J-Link EDBG
Firmware for Atmel EDBG on Xplained Platforms
SEGGER offers a firmware running on the Atmel EDBG which is present as on-board debug probe on the Atmel Xplained platforms.
Key features
- Supports all Atmel devices present on the Xplained platform
- Virtual COM port (VCOM) supported
- SWD target interface supported
- Fully compatible with and same features as J-Link OB [More..]
Getting Started with Atmel EDBG On-Board
The J-Link EDBG firmware has been discontinued and is no longer maintained. It can still be downloaded but will not be updated.
In order to get started with Atmel EDBG on-board just a few steps are necessary:
- The firmware update is performed via a special utility from Atmel called atfw.exe. This utility is part of Atmel Studio.
- Make sure that Atmel Studio is installed so the firmware utility as well as the USB drivers etc. are installed
- Download the J-Link-OB firmware: Download
- Connect the Atmel EDBG to be converted to J-Link-OB, to the PC
- Call the atfw update utility as follows:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Atmel\Studio\7.0\atbackend\atfw.exe" -t edbg -a C:\Downloads\JLinkOB_edbg_fw_160503.zip - Wait for the update to complete.
Note: The utility will finally report a failed firmware update because it is expecting an Atmel EDBG to boot after the firmware update but not a J-Link OB.
In order to update the firmware of an Atmel EDBG that is already running the J-Link firmware, a few tweaks are necessary, as the atfw.exe is looking for an EDBG device and not for a J-Link device:
- Locate the pad on the board that is connected to the BOOT pin of the EDBG device
- Shorten BOOT to GND when pluggin in USB
- The device now stays in EDBG BTL mode (green + orange LED are both blinking)
- Use atfw utility and the steps above to put a new firmware (new J-Link one or original Atmel EDBG one) into the device
Compatible Evaluation Boards
The following Atmel eval boards with Atmel EDBG on them have been tested with this J-Link firmware. It may work on other boards which are not listed here as well but it is not guaranteed. In case of doubt, please do not hesitate to get in touch with SEGGER:
- Atmel SAM D21 Xplained Pro (ATSAMD21-XPRO)
- Atmel SAM D11 Xplained Pro (ATSAMD11-XPRO)
- Atmel SAM C21 Xplained Pro (ATSAMC21-XPRO)
- Atmel SAM D20 Xplained Pro (ATSAMD20-XPRO)
- Atmel SAM E54 Xplained Pro (ATSAME54-XPRO)
- Atmel SAM V71 Xplained Ultra (ATSAMV71-XULT)
- Atmel SAM4E Xplained Pro (ATSAM4E-XPRO)
- Atmel SAMA5D2 Xplained Ultra (ATSAMA5D2-XULT)
Terms of Use
SEGGER created a firmware which runs on the Atmel EDBG on-board, making it J-Link compatible. In order to make use of this firmware, the following Terms Of Use must be accepted:
- The firmware is only to be used with Atmel target devices. Using it with other devices is prohibited and illegal.
- The firmware is for use with evaluation boards only. It is not for use with custom hardware.
- The firmware may only be used for development and/or evaluation purposes. It may not be used for production purposes.
- The firmware is made available without any warranty and without support.
If there is any doubt if a certain use may be considered within the foregoing scope it is strongly recommended to consult SEGGER prior to use.
When starting a debug session, the following license dialog shows up which must be accepted in order to be able to work with Atmel EDBG on-board:
Firmware Version History and Limitations
The J-Link EDBG firmware has been discontinued and is no longer maintained. It can still be downloaded but will not be updated.
Firmware Version History
16-02-11:
- RTT did not work correctly. Fixed.
16-03-02:
- Firmware did not work correctly under OS X. Fixed.Added support for Cortex-A and Cortex-R devices. Fixed.
16-04-26:
- TARGET_VCC_ENABLE signal on SAMC21-XPRO was not handled. Fixed.
- SWCLK buffer direction signal on SAMC21-XPRO was not handled. Fixed.
16-04-27:
- TIF pins were driven even if no debugger was connected to it. Fixed.
- R/W memory on Cortex-A/R (e.g. SAMA5) targets did not work properly. Fixed.
16-05-03:
- Added support for target interface JTAG on SAMA5D2 Xplained Ultra kits
Limitations
The firmware making the Atmel EDBG on-board J-Link compatible has some limitations in contrast to an original, industry leading SEGGER J-Link:
- May be used with ARM based Atmel devices only.
- Only debugging on evaluation boards is allowed. Debugging on custom hardware is not supported and not allowed.
- No production flash programming support.Unlimited breakpoints in flash available for evaluation only.
- No support is given.
By using an original SEGGER J-Link PRO, J-Link ULTRA+ or J-Link PLUS, all these limitations will be gone. Learn more about J-Link.