is there stand alone programming App that does not need entire MCUExpresso project

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is there stand alone programming App that does not need entire MCUExpresso project

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jeffsylvester
Contributor III

I designed the source files for kinetis K66F demo board using MCUExpresso, and all the tools work just fine.  However, we bought several of the K66F Demo boards and are using them as customer Evaluation kits.   which is just fine.  But now we need to do a source code field update.    I do not want to hand over all the source code to customers so they can load the code into MCUExpresso project in order to reprogram a K66F Demo board (FRDM_K66F) using the micro usb cable that goes to the Open SDA debugger.    

MY Question.  where is the stand alone programmer App for programming.   I want to just send a Binary file to customer so they can run a programmer App and reprogram.   I do not want to send them an MCUExpresso Entire Project with all the source files.    

Where is this tool?   

I am not talking about using an external JTAG programmer either like PEmicro or Segger.   I want to use the SWD Debugger that is already on board attached to a micro USB.     I am looking for the windows App.  for stand alone programmer

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satbir7
Contributor III

Hi,

A year too late.....

But were you able to find a solution for this?

I am in the same situation, and I am trying to build a simple GUI around the command line tools available from NXP.

I have it working occasionally, but a few kinks that need to be taken care of.

Satbir

 

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ErichStyger
Senior Contributor V

Hi @satbir7 ,

there were several points in the original question, so not sure to what you are referring to?

If it is about building: you simply can use the GNU tools for ARM to build the binaries.

If it is about sending a binary and program it without the sources, see https://mcuoneclipse.com/2017/05/06/using-eclipse-to-program-binary-files-to-an-embedded-target/ or https://mcuoneclipse.com/2020/12/05/standalone-and-command-line-programmer-with-mcuxpresso/ 

I hope this helps,

Erich

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2,125 Views
satbir7
Contributor III

Hi @ErichStyger ,

I was referring to a standalone GUI for flashing  the MCUs using the  LPC-Link2.

I was having issues with RedlinkServer crashing, but I figured it out today.

redlinkserve.exe was crashing, because I didn't  have  the  Scripts folder with the  .exe file.

Once I moved the  Scripts folder, it started working as expected.

Now, I have  a working standalone GUI which can Unsecure/Flash the MKE02Z MCU with LPC-Link2.

Thanks for the reply!!

Satbir

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deniscollis
Contributor V

I'm not a K66 user, but I've used the following options on other ARM MCU's that I use:

  1. Use libraries.  Development version has source code.  Customer version has library archives, so source code is hidden. Customer uses  MCXpresso to import project, build, and program board.
  2. Bootloader. Kinetis blhost app on PC via USB/VCOM or TTL/Serial to bootloader on MCU.
  3. IAP (In-App Programming). Make a simple RAM-resident firmware loader that connects to a PC via USB/VCOM. Binary code is transferred from PC (or maybe a Micro-SD, or even Ethernet/Web) to program flash.
  4. Talk to Segger.  If you have sufficient volumes for your 'demo' boards, they may consider providing you with a lower-cost J-Link 'Lite' board. 
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ErichStyger
Senior Contributor V

If you have the SEGGER J-Link firmware loaded on the OpenSDA of your K66 (see Segger J-Link OpenSDA Firmware with Virtual MSD | MCU on Eclipse), you don't need an external J-Link debug probe. And that way you can use the stanalone SEGGER J-Link (usually located in C:\Program Files (x86)\SEGGER\JLink) JFlashLite.exe. So your field person needs the J-Link software installed (you can download for free from SEGGER.com if they don't have the IDE installed).

All what you have to pass to the field person is the binary file you can create from the IDE (see for example MCUXpresso IDE: S-Record, Intel Hex and Binary Files | MCU on Eclipse ). If your field person prefers a command line tool, there is one for it too, see Batch Programming with GDB: Segger J-Link and P&E Multilink | MCU on Eclipse 

Bottom line:

- have Segger firmware on OpenSDA loaded

- generate binary with the MCUXpresso IDE

- field person has J-Link software installed and programs the binary with the J-Link

I hope this helps,

Erich

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jeffsylvester
Contributor III

Thanks, but not using Jlink because every time you fire up the debugger or programmer, there is some damn licensing thing that says that you have to agree to only use in demo mode or a license of jlink is needed, etc. etc.  even though we are using as demo there is grey area of what is demo and what is production,  if we build 100 do we need to buy 100 jlink license,  etc..  so piss on them, we use the CMSIS-DAP free ware from ARM.   the reality is what I am looking for is a way to run a script, or have a click on an icon run a script to get me to this "GUI Flash Tool"  menu.  It looks to me If I can some how get to this menu/tool then all I need to do is provide a *.axf or *.bin file.   you don't need the entire project and source code.  In reality maybe I just have them install MCUExpresso and launch the programmer using the Icon on the tool bar,  like shown below, but I suspect the tool also needs additional files, like a symbol file and a kinetis config file, I will go through the manual and see what I can dig up.  

Programmer Icon.png

looks to me Programmer.PNG

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lpcxpresso_supp
NXP Employee
NXP Employee

The short answer is that we do not provide a standalone package for flash programming. I recommend going through the MCUXpresso IDE User Guide to identify what flashing procedures fit you best. More specifically, I'm referring to the GUI Flash Tool and LinkServer Flash Support chapters.

The GUI Flash Tool offers the possibility to generate the command line script for a given operation. Please note that the script will point to MCUXpresso IDE and SDK folders, so these will be required on the host where the command will be executed.

Greetings,
MCUXpresso IDE Support

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