Hard Fault in BLE_OTA demo application

[DWalk.3]

When I compile the BLE_OTA demo application and run it, it hard faults in APPE_Init when it configures the BLE processor to control flash activity using hardware semaphore SEM7:

SHCI_C2_SetFlashActivityControl(FLASH_ACTIVITY_CONTROL_SEM7);

Stepping through the code, I found that in "shci_send", it accesses "pCmdBuffer" and stores several variables. I found that the pCmdBuffer gets initialized in "appe_Tl_Init" that gets called from APPE_Init right at the end. By moving the SHCI_C2_SetFlashActivityControl call after this, the hard fault was eliminated. My final APPE_Init function is:

void APPE_Init( void )
{
  /* Select which mechanism is used by CPU2 to protect its timing versus flash operation */
//  SHCI_C2_SetFlashActivityControl(FLASH_ACTIVITY_CONTROL_SEM7);
 
  SystemPower_Config(); /**< Configure the system Power Mode */
 
  HW_TS_Init(hw_ts_InitMode_Full, &hrtc); /**< Initialize the TimerServer */
 
  APPD_Init( );
 
  /**
   * The Standby mode should not be entered before the initialization is over
   * The default state of the Low Power Manager is to allow the Standby Mode so an request is needed here
   */
  UTIL_LPM_SetOffMode(1 << CFG_LPM_APP, UTIL_LPM_DISABLE);
 
  Led_Init();
 
  Button_Init();
 
  appe_Tl_Init();	/**< Initialize all transport layers */
  /* Select which mechanism is used by CPU2 to protect its timing versus flash operation */
  SHCI_C2_SetFlashActivityControl(FLASH_ACTIVITY_CONTROL_SEM7);
 
  /**
   * From now, the application is waiting for the ready event ( VS_HCI_C2_Ready )
   * received on the system channel before starting the Stack
   * This system event is received with APPE_SysUserEvtRx()
   */
 
  return;
}

Is this a bug or is there something else going on?

[Imen.D]

Hello @Community member​ and welcome to the Community :)

Have a look at this AN5289, in the hardfault section, and check if you have the same conditions as described.

Try to follow the recommendations related to the BLE_OTA application.

When your question is answered, please close this topic by choosing Select as Best. This will help other users find that answer faster.

Imen

[DWalk.3]

I checked out the app note. The hardfault section refers to CPU2 hardfaulting. In my case, CPU1 hardfaulted because of the uninitialized "pCmdBuffer" variable in function "shci_send." Are you saying that the demo builds fine for you? Maybe there's something funky with my environment.