📝 27 Jul 2020
Programming the firmware of our gadgets (like PineTime Smart Watch) has always been cumbersome...
Get a proper computer (Windows tends to be problematic)
Install the right tools and libraries to cross-compile our firmware (Depends on our operating system)
If the build fails, tweak the build scripts (It's probably just Windows)
If the build still fails... We're stuck! (Good Luck!)
Nowhere as fun as a game like Fortnite!
Can Firmware Programming be as fun as Fortnite?
Well Fortnite runs in the Cloud on massive servers...
Can we build our firmware in the Cloud?
In under 2 minutes?
Without any computer setup!
Yes we can!
Today we'll learn GitHub Actions for building InfiniTime Firmware for PineTime Smart Watch in the GitHub Cloud.
It's Fully Automated...
Check in our updated source files to GitHub
Wait 2 Minutes
Out comes a piping-hot New Firmware Image for testing on PineTime!
(Feels like a Microwave!)
We'll make PineTime Programming as enjoyable as Fortnite... But less violent... And in 3D!
(Nope no spoon!)
Create a free GitHub Account if we haven't got one...
▶️ github.com
Browse to the GitHub Repository for the PineTime Firmware...
Here's the complete Source Code for the InfiniTime Firmware (based on FreeRTOS).
Click the Fork button at top right...
This creates a Fork of the PineTime Repository under our GitHub Account...
The URL looks like this...
https://github.com/ACCOUNT_NAME/Pinetime
The Fork contains our own copy of the entire Source Code for the PineTime Firmware... Ready for us to make any updates!
GitHub helpfully tracks updates to our Fork, so that one day we may submit a Pull Request to sync our updates (only the useful ones) back to the original PineTime Repository.
And we may also Pull Updates from the original PineTime Repository and apply them to our Fork.
That's how we maintain Open Source Projects!
Read on to learn how we add GitHub Actions to our Fork to build the firmware automagically...
In our Fork on GitHub, click Actions
Click Skip this and set up a workflow yourself
GitHub brings us to a page to edit .github/workflows/main.yml
Open a new web browser tab.
Browse to this page...
github.com/pinetime-lab/.github/workflows/main.yml
Copy the contents of this page.
Switch back to the earlier page: .github/workflows/main.yml
Paste and overwrite the contents of the file...
Click Start Commit at the right or bottom of the page...
Click Commit New File
We have just created a Workflow... An automated job that will be run by GitHub whenever we update our source files.
If we ever need to edit the Workflow, just browse to this URL...
https://github.com/ACCOUNT_NAME/Pinetime/blob/master/.github/workflows/main.yml
(Change ACCOUNT_NAME to our GitHub Account Name)
Let's change a PineTime source file... And trigger our very first PineTime Firmware Build in the Cloud!
We shall modify the source code so that the PineTime Watch Face shows our own special message...
Browse to this URL...
https://github.com/ACCOUNT_NAME/Pinetime/blob/master/src/DisplayApp/Screens/Clock.cpp
(Change ACCOUNT_NAME to our GitHub Account Name)
Click the Edit icon at the right...
Look for the line with "BPM" (line 71)...
BPM is the text that's displayed on the PineTime Watch Face.
Change BPM to our own short message, like LOVE...
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Click Commit Changes
Guess what?
We have just triggered Our Very First PineTime Firmware Build In The Cloud!
(Because the Firmware Build is triggered by any file update)
Let's check the result of our Firmware Build in the Cloud...
Check out this article to learn more about Clock.cpp
(Sorry our first build may fail with an error in TwiMaster.cpp... More about this in a while)
Click Actions at the top.
Click the first row that appears: Update Clock.cpp
Click build at left...
We'll see each step of the firmware building process...
Click Make
This shows the messages that were generated by the cross-compiler...
If we see this error...
/home/runner/work/Pinetime/Pinetime/src/drivers/TwiMaster.cpp:1:10: fatal error: sdk/integration/nrfx/nrfx_log.h: No such file or directory
#include <sdk/integration/nrfx/nrfx_log.h>
^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
compilation terminated.
make[3]: *** [src/CMakeFiles/pinetime-app.dir/drivers/TwiMaster.cpp.o] Error 1
Browse to...
https://github.com/ACCOUNT_NAME/Pinetime/blob/master/src/drivers/TwiMaster.cpp
(Change ACCOUNT_NAME to our GitHub Account Name)
Edit the first two lines...
#include <sdk/integration/nrfx/nrfx_log.h>
#include <sdk/modules/nrfx/hal/nrf_gpio.h>
To...
#include <nrfx_log.h>
#include <nrf_gpio.h>
Click Commit Changes to save the file.
This triggers a new Firmware Build, which should succeed now.
Now let's download and flash the new firmware to PineTime!
(We assume that our PineTime has been flashed with the latest firmware that supports wireless firmware updates)
On our Android Phone, launch the Web Browser.
Browse to this URL to see GitHub Actions for our Fork...
https://github.com/ACCOUNT_NAME/Pinetime/actions
(Change ACCOUNT_NAME to our GitHub Account Name)
Tap on the first row that appears: Update Clock.cpp
Tap Sign In For Full Log View at top right.
Sign in with our GitHub Account.
Tap Artifacts at the top.
Tap pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip
When the file has been downloaded, tap Open
The file should appear under Downloads like above.
Launch the nRF Connect mobile app.
Scan for devices and look for Pinetime-JF
Tap Connect
Tap on the DFU circular icon at the top right.
DFU means Device Firmware Update. We'll be uploading the DFU Package pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip to update the firmware on PineTime.
For File Type, select Distribution Packet (ZIP) and tap OK
In the Search Box, enter dfu
Our downloaded file pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip should appear.
Tap on pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip
The nRF Connect app begins transmitting the file to PineTime over Bluetooth LE.
When it's done, it shows Disconnecting
PineTime restarts with the new firmware and shows our message "LOVE"!
Will this work on iPhone?
Yes, with the iPhone version of the nRF Connect mobile app.
I have a request...
If you could... With your kind permission... Please post to Twitter and/or Mastodon a pic of your PineTime with the new firmware.
Tag the post with #PineTime so we know that building PineTime Firmware in the Cloud works OK for you. Thanks! :-)
If you're stuck, please chat with us in the PineTime Chatroom...
PineTime Chatroom on Discord / Matrix / Telegram / IRC
To set the date and time on PineTime, we use the nRF Connect mobile app...
In nRF Connect, browse for the Pinetime-JF device and tap Connect
Tap on Menu → Configure GATT Server → Add Service
Set Server Configuration to Current Time Service
Tap OK
Tap the higher set of 3 dots and select Bond
PineTime should automatically sync the date and time.
This works only Android, not iPhone. If you can help fix this, please chat with us in the PineTime Chatroom...
PineTime Chatroom on Discord / Matrix / Telegram / IRC
Can we edit our files in GitHub without using the web browser?
We recommend VSCode or VSCodium for editing files with Git Version Control. (Which works with GitHub files)
Remember to Commit any updated files and Push the Commits to the master Branch to trigger the firmware build.
Can we build the firmware on our own computers?
Follow the instructions in the firmware building doc and the DFU packaging doc.
To troubleshoot the build, compare with my build logs.
What if we don't wish to make our repos public?
Only public repos get GitHub Actions for free... But there's an alternative:
What's in the artifact pinetime-app.out?
This is the Standalone PineTime Firmware... It's self-contained firmware that works without the MCUBoot Bootloader. Which makes it simpler for GDB debugging.
How do we flash pinetime-app.out?
Download the artifact pinetime-app.out from GitHub Actions.
We'll get a ZIP file. Extract the PineTime Firmware Image inside: pinetime-app.out
Flash with PineTime Updater...
Run ./run.sh. Select Latest Bootloader to flash the latest bootloader
Then run ./run.sh again. Select Downloaded File and pinetime-app.out
Flash to address 0x0
Is it really necessary to build the Standalone Firmware pinetime-app.out?
Nope. To speed up the build, we may comment out the "Make pinetime-app" and "Upload Standalone Firmware" steps in the GitHub Actions Workflow.
Can GitHub Actions build other flavours of PineTime Firmware?
Yes! GitHub Actions can build RIOT, Mynewt and wasp-os firmware for PineTime.
The PineTime Community shall extend this Build Firmware Workflow into a centralised system for maintaining the PineTime Community Firmware that will be preloaded at the PineTime Factory.
The centralised Continuous Integration system is helpful because...
It compiles the PineTime Community Firmware source code whenever there are updates.
And instantly catches any bad code that can't be compiled.
It can run Automated Tests in the Cloud after building the PineTime Community Firmware.
So we will know rightaway if the firmware won't boot on an emulated PineTime. (Hopefully)
And it can publish New Firmware Releases for the PineTime Community to download... If the Automated Tests pass.
We have a lot to do, please chat with us if you're keen to help...
PineTime Chatroom on Discord / Matrix / Telegram / IRC
And remember to enjoy your PineTime :-)
Got a question, comment or suggestion? Create an Issue or submit a Pull Request here...
pinetime-rust-mynewt/rust/ app/src/cloud.md
(Warning: The topics below are deeply technical... If you're keen please read on!)
Let's look at the GitHub Actions Workflow we used for building PineTime Firmware: .github/workflows/main.yml
# GitHub Actions Workflow to build FreeRTOS Firmware for PineTime Smart Watch
# See https://lupyuen.github.io/pinetime-rust-mynewt/articles/cloud
# Based on https://github.com/JF002/Pinetime/blob/master/doc/buildAndProgram.md
# and https://github.com/JF002/Pinetime/blob/master/bootloader/README.md
# Name of this Workflow
name: Build PineTime Firmware
# When to run this Workflow...
on:
# Run this Workflow when files are updated (Pushed) in the "master" Branch
push:
branches: [ master ]
# Also run this Workflow when a Pull Request is created or updated in the "master" Branch
pull_request:
branches: [ master ]
Here we see the conditions that will trigger our Workflow...
When files are updated (or Pushed) in the master Branch
When a Pull Request is created or updated in the master Branch
Next we specify which Operating System GitHub should use to execute the Workflow Steps...
# Steps to run for the Workflow
jobs:
build:
# Run these steps on Ubuntu
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
...
This asks GitHub to allocate a free Virtual Machine (Docker Container) to build our firmware, based on Ubuntu 18.04.
We're using Ubuntu, but GitHub supports Windows and macOS as well.
After that we specify the steps to be executed for our Workflow...
cmakeThe steps for building PineTime Firmware are based on the firmware building doc and the DFU packaging doc.
We use a popular tool called cmake. (It's like an evolved make)
Here's how we install cmake...
- name: Install cmake
uses: lukka/get-cmake@v3.18.0
Why do we need to install build tools like cmake?
Because GitHub only provides bare bones Ubuntu with simple command-line tools like make.
For special tools like cmake, we'll have to install ourselves.
What's get-cmake?
That's a GitHub Action provided by the community for installing cmake
Browse the available GitHub Actions
Our Ubuntu Virtual Machine in the GitHub Cloud is based on the Intel x64 platform... But we're building firmware for PineTime, which is based on Arm Cortex-M4.
To do that, we need to install a cross-compiler: Embedded Arm Toolchain arm-none-eabi-gcc
We'll install this in the next step, but first we check whether the toolchain is in our cache...
- name: Check cache for Embedded Arm Toolchain arm-none-eabi-gcc
id: cache-toolchain
uses: actions/cache@v2
env:
cache-name: cache-toolchain
with:
path: ${{ runner.temp }}/arm-none-eabi
key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}
restore-keys: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}
Why cache the Embedded Arm Toolchain?
The Embedded Arm Toolchain is a huge 102 MB download (compressed).
Every time GitHub builds our firmware, it creates a fresh new empty Virtual Machine.
(So that our firmware builds may be reproduced consistently... And for security too)
GitHub will take roughly a minute to download and unpack the toolchain... Unless we cache it.
- name: Check cache for Embedded Arm Toolchain arm-none-eabi-gcc
id: cache-toolchain
uses: actions/cache@v2
The actions/cache GitHub Action lets us cache the toolchain for future builds.
We can have multiple caches. Here's our cache for the toolchain...
env:
cache-name: cache-toolchain
Next we tell GitHub what to cache...
with:
path: ${{ runner.temp }}/arm-none-eabi
key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}
restore-keys: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}
Given these build settings...
runner.temp = /home/runner/work/_temp
runner.os = Linux
env.cache-name = cache-toolchain
This means...
GitHub shall cache the temporary toolchain folder /home/runner/work/_temp/arm-none-eabi
(We'll download the toolchain to this folder in the next step)
The unique cache key for our toolchain cache shall be Linux-build-cache-toolchain
In future builds, GitHub shall attempt to restore the cache for Linux-build-cache-toolchain into our toolchain folder /home/runner/work/_temp/arm-none-eabi
Now we download and unpack the Embedded Arm Toolchain into the temporary toolchain folder /home/runner/work/_temp/arm-none-eabi...
- name: Install Embedded Arm Toolchain arm-none-eabi-gcc
if: steps.cache-toolchain.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' # Install toolchain if not found in cache
uses: fiam/arm-none-eabi-gcc@v1.0.2
with:
# GNU Embedded Toolchain for Arm release name, in the V-YYYY-qZ format (e.g. "9-2019-q4")
release: 8-2019-q3
# Directory to unpack GCC to. Defaults to a temporary directory.
directory: ${{ runner.temp }}/arm-none-eabi
We use the community GitHub Action fiam/arm-none-eabi-gcc to do this. So easy!
Why is there a condition for the step?
# Install toolchain if not found in cache
if: steps.cache-toolchain.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
This says that GitHub shall download the toolchain only if the previous step cache-toolchain couldn't find an existing cache for the toolchain.
Huge downloads and reinstallation averted... So neat!
What software is preinstalled on the GitHub Virtual Machine?
Check out the preinstalled software on Ubuntu 18.04 for GitHub Actions
Next we download the nRF5 SDK by Nordic Semiconductor.
The SDK is needed for building PineTime Firmware because PineTime is based on the nRF52832 Microcontroller.
Before downloading and unpacking the SDK into /home/runner/work/_temp/nrf5_sdk, we check whether the cache exists for the unique cache key Linux-build-cache-nrf5sdk...
- name: Check cache for nRF5 SDK
id: cache-nrf5sdk
uses: actions/cache@v2
env:
cache-name: cache-nrf5sdk
with:
path: ${{ runner.temp }}/nrf5_sdk
key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}
restore-keys: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}
Can we download and install packages into the GitHub Virtual Machine without using a GitHub Action?
Yes we can, through the Ubuntu command line...
- name: Install nRF5 SDK
if: steps.cache-nrf5sdk.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' # Install SDK if not found in cache
run: |
cd ${{ runner.temp }}
curl https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF5_SDK/nRF5_SDK_v15.x.x/nRF5_SDK_15.3.0_59ac345.zip -o nrf5_sdk.zip
unzip nrf5_sdk.zip
mv nRF5_SDK_15.3.0_59ac345 nrf5_sdk
This expands to...
cd /home/runner/work/_temp
curl \
https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF5_SDK/nRF5_SDK_v15.x.x/nRF5_SDK_15.3.0_59ac345.zip \
-o nrf5_sdk.zip
unzip nrf5_sdk.zip
mv nRF5_SDK_15.3.0_59ac345 nrf5_sdk
Here we call curl to download the nRF5 SDK by Nordic Semiconductor.
We unpack the SDK into /home/runner/work/_temp/nrf5_sdk, which is cached by the previous step.
if: steps.cache-nrf5sdk.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' # Install SDK if not found in cache
Again, GitHub shall download the SDK only if the cache couldn't be found.
GitHub will remove any cache entries that have not been accessed in over 7 days.
nrfutil LibraryWe install the Adafruit nrfutil Library to create the DFU Package for flashing over Bluetooth LE...
- name: Install adafruit-nrfutil
run: |
pip3 install --user wheel
pip3 install --user setuptools
pip3 install --user adafruit-nrfutil
Yes pip3 is available for installing Python 3 packages.
But in the GitHub Ubuntu environment, the installed Python packages are not accessible via the default PATH
In a while we'll see that they are accessible via ~/.local/bin/...
Now we fetch a complete set of source files from our Fork...
- name: Checkout source files
uses: actions/checkout@v2
The actions/checkout GitHub Action copies the source files into /home/runner/work/Pinetime/Pinetime
Let's take a peek at the environment variables and the files that have been checked out...
- name: Show files
run: set ; pwd ; ls -l
The current directory pwd is shown as...
/home/runner/work/Pinetime/Pinetime
The list of files and folders in that directory...
total 48
-rw-r--r-- 1 runner docker 2194 Jul 26 14:39 CMakeLists.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 runner docker 5079 Jul 26 14:39 README.md
drwxr-xr-x 3 runner docker 4096 Jul 26 14:39 bootloader
drwxr-xr-x 3 runner docker 4096 Jul 26 14:39 cmake-nRF5x
drwxr-xr-x 3 runner docker 4096 Jul 26 14:39 doc
-rw-r--r-- 1 runner docker 2952 Jul 26 14:39 gcc_nrf52-mcuboot.ld
-rw-r--r-- 1 runner docker 2952 Jul 26 14:39 gcc_nrf52.ld
drwxr-xr-x 4 runner docker 4096 Jul 26 14:39 images
-rw-r--r-- 1 runner docker 4475 Jul 26 14:39 nrf_common.ld
drwxr-xr-x 10 runner docker 4096 Jul 26 14:39 src
Check the section "Environment Variables" below for the complete list of environment variables.
Now that we have cmake installed and the complete set of source files, let's start building the firmware...
- name: CMake
run: mkdir -p build && cd build && cmake -DARM_NONE_EABI_TOOLCHAIN_PATH=${{ runner.temp }}/arm-none-eabi -DNRF5_SDK_PATH=${{ runner.temp }}/nrf5_sdk -DUSE_OPENOCD=1 ../
This expands to...
mkdir -p build
cd build
cmake \
-DARM_NONE_EABI_TOOLCHAIN_PATH=/home/runner/work/_temp/arm-none-eabi \
-DNRF5_SDK_PATH=/home/runner/work/_temp/nrf5_sdk \
-DUSE_OPENOCD=1 \
../
We call cmake passing the locations of the Embedded Arm Toolchain and the nRF5 SDK.
This is exactly as prescribed by the build doc.
pinetime-mcuboot-app - name: Make pinetime-mcuboot-app
run: |
cd build
make pinetime-mcuboot-app
This generates the PineTime Firmware File pinetime-mcuboot-app.out, as shown in the log...
[100%] Linking CXX executable pinetime-mcuboot-app.out
post build steps for pinetime-mcuboot-app
text data bss dec hex filename
238012 772 35784 274568 43088 pinetime-mcuboot-app.out
This says...
Firmware will occupy 233 KB of Flash ROM for compiled machine code and data (text, data)
Firmware will need 34 KB of RAM for storing global static variables (bss)
If the build fails, can we see the complete list of options passed to the cross-compiler?
Add the --trace option like so...
# For Debugging Builds: Add "--trace" to see details.
make --trace pinetime-mcuboot-app
The log shows that the make step takes 2.5 minutes to execute. Can we compile faster?
Add the -j option like so...
# For Faster Builds: Add "make" option "-j"
make -j pinetime-mcuboot-app
This runs a parallel build with multiple processes. It shaves about 30 seconds off the build time.
We don't recommend adding -j for normal builds because it becomes harder to spot the compiler error.
PineTime uses the MCUBoot Bootloader to do nifty tricks... Like rolling back the PineTime firmware to the previous version if the new one fails to start.
To do this the MCUBoot Bootloader needs our firmware to be formatted in a way that it understands.
We call this format the MCUBoot Firmware Image. We create the Firmware Image like so...
- name: Create firmware image
run: |
${{ runner.temp }}/mcuboot/scripts/imgtool.py create --align 4 --version 1.0.0 --header-size 32 --slot-size 475136 --pad-header build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app.bin build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-img.bin
${{ runner.temp }}/mcuboot/scripts/imgtool.py verify build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-img.bin
The above expands to...
/home/runner/work/_temp/mcuboot/scripts/imgtool.py create --align 4 --version 1.0.0 --header-size 32 --slot-size 475136 --pad-header build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app.bin build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-img.bin
/home/runner/work/_temp/mcuboot/scripts/imgtool.py verify build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-img.bin
This is prescribed by the DFU packaging doc.
imgtool comes from the MCUBoot Bootloader, as explained here...
"Firmware Update over Bluetooth Low Energy on PineTime Smart Watch"
We'll be using the nRF Connect mobile app to transmit a DFU Package to update PineTime's firmware.
We wrap up the Firmware Image (from the previous step) into a DFU Package by calling adafruit-nrfutil ...
- name: Create DFU package
run: |
~/.local/bin/adafruit-nrfutil dfu genpkg --dev-type 0x0052 --application build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-img.bin build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip
unzip -v build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip
# Unzip the package because Upload Artifact will zip up the files
unzip build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip -d build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu
The above expands to...
~/.local/bin/adafruit-nrfutil dfu genpkg --dev-type 0x0052 --application build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-img.bin build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip
# Display the contents of the package
unzip -v build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip
# Unzip the package because Upload Artifact will zip up the files
unzip build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip -d build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu
This creates the DFU Package pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip.
The DFU Package contains 3 files...
Archive: build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip
Length Method Size Cmpr Date Time CRC-32 Name
-------- ------ ------- ---- ---------- ----- -------- ----
14 Stored 14 0% 2020-07-30 06:47 8cf6f003 pinetime-mcuboot-app-img.dat
498 Stored 498 0% 2020-07-30 06:47 b0b12660 manifest.json
238856 Stored 238856 0% 2020-07-30 06:47 ded98812 pinetime-mcuboot-app-img.bin
-------- ------- --- -------
239368 239368 0% 3 files
Why did we unzip the DFU Package?
Let's say we didn't unzip the DFU Package... And we pass pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip to GitHub Actions to store as an Arfitact for downloading.
GitHub Actions always zips up artifacts for downloading... And we'll end up with a DFU Package that's zipped twice!
nRF Connect doesn't like double-zipped DFU Packages.
So to work around this issue, we unzip the DFU Package and pass the 3 files inside to be stored as an Artifact.
GitHub Actions will gladly zip up the 3 files to create our DFU Package.
GitHub will wipe out our entire Virtual Machine and the files inside (like Langoliers)... So we need to save the PineTime DFU Package pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip
- name: Upload DFU package
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
with:
name: pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip
path: build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu/*
The actions/upload-artifact GitHub Action saves the PineTime DFU Package pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip as an Artifact for us to download and flash to PineTime.
Remember that this path contains 3 files...
path: build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu/*
So this step will zip up the 3 files to create our DFU Package pinetime-mcuboot-app-dfu.zip
pinetime-appOur Workflow also creates the Standalone PineTime Firmware... It's self-contained firmware that runs without the MCUBoot Bootloader. Which makes it simpler for GDB debugging.
- name: Make pinetime-app
run: |
cd build
make pinetime-app
This generates the PineTime Firmware File pinetime-app.out, as shown in the log...
[100%] Linking CXX executable pinetime-app.out
post build steps for pinetime-app
text data bss dec hex filename
238012 772 35784 274568 43088 pinetime-app.out
This step uploads the Standalone Firmware as an Artifact for us to download...
- name: Upload standalone firmware
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
with:
name: pinetime-app.out
path: build/src/pinetime-app.out
To flash the Standalone Firmware to PineTime, check the instructions below.
Why is the pinetime-app.out firmware 6.4 MB in size when the build log shows that the cross-compiler output (text) is 233 KB?
Because pinetime-app.out is an ELF File. It contains the firmware image as well as the debugging symbols.
(Useful for a debugger like GDB)
For curiosity, let's discover what other outputs are generated during the PineTime Firmware Build...
- name: Find output
run: |
find . -name "pinetime-app.*" -ls
find . -name "pinetime-mcuboot-app.*" -ls
Some of these files may be useful for troubleshooting our firmware (like the Linker Maps *.map)...
1327374 656 -rw-r--r-- 1 runner docker 671691 Jul 30 06:50 ./build/src/pinetime-app.hex
1327372 6504 -rwxr-xr-x 1 runner docker 6740720 Jul 30 06:50 ./build/src/pinetime-app.out
1326257 4 drwxr-xr-x 11 runner docker 4096 Jul 30 06:48 ./build/src/CMakeFiles/pinetime-app.dir
1327371 5004 -rw-r--r-- 1 runner docker 5122576 Jul 30 06:50 ./build/src/pinetime-app.map
1327373 236 -rwxr-xr-x 1 runner docker 238784 Jul 30 06:50 ./build/src/pinetime-app.bin
1326403 4 drwxr-xr-x 11 runner docker 4096 Jul 30 06:45 ./build/src/CMakeFiles/pinetime-mcuboot-app.dir
1326990 236 -rwxr-xr-x 1 runner docker 238784 Jul 30 06:47 ./build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app.bin
1326989 6504 -rwxr-xr-x 1 runner docker 6740728 Jul 30 06:47 ./build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app.out
1326988 5304 -rw-r--r-- 1 runner docker 5427760 Jul 30 06:47 ./build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app.map
1326991 656 -rw-r--r-- 1 runner docker 671708 Jul 30 06:47 ./build/src/pinetime-mcuboot-app.hex
Here's a tip about the caches we have created for the Embedded Arm Toolchain and the nRF5 SDK...
# Embedded Arm Toolchain and nRF5 SDK will only be cached if the build succeeds.
# So make sure that the first build always succeeds, e.g. comment out the "Make" step.
The files get cached only if the build succeeds
If the first few builds fail (say due to coding errors), the files will never get cached. And restarting the build becomes painfully slow.
Therefore it's good to tweak the Workflow to make sure that the first build always succeeds... Like commenting out the make section.
Subsequent builds will be a lot faster with the caching.
And that's how we build PineTime Firmware in the Cloud!
GitHub Actions Workflow Syntax
This step in our GitHub Actions Workflow...
- name: Show files
run: set ; pwd ; ls -l
Shows these environment variables...
AGENT_TOOLSDIRECTORY=/opt/hostedtoolcache
ANDROID_HOME=/usr/local/lib/android/sdk
ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=/usr/local/lib/android/sdk
ANT_HOME=/usr/share/ant
AZURE_EXTENSION_DIR=/opt/az/azcliextensions
BASH=/bin/bash
lquote:extquote:force_fignore:hostcomplete:interactive_comments:progcomp:p
BASH_ALIASES=()
BASH_ARGC=()
BASH_ARGV=()
BASH_CMDS=()
BASH_LINENO=([0]="0")
BASH_SOURCE=([0]="/home/runner/work/_temp/a3bba1d.sh")
BASH_VERSINFO=([0]="4" [1]="4" [2]="20" [3]="1" [4]="release" [5]
BASH_VERSION='4.4.20(1)-release'
BOOST_ROOT_1_69_0=/opt/hostedtoolcache/boost/1.69.0/x64
BOOST_ROOT_1_72_0=/opt/hostedtoolcache/boost/1.72.0/x64
CHROMEWEBDRIVER=/usr/local/share/chrome_driver
CHROME_BIN=/usr/bin/google-chrome
CI=true
CONDA=/usr/share/miniconda
DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
DEPLOYMENT_BASEPATH=/opt/runner
DIRSTACK=()
DOTNET_NOLOGO='"1"'
DOTNET_SKIP_FIRST_TIME_EXPERIENCE='"1"'
EUID=1001
GECKOWEBDRIVER=/usr/local/share/gecko_driver
GITHUB_ACTION=run2
GITHUB_ACTIONS=true
GITHUB_ACTOR=lupyuen
GITHUB_API_URL=https://api.github.com
GITHUB_BASE_REF=
GITHUB_EVENT_NAME=push
GITHUB_EVENT_PATH=/home/runner/work/_temp/_github_workflow/event.json
GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL=https://api.github.com/graphql
GITHUB_HEAD_REF=
GITHUB_JOB=build
GITHUB_REF=refs/heads/master
GITHUB_REPOSITORY=AppKaki/Pinetime
GITHUB_REPOSITORY_OWNER=AppKaki
GITHUB_RUN_ID=183212738
GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER=2
GITHUB_SERVER_URL=https://github.com
GITHUB_SHA=bce10a451e6cef08c30b1d6ac297e1f50cf57bf3
GITHUB_WORKFLOW='Build PineTime Firmware'
GITHUB_WORKSPACE=/home/runner/work/Pinetime/Pinetime
GOROOT=/opt/hostedtoolcache/go/1.14.4/x64
GOROOT_1_11_X64=/opt/hostedtoolcache/go/1.11.13/x64
GOROOT_1_12_X64=/opt/hostedtoolcache/go/1.12.17/x64
GOROOT_1_13_X64=/opt/hostedtoolcache/go/1.13.12/x64
GOROOT_1_14_X64=/opt/hostedtoolcache/go/1.14.4/x64
GRADLE_HOME=/usr/share/gradle
GROUPS=()
HOME=/home/runner
HOMEBREW_CELLAR='"/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar"'
HOMEBREW_PREFIX='"/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew"'
HOMEBREW_REPOSITORY='"/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew"'
HOSTNAME=fv-az20
HOSTTYPE=x86_64
IFS=$' \t\n'
INVOCATION_ID=cc632305776e4c49848d4644a457d167
ImageOS=ubuntu18
ImageVersion=20200717.1
JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/adoptopenjdk-8-hotspot-amd64
JAVA_HOME_11_X64=/usr/lib/jvm/adoptopenjdk-11-hotspot-amd64
JAVA_HOME_12_X64=/usr/lib/jvm/adoptopenjdk-12-hotspot-amd64
JAVA_HOME_7_X64=/usr/lib/jvm/zulu-7-azure-amd64
JAVA_HOME_8_X64=/usr/lib/jvm/adoptopenjdk-8-hotspot-amd64
JOURNAL_STREAM=9:31251
LANG=C.UTF-8
LEIN_HOME=/usr/local/lib/lein
LEIN_JAR=/usr/local/lib/lein/self-installs/leiningen-2.9.4-standalone.jar
M2_HOME=/usr/share/apache-maven-3.6.3
MACHTYPE=x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
OPTERR=1
OPTIND=1
OSTYPE=linux-gnu
PATH=/home/runner/work/_temp/arm-none-eabi/bin:/home/runner/work/_temp/-x86_64/bin/:/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin:/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/in:/home/runner/.config/composer/vendor/bin:/home/runner/.dotnet/tools://local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games
PERFLOG_LOCATION_SETTING=RUNNER_PERFLOG
POWERSHELL_DISTRIBUTION_CHANNEL=GitHub-Actions-ubuntu18
PPID=2451
PS4='+ '
PWD=/home/runner/work/Pinetime/Pinetime
RUNNER_OS=Linux
RUNNER_PERFLOG=/home/runner/perflog
RUNNER_TEMP=/home/runner/work/_temp
RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE=/opt/hostedtoolcache
RUNNER_TRACKING_ID=github_3a45354c-437f-42c1-b8fb-cff7fa3cf2a0
RUNNER_USER=runner
RUNNER_WORKSPACE=/home/runner/work/Pinetime
SELENIUM_JAR_PATH=/usr/share/java/selenium-server-standalone.jar
SHELL=/bin/bash
SHELLOPTS=braceexpand:errexit:hashall:interactive-comments
SHLVL=1
SWIFT_PATH=/usr/share/swift/usr/bin
TERM=dumb
UID=1001
USER=runner
VCPKG_INSTALLATION_ROOT=/usr/local/share/vcpkg
_=/bin/bash