topic Re: What does 'core lock up' mean? in S32K

What does 'core lock up' mean?

durga_choudhury — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:08:47 GMT

This is probably not a S32K specific question, but that is the MCU I am using, so I am posting into that forum; please guide me if this is better suited for another forum.

In some of the NXP documentation (e.g. AN12522 Page 2 towards the end), there is a mention of 'core lock up'. What exactly does this mean? Is there any documentation that elaborates on this?

Re: What does 'core lock up' mean?

VaneB — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 21:50:25 GMT

Hi @durga_choudhury

According to the Arm documentation:

“The processor enters a lockup state if a fault occurs while executing the NMI or HardFault handlers. In this lockup state, the processor stops executing instructions and remains halted until one of the following events occurs:

The processor is reset,
An NMI is triggered,
Or the processor is halted by a debugger.”

BR, VaneB

Re: What does 'core lock up' mean?

durga_choudhury — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 21:52:47 GMT

Thanks for the clarification.