Flashing & Serial Console¶

FreeRTOS applications are flashed over UART0 with the IntelProCube command-line tool, and the console runs on the same UART; on the IPRO7AI Reef EVK both go through the debug connector U6. This page covers every way to flash the Reef, the partition tables and extra images each application needs, how to open the console and how to recognise the serial ports. For a first run, follow First FreeRTOS Application.

Prerequisites¶

• IntelProCube 0.7.0.1: ipro_iot_tool_macos, ipro_iot_tool_linux or ipro_iot_tool.exe; see Set Up Your Host.
• A built image: apps/<category>/<app>/build/build_out/<app>_IPRO7.bin, or build_<name>/build_out/ when built with DEFCONFIG=defconfig_<name>.
• A console cable on U6; see Set the switches and wire the board. Ports are written /dev/cu.usbserial-XXXX (macOS), /dev/ttyUSB0 (Linux) and COM5 (Windows).

Flash tool¶

Run the command-line tool from the IntelProCube directory: it reads its chip settings from chips/, and relative paths such as --pt chips/... resolve there. The options used on the Reef:

--help lists every option.

Enter download mode¶

Before flashing, the IPRO7AI must be in the boot ROM's download mode. The console stays silent from then until the next reset.

Download mode with the Debug Probe (macOS shown, from the SDK root):

Flashing steps¶

Partition tables¶

The partition table places the firmware, the mfg data (AI models) and other data in flash. IntelProCube ships general tables in <IntelProCube>/chips/ipro7/partition/, such as partition_cfg_2M.toml; applications that need a special layout keep their own .toml in the application directory.

ipro7ai_reef_demo links a 1 MB flash layout by default, which fits either in-package flash part. If the boot log reports JEDEC 0xEF4015 (2 MB), add CONFIG_IPRO7_FLASH_2M=y to .config to give the linker the whole part.

First flash of ipro_ble_remote (boot2 and A/B table)¶

The Reef configuration of ipro_ble_remote supports BLE OTA, which needs boot2 and two firmware slots, A and B. On the first wired flash, write boot2 and the application's own table together:

ipro_reef_teach (mfg data)¶

The Edge AI firmware ipro_reef_teach uses its own partition table; its mfg partition holds the mode setting and the voiceprint model. On the first flash, write the mfg data too:

make -C apps/ai/ipro_reef_teach
python3 apps/ai/ipro_reef_teach/mfg_payload.py \
    --voice apps/ai/ipro_reef_teach/model/model_b.spkb --mode image -o reef_teach_mfg.bin
cd <IntelProCube>
./ipro_iot_tool_macos --chipname ipro7 --chip-variant IPRO7AI \
    --port /dev/cu.usbserial-XXXX --baudrate 921600 --skip-ota \
    --pt <SDK>/apps/ai/ipro_reef_teach/partition_reef_teach.toml \
    --firmware <SDK>/apps/ai/ipro_reef_teach/build/build_out/ipro_reef_teach_IPRO7.bin \
    --mfg <SDK>/reef_teach_mfg.bin

After a reset the console (115200) shows RTCH: mode: image …, and a USB camera plus a serial port (3896:0705) appear on USB-C. To update the firmware only, leave out --mfg; the mode and models stay. Switching modes and using IPRO AI Studio: IPRO AI Teach.

Flashing with build_freertos.sh¶

On macOS and Linux, the flash action of build_freertos.sh works in this order:

1. Find the image in build/, or in build_<name>/ with -d defconfig_<name>. If it is missing, stop with Run 'build' first.
2. Find the tool: IPRO_FLASH_TOOL, else ipro_iot_tool_macos / ipro_iot_tool_linux on PATH.
3. Find the port: -p, else IPRO_SERIAL_PORT, else the only /dev/cu.usbmodem*, /dev/cu.usbserial*, /dev/ttyACM* or /dev/ttyUSB* present.
4. Send reboot_dl at the application's console baud rate (CONFIG_PLATFORM_UART_BAUDRATE, 115200 when unset) and wait 2 s.
5. Run <tool> --chipname ipro7 --chip-variant <variant> --port <port> --firmware <bin> --baudrate 921600 [--pt <table>]. Variant: -c, else IPRO_CHIP_VARIANT, else from the configuration (IPRO7AI for Reef configurations). Table: -P, else IPRO_FLASH_PT, else no --pt.
6. Print ✓ Flash succeeded when the output contains [All Success], otherwise ✗ Flash failed.

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

Give -P the full path of the .toml: the script runs the tool from the current directory, not from the IntelProCube directory.

Serial console¶

The console is UART0 (GPIO20 TX / GPIO21 RX, U6 pins 3 / 4), 8N1, no flow control. The baud rate is CONFIG_PLATFORM_UART_BAUDRATE in the application's configuration, 115200 when unset:

To check a configuration file (no output means unset, so 115200):

grep CONFIG_PLATFORM_UART_BAUDRATE apps/multimedia/ipro7_jpeg_decode/defconfig_reef

Interactive terminal¶

To type shell commands, use an interactive terminal program:

screen /dev/cu.usbserial-XXXX 115200

picocom -b 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0

Close the terminal program before flashing, or the tool cannot open the port.

tools/serial_monitor.py¶

The SDK's non-interactive console tool for scripts and automation (macOS / Linux; it uses only the Python standard library's termios, no pyserial). It opens the port, optionally sends one line, then reads until a timeout or a matching pattern.

python3 tools/serial_monitor.py <port> [--baud 115200] [--timeout 30] [--send CMD] [--wait-for REGEX] [--log FILE]

# send a command and read for 10 s
python3 tools/serial_monitor.py /dev/cu.usbserial-XXXX --send "reef selftest" --timeout 10

# reboot, wait for the shell, and keep a log
python3 tools/serial_monitor.py /dev/cu.usbserial-XXXX --send reboot --wait-for "shell ready" --timeout 15 --log boot.log

Serial ports on macOS¶

macOS gives each serial port two names, /dev/cu.* and /dev/tty.*. Always use /dev/cu.*: /dev/tty.* waits for carrier detect and hangs with no output.

Recognise the ports¶

The IPRO Debug Probe identifies itself on USB as IPRO7 CMSIS_DAP. To tell its two ports apart on Linux and Windows, open each at 115200 and press SW2: the one that shows the boot messages is the console.

The Reef's USB-C is not the console. Some applications make the board appear on USB-C as a USB device with INTELPRO's VID 0x3896:

To list USB devices on the host: system_profiler SPUSBDataType on macOS, lsusb on Linux (for example ID 3896:0705), and on Windows the device's Properties → Details → Hardware Ids in Device Manager (for example USB\VID_3896&PID_0705).

Verify¶

• The last line of the flash output is [All Success].
• After SW2, the console shows the boot messages at the application's baud rate; in applications with a shell, Enter brings up ipro /> and help lists the commands.
• Applications that use USB appear on the host with the VID:PID in the table above.

Troubleshooting¶

Next steps¶

• Build and Flash Workflow: the everyday edit, build, flash and monitor loop.
• macOS / Linux Command Line: every action and option of build_freertos.sh.
• Debugging & Troubleshooting