FreeMASTER 3.1.1 Update - Release Announcement

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Version 3.1.1 of the NXP FreeMASTER tool has just been published online. 

This version brings bugfixes and minor updates described below. You may also want to read the recent announcement and see training videos of the mainline version 3.1.0. 

The updated installer is available along with documentation and other resources at http://www.nxp.com/freemaster.  

Release description

FreeMASTER is a powerful data visualization tool developed and provided by NXP to help users monitor and control embedded applications running on NXP’s targets. It works with almost all NXP Arm ® Cortex®-M microcontrollers from both Edge Processing and Automotive BLs as well as with DSC and legacy Power Architecture, ColdFire and HCS12/Z platforms.

Version 3.1.1 is a minor update of the 3.1 mainline release. If version 3.1.0 is already installed, the FreeMASTER Update 3.1.1 overwrites the installation and it remains referred as a general mainline version 3.1. Older 2.x and 3.0 versions are not removed. 

Version 3.1.1 is backward compatible with all previous versions. It supports variable monitoring, oscilloscope real time graphs, fast transient recorder graphs and connectivity to 3rd party applications. An HTML rendering engine based on Chromium with full support of JSON-RPC, HTML5 and JavaScript is available to create custom dashboards and other user interfaces that can run inside FreeMASTER or standalone in local or remote web browser. Older Internet Explorer rendering, ActiveX interface and protocols defined for versions 2.x are also still supported.

FreeMASTER Lite service which is part of the FreeMASTER installation package provides the communication core for Windows and Linux systems. It is accessible similarly as the FreeMASTER desktop application over the JSON-RPC interface. The FreeMASTER Lite 3.1 also embeds the popular Node-RED framework for graphical programming and provides many examples of use with the FreeMASTER tool. Find more information related to Node-RED in the dedicated training video. 

Changes

List of changes in version 3.1.1

1. New version of the P&E Micro Communication plug-in brings support of the latest CortexM7-based devices. The plug-in has been renamed from "BDM Communication"  to "P&E Micro Communication" to better identify the set of supported interfaces.
2. New version of the Segger JLink Communication plug-in updates the JLink communication library to version 6.88c and fixes issues when opening a target device selection window in plug-in configuration dialog.
3. New option added to ELF/DWARF parsing which enables to load unused symbols and symbols that are allocated at zero (NULL) address by a linker. This option is OFF by default, must be enabled by user in Options / Map Files / Edit settings dialog.
4. Partial clipboard support in Project Tree simplifies duplicating and moving Recorder, Oscilloscope and other items. Currently the clipboard commands only work within a single running instance of FreeMASTER.
5. Variable description and comment text can now be assigned. The description may be used as an internal variable documentation - displayed in Variable Properties dialog. Comment text may be displayed as a new column in Variable Watch view. This column is visible by default in new projects.

Bugfixes and other extensions:

• Fixed excessive communication with target board during initial board probing. This was happening when ActiveX/JSON-RPC client was trying to Read/Write variables during initial port-open action.
• Fixed direct memory access mode in PD-BDM plug-in. This faster access mode was not always used on CortexM platforms.
• Fixed invalid/zero variable size logged in Communication Debug Log in ReadVariable, WriteVariable and other similar log messages.
• Fixed crash in initial project open after application startup when the main window looses
  focus before the app. is fully initialized.
• Fixed JSON-RPC parsing of floating point numbers - this has depended on user regional settings causing issues in Dutch and other environments. JSON parsing now forced to English locale.
• Fixed ELF/DWARF parser to properly identify static variables defined inside functions. The variables are now identified as 'function::variable'. Old 'variable'-only naming is still supported for backward compatibility, but it is usable only if there are no duplicate variable names.
• Fixed ELF reload issue. In some scenarios, the FreeMASTER was not able to detect that ELF file has been changed or it has even failed to reload the file after it has been changed.
• Fixed all plug-in configuration dialogs will now show the plug-in version in title bar
  for easier tracking of issues related to wrong DLL registration.
• Fixed recorder issue causing conflicts when switching from one instance to another.
• Fixed similar pipe issue with un-registering pipe port when switching to another. 

Release target audience

Both FreeMASTER and FreeMASTER Lite are primarily targeted to our customers, engineers and developers of NXP embedded applications from Industrial, IoT and Automotive areas who want to monitor and control their applications at runtime. FreeMASTER is also a strong framework which can be used to create interactive demos and user interfaces helping to use the embedded applications by yet wider target audience.

Prerequisites

FreeMASTER tools run on the host computer and communicate with the target microcontroller application using Serial, CAN, JTAG, BDM or other physical interface. The microcontroller communication drivers are available as part of MCUXpresso SDK, S32 Design Studio or as a standalone installation package. Get familiar with the communication protocol and the microcontroller driver API before using the FreeMASTER tool.

License terms and conditions permit use of FreeMASTER solely with systems based on NXP microprocessor or microcontroller systems.

Packages

A single self-extracting installation package which contains both FreeMASTER desktop application and the new FreeMASTER Lite service is available for Windows platforms. A package with the FreeMASTER Lite service is also available for Linux.
Access the installation and documentation at the FreeMASTER home page at https://www.nxp.com/freemaster.