How can I build my own UART DFU utility (also known as uart_dfu or bt_host_uart_dfu) under Windows and/or Linux?

Table of Contents

  1. Answer
    1. Windows
    2. Linux
LyraRM126x

Answer

The UART DFU utility (also known as uart_dfu or bt_host_uart_dfu) is provided by Silicon Labs. It is a console application which enables firmware updates over a serial UART connection.

This host example is available in C and part of the official Gecko SDK (GSDK). In Windows the application can be built using, for example, MinGW or Cygwin. Under Linux or Mac the program can be compiled with the GCC toolchain.

Before starting, please make sure that Simplicity Studio 5 is installed on your Windows or Linux system. The Gecko SDK − 32-bit and Wireless MCUs technology / software component is mandatory, and the latest available version can be downloaded through the Installation Manager in Simplicity Studio at any time if needed.

Windows

You can either find the UART DFU host example under C:\SiliconLabs\SimplicityStudio\v5\developer\sdks\gecko_sdk_suite\\app\bluetooth\example_host\uart_dfu or C:\Users\\SimplicityStudio\SDKs\gecko_sdk\app\bluetooth\example_host\bt_host_uart_dfu. Depending on your Simplicity Studio 5 installation and configuration paths may be different. Otherwise, try to search for the uart_dfu folder on your Windows system.

  1. Download the latest available Mingw-w64 compiler binaries for Windows and extract them e.g. under C:\mingw64 with 7-Zip. In our example we are using the x86_64-12.2.0-release-posix-seh-rt_v10-rev0.7z release on a Windows 10 Enterprise (21H2) x64 system.
  2. Search under Windows for the Edit environment variables for your account shortcut or quick access item. Under User Variables, modify the Path variable. Click Edit and New and add your MinGW-w64 installation path to it. In our example it is C:\mingw64\bin. The bin folder is very important here. Click OK and save your environment variables. There is no need to reboot your computer. All environment variable changes are applied immediately.
  3. Next open a Command Prompt (cmd.exe) window, update the environment variables with the set PATH=C:\mingw64\bin;%PATH% command and navigate into the UART DFU host example folder. In our example we are using the cd C:\Users\Laird\SimplicityStudio\SDKs\gecko_sdk\app\bluetooth\example_host\bt_host_uart_dfu command.
  4. Now build the UART DFU host example by entering the mingw32-make command. This will take a few seconds. The bt_host_uart_dfu.exe binary can be found in a subfolder called "exe" once successfully completed.
  5. Use the cd exe command to navigate into the exe directory. For testing, enter bt_host_uart_dfu.exe which should print a similar usage information text as following: bt_host_uart_dfu.exe -t | -u [-b ] [-f] [-l ] [-h]

Linux

You can either find the UART DFU host example under /opt/SiliconLabs/SimplicityStudio/v5/developer/sdks/gecko_sdk_suite//app/bluetooth/example_host/uart_dfu or //SimplicityStudio/SDKs/gecko_sdk/app/bluetooth/example_host/bt_host_uart_dfu. Depending on your Simplicity Studio 5 installation and configuration paths may be different. Otherwise, try to search for the uart_dfu folder on your Linux filesystem.

  1. Make sure that the build-essential package is installed on your Linux system with the sudo apt install build-essential command. In our example we are using a Ubuntu 22.04 LTS x64 system.
  2. Next open a Terminal window and navigate into the UART DFU host example folder. In our example we are using the cd /root/SimplicityStudio/SDKs/gecko_sdk/app/bluetooth/example_host/bt_host_uart_dfu command.
  3. Now build the UART DFU host example by entering the make command. This will take a few seconds. The bt_host_uart_dfu binary can be found in a subfolder called "exe" once successfully completed.
  4. Use the cd exe command to navigate into the exe directory. For testing, enter ./bt_host_uart_dfu which should print a similar usage information text as following: bt_host_uart_dfu -t | -u [-b ] [-f] [-l ] [-h]