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    Upgrading spresense board flash memory

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    • M
      maxieaussie 0 last edited by

      Hi I am in the process of (physically) upgrading the QSPI Flash with a pin compatible device that will boost the flash from 8MBytes to 256MByte(I believe this is the maximum allowable in the CPU memory map). It will probably be ready next week and will keep you guys posted how it goes.

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        CamilaSouza DeveloperWorld @maxieaussie 0 last edited by

        Hi @maxieaussie-0

        Physically upgrading the Flash will not work because Secure CPU defined fixed size of partitions, for SPK area and User area.
        So even if you re-worked SPI Flash, it is the same size on software side.

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          maxieaussie 0 @CamilaSouza last edited by

          @CamilaSouza oh phew so someone in the spresense design team decided to lock this to just 8M 🙂 . I understand why from security perspective . Perhaps they try to keep the cost of the board down by keeping it to 8M? (a bit of "waste"-just like Raspi 4 which apparently could have had more memory, Well I guess they have done some "market research".

          The rework was done by a professional (photo attached). I am trying to flash the bootloader with no success. so far

          ./tools/flash.sh -l /home/ucuma/spresense/firmware/spresense -c COM8

          the QSPI commands are not 100% compatible but the basic command should be compatible. I have no idea however which commands are used by the flasher..

          Here's the original 8MB (Macronix)
          https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/macronix/MX25U6435FZNI-10G/3886217

          This is the 256MB (Winbond)
          https://www.digikey.jp/ja/products/detail/winbond-electronics/W25M02GWZEIG/12143325

          The package is slightly bigger hence wires had to be used

          IMG_0115.jpg IMG_0114.jpg

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            maxieaussie 0 @maxieaussie 0 last edited by

            @maxieaussie-0 it's also interesting that in the boards.txt (Arduino board definition) these numbers are specified.
            First they don't seems to be related to the physical sizes? Second it sort of implied the flash and the RAM are of the same size? (I am not too familiar with Arduino actually)

            "spresense.upload.maximum_size=786432
            spresense.upload.maximum_data_size=786432"

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              maxieaussie 0 @maxieaussie 0 last edited by

              @maxieaussie-0 btw recovery tools does not seems to work either :-).

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                CamilaSouza DeveloperWorld @maxieaussie 0 last edited by

                Hi @maxieaussie-0!

                The Arduino documentation explains a little bit about these two parameters on the boards.txt
                https://arduino.github.io/arduino-cli/0.29/platform-specification/#recipes-to-compute-binary-sketch-size

                Two properties can be used to define the total available memory:

{upload.maximum_size}: available program storage space
{upload.maximum_data_size}: available dynamic memory for global variables

If the binary sketch size exceeds the value of these properties, the compilation process fails.

                You choose this parameter in the Arduino IDE by going to Tools -> Memory.
                The default is 768 KB, so that's why yours looks like that.

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                  CamilaSouza DeveloperWorld @maxieaussie 0 last edited by

                  @maxieaussie-0

                  I used the recovery tool last week and it worked for me.
                  Can you describe what happened?

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                    CamilaSouza DeveloperWorld @maxieaussie 0 last edited by

                    @maxieaussie-0
                    Let me investigate this about the commands that are used by the flasher and get back to you.

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                      maxieaussie 0 @CamilaSouza last edited by

                      This post is deleted!
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                        maxieaussie 0 @CamilaSouza last edited by

                        @CamilaSouza said in Upgrading spresense board flash memory:

                        @maxieaussie-0

                        I used the recovery tool last week and it worked for me.
                        Can you describe what happened?

                        the incrementing dots just stopped a some point (after pressing those buttons in the correct sequence/way). It seems that I now have a "bricked" spresense board lol (I have 2 other ones though).

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                          maxieaussie 0 @CamilaSouza last edited by

                          @CamilaSouza I attached below the content of the boards.txt file found in
                          C:\Users<myusername>\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\SPRESENSE\hardware\spresense\2.6.0
                          (again I am not really familiar with Arduino, usually just use "normal" embedded programming ).
                          line 48-59 are most likely that gives the options of "Memory size" in the IDE (it corresponds to those).

                          If you scroll down further to line 61-85 these seems to specify the flash size and RAM size

                          The question remains is that why the maximum Flash size specified (1536 KB/ 1572864-I think they have taken in to account bootloader size, etc) seems to be the same as RAM size?

                          I am assuming Flash size is specified by "upload.maximum_size" and RAM is specified by "upload.maximum_data_size"- by looking at other "boards.txt" from other Arduino boards
                          (UNO Mini, Leonardo, Micro, Nano)

                          Perhaps Sony team who wrote spresense board definition could shed some light?
                          Thanks

                          menu.Debug=Debug
menu.Core=Core
menu.Memory=Memory
menu.UploadSpeed=UploadSpeed

############## Spresense BOARD ##############
spresense.name=Spresense

spresense.vid.0=0x10C4
spresense.pid.0=0xEA60

spresense.upload.tool=spresense-tools
spresense.upload.speed=115200
spresense.upload.resetmethod=ck
spresense.upload.maximum_size=786432
spresense.upload.maximum_data_size=786432
spresense.upload.wait_for_upload_port=true
spresense.serial.disableDTR=false
spresense.serial.disableRTS=true

spresense.bootloader.tool=spresense-tools

spresense.build.mcu=spresense
spresense.build.f_cpu=156000000L
spresense.build.board=spresense_ast
spresense.build.core=spresense

spresense.menu.Core.Main=MainCore
spresense.menu.Core.Sub1=SubCore 1
spresense.menu.Core.Sub2=SubCore 2
spresense.menu.Core.Sub3=SubCore 3
spresense.menu.Core.Sub4=SubCore 4
spresense.menu.Core.Sub5=SubCore 5

spresense.menu.Core.Sub1.index=1
spresense.menu.Core.Sub2.index=2
spresense.menu.Core.Sub3.index=3
spresense.menu.Core.Sub4.index=4
spresense.menu.Core.Sub5.index=5

spresense.menu.Core.Main.build.flash_name=nuttx
spresense.menu.Core.Sub1.build.flash_name=sub1
spresense.menu.Core.Sub2.build.flash_name=sub2
spresense.menu.Core.Sub3.build.flash_name=sub3
spresense.menu.Core.Sub4.build.flash_name=sub4
spresense.menu.Core.Sub5.build.flash_name=sub5

spresense.menu.Memory.768= 768 KB (Default)
spresense.menu.Memory.128= 128 KB
spresense.menu.Memory.256= 256 KB
spresense.menu.Memory.384= 384 KB
spresense.menu.Memory.512= 512 KB
spresense.menu.Memory.640= 640 KB
spresense.menu.Memory.896= 896 KB
spresense.menu.Memory.1024=1024 KB
spresense.menu.Memory.1152=1152 KB
spresense.menu.Memory.1280=1280 KB
spresense.menu.Memory.1408=1408 KB
spresense.menu.Memory.1536=1536 KB

spresense.menu.Memory.128.upload.maximum_size=131072
spresense.menu.Memory.256.upload.maximum_size=262144
spresense.menu.Memory.384.upload.maximum_size=393216
spresense.menu.Memory.512.upload.maximum_size=524288
spresense.menu.Memory.640.upload.maximum_size=655360
spresense.menu.Memory.768.upload.maximum_size=786432
spresense.menu.Memory.896.upload.maximum_size=917504
spresense.menu.Memory.1024.upload.maximum_size=1048576
spresense.menu.Memory.1152.upload.maximum_size=1179648
spresense.menu.Memory.1280.upload.maximum_size=1310720
spresense.menu.Memory.1408.upload.maximum_size=1441792
spresense.menu.Memory.1536.upload.maximum_size=1572864

spresense.menu.Memory.128.upload.maximum_data_size=131072
spresense.menu.Memory.256.upload.maximum_data_size=262144
spresense.menu.Memory.384.upload.maximum_data_size=393216
spresense.menu.Memory.512.upload.maximum_data_size=524288
spresense.menu.Memory.640.upload.maximum_data_size=655360
spresense.menu.Memory.768.upload.maximum_data_size=786432
spresense.menu.Memory.896.upload.maximum_data_size=917504
spresense.menu.Memory.1024.upload.maximum_data_size=1048576
spresense.menu.Memory.1152.upload.maximum_data_size=1179648
spresense.menu.Memory.1280.upload.maximum_data_size=1310720
spresense.menu.Memory.1408.upload.maximum_data_size=1441792
spresense.menu.Memory.1536.upload.maximum_data_size=1572864

spresense.menu.Core.Main.build.extra_flags=
spresense.menu.Core.Sub1.build.extra_flags=-DSUBCORE=1
spresense.menu.Core.Sub2.build.extra_flags=-DSUBCORE=2
spresense.menu.Core.Sub3.build.extra_flags=-DSUBCORE=3
spresense.menu.Core.Sub4.build.extra_flags=-DSUBCORE=4
spresense.menu.Core.Sub5.build.extra_flags=-DSUBCORE=5

spresense.menu.Core.Main.build.type_prefix=
spresense.menu.Core.Sub1.build.type_prefix=subcore-
spresense.menu.Core.Sub2.build.type_prefix=subcore-
spresense.menu.Core.Sub3.build.type_prefix=subcore-
spresense.menu.Core.Sub4.build.type_prefix=subcore-
spresense.menu.Core.Sub5.build.type_prefix=subcore-

spresense.menu.Core.Main.build.variant=spresense
spresense.menu.Core.Sub1.build.variant=spresense_sub
spresense.menu.Core.Sub2.build.variant=spresense_sub
spresense.menu.Core.Sub3.build.variant=spresense_sub
spresense.menu.Core.Sub4.build.variant=spresense_sub
spresense.menu.Core.Sub5.build.variant=spresense_sub

spresense.menu.Core.Main.build.stack=-Wl,--defsym,__reserved_ramsize=1572864-{upload.maximum_size}
spresense.menu.Core.Sub1.build.stack=
spresense.menu.Core.Sub2.build.stack=
spresense.menu.Core.Sub3.build.stack=
spresense.menu.Core.Sub4.build.stack=
spresense.menu.Core.Sub5.build.stack=

spresense.menu.Core.Main.build.libs="{build.libpath}/libapps.a" "{build.libpath}/libarch.a" "{build.libpath}/libarm_cortexM4lf_math.a" "{build.libpath}/libaudio.a" "{build.libpath}/libbinfmt.a" "{build.libpath}/libboard.a" "{build.libpath}/libboards.a" "{build.libpath}/libc.a" "{build.libpath}/libcmsis_nn.a" "{build.libpath}/libdrivers.a" "{build.libpath}/libfs.a" "{build.libpath}/libmm.a" "{build.libpath}/libnet.a" "{build.libpath}/libnnablart.a" "{build.libpath}/libsched.a" "{build.libpath}/libsslutils.a" "{build.libpath}/libxx.a"
spresense.menu.Core.Sub1.build.libs="{build.libpath}/libapps.a" "{build.libpath}/libarch.a" "{build.libpath}/libarm_cortexM4lf_math.a" "{build.libpath}/libbinfmt.a" "{build.libpath}/libboard.a" "{build.libpath}/libboards.a" "{build.libpath}/libc.a" "{build.libpath}/libcmsis_nn.a" "{build.libpath}/libdrivers.a" "{build.libpath}/libfs.a" "{build.libpath}/libmm.a" "{build.libpath}/libsched.a" "{build.libpath}/libxx.a"
spresense.menu.Core.Sub2.build.libs="{build.libpath}/libapps.a" "{build.libpath}/libarch.a" "{build.libpath}/libarm_cortexM4lf_math.a" "{build.libpath}/libbinfmt.a" "{build.libpath}/libboard.a" "{build.libpath}/libboards.a" "{build.libpath}/libc.a" "{build.libpath}/libcmsis_nn.a" "{build.libpath}/libdrivers.a" "{build.libpath}/libfs.a" "{build.libpath}/libmm.a" "{build.libpath}/libsched.a" "{build.libpath}/libxx.a"
spresense.menu.Core.Sub3.build.libs="{build.libpath}/libapps.a" "{build.libpath}/libarch.a" "{build.libpath}/libarm_cortexM4lf_math.a" "{build.libpath}/libbinfmt.a" "{build.libpath}/libboard.a" "{build.libpath}/libboards.a" "{build.libpath}/libc.a" "{build.libpath}/libcmsis_nn.a" "{build.libpath}/libdrivers.a" "{build.libpath}/libfs.a" "{build.libpath}/libmm.a" "{build.libpath}/libsched.a" "{build.libpath}/libxx.a"
spresense.menu.Core.Sub4.build.libs="{build.libpath}/libapps.a" "{build.libpath}/libarch.a" "{build.libpath}/libarm_cortexM4lf_math.a" "{build.libpath}/libbinfmt.a" "{build.libpath}/libboard.a" "{build.libpath}/libboards.a" "{build.libpath}/libc.a" "{build.libpath}/libcmsis_nn.a" "{build.libpath}/libdrivers.a" "{build.libpath}/libfs.a" "{build.libpath}/libmm.a" "{build.libpath}/libsched.a" "{build.libpath}/libxx.a"
spresense.menu.Core.Sub5.build.libs="{build.libpath}/libapps.a" "{build.libpath}/libarch.a" "{build.libpath}/libarm_cortexM4lf_math.a" "{build.libpath}/libbinfmt.a" "{build.libpath}/libboard.a" "{build.libpath}/libboards.a" "{build.libpath}/libc.a" "{build.libpath}/libcmsis_nn.a" "{build.libpath}/libdrivers.a" "{build.libpath}/libfs.a" "{build.libpath}/libmm.a" "{build.libpath}/libsched.a" "{build.libpath}/libxx.a"

### without SYSBUS
spresense.build.ldscript=-T{variant.path}/ramconfig.ld
### with SYSBUS
#spresense.build.ldscript=-T{variant.path}/ramconfig-new.ld
spresense.build.root={runtime.tools.spresense-sdk.path}/spresense
spresense.build.kernel={build.root}/{build.type}
spresense.build.libpath={build.kernel}/nuttx/libs

spresense.menu.Debug.Disabled=Disabled
spresense.menu.Debug.Disabled.build.debug=
spresense.menu.Debug.Disabled.build.type={build.type_prefix}release

spresense.menu.Debug.Enabled=Enabled
spresense.menu.Debug.Enabled.build.debug=-DBRD_DEBUG
spresense.menu.Debug.Enabled.build.type={build.type_prefix}debug

spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.115200=115200
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.115200.upload.speed=
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.230400=230400
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.230400.upload.speed=-b 230400
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.460800=460800
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.460800.upload.speed=-b 460800
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.500000=500000
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.500000.upload.speed=-b 500000
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.576000=576000
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.576000.upload.speed=-b 576000
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.921600=921600
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.921600.upload.speed=-b 921600
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.1000000=1000000
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.1000000.upload.speed=-b 1000000
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.1152000=1152000
spresense.menu.UploadSpeed.1152000.upload.speed=-b 1152000
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                            CamilaSouza DeveloperWorld @maxieaussie 0 last edited by

                            @maxieaussie-0

                            Hm... You're the second user to report this issue. But I haven't been able to reproduce it.
                            Let me ask you, what is the operating system you used with the recovery tool?

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                            • J
                              jens6151 0 1 1 @maxieaussie 0 last edited by

                              @maxieaussie-0
                              I am not with the Sony team but I can point you to the fact that the Spresense bootloader takes the uploaded binary, copies it to RAM and executes the code from RAM. The Flash is connected via a system MCU. You cannot access flash directly from the application cores. There is no code execution from Flash memory. All your code ends up in the RAM effectively reducing the memory for stack & heap memory. So the maximum for your Arduino application is in fact 1536KB.
                              See the line below. The setting is used to configure how much memory you will reserve for the sub cores. Second usage is the check if your program fits into memory.

                              -Wl,--defsym,__reserved_ramsize=1572864-{upload.maximum_size}

                              May I ask what is the reason for the QSPI Flash upgrade?

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                                maxieaussie 0 @jens6151 0 1 1 last edited by

                                @jens6151-0-1-1 Hi Jens. Ouch! Thanks for clarifying this. I was hoping to store my tflite model which is not so lite :-)-tried all conversion options with no luck . Converted to const it ended up around 56,172,546 🙂 I think I might have to change to a Renesas RZ/V2L MCUs! (I am not into Coral Boards and alikes). I was only using Arduino for a quick check but yes even with any other option there is no way the model would fit!

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                                  CamilaSouza DeveloperWorld @jens6151 0 1 1 last edited by

                                  Exactly, @jens6151-0-1-1
                                  Thanks for the answer.

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                                  • N
                                    nimish @maxieaussie 0 last edited by

                                    @maxieaussie-0 said in Upgrading spresense board flash memory:

                                    @jens6151-0-1-1 Hi Jens. Ouch! Thanks for clarifying this. I was hoping to store my tflite model which is not so lite :-)-tried all conversion options with no luck . Converted to const it ended up around 56,172,546 🙂 I think I might have to change to a Renesas RZ/V2L MCUs! (I am not into Coral Boards and alikes). I was only using Arduino for a quick check but yes even with any other option there is no way the model would fit!

                                    Yes, this is the major defect with the SPRESENSE. You do not have XIP so in practice the maximum model size is much less than 8MiB, and that needs to be fixed on the edge impulse site otherwise people will try to use large models.

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                                      CamilaSouza DeveloperWorld @nimish last edited by

                                      @nimish

                                      I see your point.
                                      We are always trying to improve our documentation and all feedback is valuable.
                                      I'll share your feedback with the responsible parties.

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