Skip to main content
Graduate
September 16, 2025
Solved

STM32 Nucleo H7S3L8 HardFault_Handler + DACCVIOL

  • September 16, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 882 views

STM32H7S3L8 – XIP app HardFault on vector fetch from XSPI (BFAR/MMFAR=0x70000004, VECTBL)

MCU: STM32H7S3L8
Tooling: STM32CubeIDE (HAL/CMSIS + FreeRTOS)
External flash: NOR on XSPI2 (XSPIM Port 2). Bootloader sets XSPI to memory-mapped; application is linked for XIP at 0x7000_0000.

What works

  • Bootloader brings up XSPI, reads SFDP (initially had a DMA/IRQ config issue; fixed).

  • Bootloader successfully puts the NOR in memory-mapped mode and jumps to the app:

    • VTOR = 0x7000_0000

    • MSP/PC loaded from 0x7000_0000 / 0x7000_0004

    • Branch to Reset_Handler at 0x70005A44 is observed.

The problem

Immediately in the application I hit a HardFault. ST’s Fault Analyzer shows:

  • HardFault: FORCED

  • ConfigFault: VECTBL (Failed vector fetch)

  • BusFault: IBUSERR/PRECISERR set

  • BFAR = 0x70000004

  • MemManage: DACCVIOL set

  • MMFAR = 0x70000004

So the core tries to read the vector table entry at 0x7000_0004 and it gets blocked → HardFault right at exception entry.

 

This is my main.c in Appli: 

/* USER CODE BEGIN Header */
/**
 ******************************************************************************
 * @file : main.c
 * @brief : Main program body
 ******************************************************************************
 * @attention
 *
 * Copyright (c) 2025 STMicroelectronics.
 * All rights reserved.
 *
 * This software is licensed under terms that can be found in the LICENSE file
 * in the root directory of this software component.
 * If no LICENSE file comes with this software, it is provided AS-IS.
 *
 ******************************************************************************
 */
/* USER CODE END Header */
/* Includes ------------------------------------------------------------------*/
#include "main.h"
#include "FreeRTOS.h"
#include "adc.h"
#include "flash.h"
#include "gpdma.h"
#include "hpdma.h"
#include "i2c.h"
#include "lwip.h"
#include "sbs.h"
#include "spi.h"
#include "tim.h"
#include "usart.h"
#include "gpio.h"

/* Private includes ----------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN Includes */
/* USER CODE END Includes */

/* Private typedef -----------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN PTD */

/* USER CODE END PTD */

/* Private define ------------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN PD */

/* USER CODE END PD */

/* Private macro -------------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN PM */

/* USER CODE END PM */

/* Private variables ---------------------------------------------------------*/

COM_InitTypeDef BspCOMInit;
__IO uint32_t BspButtonState = BUTTON_RELEASED;

/* USER CODE BEGIN PV */

/* USER CODE END PV */

/* Private function prototypes -----------------------------------------------*/
void PeriphCommonClock_Config(void);
static void MPU_Config(void);
void MX_FREERTOS_Init(void);
/* USER CODE BEGIN PFP */

/* USER CODE END PFP */

/* Private user code ---------------------------------------------------------*/
/* USER CODE BEGIN 0 */

/* USER CODE END 0 */

/**
 * @brief The application entry point.
 * @retval int
 */
int main(void)
{

 /* USER CODE BEGIN 1 */
	__ISB();
	__DSB();
	__enable_irq();
 /* USER CODE END 1 */

 /* MPU Configuration--------------------------------------------------------*/
 MPU_Config();

 /* Enable the CPU Cache */

 /* Enable I-Cache---------------------------------------------------------*/
 SCB_EnableICache();

 /* Enable D-Cache---------------------------------------------------------*/
 SCB_EnableDCache();

 /* MCU Configuration--------------------------------------------------------*/

 /* Update SystemCoreClock variable according to RCC registers values. */
 SystemCoreClockUpdate();

 /* Reset of all peripherals, Initializes the Flash interface and the Systick. */
 HAL_Init();

 /* USER CODE BEGIN Init */

 /* USER CODE END Init */

 /* Configure the peripherals common clocks */

 /* USER CODE BEGIN SysInit */

 /* USER CODE END SysInit */

 /* Initialize all configured peripherals */
 MX_GPIO_Init();
 MX_HPDMA1_Init();
 MX_GPDMA1_Init();
 MX_ADC1_Init();
 MX_ADC2_Init();
 MX_I2C2_Init();
 MX_SBS_Init();
 MX_UART4_Init();
 MX_UART5_Init();
 MX_TIM3_Init();
 MX_TIM2_Init();
 MX_UART7_Init();
 MX_UART8_Init();
 MX_I2C3_Init();
 MX_SPI1_Init();
 MX_SPI2_Init();
 MX_FLASH_Init();
 MX_TIM1_Init();
 /* USER CODE BEGIN 2 */

 /* USER CODE END 2 */

 /* Init scheduler */
 osKernelInitialize(); /* Call init function for freertos objects (in cmsis_os2.c) */
 MX_FREERTOS_Init();

 /* Initialize leds */
 BSP_LED_Init(LED_GREEN);
 BSP_LED_Init(LED_BLUE);
 BSP_LED_Init(LED_RED);

 /* Initialize COM1 port (115200, 8 bits (7-bit data + 1 stop bit), no parity */
 BspCOMInit.BaudRate = 115200;
 BspCOMInit.WordLength = COM_WORDLENGTH_8B;
 BspCOMInit.StopBits = COM_STOPBITS_1;
 BspCOMInit.Parity = COM_PARITY_NONE;
 BspCOMInit.HwFlowCtl = COM_HWCONTROL_NONE;
 if (BSP_COM_Init(COM1, &BspCOMInit) != BSP_ERROR_NONE)
 {
 Error_Handler();
 }

 /* USER CODE BEGIN BSP */
 /* -- Sample board code to send message over COM1 port ---- */
 printf("Welcome to STM32 world !\n\rApplication project is running...\n\r");
 /* -- Sample board code to switch on leds ---- */

 /* USER CODE END BSP */

 /* Start scheduler */
 osKernelStart();

 /* We should never get here as control is now taken by the scheduler */

 /* Infinite loop */
 /* USER CODE BEGIN WHILE */
 while (1)
 {

 /* USER CODE END WHILE */

 /* USER CODE BEGIN 3 */
 }
 /* USER CODE END 3 */
}

/* USER CODE BEGIN 4 */

/* USER CODE END 4 */

 /* MPU Configuration */

static void MPU_Config(void)
{
 MPU_Region_InitTypeDef MPU_InitStruct = {0};

 /* Disables the MPU */
 HAL_MPU_Disable();

 /* Disables all MPU regions */
 for(uint8_t i=0; i<__MPU_REGIONCOUNT; i++)
 {
 HAL_MPU_DisableRegion(i);
 }

 /** Initializes and configures the Region and the memory to be protected
 */
 MPU_InitStruct.Enable = MPU_REGION_ENABLE;
 MPU_InitStruct.Number = MPU_REGION_NUMBER0;
 MPU_InitStruct.BaseAddress = 0x0;
 MPU_InitStruct.Size = MPU_REGION_SIZE_4GB;
 MPU_InitStruct.SubRegionDisable = 0x87;
 MPU_InitStruct.TypeExtField = MPU_TEX_LEVEL0;
 MPU_InitStruct.AccessPermission = MPU_REGION_NO_ACCESS;
 MPU_InitStruct.DisableExec = MPU_INSTRUCTION_ACCESS_DISABLE;
 MPU_InitStruct.IsShareable = MPU_ACCESS_NOT_SHAREABLE;
 MPU_InitStruct.IsCacheable = MPU_ACCESS_NOT_CACHEABLE;
 MPU_InitStruct.IsBufferable = MPU_ACCESS_NOT_BUFFERABLE;

 HAL_MPU_ConfigRegion(&MPU_InitStruct);

 MPU_InitStruct.Number = MPU_REGION_NUMBER1; 
 MPU_InitStruct.BaseAddress = 0x70000000;
 MPU_InitStruct.Size = MPU_REGION_SIZE_128MB;
 MPU_InitStruct.SubRegionDisable = 0x00;
 MPU_InitStruct.TypeExtField = MPU_TEX_LEVEL1;
 MPU_InitStruct.AccessPermission = MPU_REGION_FULL_ACCESS; 
 MPU_InitStruct.DisableExec = MPU_INSTRUCTION_ACCESS_ENABLE; 
 MPU_InitStruct.IsShareable = MPU_ACCESS_SHAREABLE;
 MPU_InitStruct.IsCacheable = MPU_ACCESS_NOT_CACHEABLE; 
 MPU_InitStruct.IsBufferable = MPU_ACCESS_BUFFERABLE;
 HAL_MPU_ConfigRegion(&MPU_InitStruct);
 /** Initializes and configures the Region and the memory to be protected
 */
 MPU_InitStruct.Number = MPU_REGION_NUMBER2;
 MPU_InitStruct.BaseAddress = 0x24020000;
 MPU_InitStruct.Size = MPU_REGION_SIZE_16KB;
 MPU_InitStruct.TypeExtField = MPU_TEX_LEVEL1;
 MPU_InitStruct.IsShareable = MPU_ACCESS_NOT_SHAREABLE;
 MPU_InitStruct.IsBufferable = MPU_ACCESS_NOT_BUFFERABLE;

 HAL_MPU_ConfigRegion(&MPU_InitStruct);

 /** Initializes and configures the Region and the memory to be protected
 */
 MPU_InitStruct.Number = MPU_REGION_NUMBER3;
 MPU_InitStruct.Size = MPU_REGION_SIZE_256B;
 MPU_InitStruct.TypeExtField = MPU_TEX_LEVEL1;
 MPU_InitStruct.IsCacheable = MPU_ACCESS_NOT_CACHEABLE;
 MPU_InitStruct.IsBufferable = MPU_ACCESS_BUFFERABLE;

 HAL_MPU_ConfigRegion(&MPU_InitStruct);

 /** Initializes and configures the Region and the memory to be protected
 */
 MPU_InitStruct.Number = MPU_REGION_NUMBER4;
 MPU_InitStruct.BaseAddress = 0x24040000;
 MPU_InitStruct.Size = MPU_REGION_SIZE_16KB;
 MPU_InitStruct.TypeExtField = MPU_TEX_LEVEL1;
 MPU_InitStruct.IsShareable = MPU_ACCESS_SHAREABLE;
 MPU_InitStruct.IsBufferable = MPU_ACCESS_NOT_BUFFERABLE;

 HAL_MPU_ConfigRegion(&MPU_InitStruct);
 /* Enables the MPU */
 HAL_MPU_Enable(MPU_PRIVILEGED_DEFAULT);

}

/**
 * @brief Period elapsed callback in non blocking mode
 * @note This function is called when TIM6 interrupt took place, inside
 * HAL_TIM_IRQHandler(). It makes a direct call to HAL_IncTick() to increment
 * a global variable "uwTick" used as application time base.
 * @PAram htim TIM handle
 * @retval None
 */
void HAL_TIM_PeriodElapsedCallback(TIM_HandleTypeDef *htim)
{
 /* USER CODE BEGIN Callback 0 */

 /* USER CODE END Callback 0 */
 if (htim->Instance == TIM6) {
 HAL_IncTick();
 }
 /* USER CODE BEGIN Callback 1 */

 /* USER CODE END Callback 1 */
}

/**
 * @brief This function is executed in case of error occurrence.
 * @retval None
 */
void Error_Handler(void)
{
 /* USER CODE BEGIN Error_Handler_Debug */
 /* User can add his own implementation to report the HAL error return state */
 __disable_irq();
 while (1)
 {
 }
 /* USER CODE END Error_Handler_Debug */
}
#ifdef USE_FULL_ASSERT
/**
 * @brief Reports the name of the source file and the source line number
 * where the assert_param error has occurred.
 * @PAram file: pointer to the source file name
 * @PAram line: assert_param error line source number
 * @retval None
 */
void assert_failed(uint8_t *file, uint32_t line)
{
 /* USER CODE BEGIN 6 */
 /* User can add his own implementation to report the file name and line number,
 ex: printf("Wrong parameters value: file %s on line %d\r\n", file, line) */
 /* USER CODE END 6 */
}
#endif /* USE_FULL_ASSERT */

As well as my linker script:

/*
******************************************************************************
**
** @file : LinkerScript.ld
**
** @author : STM32CubeIDE
**
** Abstract : Linker script for STM32H7Sxx Device
** 128KBytes FLASH
** 456KBytes RAM
**
** Set heap size, stack size and stack location according
** to application requirements.
**
** Set memory bank area and size if external memory is used
**
** Target : STMicroelectronics STM32
**
** Distribution: The file is distributed as is, without any warranty
** of any kind.
**
******************************************************************************
** @attention
**
** Copyright (c) 2024 STMicroelectronics.
** All rights reserved.
**
** This software is licensed under terms that can be found in the LICENSE file
** in the root directory of this software component.
** If no LICENSE file comes with this software, it is provided AS-IS.
**
******************************************************************************
*/

/* Entry Point */
ENTRY(Reset_Handler)

/* Highest address of the user mode stack */
_estack = ORIGIN(DTCM) + LENGTH(DTCM); /* end of "DTCM" Ram type memory */

_Min_Heap_Size = 0x200; /* required amount of heap */
_Min_Stack_Size = 0x400; /* required amount of stack */

__FLASH_BEGIN = 0x70000000;
__FLASH_SIZE = 0x08000000;


__RAM_BEGIN = 0x24000000;
__RAM_SIZE = 0x71C00;

/* Memories definition */
MEMORY
{
 RAM (xrw) : ORIGIN = __RAM_BEGIN, LENGTH = __RAM_SIZE

 ITCM (xrw) : ORIGIN = 0x00000000, LENGTH = 0x00010000
 DTCM (rw) : ORIGIN = 0x20000000, LENGTH = 0x00010000
 SRAMAHB (rw) : ORIGIN = 0x30000000, LENGTH = 0x00008000
 BKPSRAM (rw) : ORIGIN = 0x38800000, LENGTH = 0x00001000

 FLASH (xrw) : ORIGIN = __FLASH_BEGIN, LENGTH = __FLASH_SIZE
}

/* Sections */
SECTIONS
{
 /* The startup code into "FLASH" FLASH type memory */
 .isr_vector :
 {
 . = ALIGN(4);
 KEEP(*(.isr_vector)) /* Startup code */
 . = ALIGN(4);
 } >FLASH

 /* The program code and other data into "FLASH" FLASH type memory */
 .text :
 {
 . = ALIGN(4);
 *(.text) /* .text sections (code) */
 *(.text*) /* .text* sections (code) */
 *(.glue_7) /* glue arm to thumb code */
 *(.glue_7t) /* glue thumb to arm code */
 *(.eh_frame)

 KEEP (*(.init))
 KEEP (*(.fini))

 . = ALIGN(4);
 _etext = .; /* define a global symbols at end of code */
 } >FLASH

 /* Constant data into "FLASH" FLASH type memory */
 .rodata :
 {
 . = ALIGN(4);
 *(.rodata) /* .rodata sections (constants, strings, etc.) */
 *(.rodata*) /* .rodata* sections (constants, strings, etc.) */
 . = ALIGN(4);
 } >FLASH

 .ARM.extab (READONLY) : /* The READONLY keyword is only supported in GCC11 and later, remove it if using GCC10 or earlier. */
 {
 . = ALIGN(4);
 *(.ARM.extab* .gnu.linkonce.armextab.*)
 . = ALIGN(4);
 } >FLASH
 .ARM (READONLY) : /* The READONLY keyword is only supported in GCC11 and later, remove it if using GCC10 or earlier. */
 {
 . = ALIGN(4);
 __exidx_start = .;
 *(.ARM.exidx*)
 __exidx_end = .;
 . = ALIGN(4);
 } >FLASH

 .preinit_array (READONLY) : /* The READONLY keyword is only supported in GCC11 and later, remove it if using GCC10 or earlier. */
 {
 . = ALIGN(4);
 PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__preinit_array_start = .);
 KEEP (*(.preinit_array*))
 PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__preinit_array_end = .);
 . = ALIGN(4);
 } >FLASH

 .init_array (READONLY) : /* The READONLY keyword is only supported in GCC11 and later, remove it if using GCC10 or earlier. */
 {
 . = ALIGN(4);
 PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__init_array_start = .);
 KEEP (*(SORT(.init_array.*)))
 KEEP (*(.init_array*))
 PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__init_array_end = .);
 . = ALIGN(4);
 } >FLASH

 .fini_array (READONLY) : /* The READONLY keyword is only supported in GCC11 and later, remove it if using GCC10 or earlier. */
 {
 . = ALIGN(4);
 PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__fini_array_start = .);
 KEEP (*(SORT(.fini_array.*)))
 KEEP (*(.fini_array*))
 PROVIDE_HIDDEN (__fini_array_end = .);
 . = ALIGN(4);
 } >FLASH

 /* Used by the startup to initialize data */
 _sidata = LOADADDR(.data);

 /* Initialized data sections into "RAM" Ram type memory */
 .data :
 {
 . = ALIGN(4);
 _sdata = .; /* create a global symbol at data start */
 *(.data) /* .data sections */
 *(.data*) /* .data* sections */
 *(.RamFunc) /* .RamFunc sections */
 *(.RamFunc*) /* .RamFunc* sections */

 . = ALIGN(4);
 _edata = .; /* define a global symbol at data end */

 } >RAM AT> FLASH

 /* Uninitialized data section into "RAM" Ram type memory */
 . = ALIGN(4);
 .bss :
 {
 /* This is used by the startup in order to initialize the .bss section */
 _sbss = .; /* define a global symbol at bss start */
 __bss_start__ = _sbss;
 *(.bss)
 *(.bss*)
 *(COMMON)

 . = ALIGN(4);
 _ebss = .; /* define a global symbol at bss end */
 __bss_end__ = _ebss;
 } >RAM

 /* User_heap_stack section, used to check that there is enough "RAM" Ram type memory left */
 ._user_heap_stack :
 {
 . = ALIGN(8);
 PROVIDE ( end = . );
 PROVIDE ( _end = . );
 . = . + _Min_Heap_Size;
 . = . + _Min_Stack_Size;
 . = ALIGN(8);
 } >DTCM

 .lwip_sec (NOLOAD) : {
 . = ABSOLUTE(0x24020000);
 *(.RxDescripSection)
 . = ABSOLUTE(0x24020080);
 *(.TxDescripSection)
 . = ABSOLUTE(0x24020100);
 *(.Rx_PoolSection)
 } >RAM

 /* Remove information from the compiler libraries */
 /DISCARD/ :
 {
 libc.a ( * )
 libm.a ( * )
 libgcc.a ( * )
 }

 .ARM.attributes 0 : { *(.ARM.attributes) }
}

 

htxy_0-1758021070194.png

 

I honestly cant see my mistake here. Can somebody tell me what i am doing wrong?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Best answer by Saket_Om

    Hello @htxy 

    Please refer to the article below to debug HardFault.

    How to debug a HardFault on an Arm® Cortex®-M STM3... - STMicroelectronics Community

    1 reply

    Saket_OmAnswer
    Technical Moderator
    September 17, 2025

    Hello @htxy 

    Please refer to the article below to debug HardFault.

    How to debug a HardFault on an Arm® Cortex®-M STM3... - STMicroelectronics Community