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The files shown in this Wiki page can be downloaded here.

Alan Carvalho de Assis has also made a video based on this example in the YouTube NuttX Channel.

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To keep things manageable, let's use a concrete example Suppose the ELF program that we wish to add to the release code is the since source file hello.c:

Code Block

  #include <stdio.h>
Code Block
  int main(int argc, char **argv)
  {
    printf("Hello from Add-On Program!\n");
    return 0;
  }


Let's say that we have a a directory called addon and contains the hello.c source file, a Makefile that will create the the ELF program, and a Bash script called mkdefines.sh that will create the a linker script.

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This is the Makefile that I used to create ELF program:

Code Block
  include nuttx-export-7.25/build/Make.defs
Code Block
  # Long calls are need to call from RAM into FLASH
Code Block
  ARCHCFLAGS += -mlong-calls
  ARCHWARNINGS = -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -Wshadow -Wundef
  ARCHOPTIMIZATION = -Os -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-strength-reduce -fomit-frame-pointer
  ARCHINCLUDES = -I. -isystem  nuttx-export-7.25/include
Code Block
  CFLAGS = $(ARCHCFLAGS) $(ARCHWARNINGS) $(ARCHOPTIMIZATION) $(ARCHINCLUDES) -pipe
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  CROSSDEV = arm-none-eabi-
  CC = $(CROSSDEV)gcc
  LD = $(CROSSDEV)ld
  STRIP = $(CROSSDEV)strip --strip-unneeded
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  # Setup up linker command line options
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  LDRELFLAGS = -r
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  LDELFFLAGS = -r -e main
  LDELFFLAGS += -T defines.ld -T gnu-elf.ld
Code Block

  
# This might change in a different environment
Code Block
  OBJEXT ?= .o
Code Block
  # This is the generated ELF program
Code Block
  BIN = hello
  REL = hello.r
Code Block
  # These are the sources files that we use
Code Block
  SRCS = hello.c
  OBJS = $(SRCS:.c=$(OBJEXT))
Code Block
  # Build targets
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  all: $(BIN)
  .PHONY: clean
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  $(OBJS): %$(OBJEXT): %.c
    $(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
Code Block
  System.map: nuttx-export-7.25/System.map
    cat nuttx-export-7.25/System.map | sed -e "s/\r//g" >System.map
Code Block
  $(REL): $(OBJS)
    $(LD) $(LDRELFLAGS) -o $@ $<
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  defines.ld: System.map $(REL)
    ./mkdefines.sh System.map "$(REL)" >defines.ld
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  $(BIN): defines.ld $(REL)
    $(LD) $(LDELFFLAGS) -o $@ $(REL)
    $(STRIP) $(REL)
Code Block
  clean:
    rm -f $(BIN)
    rm -f $(REL)
    rm -f defines.ld
    rm -f System.map
    rm -f *.o


The Linker Script

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The main linker script that I am using in this example, gnu-elf.ld, contains the following:

Code Block

  SECTIONS
  {
    .text 0x00000000 :
      {
        _stext = . ;
      *(.text)

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      *(.text.*)

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      *(.gnu.warning)

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      *(.stub)

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      *(.glue_7)

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      *(.glue_7t)

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      *(.jcr)

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Code Block
        _etext = . ;
      }
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    .rodata :
      {
        _srodata = . ;
      *(.rodata)

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      *(.rodata1)
      *(.rodata.*)

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      *(.gnu.linkonce.r*)

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Code Block
        _erodata = . ;
      }
Code Block
    .data :
      {
        _sdata = . ;
      *(.data)

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      *(.data1)

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      *(.data.*)

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      *(.gnu.linkonce.d*)

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Code Block
        _edata = . ;
      }
Code Block
    .bss :
      {
        _sbss = . ;
      *(.bss)

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      *(.bss.*)

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      *(.sbss)

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      *(.sbss.*)

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      *(.gnu.linkonce.b*)

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      *(COMMON)

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Code Block
        _ebss = . ;
      }
Code Block
      /* Stabs debugging sections.    */
Code Block
      .stab 0 : { *(.stab) }
      .stabstr 0 : { *(.stabstr) }
      .stab.excl 0 : { *(.stab.excl) }
      .stab.exclstr 0 : { *(.stab.exclstr) }
      .stab.index 0 : { *(.stab.index) }
      .stab.indexstr 0 : { *(.stab.indexstr) }
      .comment 0 : { *(.comment) }
      .debug_abbrev 0 : { *(.debug_abbrev) }
      .debug_info 0 : { *(.debug_info) }
      .debug_line 0 : { *(.debug_line) }
      .debug_pubnames 0 : { *(.debug_pubnames) }
      .debug_aranges 0 : { *(.debug_aranges) }
    }


Creating the defined.ld Linker Script

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Here is the version of mkdefines.sh that I used in this demo:

Code Block
  #!/bin/bash
Code Block
  usage="Usage: $0 <system-map> <relprog>"
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  # Check for the required path to the System.map file
Code Block
  sysmap=$1
if  if [ -z "$sysmap" ]; then
    echo "ERROR: Missing <system-map>"
    echo ""
    echo $usage
    exit 1
  fi
Code Block
  # Check for the required partially linked file
Code Block
  relprog=$2
  if [ -z "$relprog" ]; then
    echo "ERROR: Missing <program-list>"
    echo ""
    echo $usage
    exit 1
  fi
Code Block
  # Verify the System.map and the partially linked file
Code Block
  if [ ! -r "$sysmap" ]; then
    echo "ERROR:  $sysmap does not exist"
    echo ""
    echo $usage
    exit 1
  fi
Code Block
  if [ ! -r "$relprog" ]; then
    echo "ERROR:  $relprog does not exist"
    echo ""
    echo $usage
    exit 1
  fi
Code Block
  # Extract all of the undefined symbols from the partially linked file and create a
  # list of sorted, unique undefined variable names.
Code Block
  varlist=`nm $relprog | fgrep ' U ' | sed -e "s/^[ ]*//g" | cut -d' ' -f2 | sort - | uniq`
Code Block
  # Now output the linker script that provides a value for all of the undefined symbols
Code Block
  for var in $varlist; do
    map=`grep " ${var}$" ${sysmap}`
    if [ -z "$map" ]; then
      echo "ERROR:  Variable $var not found in $sysmap"
      echo ""
      echo $usage
      exit 1
    fi
Code Block
    varaddr=`echo ${map} | cut -d' ' -f1`
    echo "${var} = 0x${varaddr} | 0x00000001;"
  done


This script basically just uses the nm utility to find all of the undefined symbols in the ELF object. Then it searches for the address of each undefined symbol in the System.map that was created when the released firmware was created. Finally, it uses the symbol name and the symbol address to create each symbol table entry.

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Most MCUs based on ARMv7-M family processors support some kind of Tightly Coupled Memory (TCM). These TCMs have somewhat different properties for specialized operations. The STM32 F4 supports similar Core Coupled Memory (CCM). It is important to not that you cannot execute programs from CCM!Depending on the bus matrix of the processor, you may not be able to execute programs from the TCM. For instance, the STM32 F4 supports Core Coupled Memory (CCM), but since it is tied directly to the D-bus, cannot be used to execute programs!  On the other hand, the STM32F3 has a CCM that is accessible to both the D-Bus and the I-Bus, in which case it should be possible to execute programs from this TCM.

Image AddedImage Added

When ELF programs are loaded into memory, the memory is allocated from the heap via a standard memory allocator. By default with the STM32 F4, the CCM in included in HEAP and will typically be allocated first. If CCM memory is allocate to hold the ELF program in memory, then a hard-fault will occur immediately when you try to execute the ELF program in memory.

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