Python TypeError bug in efm8loadusb for P2D2 - help!

Peter Jakacki

One of the best ways IMO for learning any language is to dive in head first. Unlike shallow waters you can't injure yourself but you sure learn a lot splashing about.
Wanting to bypass SIlabs Simplicity Studio when I just want to access the EMF8 chip's bootloader directly on my P2D2 board I found some Python code that seems to work in that it can identify the chip and even dump it's internal memory, and with a little modification it now handles the 48k of the EFMUB3 that I use. However there is one bug that I haven't worked around yet although I have learnt a few things in the process, so I am reaching out for some help just to get things going, since I need to get other things going too.

When I run this code, this is what happens.

efm8boot-master$ python efm8loadusb.py identify
The device identifies as EFM8UB31F40G_QFN24 [36: 1].
efm8boot-master$ python efm8loadusb.py upload vcp.hex
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "efm8loadusb.py", line 422, in <module>
    sys.exit(main())
  File "efm8loadusb.py", line 419, in main
    return opts.cmd(device, opts)
  File "efm8loadusb.py", line 146, in cmd_flash
    write_chunked(dev, segment, a, chunksize=128)
  File "efm8loadusb.py", line 165, in write_chunked
    do_write(dev, addr, chunk)
  File "efm8loadusb.py", line 209, in do_write
    hid_set_report(dev, [36, dlen + 3, 0x33, addrH, addrL] + data)
  File "efm8loadusb.py", line 47, in hid_set_report
    report)
  File "/home/peter/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/usb/core.py", line 1023, in ctrl_transfer
    buff = _interop.as_array(data_or_wLength)
  File "/home/peter/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/usb/_interop.py", line 97, in as_array
    a.fromstring(data) # deprecated since 3.2
TypeError: fromstring() argument 1 must be string or read-only buffer, not list
efm8boot-master$

I have gone back into the backend packages too and tried several things on the loader to get it to work. Any ideas?

jmg

I've never tried the bootloader, but AN945 has command line tools, I think are python-derived-exes, so I created this batch file

windows\hex2boot.exe -o EFM8UB3.bf EFM8UB3_2M0_8n1_ASM_UART1.hex
windows\efm8load.exe -t EFM8UB3.bf
pause 

and that runs giving this - seems to Auto-sense the HID port, and I need to jumper P2.0-GND then RST to engage the bootloader, (and remember to remove jumper.. )

C:\SiliconLabs\AN945SW\AN945SW\Tools>windows\hex2boot.exe -o EFM8UB3.bf EFM8UB3_2M0_8n1_ASM_UART1.hex

C:\SiliconLabs\AN945SW\AN945SW\Tools>windows\efm8load.exe -t EFM8UB3.bf
Download over port: HID:10C4:EACB

$ 04 31 A5 F1 00 -> @
$ 83 32 00 00 FF 12 CD 75 -> @
$ 83 33 00 80 78 76 E6 FE -> @
$ 83 33 01 00 00 00 00 00 -> @
$ 83 33 01 80 03 F2 90 00 -> @
$ 83 32 02 00 FF FA 90 00 -> @
$ 83 33 02 80 00 79 00 90 -> @
$ 83 33 03 00 F0 7B FF 7A -> @
$ 83 33 03 80 05 0C 90 00 -> @
$ 83 32 04 00 FE 01 F3 22 -> @
$ 83 33 04 80 83 E9 93 F5 -> @
$ 83 33 05 00 E9 F6 22 E0 -> @
$ 83 33 05 80 74 02 93 68 -> @
$ 83 32 06 00 89 32 90 00 -> @
$ 83 33 06 80 80 F6 ED 4C -> @
$ 83 33 07 00 50 43 78 7A -> @
$ 83 33 07 80 AF 02 E5 AE -> @
$ 83 32 08 00 5F 80 71 12 -> @
$ 83 33 08 80 E0 0F 90 00 -> @
$ 83 33 09 00 00 C3 78 8C -> @
$ 83 33 09 80 20 E7 FB 78 -> @
$ 83 32 0A 00 21 A3 80 11 -> @
$ 83 33 0A 80 FE F0 90 00 -> @
$ 83 33 0B 00 82 85 58 83 -> @
$ 83 33 0B 80 30 19 1F 85 -> @
$ 83 32 0C 00 A8 60 12 04 -> @
$ 83 33 0C 80 78 E6 18 46 -> @
$ 83 33 0D 00 78 74 E6 18 -> @
$ 83 33 0D 80 E6 FF AC 06 -> @
$ 83 32 0E 00 E5 2A 30 E3 -> @
$ 83 33 0E 80 01 01 00 00 -> @
$ 83 33 0F 00 00 01 01 02 -> @
$ 83 33 0F 80 D4 78 76 E6 -> @
$ 83 32 10 00 AA 27 A9 28 -> @
$ 83 33 10 80 AE 11 E4 F5 -> @
$ 83 33 11 00 1C 15 E5 2E -> @
$ 83 33 11 80 1D E5 1E 24 -> @
$ 83 32 12 00 40 60 16 75 -> @
$ 83 33 12 80 06 70 47 F5 -> @
$ 83 33 13 00 20 C8 83 40 -> @
$ 83 33 13 80 33 70 1F 90 -> @
$ 83 32 14 00 13 AF 06 74 -> @
$ 83 33 14 80 46 12 1B 25 -> @
$ 83 33 15 00 E6 54 F0 60 -> @
$ 83 33 15 80 E5 34 75 F0 -> @
$ 83 32 16 00 66 AF 63 12 -> @
$ 83 33 16 80 82 85 50 83 -> @
$ 83 33 17 00 75 8C 44 75 -> @
$ 83 33 17 80 F5 83 EF F0 -> @
$ 83 32 18 00 F8 A6 06 08 -> @
$ 83 33 18 80 45 F0 7B 01 -> @
$ 83 33 19 00 79 44 90 00 -> @
$ 83 33 19 80 59 82 85 58 -> @
$ 83 32 1A 00 AD 35 AB 31 -> @
$ 83 33 1A 80 90 00 3E 12 -> @
$ 83 33 1B 00 78 74 E6 18 -> @
$ 83 33 1B 80 C5 FF 90 00 -> @
$ 83 32 1C 00 02 20 95 90 -> @
$ 83 33 1C 80 E7 FB E5 AF -> @
$ 83 33 1D 00 1A 65 22 78 -> @
$ 83 33 1D 80 00 75 5F 02 -> @
$ 83 32 1E 00 79 44 75 5E -> @
$ 83 33 1E 80 7B 01 7A 00 -> @
$ 83 33 1F 00 90 00 3E 12 -> @
$ 83 33 1F 80 70 22 90 00 -> @
$ 83 32 20 00 79 44 75 5E -> @
$ 83 33 20 80 FB E5 AF F0 -> @
$ 83 33 21 00 90 00 3E 12 -> @
$ 83 33 21 80 60 0B E5 AE -> @
$ 83 32 22 00 20 E4 FF 02 -> @
$ 83 33 22 80 20 E7 FB E5 -> @
$ 83 33 23 00 75 AE 8E E5 -> @
$ 36 33 23 80 00 52 00 54 -> @
$ 07 34 00 00 23 B2 19 24 -> @
$ 04 33 00 00 02 -> @
$ 03 36 00 00 -> @

Download complete with [ 0 ] errors

C:\SiliconLabs\AN945SW\AN945SW\Tools>pause
Press any key to continue . . .

and the baud rate did change, so it looks like that all worked.

rosco_pc

Peter Jakacki wrote: »

  ...
  File "/home/peter/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/usb/core.py", line 1023, in ctrl_transfer
    buff = _interop.as_array(data_or_wLength)
  File "/home/peter/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/usb/_interop.py", line 97, in as_array
    a.fromstring(data) # deprecated since 3.2
TypeError: fromstring() argument 1 must be string or read-only buffer, not list
efm8boot-master$ 

mmm, pyusb is trying to convert a list to an array.array object which is failing. That means that one of the elements in the data is not an integer
run the code with --trace to see what they try to actually send

edit: failing that add a print(data) statement before line 208 (right before the hid_set_report(..) line)

jmg

Peter Jakacki wrote: »

...
Wanting to bypass SIlabs Simplicity Studio when I just want to access the EMF8 chip's bootloader directly on my P2D2 board I found some Python code that seems to work in that it can identify the chip and even dump it's internal memory, and with a little modification it now handles the 48k of the EFMUB3 that I use...

The Win EXE versions of AN945SW worked as above, so I then tried the AN945SW Python sources, that proved more of a challenge...
Some cryptic error messages later and I find it needs 64b versions of the DLL's

 https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/software/CP2112_Windows.exe
install &  search for 
SLABHIDDevice.dll
SLABHIDtoSMBus.dll
finds those copies here 
C:\SiliconLabs\CP2112\CP2112_SDK\Library\Windows\x64

and copy those to source directory...then run hex2boot.py efm8load.py

C:\SiliconLabs\AN945SW\AN945SW\Tools\Source>"C:\Program Files\Python36\python.exe" hex2boot.py -o ..\EFM8UB3.bfy ..\EFM8UB3_2M0_8n1_ASM_UART1.hex
C:\SiliconLabs\AN945SW\AN945SW\Tools\Source>"C:\Program Files\Python36\python.exe" efm8load.py -t ..\EFM8UB3.bfy
Download over port: HID:10C4:EACB

$ 04 31 A5 F1 00 -> @
$ 83 32 00 00 FF 12 CD 75 -> @
$ 83 33 00 80 78 76 E6 FE -> @
$ 83 33 01 00 00 00 00 00 -> @
$ 83 33 01 80 03 F2 90 00 -> @
$ 83 32 02 00 FF FA 90 00 -> @
$ 83 33 02 80 00 79 00 90 -> @
$ 83 33 03 00 F0 7B FF 7A -> @
$ 83 33 03 80 05 0C 90 00 -> @
$ 83 32 04 00 FE 01 F3 22 -> @
$ 83 33 04 80 83 E9 93 F5 -> @
$ 83 33 05 00 E9 F6 22 E0 -> @
$ 83 33 05 80 74 02 93 68 -> @
$ 83 32 06 00 89 32 90 00 -> @
$ 83 33 06 80 80 F6 ED 4C -> @
$ 83 33 07 00 50 43 78 7A -> @
$ 83 33 07 80 AF 02 E5 AE -> @
$ 83 32 08 00 5F 80 71 12 -> @
$ 83 33 08 80 E0 0F 90 00 -> @
$ 83 33 09 00 00 C3 78 8C -> @
$ 83 33 09 80 20 E7 FB 78 -> @
$ 83 32 0A 00 21 A3 80 11 -> @
$ 83 33 0A 80 FE F0 90 00 -> @
$ 83 33 0B 00 82 85 58 83 -> @
$ 83 33 0B 80 30 19 1F 85 -> @
$ 83 32 0C 00 A8 60 12 04 -> @
$ 83 33 0C 80 78 E6 18 46 -> @
$ 83 33 0D 00 78 74 E6 18 -> @
$ 83 33 0D 80 E6 FF AC 06 -> @
$ 83 32 0E 00 E5 2A 30 E3 -> @
$ 83 33 0E 80 01 01 00 00 -> @
$ 83 33 0F 00 00 01 01 02 -> @
$ 83 33 0F 80 D4 78 76 E6 -> @
$ 83 32 10 00 AA 27 A9 28 -> @
$ 83 33 10 80 AE 11 E4 F5 -> @
$ 83 33 11 00 1C 15 E5 2E -> @
$ 83 33 11 80 1D E5 1E 24 -> @
$ 83 32 12 00 40 60 16 75 -> @
$ 83 33 12 80 06 70 47 F5 -> @
$ 83 33 13 00 20 C8 83 40 -> @
$ 83 33 13 80 33 70 1F 90 -> @
$ 83 32 14 00 13 AF 06 74 -> @
$ 83 33 14 80 46 12 1B 25 -> @
$ 83 33 15 00 E6 54 F0 60 -> @
$ 83 33 15 80 E5 34 75 F0 -> @
$ 83 32 16 00 66 AF 63 12 -> @
$ 83 33 16 80 82 85 50 83 -> @
$ 83 33 17 00 75 8C 44 75 -> @
$ 83 33 17 80 F5 83 EF F0 -> @
$ 83 32 18 00 F8 A6 06 08 -> @
$ 83 33 18 80 45 F0 7B 01 -> @
$ 83 33 19 00 79 44 90 00 -> @
$ 83 33 19 80 59 82 85 58 -> @
$ 83 32 1A 00 AD 35 AB 31 -> @
$ 83 33 1A 80 90 00 3E 12 -> @
$ 83 33 1B 00 78 74 E6 18 -> @
$ 83 33 1B 80 C5 FF 90 00 -> @
$ 83 32 1C 00 02 20 95 90 -> @
$ 83 33 1C 80 E7 FB E5 AF -> @
$ 83 33 1D 00 1A 65 22 78 -> @
$ 83 33 1D 80 00 75 5F 02 -> @
$ 83 32 1E 00 79 44 75 5E -> @
$ 83 33 1E 80 7B 01 7A 00 -> @
$ 83 33 1F 00 90 00 3E 12 -> @
$ 83 33 1F 80 70 22 90 00 -> @
$ 83 32 20 00 79 44 75 5E -> @
$ 83 33 20 80 FB E5 AF F0 -> @
$ 83 33 21 00 90 00 3E 12 -> @
$ 83 33 21 80 60 0B E5 AE -> @
$ 83 32 22 00 20 E4 FF 02 -> @
$ 83 33 22 80 20 E7 FB E5 -> @
$ 83 33 23 00 75 AE 8E E5 -> @
$ 36 33 23 80 00 52 00 54 -> @
$ 07 34 00 00 23 B2 19 24 -> @
$ 04 33 00 00 02 -> @
$ 03 36 00 00 -> @

Download complete with [ 0 ] errors

Linux notes on the same source code is here :
https://www.silabs.com/community/mcu/8-bit/knowledge-base.entry.html/2017/10/23/how_to_use_efm8_uart-qTQD
with a link
https://www.silabs.com/content/usergenerated/asi/cloud/attachments/siliconlabs/en/community/mcu/8-bit/knowledge-base/jcr:content/content/primary/blog/how_to_use_efm8_uart-qTQD/AN945SW-uart-bootloader-linux.zip