Programming a Modus Toolbox HEX File using PSoC Programmer

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flatmush
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First reply posted First question asked Welcome!

I'm working on a project in Modus Toolbox where we generate a firmware (CY8C4146AZS-S265) and flash the device under Linux using a MiniProg4, and this works fine.

We have to send our HEX file to a manfacturer to be tested/flashed and they only use Windows, but it turns out that Modus generated HEX files are not compatible with PSoC Programmer.

As far as I'm concerned this is completely unacceptable, there should be a warning that a HEX file wasn't created by PSoC Creator and that's it. Having a flashing tool which doesn't support standard HEX files generated by your own toolchain is a very big disappointment.

We can't send the Modus project to the manufacturer in this instance so that's not an option.

I can't find an alternative graphical flashing tool that's easy to use and works with MiniProg4 which I can suggest our manufacturer use.

I found cyhextool.exe, but it's insufficiently documented and doesn't seem able to generate a compatible cypress hex file from a standard hex file, maybe I'm missing something?

I've written my own small Linux tool to create cypress compatible hex files but since the "metadata" section you use is apparently "confidential", I'm stuck here too. I'm very unimpressed that you'd consider a critical part of your development tooling to be "confidential" as though you can't trust your customers to flash their own devices.

I'm looking for one or more of the following solutions:
1. Can you provide me with the correct invocation of cyhextool to turn a standard hex file into a cypress flashable one?
2. Can you provide me with the "confidential" method for generating the metadata bits for a cypress HEX file?
3. Can you provide me with an alternative graphical programmer for Windows which supports flashing a standard HEX file using a MiniProg4 programmer to a PSoC4 device?
4. Can you provide me with a suitable alternative to MiniProg4 which comes with tools which can program a standard HEX file to a PSoC 4 device?

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Rakshith
Moderator
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Hi @flatmush

We have to send our HEX file to a manfacturer to be tested/flashed and they only use Windows, but it turns out that Modus generated HEX files are not compatible with PSoC Programmer.

Yes, that is correct ModusToolbox hexfiles are not supported by PSoC Programmer. However, they are supported by Cypress Programmer and Cypress Programmer is supported in Windows, Linux, and macOS. Can you please let me know if you have tried Cypress Programmer to program your device?

Thanks and Regards,
Rakshith M B

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2 Replies
Rakshith
Moderator
Moderator
Moderator
250 likes received 1000 replies posted 750 replies posted

Hi @flatmush

We have to send our HEX file to a manfacturer to be tested/flashed and they only use Windows, but it turns out that Modus generated HEX files are not compatible with PSoC Programmer.

Yes, that is correct ModusToolbox hexfiles are not supported by PSoC Programmer. However, they are supported by Cypress Programmer and Cypress Programmer is supported in Windows, Linux, and macOS. Can you please let me know if you have tried Cypress Programmer to program your device?

Thanks and Regards,
Rakshith M B
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Thanks, that works.

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