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'new' operator causing crash in c++ project

Mttjcksn
Associate III

Hi all,

I am porting a c++ project from the STM32H7 EVAL board to the STM32H7 Nucleo 144.

The project uses CubeMX to generate the project, then I port in all the source code and set the c/c++/linker directories, symbols and settings.

The project uses FreeRTOS and one thread of the RTOS is going to an infinite loop in a default error handler (_exit()) when calling new() on an instance of a library. The other threads continue to run ok.

The linker puts user data in RAMD1 because it is the largest section and I need the space.

Some things I have checked /tried:

  • Library is compiled with same C++ version as project (C++ 14)
  • Hardware FPU is enabled (Library uses floats)
  • Minimum stack and heap are sufficient in linker script
  • RTOS Thread allocated stack / heap sizes are sufficient
  • RAMD1 section is enabled with clock
  • Tried aligning data to both 4 and 8 bytes in linker
  • 128 / 4096 byte malloc() page size

Stepping through instructions, I can see this is the line that causes the issue.

bl   0x80aa7fe <_Znwj>

Here is my linker script in case that is of any help

/*
*****************************************************************************
**
 
**  File        : stm32_flash.ld
**
**  Abstract    : Linker script for STM32H743ZI Device with
**                2048KByte FLASH, 1056KByte RAM
**
**                Set heap size, stack size and stack location according
**                to application requirements.
**
**                Set memory bank area and size if external memory is used.
**
**  Target      : STMicroelectronics STM32
**
**  Environment : Atollic TrueSTUDIO(R)
**
**  Distribution: The file is distributed as is, without any warranty
**                of any kind.
**
**  (c)Copyright Atollic AB.
**  You may use this file as-is or modify it according to the needs of your
**  project. This file may only be built (assembled or compiled and linked)
**  using the Atollic TrueSTUDIO(R) product. The use of this file together
**  with other tools than Atollic TrueSTUDIO(R) is not permitted.
**
*****************************************************************************
*/
 
/* Entry Point */
ENTRY(Reset_Handler)
 
/* Highest address of the user mode stack */
_estack = 0x24080000;
/* Generate a link error if heap and stack don't fit into RAM */
_Min_Heap_Size = 0x20000;      /* required amount of heap  */
_Min_Stack_Size = 0x20000; /* required amount of stack */
 
/* Specify the memory areas */
MEMORY
{
DTCMRAM (xrw)      : ORIGIN = 0x20000000, LENGTH = 128K
RAM_D1 (xrw)      : ORIGIN = 0x24000000, LENGTH = 512K
RAM_D2 (xrw)      : ORIGIN = 0x30000000, LENGTH = 288K
RAM_D3 (xrw)      : ORIGIN = 0x38000000, LENGTH = 64K
ITCMRAM (xrw)      : ORIGIN = 0x00000000, LENGTH = 64K
FLASH (rx)      : ORIGIN = 0x8000000, LENGTH = 2048K
}
 
/* Define output sections */
SECTIONS
{
  /* The startup code goes first into FLASH */
  .isr_vector :
  {
    . = ALIGN(4);
    KEEP(*(.isr_vector)) /* Startup code */
    . = ALIGN(4);
  } >FLASH
 
  /* The program code and other data goes into FLASH */
  .text :
  {
    . = ALIGN(4);
    *(.text)           /* .text sections (code) */
    *(.text*)          /* .text* sections (code) */
    *(.glue_7)         /* glue arm to thumb code */
    *(.glue_7t)        /* glue thumb to arm code */
    *(.eh_frame)
 
    KEEP (*(.init))
    KEEP (*(.fini))
 
    . = ALIGN(4);
    _etext = .;        /* define a global symbols at end of code */
  } >FLASH
 
  /* Constant data goes into FLASH */
  .rodata :
  {
    . = ALIGN(4);
    *(.rodata)         /* .rodata sections (constants, strings, etc.) */
    *(.rodata*)        /* .rodata* sections (constants, strings, etc.) */
    . = ALIGN(4);
  } >FLASH
 
  .ARM.extab   : { *(.ARM.extab* .gnu.linkonce.armextab.*) } >FLASH
  .ARM : {
    __exidx_start = .;
    *(.ARM.exidx*)
    __exidx_end = .;
  } >FLASH
 
  .preinit_array     :
  {
    PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__preinit_array_start = .);
    KEEP (*(.preinit_array*))
    PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__preinit_array_end = .);
  } >FLASH
  .init_array :
  {
    PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__init_array_start = .);
    KEEP (*(SORT(.init_array.*)))
    KEEP (*(.init_array*))
    PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__init_array_end = .);
  } >FLASH
  .fini_array :
  {
    PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__fini_array_start = .);
    KEEP (*(SORT(.fini_array.*)))
    KEEP (*(.fini_array*))
    PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__fini_array_end = .);
  } >FLASH
 
  /* used by the startup to initialize data */
  _sidata = LOADADDR(.data);
 
  /* Initialized data sections goes into RAM, load LMA copy after code */
  .data : 
  {
    . = ALIGN(4);
    _sdata = .;        /* create a global symbol at data start */
    *(.data)           /* .data sections */
    *(.data*)          /* .data* sections */
 
    . = ALIGN(4);
    _edata = .;        /* define a global symbol at data end */
  } >RAM_D1 AT> FLASH
 
  
  /* Uninitialized data section */
  . = ALIGN(4);
  .bss :
  {
    /* This is used by the startup in order to initialize the .bss secion */
    _sbss = .;         /* define a global symbol at bss start */
    __bss_start__ = _sbss;
    *(.bss)
    *(.bss*)
    *(COMMON)
 
    . = ALIGN(4);
    _ebss = .;         /* define a global symbol at bss end */
    __bss_end__ = _ebss;
  } >RAM_D1
 
  /* User_heap_stack section, used to check that there is enough RAM left */
  ._user_heap_stack :
  {
    . = ALIGN(4);
    PROVIDE ( end = . );
    PROVIDE ( _end = . );
    . = . + _Min_Heap_Size;
    . = . + _Min_Stack_Size;
    . = ALIGN(4);
  } >RAM_D1
 
  
 
  /* Remove information from the standard libraries */
  /DISCARD/ :
  {
    libc.a ( * )
    libm.a ( * )
    libgcc.a ( * )
  }
 
  .ARM.attributes 0 : { *(.ARM.attributes) }
}
 
 

The library is known to be good, and is already running on the same IC on different hardware.

Any help greatly appreciated!

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
Mttjcksn
Associate III

Well, Someone else figured this out for me.

It had to do with new, new[], and malloc() not using the FreeRTOS stack. A new version of syscalls.cpp which routes everything through the RTOS was required to prevent dynamic allocation crashing.

I'm surprised this isn't mentioned when generating a FreeRTOS project in CubeMX.

View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5
Mttjcksn
Associate III

Well, Someone else figured this out for me.

It had to do with new, new[], and malloc() not using the FreeRTOS stack. A new version of syscalls.cpp which routes everything through the RTOS was required to prevent dynamic allocation crashing.

I'm surprised this isn't mentioned when generating a FreeRTOS project in CubeMX.

Malachi
Associate II

Hi, running into the same issue (I think) . Could you share where you found your syscalls.cpp? Thank you!

I know dynamic allocation isn't encouraged (nor should it be) in embedded programming, but getting onboard with crazy, weird and unusual API calls like "new" and "delete" is something I strongly recommend to STM. I mean, it's past the year 2000 after all

NPr
Associate II

@Malachi​ you need to overload the new and delete operators.

Here is an example in the FreeRTOS Forum:

https://www.freertos.org/FreeRTOS_Support_Forum_Archive/February_2017/freertos_FreeRTOSs_compatibility_with_C_2aa2a047j.html

And here is a ready interface on git:

https://github.com/Benichou34/cmsis_cpp

MJack.1
Associate III

Hi,

I can confirm, this is exactly what fixed it ^^

Matt

EthanMankins
Associate III

Quick Easy answer, new does not use freeRTOS safe mallocs, just past these at the top of your cpp file or in header

void * operator new( size_t size ) { return pvPortMalloc( size ); }
void * operator new[]( size_t size ) { return pvPortMalloc(size); }
void operator delete( void * ptr ) { vPortFree ( ptr ); }
void operator delete[]( void * ptr ) { vPortFree ( ptr ); }