Spark Core - CC3000 Patch Programmer

This is the main source code repository of the Spark Core's TI CC3000 Patch Programmer ported to STM32

This firmware depends on the Spark Common Library.

Quick Deploy

IMPORTANT: The easiest way to apply the CC3000 patch is to use the Spark CLI. This is recommended and simpliest path, whereas the approach below is more appropriate if you are doing advanced things like testing different patch version binaries, doing cc3000-patch-programmer development, etc.

If you simply want to run this Patch Programmer on your Spark Core and then return to the standard Spark Core firmware, follow these instructions.

1. Download this repository
2. Install dfu-util. On a Mac with Homebrew, try brew install dfu-util. Otherwise, see below.
3. Put your Core in "bootloader mode" by holding the MODE button for 3 seconds while the Core is powering up (either by holding the MODE button and tapping the RESET pin or by holding the MODE button while connecting power to the Core). For more detailed instructions, see below.
4. Enter the build directory in your terminal and run the following command:

dfu-util -d 1d50:607f -a 0 -s 0x08005000:leave -D cc3000-patch-programmer.bin

5. When the Patch Programmer is installed, the LED should turn off. Press the MODE button for one second to install the Patch; the LED should start flashing magenta.
6. When the patch has been successfully installed, the LED will switch to solid magenta.
7. To reboot back into the Spark Core standard firmware, perform a factory reset by holding down both RESET and MODE button, release only RESET, and continue to hold MODE for 10 more seconds. If it is successful, the LED will flash white, and then the Core will return to its previous state (but with new firmware on the CC3000). If you don't see rapid white flashing, try this step again.

Table of Contents

1. Download and Install Dependencies
2. Download and Build Repositories
3. Edit and Rebuild
4. Flash It!

1. Download and Install Dependencies

1. GCC for ARM Cortex processors
2. Make
3. Device Firmware Upgrade Utilities
4. Zadig (for windows users only)
5. Git

1. GCC for ARM Cortex processors

The Spark Core uses an ARM Cortex M3 CPU based microcontroller. All of the code is built around the GNU GCC toolchain offered and maintained by ARM.

Download and install the latest version from: https://launchpad.net/gcc-arm-embedded

See this Gist for how to get setup on OS X.

2. Make

In order to turn your source code into binaries, you will need a tool called make. Windows users need to explicitly install make on their machines. Make sure you can use it from the terminal window.

Download and install the latest version from: http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/make.htm

3. Device Firmware Upgrade Utilities

Install dfu-util. Mac users can install dfu-util with Homebrew, Linux users may find it in their package manager, and everyone can get it from http://dfu-util.gnumonks.org/index.html

4. Zadig

In order for the Core to show up on the dfu list, you need to replace the USB driver with a utility called Zadig. Here is a tutorial on using it. This is only required for Windows users.

5. Git

Download and install Git: http://git-scm.com/

2. Download and Build Repositories

The Spark Core - CC3000 Patch Programmer is organized into two repositories. The main patch firmware is located under cc3000-patch-programmer, while the supporting library is under core-common-lib.

How do we download these repositories?

You can access all of the repositories via any git interface or download it directly from the website.

Make sure all of the following repositories are downloaded into the same folder. For example (if all of the repositories are downloaded in a folder called Spark):

D:\Spark\cc3000-patch-programmer
D:\Spark\core-common-lib

Method 1: Through the git command line interface.

Open up a terminal window, navigate to your destination directory and type the following commands:

(Make sure you have git installed on your machine!)

• git clone https://github.com/spark/cc3000-patch-programmer.git
• git clone https://github.com/spark/core-common-lib.git
• cd cc3000-patch-programmer
• git checkout dfu-user

Method 2: Download the zipped files directly from the Spark's GitHub website

• cc3000-patch-programmer
• core-common-lib

How do we build these repositories?

Make sure you have downloaded and installed all the required dependencies as mentioned previously.. Note, if you've downloaded or cloned these previously, you'll want to git pull or redownload all of them before proceeding.

Open up a terminal window, navigate to the build folder under cc3000-patch-programmer (i.e. cd cc3000-patch-programmer/build) and type:

make all

This will build the cc3000-patch-programmer project and required dependencies.

For example: D:\Spark\cc3000-patch-programmer\build [dfu-user]> make

Common Errors

• arm-none-eabi-gcc and other required gcc/arm binaries not in the PATH. Solution: Add the /bin folder to your $PATH (i.e. export PATH="$PATH:<SOME_GCC_ARM_DIR>/bin). Google "Add binary to PATH" for more details.

• You get make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop.. Solution: cd cc3000-patch-programmer/build.

Please issue a pull request if you come across similar issues/fixes that trip you up.

Navigating the code base

All of the repositories are sub divided into functional folders:

1. /src holds all the source code files
2. /inc holds all the header files
3. /build holds the makefile and is also the destination for the compiled .bin and .hex files.

3. Flash It!

Make sure you have the dfu-util command installed and available through the command line

Steps:

1. Put you Core into the DFU mode by holding down the MODE button on the Core and then tapping on the RESET button once. Release the MODE button after you start to see the RGB LED flashing in yellow. It's easy to get this one wrong: Make sure you don't let go of the left button until you see flashing yellow, about 3 seconds after you release the right/RESET button. A flash of white then flashing green can happen when you get this wrong. You want flashing yellow.

2. Open up a terminal window on your computer and type this command to find out if the Core indeed being detected correctly.

   dfu-util -l
   you should get the following in return:

   Found DFU: [1d50:607f] devnum=0, cfg=1, intf=0, alt=0, name="@Internal Flash  /0x08000000/20*001Ka,108*001Kg" 
   Found DFU: [1d50:607f] devnum=0, cfg=1, intf=0, alt=1, name="@SPI Flash : SST25x/0x00000000/512*04Kg"

   (Windows users will need to use the Zadig utility to replace the USB driver as described earlier)

3. Now, navigate to the build folder in your cc3000-patch-programmer repository and use the following command to transfer the .bin file into the Core.

   dfu-util -d 1d50:607f -a 0 -s 0x08005000:leave -D cc3000-patch-programmer.bin

   For example, this is how my terminal looks like:

   D:\Spark\cc3000-patch-programmer\build [dfu-user]> dfu-util -d 1d50:607f -a 0 -s 0x08005000:leave -D cc3000-patch-programmer.bin

   Upon successful transfer, the Core will automatically reset and start the running the cc3000 patch program.

Press the MODE button(> 1sec) to start the patching process. A Magenta color LED should blink every 200ms to indicate the patching is in progress. When successfully completed, the Magenta LED should stop blinking and stay ON.

To reboot back into the Spark Core standard firmware, hold the MODE button for 10 seconds while the Core is powering up (as above, to get into bootloader mode). This will activate a factory reset; if it is successful, the LED will flash white, and then the Core will return to its previous state (but with new firmware on the CC3000).

Note: As of 12/4/13, you will likely see Error during download get_status as the last line from the dfu-util command. You can ignore this message for now. We're not sure what this error is all about.

Still having troubles? Checkout our resources page, hit us up on IRC, etc.

CREDITS AND ATTRIBUTIONS

The Spark application team: Zachary Crockett, Satish Nair, Zach Supalla, David Middlecamp and Mohit Bhoite.

The cc3000-patch-programmer uses the GNU GCC toolchain for ARM Cortex-M processors, ARM's CMSIS libraries, TI's CC3000 host driver libraries and STM32 standard peripheral libraries.

LICENSE

Unless stated elsewhere, file headers or otherwise, all files herein are licensed under an LGPLv3 license. For more information, please read the LICENSE file.

CONTRIBUTE

Want to contribute to the Spark Core project? Follow [this link]() to find out how.

CONNECT

Having problems or have awesome suggestions? Connect with us here.

VERSION HISTORY

Latest Version: v1.0.0