Using External NOR Flash SPI as SFFS

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1

Hi,
I am using EC200UCNAA with SDK Version LTE01R03A02. I want to mount S25FL256SAG External NOR Flash using SPI as external NOR SFFS. To do so I have been referring to the “spi4_ext_nor_sffs_demo.c” demo file. For the time being, I am only attempting to mount the flash and create the “EXNSFFS:” file system using mkfs.

I have selected SPI port 2 and initialized SPI with “ql_spi_nor_init_ext(nor_config);” using the following config:

nor_config.port = QL_CUR_SPI_PORT;    // (QL_SPI_PORT2)
nor_config.spiclk = QL_SPI_CLK_25MHZ;
nor_config.input_sel = QL_SPI_DI_1;
nor_config.transmode = QL_SPI_DIRECT_POLLING;
nor_config.cs = QL_SPI_CS0;

I am able to confirm that SPI has been initialized correctly as I am able to fire commands to the external flash as well as read and write data using “ql_spi_nor_read();” and “ql_spi_nor_write();”

When using “ql_spi4_ext_nor_sffs_set_port(QL_CUR_SPI_PORT);”, this function returns ‘1’, so it has selected port 2 successfully.
But when using “ql_spi4_ext_nor_sffs_mount();”, it is returning err code -2096889756 (QL_SPI4_EXT_NOR_SFFS_NOT_INIT_ERROR)
Next since mount does not return success, it proceeds to format and mkfs. Here, the device enters CP PANIC and the program shuts down abruptly.

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In addition to this, I have made the following changes to support spi4_sffs:

  1. components\bootloader\src\boot_fdl_dnld.c
    Enabled code block for “CONFIG_QUEC_PROJECT_FEATURE_BOOT_SPI4_EXTNSFFS”
  2. components\ql-kernel\drivers\quec_spi_nor_flash_prop.c
    Added flash info data structure for S25FL256SAG
// S25FL256SAG
        .mid = 0x190201,
        .capacity = 0x2000000,
        .mode = QUEC_NOR_FLASH_MODE_8BIT,
        .mount_start_addr = 0x0000000,
        .mount_size = 0x2000000,
        .pb_size = 0x400,
  1. components\ql-config\build\EC200UCN_AA\8915DM_cat1_open\target.config
    Added following config
#SPI4 NOR FS
CONFIG_QUEC_PROJECT_FEATURE_SPI4_EXT_NOR_SFFS=y
CONFIG_QUEC_PROJECT_FEATURE_SPI6_EXT_NOR=n
CONFIG_QUEC_PROJECT_FEATURE_SPI_NOR_FLASH=y
#BOOT SPI4 NOR
CONFIG_QUEC_PROJECT_FEATURE_BOOT_SPI4_EXTNSFFS=y

I have two questions:

  1. Why does mount show QL_SPI4_EXT_NOR_SFFS_NOT_INIT_ERROR?
    Please check the nor_config and config changes shared above and let me know if I am missing something.
  2. Why does the device enter CP PANIC after mkfs?
    I am currently assuming since mount is showing the INIT_ERROR, it is unable to detect the external flash. Please let me know if there is any other reason.

Also, it would be a huge help if you could share the API reference manual for SFFS and any other related documents.

Thanks.

2

Hi,
Waiting for your valued response.

3

Hi,@Mahesh123

Why does mount show QL_SPI4_EXT_NOR_SFFS_NOT_INIT_ERROR?

1.Please try to enable the macro control for QUEC_PROJECT_FEATURE_SPI4_EXT_NOR_SFFS and disable the macro control for QUEC_PROJECT_FEATURE_SPI6_EXT_NOR in the"/components/ql-kernel/Kconfig"file.
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2.Enable the demo in ql_init.c.
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3.Configure the SPI port in spi4_ext_nor_sffs_demo.c.

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4. quec_spi_nor_flash_prop.c configures the flash parameters, including the start address for mounting the file system and the size of the mounted space.
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Why does the device enter CP PANIC after mkfs?

In spi4_ext_nor_sffs_demo.c, enable the corresponding code to remove write protection.
Select based on whether the mode parameter in the quec_spi_nor_flash_prop.c file from the previous step is 8-bit or 16-bit.

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I hope the above information can be helpful to you.