Watchdog Driver Sample Application

Description

The Watchdog Driver sample application demonstrates watchdog start, refresh, stop, restart, and timeout-reset behavior on the supported boards for this application. It performs end-to-end watchdog functional validation with both reset and non-reset scenarios.

The sample includes five watchdog verification test cases:

  • WDG-FN-01: Start watchdog and do not service it (system reset expected).

  • WDG-FN-02: 5s timeout with 2s periodic refresh for 10s (no reset expected).

  • WDG-FN-03: 3s timeout with 1s periodic refresh for 10s (normal operation).

  • WDG-FN-04: Stop and restart watchdog with a new timeout configuration.

  • WDG-FN-05: Multiple refreshes before expiry with 2s timeout and 0.5s refresh interval.

During each run, the app logs initialization status, testcase progression, and pass/fail results. For WDG-FN-01, the first boot intentionally triggers a watchdog reset and the next boot continues with post-reset verification plus remaining testcases.

The latest example structure uses a common application source tree with board-specific hardware setup kept under hw/<BOARD>/. For this app:

  • Common application sources such as main.c, watchdog_sample_app.c, and watchdog_sample_app.h stay in the app root.

  • Application defconfigs are stored under configs/.

  • Board and hardware-specific setup is selected from hw/<BOARD>/, for example hw/SL2610_RDK/.

The application can also be exported and built as a standalone app repository. In that flow, keep this app in its own directory, point SRSDK_DIR to the SDK root, and build from the app directory itself. For the full application workflow model, see Astra MCU SDK User Guide.

Supported Boards

This application supports:

  • SL2610_RDK

Select the defconfig that matches your target board, and the build system will pick the corresponding board-specific hardware setup from hw/<BOARD>/.

Prerequisites

Test Case Selection

Before building, choose the testcase defconfig that matches your target board.

You can:

  • Select the required defconfig directly from the application’s configs/ directory.

  • Run make list_defconfigs from the application directory to list all supported defconfigs.

Available watchdog defconfigs (SL2610 RDK):

  • sl2610_rdk_cm52_watchdog_sample_app_defconfig: Runs all five watchdog functional testcases.

Building and Flashing the Example using VS Code

Use the VS Code flow described in the respective soc vscode guides and the VS Code Extension guide:

Build (VS Code):

  1. Open Build and Deploy -> Build Configurations.

  2. Select the watchdog_sample_app project configuration in the Project Configuration dropdown.

  3. Select the required watchdog defconfig.

  4. Build with Build (SDK+Project) for the first build, or Build (Project) for rebuilds.

Flash (VS Code):

  1. Use the SL2610 image-generation flow to generate the required sub-image.

  2. Open Image Flashing (SL2610).

  3. Select Flash Target as M52 Image.

  4. In Image Path, browse to and select the generated sub-image file, such as sysmgr.subimg.gz.

  5. Start the flashing operation to program the image to the target.

Building and Flashing the Example using CLI

Use the CLI flow described in the respective build guide:

Build (CLI):

  1. Build from the application directory itself:

    cd <sdk-root>/examples/driver_examples/watchdog_sample_app
export SRSDK_DIR=<sdk-root>
make <app_defconfig> BUILD=SRSDK

  2. For faster rebuilds when only app code changes, reuse the app-local installed SDK package:

    cd <sdk-root>/examples/driver_examples/watchdog_sample_app
export SRSDK_DIR=<sdk-root>
make build

  3. If this app has been exported to its own repository, use the same commands from that exported app directory after setting SRSDK_DIR to the SDK root.

Build outputs (CLI):

  • Application binary: <app-dir>/out/<target>/release/<target>.elf

  • App-local SDK package: <app-dir>/install/<BOARD>/<BUILD_TYPE>/

Flash (CLI):

Flash SL2610

  1. Build the SL2610 bootloader image.

    cd <sdk-root>
export SRSDK_DIR=<sdk-root>
make <SL2610_Bootloader_defconfig> BOARD=<BOARD>
make astrasdk

  2. Generate the system sub-image.

    cd <sdk-root>/examples/driver_examples/watchdog_sample_app
export SRSDK_DIR=<sdk-root>
make imagegen

  3. Flash/download image to target.

    Refer: SL2610 Platform Guide

Running the Application using VS Code Extension

  1. Press RESET on the board after flashing.

  2. For logging output, click SERIAL MONITOR and connect to the DAP logger port on J14.

    • To make it easier to identify, ensure only J14 is plugged in (not J13).

    • The logger port is not guaranteed to be consistent across OSes. As a starting point:

      • Windows: try the lower-numbered J14 COM port first.

      • Linux/macOS: try the higher-numbered J14 port first.

    • If you do not see logs after a reset, switch to the other J14 port.

  3. The watchdog sample logs appear in the logger window, including phase transition across reset and final pass/fail summary.

Expected Logs

First boot (WDG-FN-01 Phase 1, reset expected):

BL: MCU Init...
send command successfully
SW_STRAP:0x01
Init DDR4 8x2 @ 3200
DHL:v0p41 PT:v0p40 ID:0x21010000
Boot from eMMC Flash
SM image verified
0000000000:[0][INF][SYS ]:Application drivers initialization complete without errors.
0000000000:[0][INF][SYS ]:sl2610 SDK version 1.3.0
0000000000:[0][INF][WDT ]:========================================
0000000005:[0][INF][WDT ]:  Watchdog Sample Application (SL2610)
0000000011:[0][INF][WDT ]:========================================
0000000017:[0][INF][WDT ]:Running WDG-FN-01 (will cause system reset)...
0000000024:[0][INF][WDT ]:=== WDG-FN-01: WATCHDOG RESET TEST Phase 1 ===
0000000030:[0][INF][WDT ]:Starting watchdog with 2s timeout, no servicing.
0000000037:[0][INF][WDT ]:System should reset in ~2 seconds.
0000000042:[0][INF][WDT ]:NOTE: SL2610 has no AON - verify reset by observing reboot.

Second boot [Make sure to hit reset in the board again] (WDG-FN-01 Phase 2 + remaining testcases):

BL: MCU Init...
send command successfully
SW_STRAP:0x01
Init DDR4 8x2 @ 3200
DHL:v0p41 PT:v0p40 ID:0x21010000
Boot from eMMC Flash
SM image verified
0000000000:[0][INF][SYS ]:Application drivers initialization complete without errors.
0000000000:[0][INF][SYS ]:sl2610 SDK version 1.3.0
0000000000:[0][INF][WDT ]:========================================
0000000005:[0][INF][WDT ]:  Watchdog Sample Application (SL2610)
0000000011:[0][INF][WDT ]:========================================
0000000017:[0][INF][WDT ]:Detected post-reset phase for WDG-FN-01
0000000023:[0][INF][WDT ]:=== WDG-FN-01: WATCHDOG RESET TEST Phase 2 ===
0000000030:[0][INF][WDT ]:System reset occurred after watchdog timeout!
0000000036:[0][INF][WDT ]:PASS: WDG-FN-01 - System reset detected (no AON verification)
0000000044:[0][INF][WDT ]:=== WDG-FN-02: 5s timeout, 2s refresh, 10s duration ===
0000002051:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=2s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000004056:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=4s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000006061:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=6s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000008066:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=8s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000010071:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=10s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000010076:[0][INF][WDT ]:PASS: WDG-FN-02 - No reset occurred
0000010082:[0][INF][WDT ]:=== WDG-FN-03: 3s timeout, 1s refresh, 10s duration ===
0000011089:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=1s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000012094:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=2s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000013099:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=3s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000014104:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=4s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000015109:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=5s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000016114:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=6s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000017119:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=7s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000018124:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=8s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000019129:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=9s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000020134:[0][INF][WDT ]:[t=10s] Refreshing watchdog...
0000020139:[0][INF][WDT ]:PASS: WDG-FN-03 - Watchdog did not trigger during normal operation
0000020147:[0][INF][WDT ]:=== WDG-FN-04: Stop/restart with new timeout ===
0000020154:[0][INF][WDT ]:Starting with 5s timeout
0000020158:[0][INF][WDT ]:Waiting 2s then refreshing...
0000022163:[0][INF][WDT ]:Waiting 1s more (t=3s) then stopping...
0000023169:[0][INF][WDT ]:Restarting with 4s timeout
0000025174:[0][INF][WDT ]:PASS: WDG-FN-04 - Stop/restart with new timeout successful
0000025182:[0][INF][WDT ]:=== WDG-FN-05: 2s timeout, 0.5s refresh, 8 refreshes ===
0000025689:[0][INF][WDT ]:Refresh #1 OK
0000026193:[0][INF][WDT ]:Refresh #2 OK
0000026696:[0][INF][WDT ]:Refresh #3 OK
0000027200:[0][INF][WDT ]:Refresh #4 OK
0000027703:[0][INF][WDT ]:Refresh #5 OK
0000028207:[0][INF][WDT ]:Refresh #6 OK
0000028711:[0][INF][WDT ]:Refresh #7 OK
0000029214:[0][INF][WDT ]:Refresh #8 OK
0000029218:[0][INF][WDT ]:PASS: WDG-FN-05 - All 8 refreshes succeeded
0000029224:[0][INF][WDT ]:========================================
0000029230:[0][INF][WDT ]:  Results: 5 passed, 0 failed (of 5)
0000029236:[0][INF][WDT ]:========================================
0000029242:[0][INF][WDT ]:All watchdog tests complete!