Skip to content

Add wolfBoot port for STM32N6 (NUCLEO-N657X0-Q)#720

Open
aidangarske wants to merge 3 commits intomasterfrom
stm32n6-port-wolfboot
Open

Add wolfBoot port for STM32N6 (NUCLEO-N657X0-Q)#720
aidangarske wants to merge 3 commits intomasterfrom
stm32n6-port-wolfboot

Conversation

@aidangarske
Copy link
Member

@aidangarske aidangarske commented Mar 11, 2026

Summary

Add TrustZone (TZEN=1) support for the STM32N6 port with proper secure/non-secure SAU configuration, firmware update swap support, and an enhanced test application with UART output.

Features

  • TrustZone support (TZEN=1): wolfBoot runs from secure SRAM (0x24000000) using secure peripheral aliases. SAU configured with proper secure/non-secure regions. Application boots into non-secure state.
  • Non-TrustZone mode (TZEN=0): wolfBoot runs from non-secure SRAM (0x34000000) with blanket SAU NSC region for full memory access.
  • Firmware update (A/B swap): Full sector-by-sector swap working with PART_BOOT_EXT to handle shared XSPI2 NOR flash between boot and update partitions.
  • Enhanced test application: UART output with firmware version, partition state, boot status, and automatic wolfBoot_success() handling for TESTING state. LED indicates firmware version (blue=v1, red=v2+).
  • New config: config/examples/stm32n6-tz.config for TrustZone-enabled builds.
  • CI: Added stm32n6 and stm32n6-tz build tests to test-configs.yml.
  • Flash script: --test-update mode now writes update trigger magic (pBOOT) and auto-detects TZEN for correct SRAM load address.

Fixes

  • UART clock: Corrected PCLK2 frequency from 300 MHz to 200 MHz (IC2=400 MHz / AHB prescaler 2).
  • uart_write linkage: Removed static qualifier and fixed signature to match printf.h (unsigned int len).
  • SAU configuration: Added SAU init to hal_init() — without it, the IDAU blocks secure CPU access to XSPI2 memory-mapped region (0x70000000), causing bus faults during image verification.
  • Shared flash (PART_BOOT_EXT): Boot and update partitions share the same XSPI2 NOR flash. Without PART_BOOT_EXT, the update swap reads boot partition data via XIP while XSPI2 is in SPI command mode, causing bus faults. The ext_flash_* functions now translate absolute memory-mapped addresses to device-relative offsets.
  • XIP write buffer: nor_flash_write() copies source data to a stack buffer before issuing SPI commands, since the source pointer may reference XIP flash that becomes inaccessible when XSPI2 leaves memory-mapped mode.
  • dcache ordering: Moved dcache_enable() after octospi_init() to prevent caching stale data from the flash region before memory-mapped mode is configured.
  • Boot path for Cortex-M55: Excluded STM32N6 from blxns non-secure boot path and non-secure VTOR, since the CPU security state depends on the SRAM alias used (IDAU-based), not a runtime TrustZone transition.
  • OpenOCD: Requires upstream openocd-org/openocd (not ST fork) for target/stm32n6x.cfg support.

Test Results (NUCLEO-N657X0-Q hardware)

Test TZEN=0 TZEN=1
Build Pass Pass
Basic boot (v1) Pass Pass
UART output Pass Pass
Firmware update swap (v1→v2) Pass Pass
Test-app auto-success Pass Pass
TrustZone state Off Secure

@aidangarske aidangarske self-assigned this Mar 11, 2026
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings March 11, 2026 01:17
Copy link
Contributor

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Pull request overview

Adds a new wolfBoot port for STM32N6 / NUCLEO-N657X0-Q, including a bare-metal HAL for XSPI2 NOR XIP, flash/debug tooling via OpenOCD, and CI/docs updates.

Changes:

  • Adds STM32N6 HAL + linker scripts to run wolfBoot from SRAM and boot an XIP app from external NOR
  • Adds a STM32N6 test-app, build integration, example config, and CI build job
  • Adds OpenOCD configuration + a flash script and updates target documentation

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 13 out of 13 changed files in this pull request and generated 7 comments.

Show a summary per file
File Description
tools/scripts/stm32n6_flash.sh Automates building/flashing via OpenOCD and boots wolfBoot from SRAM
test-app/app_stm32n6.c New bare-metal test app for STM32N6 (LED + XIP flash op + wolfBoot_success)
test-app/Makefile Adds stm32n6 build flags/linker script integration for the test app
test-app/ARM-stm32n6.ld Linker script for XIP test-app in NOR and runtime data in SRAM
hal/stm32n6.ld Linker script for wolfBoot executing from SRAM
hal/stm32n6.h STM32N6 register/bit definitions for clocks, GPIO, XSPI2, UART, cache ops
hal/stm32n6.c STM32N6 HAL implementation (clock/power, XSPI2 NOR driver, flash/ext_flash API)
docs/Targets.md New STM32N6 target documentation (memory map, build/flash/debug workflow)
config/openocd/openocd_stm32n6.cfg OpenOCD target config + XSPI2 init and stmqspi flash bank setup
config/examples/stm32n6.config Example wolfBoot config for STM32N6 + external flash partitioning
arch.mk Adds stm32n6 target selection and ARM build settings (mcpu=cortex-m55, origins)
Makefile Sets stm32n6 main targets and introduces a stm32n6-specific flash target
.github/workflows/test-configs.yml Adds CI build verification job for stm32n6 example config

💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.

@aidangarske aidangarske force-pushed the stm32n6-port-wolfboot branch from fedaf00 to 1416f2f Compare March 11, 2026 18:37
@aidangarske aidangarske requested a review from Copilot March 11, 2026 18:40
Copy link
Contributor

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 13 out of 13 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.


💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.

@aidangarske aidangarske marked this pull request as ready for review March 11, 2026 18:58
Copy link
Contributor

@dgarske dgarske left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Great work! I haven't tested on hardware yet, but have looked over each line.

@dgarske dgarske assigned dgarske and wolfSSL-Bot and unassigned aidangarske Mar 16, 2026
@dgarske dgarske self-requested a review March 16, 2026 23:31
  Add HAL, build system, test app, and documentation for the
  STM32N6 (Cortex-M55) targeting the NUCLEO-N657X0-Q board.
  wolfBoot runs from SRAM as FSBL and boots a signed application
  via XIP from external NOR flash on XSPI2.
  Fix PLL1 bypass bit (PLL1BYP) in PLL1CFGR1 that Boot ROM leaves set,
  which was routing HSI 64 MHz directly to PLL output instead of the
  1200 MHz VCO. CPU now runs at 600 MHz (verified via DWT CYCCNT).

  - Clear PLL1CFGR1 BYP bit to enable VCO output
  - Simplify PLL1CFGR3 configuration to single write
  - Consolidate flash write/erase into shared nor_flash_write/erase helpers
  - Rename xspi_ functions to octospi_ for consistency with register macros
  - Add CORTEX_M55 define to arch.mk for future use
  - Add clock tree documentation in clock_config() and PWR_VOSCR
  - Combine CPUSW and SYSSW clock switch into single register write
  - Add XSPI2 RAMFUNCTION comments and TEF error handling
  - Add release announcement doc (docs/release-stm32n6.md)
  - wolfBoot binary: 23KB, test-app: 3KB
dgarske
dgarske previously approved these changes Mar 18, 2026
@dgarske dgarske assigned danielinux and unassigned dgarske Mar 18, 2026
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings March 18, 2026 19:54
@dgarske dgarske force-pushed the stm32n6-port-wolfboot branch from 4100805 to cc789ae Compare March 18, 2026 19:54
Copy link
Contributor

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Copilot was unable to review this pull request because the user who requested the review has reached their quota limit.

@dgarske dgarske assigned dgarske and unassigned danielinux Mar 18, 2026
- Fix UART: remove static from uart_write, fix signature to match
  printf.h, correct PCLK2 clock frequency (200 MHz not 300 MHz)
- Add SAU configuration: blanket NSC region for non-TZ, proper
  secure/non-secure SAU regions for TZEN=1
- Add PART_BOOT_EXT support: boot and update partitions share the
  same XSPI2 NOR flash, ext_flash_addr() translates absolute
  memory-mapped addresses to device-relative offsets
- Buffer XIP data in nor_flash_write() before SPI commands
- Move dcache_enable() after octospi_init() to prevent stale reads
- Add TZ_SECURE() macro with conditional secure/non-secure peripheral
  base addresses in hal/stm32n6.h
- Add TZEN=1 support: wolfBoot runs from secure SRAM (0x24000000),
  app boots into non-secure state, flash script auto-detects TZEN
- Exclude STM32N6 from stm32_tz.o (uses its own SAU config) and
  from blxns boot path (CORTEX_M55 uses regular boot)
- Enhanced test-app with UART output, partition info, version display,
  state handling, and auto-success for TESTING state
- Add stm32n6-tz.config example and CI entries in test-configs.yml
- Update Targets.md with TrustZone, SAU, PART_BOOT_EXT, and UART
  clock documentation
- Add DEBUG_UART=1 and RAM_CODE=1 to stm32n6.config
@dgarske dgarske force-pushed the stm32n6-port-wolfboot branch from cc789ae to 896c2a7 Compare March 18, 2026 20:14
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

5 participants