FreeMASTER 3.2.3 Update - Release Announcement

Yes

Version 3.2.3 of the NXP FreeMASTER tool has just been published online.

This version is backward compatible and fully replaces older 3.2.x releases (see previous announcements). It brings new features and bugfixes described below. 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 business lines as well as with DSC and legacy Power Architecture, ColdFire and HCS12/Z platforms. Note that the license terms and conditions does not allow using FreeMASTER with non-authorized systems from other vendors.

Version 3.2.3 is a minor update of the 3.2.x mainline release line. It overwrites previous 3.2 version installed on the host computer. Older 2.x, 3.0 and 3.1 versions are not removed.

This version backward compatible with all previous versions. It supports variable monitoring, oscilloscope real time graphs, fast transient recorder graphs, array-to-graph views and connectivity to 3rd party applications. There are CEF and Microsoft Edge WebView2 as two Chromium-based HTML rendering engines with full support of JSON-RPC, HTML5 and JavaScript to create custom dashboards and other user interfaces that run inside FreeMASTER. Older Internet Explorer rendering engine with ActiveX interface and protocol defined for versions 2.x is 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. FreeMASTER Lite 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.

FreeMASTER Node.js Installable Modules enable convenient use of the FreeMASTER JSON-RPC components in a Node.js applications managed by the ‘npm’ package manager.

Version 3.2.3 contains FreeMASTER Lite and Node.JS modules internally referred as version 1.3. Installing FreeMASTER Lite will require you to enter an activation code generated for this version. Get your free code on the License Keys tab at the license information page.

New Features

Version 3.2.3 introduces the following new features extending data visualization and communication options:

Segger RTT plug-in extended

The RTT communication plug-in now enables extra connection options to be provided by user. This may be needed to specify memory address or range of addresses where JLink RTT client searches for a communication buffer.

Segger JLink plug-in extended

The JLink plug-in now enables a custom script file (JLinkScript) to be executed by JLink library while connecting to target. This may be needed when extra steps are necessary e.g. to enable target memory access point (MEM-AP) interface.

P&E Micro plug-in extended

The P&E Micro plug-in has been extended. The latest firmware and device files have been added to support new NXP microcontrollers.

ELF/Dwarf version 5 support

Application executable files compiled using the latest GCC which use Dwarf V5 format by default can now be directly parsed by FreeMASTER.

X-Y graphs extended

Recorder, oscilloscope and Array Viewer X-Y graphs now enable to break the graph line when negative delta is detected on X axis. This may be useful when tracking inter-variable dependencies during cyclic events.

CEF component updated

CEF Chromium browser component has been updated to version 121.3.4+g2af7b91+chromium-121.0.6167.139. This solves issues observed after January 2024 update of Chrome browser.

Regular-expression MAP file parser extended

Parsing the text-based MAP files is quite outdated way of loading the MCU application symbolic information. However, this option may still be useful when other methods such as reading the ELF file or loading runtime TSA tables are not available. The latest version extends the MAP file parsing by options to define and load symbol type information.

Loading ELF or MAP file from HTTPS URL

The ELF/MAP files are now possible to be downloaded from HTTP/HTTPS server using an URL address.

Connection string as command-line argument

The connect-string can now be specified using the "/cs" command-line argument. This may be extremely useful during automated test procedures or when starting multiple concurrent FreeMASTER instances to interface different target boards.

Bugfixes and other extensions:

FreeMASTER

Fixed the warning dialog showing the full connect string when connection takes longer than expected.
Fixed format of JSON-RPC responses of WriteMultipleVariables() and ReadMultipleVariables() methods.

FreeMASTER Lite

The Segger JLink, RTT and P&E Micro plug-in configuration options have been extended the same as in the desktop version.
Added BDM plugin to FreeMASTER Lite for Windows x64.
Added health check endpoint. Default path is `/health`, can be customized via input argument `--health <route>`.
Upgraded Internal NodeJS to version 18.5.0.
Fixed write 1 byte variable function. Issue: FreeMATER Lite was writing the ASCI code of the first character of the string argument instead of the numeric value (ex: “1” was written as 49 instead of 1)

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 communicates with the target microcontroller application using Serial, CAN, Ethernet/WiFi network, 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.

	JTAG/ BDM	Serial	CAN	TCP/IP	Segger RTT
FreeMASTER Desktop app. x86 for Windows	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Separate packages are available for FreeMASTER Lite containing x64 binaries for Windows & Linux platforms with the following supported communication interfaces.

	JTAG/ BDM	Serial	CAN	TCP/IP	Segger RTT
FreeMASTER Lite x64 for Windows	✓*	✓	✓	✓	✓
FreeMASTER Lite x64 for Linux	✗	✓	✗	✓	✗

*Requires 64 bit version of the 3^rd party library. Tested with Segger (JLink_x64.dll).

Access the installation and documentation at the FreeMASTER home page at https://www.nxp.com/freemaster.