topic Re: Debugger PE Micro in MPC5xxx

Debugger PE Micro

Ahmed_Abd_El-Hafez — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:21:29 GMT

Hello NXP team,

I want to record a DCF in the UTEST flash to protect the code on the MCU from being read out from the board (by a password). Can I use Design Studio to do that without using a debugger?

Best regards,

Ahmed

Re: Debugger PE Micro

petervlna — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 04:51:23 GMT

Hello,

Yes, you can use S32Design studio or any other compiler for that.

UTEST flash where DCF reside is just a normal flash set as OTP. So you will use standard flash programming as for any other block.

or you can use debugger:

https://community.nxp.com/t5/S32-Design-Studio-Knowledge-Base/HOWTO-Program-DCF-record-into-UTEST-flash-in-S32-Design-Studio/ta-p/1099436

Best regards,

Peter

Re: Debugger PE Micro

Ahmed_Abd_El-Hafez — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 16:22:17 GMT

Thank you for the fast reply.

When I followed the steps you shared using Design Studio, I got this error. Please tell me what the reason of this error is and how to fix it?

Another question is that after implementing censorship using this method, can a person read the code from the board without knowing the password even if he uses a debugger or not?

Re: Debugger PE Micro

petervlna — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:25:19 GMT

Hello,

As the thread express, this is tested on the S32DS version R2017.

So I am not aware of which version do you use and the error expression is too general.

Is the micro blank?

For PEmicro/S32DS the mechanism is generally implemented through a dedicated UTEST flash algorithm (*_UTest.pcp).

You can also reach out to PEMicro if there is any latest version of script/algorithm for their debugger.

Best regards,

Peter

Re: Debugger PE Micro

Ahmed_Abd_El-Hafez — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:43:46 GMT

I installed the S32DS version R2017 and retried the steps again in this version, but again I got the same error. What may be the reason? What can I check?

I think the reason may be that S32DS tries to erase and then write to UTEST, but the UTEST can't be deleted. Is there any missed step to tell DS32 not to erase before writing the DCF record?

Re: Debugger PE Micro

petervlna — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:29 GMT

Hello,

I think the reason may be that S32DS tries to erase and then write to UTEST, but the UTEST can't be deleted. Is there any missed step to tell DS32 not to erase before writing the DCF record?

That could be a possible explanation. I never used PE for programming UTEST, we use Lauterbach debuggers instead.

I cant speak for PE programming procedure, but if the script try to erase first then the process will be aborted.

But the alternative algorithm target the UTEST, so the script should not erase the micro. Just reprogram it.

You can also try it with PE micro GUI according to the guide bellow:

https://community.nxp.com/t5/S32-Design-Studio/MPC5777C-update-DCF-record/m-p/791557

Best regards,

Peter

Re: Debugger PE Micro

Ahmed_Abd_El-Hafez — Sun, 11 Oct 2026 15:28:10 GMT

When I tried these steps with being connected to the MCU (REV E not REV B), I got this window with the port field locked as shown,

When returning to the user manual, I found that this approach needs using a hardware interface, but I need a method without using any additional debugger, so can this approach using PE Micro PROGDSC work without a hardware interface or what I can do?