Maxim Integrated UG6258 Maxim Bootloader Tools User Guide
- June 10, 2024
- maxim integrated
Table of Contents
Maxim Integrated UG6258 Maxim Bootloader Tools
Maxim Bootloader Tools User Guide
UG7510; Rev 0; 10/21
Abstract
Maxim provides generic and secure variants of flash bootloader firmware for microcontrollers that enable firmware update and protect customer IP by secure communication. This user guide provides a detailed explanation of how to communicate with Maxim bootloaders. The document should be used in conjunction with the target device bootloader user guide.
Introduction
The bootloader is a special firmware that loads inside the main microcontroller, and generally the purpose of the bootloaders is to load the main application and provide firmware update functionality. For some microcontrollers, Maxim provides the bootloader firmware that gives target microcontroller firmware update functionality and security. There are two types of Maxim bootloaders:
- Generic bootloader (provides firmware update capability)
- Secure bootloader (provides firmware updates + secure transfer of firmware)
The Maxim bootloader solution is capable of handling communication over I2C, SPI, or UART interface. These bootloaders utilize a special communication protocol which is described in the bootloader user guide to configure bootloader options and perform the firmware update. Detailed information on the protocol is available in the target device’s bootloader user guide.
Maxim provides collaterals to ease the porting effort of the customer for the target platform and enable an evaluation platform for the bootloaders. The collaterals are listed as follows:
- ACM
- Load firmware
- Be used by the customers while developing their bootloader
host
Bootloader-related software and tools are delivered to customers by Maxim Software Development Kit (MSDK).
Maxim SDK Installation
The MSDK includes all necessary tools and source code to use Maxim
microcontrollers. For bootloader case, the MSDK installs PC tools and hosts
programmer example projects on the target machine. If you do not have Maxim
Micros SDK, download Maxim Micros Software Development Kit (SDK) from the
website and install it on your machine to get all stuff.
https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/design/software-
description.html/swpart=SFW0010820A
Bootloader Programmer Board
The user guide provides a detailed explanation of how to communicate with Maxim bootloaders. The document should be used in conjunction with the target device bootloader user guide.
List of Figures
Figure 1. Switch Mode Commands
Figure 2. GPIO Commands
List of Tables
Table 1. Switch Mode Commands | Table 2. GPIO Commands |
---|---|
Command | Command |
Description | Description |
Option 1 | Option 1 |
Option 2 | Option 2 |
Product usage instructions:
- Download and install the Maxim Micros Software Development Kit (SDK) from the website.
- Connect the bootloader programmer board to the target device.
- Refer to the target device’s bootloader user guide for detailed information on the protocol and to configure bootloader options.
- Use the MSDK tools and source code to communicate with Maxim bootloaders.
- Use the collaterals provided by Maxim to ease the porting effort of the customer for the target platform and enable an evaluation platform for the bootloaders.
Abstract
Maxim provides generic and secure variants of flash bootloader firmware for
microcontrollers that enable firmware update and protect customer IP by secure
communication. This user guide provides a detailed explanation of how to
communicate with Maxim bootloaders. The document should be used in conjunction
with the target device bootloader user guide.
Introduction
The bootloader is a special firmware that loads inside the main microcontroller, and generally the purpose of the bootloaders is to load the main application and provide firmware update functionality. For some microcontrollers, Maxim provides the bootloader firmware that gives target microcontroller firmware update functionality and security. There are two types of Maxim bootloaders:
- Generic bootloader (provides firmware update capability)
- Secure bootloader (provides firmware updates + secure transfer of firmware)
The Maxim bootloader solution is capable of handling communication over I2C,
SPI, or UART interface. These bootloaders utilize a special communication
protocol which is described in the bootloader user guide to configure
bootloader options and perform the firmware update. Detailed information on
the protocol is available in the target device’s bootloader user guide.
Maxim provides collaterals to ease the porting effort of the customer for the
target platform and enable an evaluation platform for the bootloaders. The
collaterals are listed as follows:
- Bootloader Programmer Board: To enable I2C/SPI communication through USB CDC ACM.
- Bootloader PC GUI Tool: A PC tool which provides GUI interface to configure target and load firmware.
- Bootloader Host Example: A platform-independent bootloader host example, which can be used by the customers while developing their bootloader host.
Bootloader-related software and tools are delivered to customers by Maxim
Software Development Kit (MSDK).
The rest of this document is structured to guide users on steps for
communicating with the bootloader and porting host programmer for the target
platform.
Maxim SDK Installation
The MSDK includes all necessary tools and source code to use Maxim
microcontrollers. For bootloader case, the MSDK installs PC tools and hosts
programmer example projects on the target machine. If you do not have Maxim
Micros SDK, download Maxim Micros Software Development Kit (SDK) from the
website and install it on your machine to get all stuff.
https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/design/software-
description.html/swpart=SFW0010820A
Figure 1. Maxim software development kit (SDK) on Maxim web page.
To start the installation, after download double-click on the MaximMicros.exe
file then follow instructions. The “Maxim Integrated Bootloader Tools” should
be selected to bootloader related package to be installed on the machine.
Figure 2. Bootloader tools installation package.
If you already have MSDK but do not have Bootloader GUI Tools, install the
bootloader-related packages using the following steps:
- Go to the folder that you installed Maxim SDK. (The default installation path is C:/MaximSDK)
- Run SDK MaintenanceTools.exe.
- Select Update components to update the existing packages.
- Click Next and install package.
Figure 3. MaintenanceTool update existing component.
Then, restart MaintenanceTools.exe and select the Add or remove components
option. Click Next.
Figure 4. MaintenanceTool add remove component.
Check the “Maxim Integrated Bootloader Tools” component, and click Next. The
bootloader-related packages will be installed.
Figure 5. MaintenanceTool bootloader tools installation package.
Bootloader Programmer Board
The bootloader programmer board (Interface board) is designed by Maxim
Integrated. The purpose of this hardware is to provide USB to I2C/SPI bridge
functionality. The firmware on this hardware is a customized version of
DAPLink firmware. This adapter supports standard DAPLink firmware features
(SWD interface and Drag-n-drop programming). Additionally, it works as a UART
to I2C/SPI bridge.
There are I2C/SPI/UART and BL0/1 pins on the interface board as shown in
Figure 6.
Figure 6. Maxim bootloader programmer board.
The BL0 and BL1 are generic-purpose GPIO pins. These pins are connected to
target RESET and MFIO (Multi-Function Input-Output) pins to reset the target
and keep it in the bootloader state.
To provide bridge functionality, a lightweight protocol layer has been added
inside the DAPLink firmware. The protocol details are explained in Appendix A.
You need to make sure that the bootloader programmer board has proper DAPLink
firmware installed on top of it. The related DAPLink firmware can be found in
Maxim Bootloader GUI Tool
Maxim Bootloader GUI Tool is a PC application that is capable of programming
and configuring the target bootloader over “Bootloader Programmer” hardware as
shown in the block diagram (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Block diagram of components.
This tool comes with MSDK installer and during the installation, the
bootloader GUI tool is registered on the Start menu. The user needs to type
“Maxim Bootloader Tools” in the Start menu and click it as shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8. Maxim bootloader tool on start menu.
System Requirements
This section lists required equipment, instructions, and required connections
for the proper set up of test platform. You may have a different target EV
kit. Please check your EV kit bootloader user guide to get the target device
pin configuration.
- Maxim Bootloader Programmer (MAX32625-PICO2 HW)
- Target EV kit (for this case MAX32660-EVSYS is used)
- 2 USB Type-A to Micro-USB Type B cables
- Some female–female cables
- Windows® PC (Windows 10) machine
- The latest Maxim SDK version must be installed on the PC. For details of the installation process, refer to the Maxim Micro SDK Installation and Maintenance User Guide.
Figure 9. Components to test bootloader GUI tool.
Figure 10. The overall system required pin connections.
Figure 11. MAX32660 EVSYS pins.
Figure 12. Bootloader GUI tool test setup.
Maxim Bootloader Tool Usage
The main screen of the bootloader GUI tool is shown in Figure 13 Before communicating with the target, the bootloader programmer board needs to be configured in the following manner:
- Select Comport: This was created by the “Maxim Bootloader Programmer” interface.
- Bridge Mode: The interface that is required to communicate with the target.
- Click Connect button.
You should see “SUCCESS” on the right side for success case.
Figure 13. Maxim bootloader GUI tool.
After connecting to the adapter the system is ready to communicate with the
bootloader for further operations. Commands that do not require parameter for
the bootloader are added under “Test Commands” drop-down under Bootloader tab.
See Figure 14.
Figure 14. Bootloader test command.
For a quick test, select a command and send it.
- Send: “Hard Reset then Send Enter Bootloader Command”
- Send: “Get Target PartNumber”
- Send: “Get Target Bootloader Version”
Each test command result and the bootloader response is printed on the right side as shown in Figure 15 so that please check right side to see command execution result.
Figure 15. Bootloader GUI tool running some bootloader test command.
The bootloader configuration parameters can get and set over the “Configuration” section. For more information about bootloader commands and configuration parameters, refer to target bootloader user guide.
Figure 16. Bootloader GUI tool reading bootloader configuration parameters.
To update the target firmware, use the “FW Update” section, To start firmware update:
- Click the Browse button and select image (.msbl or .bin file)
- Then, click the Load button.
Successful load results can be seen in Figure 17.
Figure 17. Bootloader GUI tool firmware loading.
If you have .bin and key file instead of .msbl (Maxim secure bootloader) you
should use BIN tab, then select .bin file and provide the key file path.
As mentioned in the Maxim Bootloader Programmer section, the Interface Board
tab is used to configure the adapter The BL0/1 pins are used to RESET and MFIO
on the bootloader side. The “Interface Board” section provides a way to test
and configure these pins.
For test purposes, you can configure GPIO, set the logic level to high or low,
and read GPIO status.
Figure 18. Maxim bootloader tool testing and configuring bootloader programmer board.
Interface board settings:
- RESET Pin: To select RESET pin, which pin (BL0/1) will be connected to target RESET pin.
- MFIO Pin and Polarity: To select MFIO pin and polarity, which pin (BL0/1) will be used for target MFIO pin.
- UART to Target: There are two universal asynchronous receiver-transmitters (UARTs) on the host programmer board (UART0/2).
- Target I2C Address: The I2C address that is used between the Bootloader Programmer Board–Target I2C communication.
Bootloader Host Example
Maxim provides a platform-independent bootloader host programmer example
project with source code to users, so that they easily and quickly port it on
their system and communicate with the bootloader.
To be a reference, the platform-independent bootloader host code is ported on
the MAX32665 SDK. The MAX32665 SDK has a “Bootloader Host” example project
which is able to communicate with Maxim bootloader firmware.
System Requirement
This section lists required equipment, instructions, and required connections
to the setup of EV kit properly. You may have a different target EV kit, check
your EV kit bootloader user guide to get your target device pin configuration.
- MAX32665 EV kit
- Target EV kit (in this case, MAX32660-EVSYS is used)
- CMSIS-DAP debug adaptor (MAX32625-PICO EV kit)
- Three USB Type-A to Micro-USB Type B cables
- Some female–female cables
- Windows PC (Windows 10) machine
- The latest Maxim SDK version must be installed on the PC. For details on the installation process, refer to the Maxim Micro SDK Installation and Maintenance User Guide.
Pin connection and final setup screen:
Figure 19. Bootloader host example setup block diagram
Figure 20. Bootloader host example full setup.
To create, build, and load bootloader host programmer example, following are the steps.
Creating Bootloader Host Example Project
- Run the Eclipse MaximSDK desktop application.
Figure 21. Starting Eclipse on the start menu.
-
Select the workspace folder that contains the demo example and click Launch. Note that it is best to choose a path that contains no spaces.
-
Start the wizard by clicking File → New → Maxim Microcontrollers.
Figure 22. New project wizard.
-
Enter the Project name and click Next.
Figure 23. Set project name. -
Select MAX32665 as the Chip Type, EvKit_V1 as board type, Bootloader Host example as the example type, and adapter type (CMSIS-DAP in here) in the Select Project Configuration window.
Figure 24. Select project configuration.
- Then, click the Finish button. The demo project is created.
Building and Loading an Example Project
To build the example project, right-click the project in Project Explorer and
then click Build Project.
Figure 25. Build project.
After the building is complete, check that the build has completed successfully, as shown in Figure 26.
Figure 26. CDT build console output.
To load firmware on the board, right-click on the project and select Debug As
→ Debug Configuration, then select project and click the Debug button. The
firmware is loaded in the MAX32665 device onto EV kit.
Figure 27. Loading binary on target EV kit.
Bootloader Host Example Menu
After preparing the setup, building Bootloader Host example then loading it on
MAX32665 EV kit if you start to execute it, the menu (Figure 28) appears on
the PC terminal side. It is an interactive example you can select to know
which operation is executed. Select it by typing the number on the PC side
keyboard.
Figure 28. Bootloader host programmer example console menu.
The host and target communication interface can be selected by the Select
Interface menu. Individual bootloader test commands can be tested by the
Bootloader Test menu.
The example project includes some test .msbl images for the MAX32660 and
MAX32670. These binaries can be loaded on the MAX32660 or MAX32670 target.
Porting Guide
The bootloader host programmer source code is designed to be hardware-
independent so it can be ported on any system. To demonstrate it, the source
code is ported on the MAX32665 microcontroller.
Figure 29. Bootloader host programmer example folders.
The files under the bootloader folder are platform-independent bootloader host
programmer source code. These files (bootloader/bootloader.*) can be used as
it is. The platform-related functions need to be registered during the
initialization function call (bl_init function).
Figure 30. Platform-independent bootloader layer initialization function.
The functions that need to be registered are as follows:
- read/write: I2C, SPI, or UART read-write functions.
- gpio_set: The function that can set or clear GPIO state.
- delay_ms: milisecond delay function.
- printf: It is the debug purpose function.
After initialization (calling bl_init function) the other interface functions in bootloader.h file can be called.
Appendix A: Bootloader Programmer Board Protocol
Maxim bootloader programmer protocol is inserted inside DAPLink firmware to
make it work as a bridge for I2C/SPI and so that it is able to drive the
predefined GPIO pins.
In idle mode, DAPLink firmware works in UART bridge mode, and the firmware
checks data that gets from the PC side. If a magic command is received to the
interface board firmware, it switches to bridge mode depending on the command.
The general bridge command format is as follows:
Magic (8 bytes) + Len (1 byte) + Group Code (1 byte) + Command (Len-1 bytes)
Magic word (8 bytes): DE EF AA 55 23 41 16 DC
Switch Mode Commands Detail
Table 1. Switch Mode Commands
GROUP CODE | COMMAND | DETAIL |
---|---|---|
B | I2C | Switch to I2C bridge mode |
SPI | Switch to SPI bridge mode | |
UART | Switch to UART bridge mode (Use current UART) | |
UART0 | Switch to UART bridge mode (Use UART0) | |
UART2 | Switch to UART bridge mode (Use UART2) |
Request and response packet format are listed in the following figures:
Figure 31. Request packet (from PC to interface board).
Figure 32. Response packet (from bootloader programmer board to PC).
On the switch-mode response command, the interface board sends its current
status and firmware version.
RetVal is 4 bytes, 0 (zero) means SUCCESS nonzero means fail.
Request and response packet example is as follows:
- Request (hex): DE EF AA 55 23 41 16 DC 04 42 49 32 43
- response: 00 1A 00 00 00 00 Mode:1, Version:v0.0.2
GPIO Commands
There are two general-purpose GPIOs on the interface board. These GPIOs can be
set, clear, or read.
Two GPIOs are managed by 1 byte, which means for each GPIO 4 bits are used to
set/clear/configure or read.
7-4 bits of 1 byte are used for GPIO1.
0-3 bits of 1 byte are used for GPIO0.
Table 2. GPIO Commands
GROUP CODE | COMMAND | DETAİL |
---|---|---|
G | 0x00 | Configure GPIOs padding |
GPIO padding can be:0: Set pad to high impedance, weak pullup
1: Set pad to open-drain with high impedance input buffer enabled
2: Set pad to open-drain with weak pullup
3: Set pad to high impedance, input buffer enabled
4: Set pad to normal drive mode for high and low output
5: Set pad to slow-drive mode, which is the normal mode with negative feedback
to slow edge transitions
6: Set pad to flash drive mode, which is the normal mode with a transistor
drive to drive fast high, and low
7: Set pad to weak pulldown mode
8: Set pad to open-source mode, transistor drive to high
9: Set pad to open-source with weak pulldown mode, transistor drive to high,
weak pulldown to GND for low
Other values do not affect.
0x01| Set/Clear GPIOs
0x02| Get GPIOs status
Interface board response format (same for all bridge commands):
Figure 33. Adapter response for GPIO commands.
Data part does not exist for configure, set/clear response packet, it is 1
byte for getting the GPIO status command.
GPIO set/clear request packet should be as follows:
Figure 34. GPIO set/clear command request.
As mentioned earlier, each GPIO pin is managed by 4 bits; for set/clear case, if nibble is 0 it means clear and if it is 1 it means set. The 0x0F (15) means do not touch it, leave it as it is.
I2C/SPI Bridge Mode Packet Format
After the interface board switches to bridge mode for I2C or SPI, each request
should be sent in the following format:
Figure 35. I2C/SPI read/write request packet.
- Each request should start with ‘S’ and end with ‘P’ character.
- After ‘S’, address byte (I2C address) should be provided The LSB bit of address indicates read or write, 0:Write, 1:Read.
- After address bytes, 2 bytes length should be sent (big-endian format).
The read and write commands are the same; to read data from the target
bootloader the LSB bit of address byte should be set to 1; and for read
command length bytes indicate the number of bytes that will be read from
bootloader.
Response packet format:
Figure 36. I2C/SPI read/write response packet.
On response,
- Len is data len + 4 bytes (for RetVal),
- The RetVal is the number of data that read or write by adapter over I2C or SPI.
- Data section valid for read command, for write request this section does not exist on response packet.
UART Bridge Mode Packet Format
There is no protocol for UART bridge mode and the adapter directly sends and
receives the data that it read over UART.
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Revision History
REVISION NUMBER| REVISION DATE| DESCRIPTION| PAGES
CHANGED
---|---|---|---
0| 10/21| Initial release| —
| | |
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