Why Pins tool don't call GPIO_PortInit?

[katte82]

Hello everyone,
While using the tools provided by MCUXpresso, I’ve always wondered why the Pins Tool doesn’t include the necessary GPIO_PortInit(GPIO_Type *base, uint32_t port) functions inside BOARD_InitBootPins() to make the GPIOs work.
Is this a software bug, or am I missing something?

Thanks in advance.

[Habib_MS]

Hello @katte82,

I understand that the functions GPIO_PortInit(GPIO_Type *base, uint32_t port) are not appearing even after you configure the GPIOs in the Config Tools window. Is my understanding correct? If the response is yes, could you please follow the steps mentioned in the chapter Routing of peripheral signals of the MCUXIDECTUG: MCUXpresso Config Tools User's Guide (IDE) | NXP Semiconductors. Please let me know you results.

Also, in order to support you better, could you please provide your SDK version and your MCUXpresso IDE version?

BR
Habib

[katte82]

Yes, I confirm that when I configure GPIOs, the GPIO_PortInit function isn't automatically inserted.
This doesn't happen with GPIOs ued by peripherals, but only with simple GPIOs used as inputs/outputs.

I'm using the latest MCXpresso (25.6.136) with the latest SDK (25.12).
Thanks in advance.

[Habib_MS]

Hello @katte82,

The reason is that the Pins Tool only configures the electrical characteristics and muxing options for each pin based on the selections you make, regardless of the mode you intend to use later. Even if you set a pin to operate as a GPIO in the Pins Tool, this step only establishes how the pin will operate.
After configuring the pin in the Pins Tool, you must still initialize and configure the corresponding peripheral in the peripherals tool or in your application code. In other words, the Pins tool prepares the pin, but the peripheral driver is what actually enables and controls the functionality.

BR
Habib

[katte82]

Ok, I understand, and it follows the procedure used for other peripherals, so that's fine.

I expected, however, to be able to set the GPIOs in the Peripherals tool, but that's not possible because it says: "GPIO initialization has been moved to the Pin tool."

That's why I was confused about how to use this tool.

[Habib_MS]

Hello @katte82,
The SDK (version 25.12) offers two examples for configuring a pin as GPIO called "gpio_input_interrupt" and "gpio_led_output", which configure the GPIO as input and output respectively, which can be useful.

BR
Habib