Getting Started with the FRDM-KE17Z

Note: GCC Arm Embedded 8.2.1 is used as an example in this document. The latest GCC version for this package is as described in the MCUXpresso SDK Release Notes.

This section describes the steps required to configure MCUXpresso IDE to build, run and debug example applications. The hello_world demo application targeted for the FRDM-KE17Z hardware platform is used as an example, though these steps can be applied to any example application in the MCUXpresso SDK.

Select the Workspace Location

Every time MCUXpresso IDE launches, it prompts the user to select a workspace location. MCUXpresso IDE is built on top of Eclipse which uses workspaces to store information about its current configuration, and in some use cases, source files for the projects are in the workspace. The location of the workspace can be anywhere, but it is recommended that the workspace be located outside of the MCUXpresso SDK tree.

Build an Example Application

To build an example application, follow these steps.

1. Drag and drop the SDK zip file into the Installed SDKs view to install an SDK. In the window that appears, click OK and wait until the import has finished

   Figure 1. Install an SDK.

2. On the Quickstart Panel, click Import SDK example(s)

   Figure 2. Import an SDK Example.

3. In the window that appears, expand the KE1x folder and select "MKE17Z256xxx7". Then, select 'frdmke17z' and click "Next"

   Figure 3. Select FRDM-KE17Z Board.

4. Expand the "demo_apps" folder and select 'hello_world'. Then, click Next

   Figure 4. Select 'hello_world'.

5. Ensure "Redlib: Use floating point version of printf" is selected if the example prints floating point numbers on the terminal for demo applications such as "adc_basic", "adc_burst", "adc_dma" and "adc_interrupt". Otherwise, it is not necessary to select this option. Then, click "Finish"

   Figure 5. Select "Redlib: Use floating point version of printf".

Run an Example Application

For more information on debug probe support in the MCUXpresso IDE, see Which debug probes are supported by LPCXpresso IDE with which MCUs? .

To download and run the application, perform the following steps:

1. For FRDM-KE17Z with DAPLink interfaces, visit Windows Serial Configuration  and follow the instructions to install the Windows operating system serial driver. If running on Linux® OS, this step is not required
2. Connect the development platform to your PC via a USB cable
3. Open the terminal application on the PC, such as PuTTY or Tera Term, and connect to the debug serial port number. Configure the terminal with these settings:
   • 115,200 baud rate

   Note: Depending on your board, reference BOARD_DEBUG_UART_BAUDRATE variable in "board.h" file.

   • No parity
   • 8 data bits
   • 1 stop bit
   

   Figure 6. Terminal (PuTTY) Configurations.

4. On the Quickstart Panel, click on Debug "frdmke17z_demo_apps_hello_world [Debug]" to launch the debug session

   Figure 7. Debug hello_world case.

5. The first time you debug a project, the Debug Emulator Selection dialog is displayed, showing all supported probes that are attached to your computer. Select the probe through which you want to debug and click OK

Note: For any future debug sessions, the stored probe selection is automatically used, unless the probe cannot be found.



Figure 8. Attached Probes: Debug Emulator Selection.

6. The application is downloaded to the target and automatically runs to main()

   Figure 9. Stop at main() when Running Debugging.

7. Start the application by clicking Resume

   Figure 10. Resume button.

8. The 'hello_world' application is now running and a banner is displayed on the terminal. If this is not the case, check your terminal settings and connections

   Figure 11. Text Display of the hello_world Demo.

This section describes the steps required to build, run, and debug example applications provided in the MCUXpresso SDK.

Build an Example Application

Perform the following steps to build the 'hello_world' example application.

1. Open the desired demo application workspace. Most example application workspace files can be located using the following path:

   <install_dir>/boards/<board_name>/<example_type>/<application_name>/iar

   Using the FRDM-KE17Z Freedom hardware platform as an example, the 'hello_world' workspace is located in:

   <install_dir>frdmke17z/demo_apps/hello_world/iar/hello_world.eww

   Other example applications may have additional folders in their path

2. Select the Desired Build Target from the Drop-down Menu. For this example, select "hello_world – debug"

   Figure 1. Demo Build Target Selection.

3. To build the demo application, click "Make", highlighted in red in Figure 2

   Figure 2. Build the Demo Application.

4. The build completes without errors

Run an Example Application

To download and run the application, perform these steps:

1. FRDM-KE17Z with DAPLink interfaces, visit Windows Serial Configuration  and follow the instructions to install the Windows® operating system serial driver. If running on Linux® OS, this step is not required
2. Open the terminal application on the PC, such as PuTTY or Tera Term, and connect to the debug COM port. Configure the terminal with these settings:
   • 115,200 baud rate

     Note: Depending on your board, reference BOARD_DEBUG_UART_BAUDRATE variable in "board.h" file.

   • No parity
   • 8 data bits
   • 1 stop bit
   

   Figure 3. Terminal (PuTTY) configuration.

3. In IAR, click the Download and Debug button to download the application to the target

   Figure 4. Download and Debug button.

4. The application is then downloaded to the target and automatically runs to the main() function

   Figure 5. Stop at main() when Running Debugging.

5. Run the code by clicking the "Go" button

   Figure 6. Go Button.

6. The 'hello_world' application is now running and a banner is displayed on the terminal. If it does not appear, check your terminal settings and connections

   Figure 7. Text Display of the hello_world Demo.

This section describes the steps required to build, run, and debug example applications provided in the MCUXpresso SDK.

The 'hello_world' demo application targeted for the FRDM-KE17Z Freedom hardware platform is used as an example, although these steps can be applied to any demo or example application in the MCUXpresso SDK.

Install CMSIS device pack

After the MDK tools are installed, Cortex® Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS) device packs must be installed to fully support the device from a debug perspective. These packs include things such as memory map information, register definitions and flash programming algorithms. Follow these steps to install the appropriate CMSIS pack.

1. Open the MDK IDE, which is called µVision. In the IDE, select the "Pack Installer" icon

   Figure 1. Launch the Pack Installer.

2. After the installation finishes, close the Pack Installer window and return to the μVision IDE

Build the Example Application

1. Open the desired example application workspace in:

   <install_dir>/boards/<board_name>/<example_type>/<application_name>/mdk

   The workspace file is named <application_name>.uvmpw. For this specific example, the actual path is:

   <install_dir>/boards/frdmke17z/demo_apps/hello_world/mdk/hello_world.uvmpw

2. To build the demo project, select Rebuild, as shown in Figure 2, highlighted in red

   Figure 2. Build the Demo.

3. The build completes without errors

Run an Example Application

To download and run the application, perform these steps:

1. FRDM-KE17Z with the DAPLink interface, visit Windows Serial Configuration  and follow the instructions to install the Windows operating system serial driver. If running on Linux OS, this step is not required
2. Connect the development platform to your PC via USB cable using OpenSDA USB connector
3. Open the terminal application on the PC, such as PuTTY or Tera Term and connect to the debug serial port number. Configure the terminal with these settings:
   • 115,200 baud rate

     Note: Depending on your board, reference BOARD_DEBUG_UART_BAUDRATE variable in "board.h" file.

   • No parity
   • 8 data bits
   • 1 stop bit
   

   Figure 3. Terminal (PuTTY) configurations.

4. In μVision, after the application is built, click the Download button to download the application to the target

   Figure 4. Download Button.

5. After clicking the Download button, the application downloads to the target and is running. To debug the application, click the Start/Stop Debug Session button, highlighted in red

   Figure 5. Stop at main() when run debugging.

6. Run the code by clicking the Run button to start the application

   Figure 6. Go Button.

7. The 'hello_world' application is now running and a banner is displayed on the terminal. If this does not appear, check your terminal settings and connections


Figure 7. Text Display of the hello_world Demo.

This section describes the steps to configure the command line Arm GCC tools to build, run, and debug demo applications and necessary driver libraries provided in the MCUXpresso SDK. The hello_world demo application is targeted for the FRDM-KE17Z Freedom hardware platform which is used as an example.

Note: GCC Arm Embedded 8.2.1 is used as an example in this document. The latest GCC version for this package is as described in the MCUXpresso SDK Release Notes.

Set Up Toolchain

This section contains the steps to install the necessary components required to build and run an MCUXpresso SDK demo application with the Arm GCC Toolchain, as supported by the MCUXpresso SDK. There are many ways to use Arm GCC tools, but this example focuses on a Windows operating system environment.

Install GCC Arm Embedded Toolchain

Download and run the installer from GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain . This is the actual toolset (in other words, compiler, linker, and so on). The GCC Toolchain should correspond to the latest supported version, as described in the MCUXpresso SDK Release Notes.

Install MinGW (only required on Windows OS)

The Minimalist GNU for Windows (MinGW) development tools provide a set of tools that are not dependent on third-party C-Runtime DLLs (such as Cygwin). The build environment used by the MCUXpresso SDK does not use the MinGW build tools, but does leverage the base install of both MinGW and MSYS. MSYS provides a basic shell with a Unix-like interface and tools.

1. Download the latest MinGW mingw-get-setup installer from MinGW - Minimalist GNU for Windows Files
2. Run the installer. The recommended installation path is C:\MinGW, however, you may install to any location

   Note: The installation path cannot contain any spaces.

3. Ensure that the "mingw32-base" and "msys-base" are selected under Basic mingw-get-setup

   Figure 1. Set Up MinGW and MSYS.

4. In the Installation menu, click "Apply Changes" and follow the remaining instructions to complete the installation

   Figure 2. Complete MinGW and MSYS Installation.

5. Add the appropriate item to the Windows operating system path environment variable. It can be found under Control Panel → System and Security → System → Advanced System Settings in the "Environment Variables..." section. The path is:

   <mingw_install_dir>\bin

   Assuming the default installation path, C:\MinGW, an example is as shown in Figure 3. If the path is not set correctly, the toolchain will not work

   Note: If you have "C:\MinGW\msys\x.x\bin" in your PATH variable (as required by Kinetis SDK 1.0.0), remove it to ensure that the new GCC build system works correctly.

   

   Figure 3. Add Path to Systems Environment.

Add a New Environment Variable for ARMGCC_DIR

1. Create a new system environment variable and name it ARMGCC_DIR. The value of this variable should point to the Arm GCC Embedded tool chain installation path, which, for this example, is:

   C:\Program Files (x86)\GNU Tools Arm Embedded\8 2018-q4-major

   See the installation folder of the GNU Arm GCC Embedded tools for the exact path name of your installation.

2. Short path should be used for path setting, you could convert the path to short path by running command for %I in (.) do echo %~sI in above path


Figure 4. Convert path to short path.



Figure 5. Add ARMGCC_DIR System Variable.

Install CMake

1. Download CMake 3.0.x from CMake
2. Install CMake, ensuring that the option "Add CMake to system PATH" is selected when installing. The user chooses to select whether it is installed into the PATH for all users or just the current user. In this example, it is installed for all users

   Figure 6. Install CMake.

3. Follow the remaining instructions of the installer
4. You may need to reboot your system for the PATH changes to take effect
5. Make sure "sh.exe" is not in the Environment Variable PATH. This is a limitation of 'mingw32-make'

Build an Example Application

To build an example application, follow these steps.

1. Open a GCC Arm Embedded tool chain command window. To launch the window, from the Windows operating system Start menu, go to Programs → GNU Tools Arm Embedded <version> and select GCC Command Prompt

   Figure 7. Launch Command Prompt.

2. Change the directory to the example application project directory which has a path similar to the following:

   <install_dir>/boards/<board_name>/<example_type>/<application_name>/armgcc

   For this example, the exact path is:

   <install_dir>/boards/frdmke17z/demo_apps/hello_world/armgcc

   Note: To change directories, use the cd command.

3. Type "build_debug.bat" on the command line or double click on the "build_debug.bat" file in Windows Explorer to build it. The "hello_world.elf" is generated under the debug folder

Run an Example Application

This section describes steps to run a demo application using J-Link GDB Server application.

FRDM-KE17Z supports OpenSDA. The OpenSDA interface on your board is pre-programmed with the J-Link OpenSDA firmware.

Follow these steps to download and run the demo applications:

1. Connect the development platform to your PC via USB cable between the OpenSDA USB connector and the PC USB connector. If using a standalone J-Link debug pod, connect it to the SWD/JTAG connector of the board
2. Open the terminal application on the PC, such as PuTTY or Tera Term and connect to the debug serial port number. Configure the terminal with these settings:
   • 115,200 baud rate

     Note: Depending on your board, reference BOARD_DEBUG_UART_BAUDRATE variable in "board.h" file.

   • No parity
   • 8 data bits
   • 1 stop bit
   

   Figure 8. Terminal (PuTTY) configurations.

3. Open the J-Link GDB Server application. Assuming the J-Link software is installed, launch the application by going to the Windows operating system Start menu and select "Programs → SEGGER → J-Link <version> → J-Link GDB Server"
4. After it is connected, the screen looks like Figure 9

   Figure 9. SEGGER J-Link GDB Server Screen After Successful Connection.

5. If not already running, open a GCC Arm Embedded Toolchain command window. To launch the window, from the Windows operating system Start menu, go to Programs → GNU Tools Arm Embedded <version> and select GCC Command Prompt

   Figure 10. Launch Command Prompt.

6. Change to the directory that contains the example application output. The output can be found in using one of these paths, depending on the build target selected:

   <install_dir>/boards/<board_name>/<example_type>/<application_name>/armgcc/debug

   <install_dir>/boards/<board_name>/<example_type>/<application_name>/armgcc/release

   For this example, the path is:

   <install_dir>/boards/frdmke17z/demo_apps/hello_world/armgcc/debug

7. Run the "arm-none-eabi-gdb.exe <application_name>.elf" command. For this example, it is "arm-none-eabi- gdb.exe hello_world.elf"

   Figure 11. Run arm-none-eabi-gdb.

8. Run these commands:
   • target remote localhost:2331
   • monitor reset
   • monitor halt
   • load
9. The application is now downloaded and halted at the watch point. Execute the "monitor go" command to start the demo application
10. The 'hello_world' application is now running and a banner is displayed on the terminal. If this does not appear, check your terminal settings and connections


Figure 12. Text display of the hello_world demo.