Flash programming utilities

The SEGGER J-Link comes with dedicated flash programming utilities (DFPU) for a number of popular eval boards. These utilities are designed to program a .bin file into the flash memory of the target hardware, with J-Link. Each dedicated flash programming utility works only with the Eval board it was designed for.

Using the dedicated flash programming utilities which come with J-Link, is permitted for development purposes only. As long as the dedicated flash programming tools are used for development purposes only, no additional license is required. If you want to use the dedicated flash programming utilities for commercial and production purposes, you need to obtain a license from SEGGER. SEGGER also offers to create dedicated flash programming utilities for custom hardware. When starting a dedicated flash programming utility, a message box appears which tells the user about the purpose of the dedicated flash programming utility:

Supported Eval boards

The list below shows the Eval boards for which dedicated flash programming utilities have been already developed. Simple flash programming utilities for other, popular Eval boards are on the schedule.

Supported flash memories

The dedicated flash programming utilities for J-Link can be created for the following flash memories:

• Internal flash
• External NOR flash
• NAND flash
• Data flash
• SPI flash

In order to use external NOR flash, a CFI compliant flash memory has to be used because the flash programming utilities use the CFI information to detect the flash size and sectorization.

How to use the dedicated flash programming utilities

The dedicated flash programming utilities are very simple to use. Every tool expects a path to a data file (*.bin) passed as a command line parameter, on startup. If no path is passed the flash programming utility searches for a data in the Samples directory. This .bin file has to be named as shown in the table above. For example, for the Cogent CSB737 Eval board this file is named: CogentCSB737.bin.

Using the dedicated flash programming utilities for production and commercial purposes

If you want to use dedicated flash programming utilities for production and commercial purposes you need to obtain a license from SEGGER. In order to obtain a license for a dedicated flash programming utility, there are two options:

• Purchasing the source code of an existing dedicated flash programming utility
• Purchasing the source code of a dedicated flash programming utility for custom hardware

The source code can be compiled using a Microsoft Visual C++ V6 or newer compiler. It contains code which is executed on the target device (RAMCODE). This RAMCODE may not be used with debug probes other than J-Link.

Purchasing the source code of an existing dedicated flash programming utility

Purchasing the source code of an existing dedicated flash programming utility (described above) allows you to use the dedicated flash programming utility for production and commercial purposes. Making the resulting executable publicily available is not permitted.
For more information about the pricing for the source code of existing dedicated flash programming utilities, please refer to the pricelist.

Purchasing the source code of a dedicated flash programming utility for custom hardware

SEGGER also offers to design dedicated flash programming utilities for custom hardware for which you will also need to obtain a license. The resulting executable may be used for organization internal purposes only.

F.A.Q.

Q: Can the dedicated flash programming utilities be used for commercial purposes?
A: Yes, you can buy the source code of one or more of the flash programming utilities
which makes it possible to use them for commercial and production purposes.

Q: I want to use the dedicated flash programming utilities with my own hardware. Is that possible?
A: The free dedicated flash programming utilities which come with J-Link do not support custom hardware.
In order to use your own hardware with a dedicated flash programming utility, SEGGER offers to create
dedicated flash programming utilities for custom hardware

Q: Do I need a license to use the dedicated flash programming utilities?
A: As long as you use the dedicated flash programming utilities, which come with J-Link, for development purposes only, you do not need an additional license.
In order to use them for commercial and/or production purposes you need to obtain a license from SEGGER.

Q: Which file types are supported by the dedicated flash programming utilities?
A: Currently, the dedicated flash programming utilities support *.bin files.

Q: Can I use the dedicated flash programming utilities with other debug probes than J-Link?
A: No, the dedicated flash programming utilities only work with J-Link