Skip to main content

HARDWARIO Command Line Tools

caution

You do not need to install this separately if you use Firmware SDK. This tool is installed automatically when you follow Firmware SDK > Installation on ... articles.

HARDWARIO command line tool allows you to:

  • Flash APP/BLE application firmware (nRF52)
  • Show interactive terminal for configuration and debugging
  • Access Product Information Block (PIB) in UICR flash memory that contains HARDWARIO Serial Number (HSN) and other parameters
  • Update modem firmware (nRF9160)

Install Python

HARDWARIO CLI is a Python 3 tool. Please install Python by following the steps below based on your operating system.

  • Ubuntu - Python 3 should already be installed on your OS.

  • macOS - Follow the Install Packages chapter to install Homebrew. Then run brew install python3.

  • Windows - Follow the Install Python chapter.

Install HARDWARIO CLI

caution

We strongly suggest using Python virtual environment as explained in Installation articles for Ubuntu, macOS and Windows. This helps to prevent conflicts with the dependencies of another package.

However, if you use/install Python only for HARDWARIO CLI, there should not be any Python package conflicts.

Install HARDWARIO CLI by typing the following command in your terminal:

pip install hardwario

After installation, try to run the following:

hardwario --version

you should get a similar response:

hardwario.chester v1.23.0
hardwario.cloud v1.4.1
hardwario.common v1.7.2

APP/BLE Application Firmware

Connect J-Link to the APP SWD Port.

In this chapter, we use the hardwario chester app commands. If you type the previous command, the tool will show you all the possible commands so you can explore the options.

Interactive Console

Use the command hardwario chester app console to open the interactive terminal.

Image Flashing

Use the command hardwario chester app flash <parameter> to flash the firmware.

The <parameter> can be:

  • A BIN or HEX file.
  • A unique ID that was sent to you by email or from our Catalog Application firmwares. It has this format 34677881d57f4b0eb85507f176627bee.

Processor Reset

Use the command hardwario chester app reset to reset the firmware.

Product Information Block

PIB is a separate UICR flash block in NRF52 memory that contains factory-programmed device information.

Use hardwario chester app pib read to read the PIB data.

Vendor name: HARDWARIO
Product name: CHESTER-M
Hardware variant: CDGLS
Hardware revision: R3.2
Serial number: 0000000000
Claim token: 98ae432aa12ea82458ed04b4816bf225
BLE passkey: 275889

You can also use the write command in case you delete the PIB by mistake. The tool will ask you for every parameter. You can find the original parameters in the last JSON message in the HARDWARIO Cloud.

LTE Modem Firmware

Connect J-Link to the LTE SWD Port.

Image Flashing

Use the command hardwario chester lte flash firmware.zip to flash the modem firmware.

Flash Erasing

Processor Reset

LoRaWAN Modem Firmware

Image Flashing

Flash Erasing

Processor Reset

Cloud Codec Commands

caution

Currently, you have to update the codec manually when you update the CHESTER firmware. In the LTEv2 stack, CHESTER will send the codec itself.

When you assign your device to the HARDWARIO Cloud group, you have to assign a codec to the group, so the Cloud knows how to interpret received binary data and convert them to the JSON. Codec could also be assigned to a specific device, but we suggest assigning them to the whole group. Only then new devices will use the same codec automatically.

tip

If you develop your own firmware and change the codec YAML file. You can generate msg_key.h header file with keys from your YAML file by typing this from your application folder ../../scripts/gen-msg-key.py codec/cbor-decoder.yaml src/msg_key.h

Working with codecs needs your API token to be set in the command itself or in your environment. You get your API toekn in HARDWARIO Cloud profile.

hardwario cloud --token <your_token> commands...

Or set command line environment variable

export HARDWARIO_CLOUD_TOKEN=<your_token>

By typing hardwario cloud the tool shows you all possible commands, so you can explore more functions.

Usage: hardwario cloud codec [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Codec commands.

Options:
--help Show this message and exit.

Commands:
attach Attach codec to group or device.
author Autor commands.
create Create new codec.
delete Delete codec.
list List of codec.
show Show codec detail.
upload Upload codec.

Create a Codec

hardwario cloud codec create --name chester-input-z

The cloud will reply to you with a codec ID. Please save it somewhere; we will need it in the next commands.

Attach a Codec

We attach the newly created codec to the group. Go to the HARDWARIO Cloud group and copy the group ID from the URL or from the group detail page.

hardwario cloud codec attach --id <codec-id> --group-id <group-id>

Upload a Codec

The final step is uploading the codec.

hardwario cloud codec upload --id <codec-id> --decoder-type cbor --decoder codec/cbor-decoder.yaml

In case you update your YAML file and regenerate the msg_key.h, all you need to do is repeat only this step again.

Command Aliases

If you develop and iterate quite frequently, you might find these command aliases useful. Add them to your terminal init script.

alias wb='west build'
alias wu='west update'
alias wf='west flash'
alias wr='rm -rf build/'
alias wc='hardwario chester app console'
alias wfc='west flash && hardwario chester app console'