First FreeRTOS Application¶

Build the out-of-box firmware ipro7ai_reef_demo, flash it to an IPRO7AI Reef EVK V4.0, open the console and run reef selftest to check the LED, speaker, SD slot and camera. At the end the console shows the ipro /> prompt and every block on the board answers a shell command.

Prerequisites¶

Set Up Your Host is done: ./build_freertos.sh ipro7ai_reef_demo builds and IntelProCube's --help runs. On Windows, see also Windows Setup & VS Code.
An IPRO7AI Reef EVK V4.0, a USB-C cable and a console cable (3.3 V USB-to-UART adapter or IPRO Debug Probe).
Optional: an OV5640 FLEX-24 camera module, a microSD card and an 8 Ω speaker on J_SPK. Without them the matching self-test lines report nothing found.
Command-line examples use macOS. On Linux, use /dev/ttyUSB0 and ipro_iot_tool_linux; on Windows, follow the Windows tab of each step.

Set the switches and wire the board¶

Set the switches: SW7 to CAM, SW8 to PWR. With SW7 on GPIO the camera has no power; with SW8 on MEAS the IPRO7AI is supplied through JP2. See Switches and jumpers.

Connect the console cable to U6 (board still unpowered):

U6 pin	Signal	USB-to-UART adapter
1	NC	—
2	GND	GND
3	TX (GPIO20, Reef output)	RX
4	RX (GPIO21, Reef input)	TX
5	BOOT (1 kΩ to GPIO41)	optional: DTR
6	RESET (1 kΩ, active low)	optional: RTS

The IPRO Debug Probe connects from its CN_UART through a pin-reversed cable: probe pin n to U6 pin 7 − n.

Cable direction

Do not connect the Debug Probe with a straight cable: the UART and control lines end up on the wrong pins and the probe's 3.3 V lands on U6 RESET.

Power up: plug in USB-C. The green power LED, LED2, lights. U6 does not power the board; only USB-C does.
Check the serial port: plug the adapter or probe into the computer and confirm the port appears, for example /dev/cu.usbserial-XXXX on macOS, /dev/ttyUSB0 on Linux or COM5 on Windows. With the Debug Probe, use the port whose name ends in 02; see Recognise the ports.

Build¶

Build the out-of-box firmware from the SDK root. On Windows, use IPRO: Build in the VS Code Extension (see Set up the VS Code Extension) or build_freertos.ps1 in PowerShell (see Command-line build) instead.

make -C apps/platform/ipro7ai_reef_demo

The configure stage reports the Reef board settings; the end of the build shows memory usage and the image path (excerpt):

-- [board] IPRO7AI Reef: CONFIG_IPRO7_XTAL_CAPCODE=95 (board default)
-- IPRO7 flash: 1M (default, on-chip)
-- AI disabled: OCRAM=256KB
...
Memory region         Used Size  Region Size  %age Used
           flash:      249944 B         1 MB     23.84%
           psram:       45376 B         8 MB      0.54%
           ocram:       32144 B       256 KB     12.26%
          hbnram:        2460 B         4 KB     60.06%
Generate <SDK>/apps/platform/ipro7ai_reef_demo/build/build_out/ipro7ai_reef_demo_IPRO7.bin
[100%] Built target ipro7ai_reef_demo_IPRO7.elf

The numbers vary slightly with the toolchain version.

Check the output:

ls apps/platform/ipro7ai_reef_demo/build/build_out/

ipro7ai_reef_demo_IPRO7.bin    image to flash
ipro7ai_reef_demo_IPRO7.elf    with debug symbols
ipro7ai_reef_demo_IPRO7.map    memory map
lib/

Flash and run¶

Free the serial port: close every terminal program that has the port open. Flashing and the console share the same UART.
Enter download mode: hold SW1 (BOOT), press and release SW2 (RESET), then release SW1. The console stays silent in download mode.

If the board already runs SDK firmware (such as the factory out-of-box firmware), typing reboot_dl at its console does the same: it prints reboot to download mode and goes silent. With a DTR/RTS auto-download cable or the Debug Probe, see Enter download mode.

Flash from the IntelProCube directory. --chip-variant IPRO7AI selects the Reef's flash pins; --pt names a partition table that ships with IntelProCube.

macOSLinuxWindows

cd <IntelProCube>
./ipro_iot_tool_macos --chipname ipro7 --chip-variant IPRO7AI \
    --port /dev/cu.usbserial-XXXX --baudrate 921600 \
    --pt chips/ipro7/partition/partition_cfg_2M.toml \
    --firmware <SDK>/apps/platform/ipro7ai_reef_demo/build/build_out/ipro7ai_reef_demo_IPRO7.bin

cd <IntelProCube>
./ipro_iot_tool_linux --chipname ipro7 --chip-variant IPRO7AI \
    --port /dev/ttyUSB0 --baudrate 921600 \
    --pt chips/ipro7/partition/partition_cfg_2M.toml \
    --firmware <SDK>/apps/platform/ipro7ai_reef_demo/build/build_out/ipro7ai_reef_demo_IPRO7.bin

cd <IntelProCube>
.\ipro_iot_tool.exe --chipname ipro7 --chip-variant IPRO7AI `
    --port COM5 --baudrate 921600 `
    --pt chips/ipro7/partition/partition_cfg_2M.toml `
    --firmware <SDK>\apps\platform\ipro7ai_reef_demo\build\build_out\ipro7ai_reef_demo_IPRO7.bin

The tool prints its progress line by line (excerpt, timestamps left out):

[...] - Chip name is ipro7
[...] - Serial port is /dev/cu.usbserial-XXXX
[...] - Baudrate is 921600
...
[...] - flash jedec id: ef401500
...
[...] - Verify success
[...] - Program Finished
...
[...] - [All Success]

Only a final [All Success] means success. The tool exits 0 even when flashing fails, so its exit code tells you nothing.

Open the console at 115200 baud, 8N1, no flow control, on the same port:
macOSLinuxWindows
screen /dev/cu.usbserial-XXXX 115200
To quit screen: press Ctrl+A, then K, and answer y.
picocom -b 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0
To quit picocom: press Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+X. Install it with sudo apt install picocom if needed.
In PuTTY choose Serial, set Serial line to COM5 and Speed to 115200, and click Open. The VS Code Extension's IPRO: Serial Monitor also works.

Reset: press SW2 (RESET). The RGB LED breathes blue once and goes dark, and the console shows the boot messages (excerpt; (…) is a timestamp):

I (…) REEF: ==========================================
I (…) REEF:   IPRO7AI Reef carrier demo
I (…) REEF:   UART0 TX=20 RX=21  RGB=G24  SPK_EN=G25(hi)
I (…) REEF:   CAM: FLEX-24 D0-7=G0-7 XCLK=G22 RST=G34 PWDN=G35
...
I (…) REEF: shell ready - `reef`, `led`, `btn`, `spk`, `mic`, `sd`, `fin`, `cam`, `hp`

Press Enter to get the ipro /> prompt.

Verify¶

Keys: press SW3, SW4, SW5 and SW1 (BOOT) in turn; the RGB LED lights red, green, blue and white.

Self-test: type reef selftest at the console. Within about 3 seconds the LED steps through red, green and blue, the speaker plays a short 1 kHz tone, and the console shows (with an OV5640 fitted and no SD card):

ipro />reef selftest
[1/4] RGB LED: red, green, blue
[2/4] speaker: 1 kHz, 300 ms, 20%
[3/4] SD slot: empty, supply on
[4/4] camera bus: __rti_name_ov5640 at 0x3C
done - keys: press any and run `btn status`

Line	Checks	Other results
`[3/4] SD slot`	whether a card is seated, slot supply	`something seated` with a card in
`[4/4] camera bus`	the camera sensor found over SCCB and its address	`no sensor` without a camera; `__rti_name_ov2640 at 0x30` for an OV2640

List the commands: type help. It lists every shell command, including reboot and reboot_dl.

Commands of the out-of-box firmware¶

Command	Does
`reef status`, `reef selftest`	board state (pins, keys, LED, amplifier, detect lines); self-test
`led <r> <g> <b>`, `led rainbow`, `led off`	RGB LED colour (0–255, for example `led 40 0 0`), rainbow effect, off
`btn status`, `btn watch`	key state and press counts; live press and release events
`spk tone <hz> <ms>`, `hp`	sine tone on the speaker; headset-detect level
`mic rec pdm <s>`, `mic rec headset <s>`, `mic play`, `mic loop`	record from the on-board PDM microphone or a headset into PSRAM (up to 10 s) and play back, or monitor live
`mic sdrec <src> <name> <s>`, `mic usb <src>`	record to `sd:/rec/<name>.wav`; make the board a USB microphone on its USB-C until `mic stop`
`sd mount`, `sd ls`, `sd test`	microSD card (FatFS at `sd:`)
`cam probe`, `cam start`, `cam status`, `cam snap`, `cam bar on`, `cam bar off`	OV5640 camera (SW7 on CAM)
`reboot`, `reboot_dl`	restart; restart into download mode

Details of each block and the camera bring-up order: IPRO7AI Reef EVK: Out-of-box firmware.

One command: build_freertos.sh¶

On macOS and Linux, build_freertos.sh chains build, flash and monitor. It reads the application's configuration to pass --chip-variant IPRO7AI and to open the console at the application's own baud rate. When the board already runs SDK firmware with a shell, it sends reboot_dl to enter download mode; the first time, enter download mode by hand as above.

export IPRO_FLASH_TOOL=<IntelProCube>/ipro_iot_tool_macos
./build_freertos.sh -p /dev/cu.usbserial-XXXX \
    -P <IntelProCube>/chips/ipro7/partition/partition_cfg_2M.toml \
    build flash monitor ipro7ai_reef_demo

On success it prints ✓ Build succeeded, the tool's flash output and ✓ Flash succeeded, then shows the boot messages for 30 seconds. monitor only reads; you cannot type commands into it. It ends with [serial_monitor] TIMEOUT after 30s, which the script counts as a failure — that is expected. All options: macOS / Linux Command Line.

Troubleshooting¶

Symptom	Cause	Fix
The green power LED2 stays dark	USB-C not seated, or no power from the source	change the USB-C cable or supply; USB-C is the only power input
No `[All Success]`; the tool stops at the handshake	the board is not in download mode, or a terminal program holds the port	close the terminal; hold SW1, press SW2, release SW1, flash again
`flash jedec id: 00000000` and `IPRO FLASH MATCH TYPE FAIL`	wrong flash pins	add `--chip-variant IPRO7AI` to the command
The tool cannot find a partition table under `chips/...`	not run from the IntelProCube directory	`cd <IntelProCube>` first
Flashing succeeded but the console stays silent	board still in download mode, wrong baud rate or port, RX/TX swapped	press SW2; open at 115200; use `/dev/cu.*` on macOS; swap the adapter's RX and TX
Garbage on the console	baud rate is not 115200	reopen at 115200, 8N1
Output appears but typed commands get no answer	the adapter's TX does not reach U6 pin 4	check the wire to U6 pin 4 (RX)
`[4/4] camera bus: no sensor`	no camera, cable not seated, or SW7 not on CAM	unplug USB-C and reseat the camera cable; set SW7 to CAM
No sound from the speaker	no speaker, or its plug is loose	connect an 8 Ω speaker to J_SPK
`[3/4] SD slot: empty` with a card inserted	card not pushed in	push the card until it latches
The build cannot find the compiler	toolchain not at the default path	set `CROSS_COMPILE`; see Set Up Your Host

More flashing and console problems: Flashing & Serial Console.

Next steps¶

Build and Flash Workflow: rebuild, reflash and monitor after a change.
Create Your First Application and Test Your Application.
Flashing & Serial Console: other download-mode methods, partition tables, boot2 and mfg data.
IPRO7AI Reef EVK: all switches, pins and the camera bring-up order.