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Adding bootloader binary to C project

Ian Mellor

Hi all,

I see this is a common problem, I am using uVision 4 with an ARM 7.

I have a bootloader at location 0x0 and application code that is located at 0x800.
I currently use HEX2BIN and BIN2HEX to merge the files before I can downloaded them to the target.
However to I would like to debug the application with the bootloader included as a binary.
Is there a way the linker can add the bootloader binary (or HEX file) during the build?
I would like to keep the two projects separate.
I'm looking at using bin2c.exe to create a header file with the bootloader as a const array, but this seems silly when it's the linkers job to combine object and library files together, why not also link an external hex or bin file.

Any ideas please.

Thanks,

Ian

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  • 0 in reply to Tamiryan Michael

    Michael,

    I'm sorry you don't understand, I don't understand why you don't understand.
    I must be very bad at explaining things our your very bad at understanding things.
    I'm just looking for help trying to do something that I feel I need to and it seems from you responses you don't think I should or need to do it. This is based on very little understanding of my requirements.

    I'll try one more time to explain....

    I would like to debug the application.
    I would like to do that with the bootloader there so I can go in and out testing the application as it invokes, or not, the bootloader in a variety of circumstances.
    I would like not to have to play with target settings and build macros if I can avoid it (especially with three devices)....you might like to do that but I don't.
    I also want to test the piggyback bootloader and I need to include the actual binary file for the target device, it cannot be done by magic it needs to be there with the application.

    Do you or anybody else have any ideas that would help me.
    Please no negative responses...

    Thanks

    Ian

  • 0 in reply to Ian Mellor

    The thing you're overlooked so far is that you can do much more than just loading the application when you start a debug session. That's what the debugger has an "init script" for.

    One of many things you can do in there is load additional data (e.g. your bootloader) into the target, before you start the program. You could even go one step further and load the debuggable image of the bootloader, so you would have symbols of both your bootloader and your application available in the same debug session.

  • 0 in reply to Ian Mellor

    The thing you're overlooked so far is that you can do much more than just loading the application when you start a debug session. That's what the debugger has an "init script" for.

    One of many things you can do in there is load additional data (e.g. your bootloader) into the target, before you start the program. You could even go one step further and load the debuggable image of the bootloader, so you would have symbols of both your bootloader and your application available in the same debug session.

  • 0 in reply to HansBernhard Broeker

    Hello everyone,

    from what I read this topic is closest to my problem but not quite what i need, though maybe someone can redirect me in correct way.

    how to generate HEX array from bootloader code which I would be able to insert in to existing code. At the moment working program have working bootloader saved in HEX array and stored in bootloader memory area. Thought it was generated with old version of keil. And now if I try to generate HEX from same working(not yet edited) bootloader code with newer Keil I get different HEX array and it isn't working. I'm making HEX array the following way: Code in Kail generated to *.HEX then using "Hex Workshop v6.6" to import that hex and export it to *.c

    Is it anything i need to do in other way or i'm missing something or something else?

    Program starts as usual at 0x0001 0000

    bootloader array at 0x0000 0000

    thank you in advance.

  • 0 in reply to Laurynas Klim

    Hi Lauris

    Not exactly sure what you want to do but here is what I do, not sure if this will help you...

    1. I have a separate project with the bootloader in it (could be like your old one).
    2. I use fromelf.exe (in batch file) to generate a binary file from the .axf file (if you have the old bootloader hex file you could use hextobin.exe instead).
    3. In my project I have an assembly file that uses the INCBIN directive.
    4. I have a scatter file that places the bootloader.o at 0x00000000 and the rest at 0x00000800

    Works a treat for me, I only have to assemble the bootloader project and run the bin conversion if it changes.

    Hope that is of help..good luck

    Ian

  • 0 in reply to Laurynas Klim

    Thought it was generated with old version of keil. And now if I try to generate HEX from same working(not yet edited) bootloader code with newer Keil I get different HEX array and it isn't working.

    Then no, this thread is not dealing with the problem you have, because you've already applied a solution to the problem discussed here, and it seems to work.

    The problem you have is that your bootloader no longer works if you re-compile it with newer tools. That's most likely a problem with your bootloader source code. Whatever that problem is, it would be better to discuss it in a separate thread, because it is unrelated to the topic of this one.