Ethernet + LwIP + FreeRTOS Issues on NUCLEO-H753ZI

[gregoor]

Hi guys, 

I have a STM32 NUCLEO-H753ZI board and the overall goal is to run open62541. In order to do that, I need a working LwIP stack and Ethernet connection. I have done a lot of research and tried multiple settings, but can´t get it working. Below, I´ll describe what I have done so far / settings in the .ioc I have made.

It would be awesome if you could tell me, where my mistake is. 

Using STM32CubeIDE Version: 1.19.0 Build: 25607_20250703_0907 (UTC).

Clock Configuration:

Input frequency = 8MHz -> PLL Source Mux = HSE -> System Clock Mux = PLLCLK (Enable CSS) 

-> SYSCLOCK = 400 MHz -> D1 CPRE Prescaler = /1 -> 400 MHz -> HPRE Prescaler = /2 -> 200 MHz

-> D1 PPRE, D2 PPRE1, D2 PPRE2, D3 PPRE = /2

System Core:

RCC: 

HSE = BYPASS Clock Source

LSE = Crystal

Power Regulator Voltage Scale = Power Regulator Voltage Scale 1

SYS:

Timebase Source = TIM6

NVIC:

Ethernet global interrupt = Enabled, Preemption Priority = 5

Ethernet wake-up interrupt through EXTI line 86 = Enabled, Preemption Priority = 5

CORTEX_M7:

See Screenshot attached below.

Connectivity:

ETH: 

Enabled in RMII

NVIC Settings as described in NVIC

GPIO Settings: Set Maximum output speed to "Very High" for every Pin

Middleware and Software Packs:

FreeRTOS:

Using CMSIS v1 (FreeRTOS version 10.3.1, CMSIS-RTOS version 1.02)

ENABLE_FPU = Enabled

MINIMAL_STACK_SIZE = 1024 Words

TOTAL_HEAP_SIZE = 300000 Bytes

Memory Management scheme = heap_4

LWIP:

Platform Settings: LAN8742 and as Solution also LAN8742

General Settings: DHCP = Disabled, Set own IP-Address, Netmask and Gateway (those are fine) 

General Settings: ICMP, DNS, UDP, TPC = Enabled 

Key Options: Please see .pdf with Screenshots below

Preprocessor:

Under Properties -> C/C++ Build -> MCU/MPU GCC Compiler -> Preprocessor I added "DATA_IN_D2_SRAM"

to the Define symbols.

_FLASH.id:

/* Specify the memory areas */
MEMORY
{
  FLASH (rx)     		: ORIGIN = 0x08000000, LENGTH = 2048K
  DTCMRAM (xrw) 	 	: ORIGIN = 0x20000000, LENGTH = 128K
  RAM_D1 (xrw)   		: ORIGIN = 0x24000000, LENGTH = 512K
  RAM_D2   (xrw) 		: ORIGIN = 0x30020000, LENGTH = 256K   /* SRAM2 */
  RAM_D2_SRAM3 (xrw) 	: ORIGIN = 0x30040000, LENGTH = 32K    /* SRAM3 */
  RAM_D3 (xrw)   		: ORIGIN = 0x38000000, LENGTH = 64K
  ITCMRAM (xrw)  		: ORIGIN = 0x00000000, LENGTH = 64K
}

And between .data and .bss I added:

  /* --- Ethernet DMA descriptors -> D2 SRAM3 --- */
  ETH_DESCRIPTORS (NOLOAD) :
  {
    . = ALIGN(32);
    *(.RxDecripSection)
    *(.TxDecripSection)
    . = ALIGN(32);
  } >RAM_D2_SRAM3

  /* --- Ethernet buffers -> D2 SRAM2 --- */
  ETH_BUFFERS (NOLOAD) :
  {
    . = ALIGN(32);
    *(.Rx_PoolSection)
    *(.RxArraySection)
    *(.TxArraySection)
    . = ALIGN(32);
  } >RAM_D2

And in ethernetif.c there is:

#if defined ( __ICCARM__ ) /*!< IAR Compiler */
#pragma location = 0x30000100
extern u8_t memp_memory_RX_POOL_base[];

#elif defined ( __CC_ARM ) /* MDK ARM Compiler */
__attribute__((section(".Rx_PoolSection"))) extern u8_t memp_memory_RX_POOL_base[];

#elif defined ( __GNUC__ ) /* GNU */
__attribute__((section(".Rx_PoolSection"))) extern u8_t memp_memory_RX_POOL_base[];
#endif

in the .map there is:

ETH_DESCRIPTORS
                0x30040000       0xc0
                0x30040000                        . = ALIGN (0x20)
 *(.RxDecripSection)
 .RxDecripSection
                0x30040000       0x60 ./LWIP/Target/ethernetif.o
                0x30040000                DMARxDscrTab
 *(.TxDecripSection)
 .TxDecripSection
                0x30040060       0x60 ./LWIP/Target/ethernetif.o
                0x30040060                DMATxDscrTab
                0x300400c0                        . = ALIGN (0x20)

ETH_BUFFERS     0x30020000     0x6220
                0x30020000                        . = ALIGN (0x20)
 *(.Rx_PoolSection)
 .Rx_PoolSection
                0x30020000     0x6203 ./LWIP/Target/ethernetif.o
                0x30020000                memp_memory_RX_POOL_base
 *(.RxArraySection)
 *(.TxArraySection)
                0x30026220                        . = ALIGN (0x20)

When debugging, it always ends in an endless loop somewhere or jumps to a Hard Fault. 

Couldn`t really figure out why or which specific error it is. 

If you have any tips or maybe some kind of example project where LwIP + FreeRTOS is working, that would be awesome. 

Cheers, 

Gregor 

[STackPointer64]

Hello @gregoor, and welcome to ST community!

Knowing which instruction halts your application can greatly help in resolving any issues you encounter. For that, I suggest you take a look at the article below—it will help you pinpoint the cause of the HardFault. When the program halts, if possible, check the tab called "Call Stack" on your left. There, you will find an ordered list of functions that led to the HardFault.

For similar projects you can refer to and learn from, the second link provides an example of an LwIP + FreeRTOS application on the STM32H743-Nucleo. This board shares the same architecture as the STM32H753-Nucleo, with the only difference being the addition of the cryptography module in the latter MCU.

• How to debug a HardFault on an Arm® Cortex®-M STM32
• STM32H743_Nucleo_ETH 

Best regards,

[ashish1907]

Hello @STackPointer64, I am working on the STM32F746NG board. In this project, I need to use Ethernet/IP with STM32 + LwIP + FreeRTOS. However, when I enable FreeRTOS, I am unable to ping the IP address. Could you please help me with this issue?"

[mbarg.1]

We have worked out a STM32CubeIde + STM32H7 + ThreadX + FileX + USBX based Websocket reworking NetXDuo + HAL solution.

Should you decide to get away from LwIp and FreeRtos, we can help.

We dropped previous FreeRtos implementation because too unreliable and bugged (2 yrs ago).

Our soluton can be ok as building block for open62541 propietary implementation.

Try connect to o6.mb-international.net to have an idea on what you can do with a NUCLEO-H743 board.

[ashish1907]

@mbarg.1 My project application requires communication with a PLC using the Ethernet/IP communication protocol to exchange real-time data. I have implemented STM32 + LwIP, and in that setup my IP responds to ping. However, when I use STM32F746NG + LwIP + FreeRTOS, the IP does not respond to ping. Can you please provide me with the correct process flow or help me resolve this issue?

[mbarg.1]

This is @gregoor problem thread - please @ashish1907 open your problem if you need help.

Anyhow, as mentioned in my post, "We dropped previous FreeRtos implementation because too unreliable and bugged (2 yrs ago)."