Build for STM32F4 NuttX

Target board

We work on STM32F4 board for NuttX and the detail of the reference board is well described at STM32F4-discovery with BB.

Relation with STM board?

We do not have any business relation with STM board. It is selected because it has enough RAM and Flash ROM, so that development can be more comfortable. And it has lots of pins to play with.

When IoT.js is built up and optimized, it may work in devices having smaller resource.

1. Prepare for prerequisite

Linux

$ sudo apt-get install autoconf libtool gperf flex bison autoconf2.13
$ sudo apt-get install cmake libncurses-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev
$ sudo apt-get install libsgutils2-dev gcc-arm-none-eabi minicom

To use menuconfig in NuttX, you may need to install kconfig frontend.

$ git clone https://github.com/jameswalmsley/kconfig-frontends.git
$ cd kconfig-frontends
$ ./bootstrap
$ ./configure --enable-mconf
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ sudo ldconfig

macOS

• Install Xcode from the app store and run once Xcode to install components.
• Install Xcode command line tools.

$ xcode-select --install

• Install Homebrew package manager
• Install packages

$ brew tap PX4/homebrew-px4
$ brew update
$ brew install cmake bash-completion pkg-config kconfig-frontends
$ brew install gcc-arm-none-eabi libusb minicom

2. Set up the build environment for STM32F4-Discovery board

Supported Nuttx version

Repository	Tag Name
nuttx	nuttx-7.19
app	nuttx-7.19

We only guarantee that the specified version will work well. It is recommended to check out with the specified tag from a git repository.

Clone repository

Clone IoT.js and NuttX into iotjs-nuttx directory

$ mkdir iotjs-nuttx
$ cd iotjs-nuttx
$ git clone https://github.com/Samsung/iotjs.git
$ git clone https://bitbucket.org/nuttx/nuttx.git --branch nuttx-7.19
$ git clone https://bitbucket.org/nuttx/apps.git --branch nuttx-7.19
$ git clone https://github.com/texane/stlink.git

Note that we only support the specified git tag from nuttx repository

The following directory structure is created after these commands

iotjs-nuttx
  + apps
  + iotjs
  |  + config
  |      + nuttx
  |          + stm32f4dis
  + nuttx
  + stlink

3. Build NuttX (For the first time)

To generate headers which are required to build IoT.js, for the first time, you need to build NuttX at least once. This time NuttX build will be failed. But don't worry at this time. After one execution, you don't need this sequence any more.

Add IoT.js as a builtin application for NuttX

$ cd apps/system
$ mkdir iotjs
$ cp ../../iotjs/config/nuttx/stm32f4dis/app/* ./iotjs/

Configure NuttX

# assuming you are in iotjs-nuttx folder
$ cd nuttx/tools

# configure NuttX USB console shell
$ ./configure.sh stm32f4discovery/usbnsh

Now you can configure nuttx like either of below. For convenience, we provide built-in configure file for you. (This configure file is equipped with modules specified as always. For optional modules, you might follow instructions below.)

$ cd ..
$ cp ../iotjs/config/nuttx/stm32f4dis/config.default .config

Or if you want to configure yourself, you can follow guide below.

$ cd ..
# might require to run "make menuconfig" twice
$ make menuconfig

Followings are the options to set:

• Common

  • Change Build Setup -> Build Host Platform from Windows to [Linux|OSX]
  • Enable System Type -> FPU support
  • Enable System Type -> STM32 Peripheral Support -> SDIO
  • Enable RTOS Features -> Clocks and Timers -> Support CLOCK_MONOTONIC
  • Enable RTOS Features -> Pthread Options -> Enable mutex types
  • Enable RTOS Features -> Files and I/O -> Enable /dev/console
  • Enable RTOS Features -> Work queue support -> High priority (kernel) worker thread
  • Disable Device Drivers -> Disable driver poll interfaces
  • Enable Device Drivers -> MMC/SD Driver Support
  • Enable Device Drivers -> MMC/SD Driver Support -> MMC/SD SDIO transfer support
  • Enable Networking Support -> Networking Support
  • Enable Networking Support -> Socket Support -> Socket options
  • Enable Networking Support -> Unix Domain Socket Support
  • Enable Networking Support -> TCP/IP Networking
  • Enable Networking Support -> TCP/IP Networking -> Enable TCP/IP write buffering
  • Enable File Systems -> FAT file system
  • Enable File Systems -> FAT file system -> FAT upper/lower names
  • Enable File Systems -> FAT file system -> FAT long file names
  • Enable Device Drivers -> Network Device/PHY Support -> Late driver initialization
  • Enable Library Routines -> Standard Math library
  • Enable Application Configuration -> System Libraries and NSH Add-ons -> IoT.js
  • Enable all children of Application Configuration -> System Libraries and NSH Add-ons -> readline() Support (for those who wants to use readline)

• For net module

  • Enable System Type -> STM32 Peripheral Support -> Ethernet MAC
  • Disable System Type -> STM32 Peripheral Support -> USART2
  • Enable System Type -> STM32 Peripheral Support -> USART6
  • Set System Type -> Ethernet MAC configuration -> PHY address to 0
  • Set System Type -> Ethernet MAC configuration -> PHY Status Register Address (decimal) to 31
  • Enable System Type -> Ethernet MAC configuration -> PHY Status Alternate Bit Layout
  • Set System Type -> Ethernet MAC configuration -> PHY Mode Mask to 0x001c
  • Set System Type -> Ethernet MAC configuration -> 10MBase-T Half Duplex Value to 0x0004
  • Set System Type -> Ethernet MAC configuration -> 100Base-T Half Duplex Value to 0x0008
  • Set System Type -> Ethernet MAC configuration -> 10Base-T Full Duplex Value to 0x0014
  • Set System Type -> Ethernet MAC configuration -> 10MBase-T Full Duplex Value to 0x0018
  • Set System Type -> Ethernet MAC configuration -> RMII clock configuration to External RMII clock
  • Enable Board Selection -> STM32F4DIS-BB base board
  • Set Device Drivers -> Network Device/PHY Support -> Board PHY Selection to SMSC LAN8720 PHY
  • Enable Networking Support -> Data link support -> Local loopback
  • Enable Networking Support -> TCP/IP Networking -> TCP/IP backlog support
  • Enable Networking Support -> ARP Configuration -> ARP send

• For dgram

  • Enable Networking Support > UDP Networking

• For pwm module

  • Enable System Type -> STM32 Peripheral Support -> TIM(N)
  • Enable System Type -> Timer Configuration -> TIM(N) PWM
  • Set System Type -> Timer Configuration -> TIM(N) PWM -> TIM(n) PWM Output Channel to channel number you want
  • Enable Device Drivers -> PWM Driver Support

• For adc module

  • Enable System Type -> STM32 Peripheral Support -> ADC(N)
  • Enable System Type -> STM32 Peripheral Support -> TIM(M)
  • Enable System Type -> Timer Configuration -> TIM(M) ADC
  • Enable Device Drivers -> Analog Device(ADC/DAC) Support
  • Enable Device Drivers -> Analog Device(ADC/DAC) Support -> Analog-to-Digital Conversion

• For uart module

  • Enable System Type -> STM32 Peripheral Support -> U[S]ART(N)

• For i2c module

  • Enable System Type -> STM32 Peripheral Support -> I2C1
  • Enable Device Drivers -> I2C Driver Support

• For spi module

  • Enable System Type -> STM32 Peripheral Support -> SPI1
  • Enable Device Drivers -> SPI exchange

Build NuttX Context

# assuming you are in iotjs-nuttx folder
$ cd nuttx/
$ make context

4. Build IoT.js for NuttX

These options are needed.

--target-arch=arm
--target-os=nuttx
--nuttx-home=/path/to/nuttx
--target-board=stm32f4dis
--jerry-heaplimit=[..]

For example,

$ ./tools/build.py \
--target-arch=arm --target-os=nuttx --nuttx-home=../nuttx \
--target-board=stm32f4dis --jerry-heaplimit=78

Library files will be generated like below when build is successful.

$ ls build/arm-nuttx/release/lib
libhttpparser.a libiotjs.a libjerrycore.a libtuv.a

5. Build NuttX

# assuming you are in iotjs-nuttx folder
$ cd nuttx/
$ make IOTJS_ROOT_DIR=../iotjs

For release version, you can type R=1 make on the command shell.

6. Flashing

Connect Mini-USB for power supply and connect Micro-USB for NSH console.

To configure stlink utility for flashing, follow the instructions here.

To install,

# assuming you are in stlink folder
$ cd stlink
$ make

To flash,

# assuming you are in nuttx folder
$ sudo ../stlink/build/Release/st-flash write nuttx.bin 0x8000000

7. Run IoT.js

USB Connection

There are two USB Connections on the Target board. USB mini CN1 and USB micro CN5. Both USB ports need to be connected to your Host. CN1 is used for power and Flashing, but it will not appear as a device in Linux. CN5 is used for NSH and will appear as /dev/ttyACM0(linux) or /dev/tty.usbmodem1(macOS) when things work well.

Use minicom

// linux
$ minicom --device=/dev/ttyACM0
// macOS
$ minicom --device=/dev/tty.usbmodem1

You may need to enable Add Carriage Return option.

• Press Ctrl-A + Z + U for short in minicom screen. (For linux user)
• Press Meta + Z for short in minicom screen. (For macOS user)

Press Enter key several times to trigger NuttShell to start.

If micro SD is enabled, you can copy any script file to it and run with nsh, for example;

NuttShell (NSH)
nsh> mount -t vfat /dev/mmcsd0 /mnt/sdcard
nsh> iotjs /mnt/sdcard/path_to_file.js

If you see

+-----------------------------+                  
|                             |                  
|  Cannot open /dev/ttyACM0!  |                  
|                             |                  
+-----------------------------+

and it stays on the screen, something is wrong. Blue LED may blink if NuttX is in abnormal state. Press black(reset) button on the board and try again. If you still see this warning message, begin with original NuttX code and check your board, USB line and other softwares.