss something ?
You cannot write to flash memory the same way as you write to RAM, because of physical design of flash memories. To be exact you need to erase sector/page (let's say ~ 1-4kB, it's specified in your MCU datasheet). The reason is that flash are made that they retain state even if they're not powered, whenever you want to change any bit from value 0 -> 1 you need to erase whole sector (After erase all of bits will be set to 1).
So you cannot use Flash as data memory, what you could do is use Flash as storing variables that are const (read-only) value, so any look-up tables will perfectly fit in there (usually compilers when you stat variable to const will put them inside of flash). How to write to flash you can read in Reference Manual of your MCU.

OVERLAPPED STRUCTURES and LARGE_INTEGER

I working through exercises from Windows System Programming and I'm not fully comprehending LARGE_INTEGER and OVERLAPPED Structures. For example I have the following Structures defined in main. The first structure is used to keep track of the number of records. The second is used for the record data. The author defines and uses two overlapped structure to keep track of the record file offset.
typedef struct _HEADER {
DWORD numRecords;
DWORD numNonEmptyRecords;
} HEADER; /* 8bytes */
typedef struct _RECORD {
DWORD referenceCount;
SYSTEMTIME recordCreationTime;
SYSTEMTIME recordLastRefernceTime;
SYSTEMTIME recordUpdateTime;
TCHAR dataString[STRING_SIZE];
} RECORD; /* 308bytes */
LARGE_INTEGER currentPtr;
OVERLAPPED ov = {0, 0, 0, 0, NULL}, ovZero = {0, 0, 0, 0, NULL};
After the records are created. The user can be prompted Read, Write, or Delete a record. The record entered by the user is stored in recNo.
currentPtr.QuadPart = (LONGLONG)recNo * sizeof(RECORD) + sizeof(HEADER);
ov.Offset = currentPtr.LowPart;
ov.OffsetHigh = currentPtr.HighPart;
Can someone please explain how the values for the LARGE_INTEGR currentPtr are calculated? What is a Union? I have looked at the example in windbg and I don't understand how the currentPtr.LowPart and currentPtr.HighPart are calculated. Below is an example of file read operation being called with the OVERLAPPED Structure.
ReadFile (hFile, &record, sizeof (RECORD), &nXfer, &ov)
A union gives different names and types to the same location in memory. So if a LARGE_INTEGER union was stored at location 0x1000, and since X86 is little endian:
LARGE_INTEGER.QuadPart is 64 bit integer at 0x1000
LARGE_INTEGER.LowPart is the lower 32 bits of the 64 bit integer at 0x1000.
LARGE_INTEGER.HighPart is the upper 32 bits of the 64 bit integer at 0x1004.
OVERLAPPED is used for asynchronous I/O. A read or write call in overlapped mode will return immediately, and the event specified in the OVERLAPPED structure will be signaled when the I/O completes.
MSDN article for OVERLAPPED structure:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms684342(v=vs.85).aspx
In 32 bit mode, Offset would share memory with Pointer, in 64 bit mode, Offset and OffsetHigh would share memory with Pointer. Offset and OffsetHigh are inputs, while Pointer is used internally. InternalHigh is poorly named since it now reports number of bytes transferred, and may change yet again. Internal is now a status.

Initialize array starting from specific address in memory - C programming

Do you have idea how to initialize array of structs starting from specific address in memory (not virtual, physical DDR memory). I am working on implementation of TxRx on SoC (ARM-FPGA). Basically ARM (PS) and FPGA (PL) communicate to each other by using shared RAM memory. Currently I am working on transmitter side, so I need to constantly load packets that I get from MAC layer to memory, then my Tx reads data and sends it in air. To achieve this I want to implement circular FIFO buffer on (ARM) side, in way that I can store up to 6 packets into buffer and send them one by one, in same time loading other packets on places of already sent packages. Because I need to use specific memory addresses I am interested is it possible to initialize array of structure that will be stored on specific addresses in memory. For example I want that my array starts at adress 0x400000 and ends at address 0x400000 + MaximumNumberOfPackets x SizeOfPackets I know how to do it for one instantiate of structure for example like this:
buffer_t *tmp = (struct buffer_t *)234881024;
But how to do it for array of structures?
A pointer to a single struct (or int, float, or anything else) is inherently a pointer to an array of them. The pointer type provides the sizeof() value for an array entry, and thus allows pointer arithmetic to work.
Thus, given a struct buffer you can simply do
static struct buffer * const myFIFO = (struct buffer *) 0x40000
and then simply access myFIFO as an array
for (size_t i = 0; i < maxPackets; ++i)
{
buffer[i].someField = initialValue1;
buffer[i].someOtherField = 42;
}
This works just the way you expect.
What you can't do (using pure standard C) is declare an array at a particular address like this:
struct buffer myFIFO[23] # 0x400000;
However, your compiler may have extensions to allow it. Many embedded compilers do (after all, that's often how they declare memory-mapped device registers), but it will be different for every compiler vendor, and possibly for every chip because it is a vendor extension.
GCC does allow it for AVR processors via an attribute, for example
volatile int porta __attribute__((address (0x600)));
But it doesn't seem to support it for an ARM.
Generally #kdopen is right but for arm you should create an entry in MEMORY section linker script that shows to linker where is your memory:
MEMORY
{
...
ExternalDDR (w) : ORIGIN = 0x400000, LENGTH = 4M
}
And than, when you are declaring variable just use the
__attribute__((section("ExternalDDR")))
I found the way how to do it. So could I do it like this. I set this into linker script:
MEMORY {
ps7_ddr_0_S_AXI_BASEADDR : ORIGIN = 0x00100000, LENGTH = 0x1FF00000
ps7_ram_0_S_AXI_BASEADDR : ORIGIN = 0x00000000, LENGTH = 0x00030000
ps7_ram_1_S_AXI_BASEADDR : ORIGIN = 0xFFFF0000, LENGTH = 0x0000FE00
DAC_DMA (w) : ORIGIN = 0xE000000, LENGTH = 64K
}
.dacdma : {
__dacdma_start = .;
*(.data)
__dacdma_end = .;
} > DAC_DMA
And then I set this into code
static buffer_t __attribute__((section("DAC_DMA"))) buf_pool[6];

Why does using a structure in C program cause Link error

I am writing a C program for a 8051 architecture chip and the SDCC compiler.
I have a structure called FilterStructure;
my code looks like this...
#define NAME_SIZE 8
typedef struct {
char Name[NAME_SIZE];
} FilterStructure;
void ReadFilterName(U8 WheelID, U8 Filter, FilterStructure* NameStructure);
int main (void)
{
FilterStructure testStruct;
ReadFilterName('A', 3, &testFilter);
...
...
return 0;
}
void ReadFilterName(U8 WheelID, U8 Filter, FilterStructure* NameStructure)
{
int StartOfName = 0;
int i = 0;
///... do some stuff...
for(i = 0; i < 8; i++)
{
NameStructure->Name[i] = FLASH_ByteRead(StartOfName + i);
}
return;
}
For some reason I get a link error "?ASlink-Error-Could not get 29 consecutive bytes in internal RAM for area DSEG"
If I comment out the line that says FilterStructure testStruct; the error goes away.
What does this error mean? Do I need to discard the structure when I am done with it?
The message means that your local variable testStruct couldn't be allocated in RAM (or DSEG that should be DATA SEGMENT of your binary), since your memory manager couldn't find 29 consecutive bytes to allocate it.
This is strange since your struct should be 8 bytes long.. but btw it's nothing to do with discarding the structure, this seems a memory management problem.. I don't know 8051 specs so well but it should be quite limited right?
EDIT: looking at 8051 specs it seems it just has 128 bytes of RAM. This can cause the problem because the variable, declared as a local, is allocated in internal RAM while you should try to allocate it on an external RAM chip if it's possible (using the address/data bus of the chip), but I'm not sure since this kind of microcontroller shouldn't be used to do these things.
you've run out of memory....by the looks of it.
try moving it out as a global variable, see if that makes it better.
Just a guess: 8051 has only 128 or 256 bytes of "internal RAM". Not so much... It can use part of it as stack and part for registers. Maybe your "large" (8 bytes!!!) structure on the stack forces the compiler to reserve too much stack space inside the internal memory. I suggest to have a look into the linker map file, maybe you can "rearrange" the memory partition. The massage says "consecutive bytes", so perhaps there is still enough space availabe, but it's fragmented.
Bye

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