Plug It In!
Let's take your FRDM-KL82Z for a test drive! You have the choice of watching the sequence in a short video or following the detailed actions list below.
Get Started with FRDM-KL82Z Development Platform - How To
1.1 Attach the USB Cable
1.2 Run the Out-of-Box Demo
Your board comes loaded with a “bubble level” demo that leverages the on-board accelerometer. When the board is flat, the RGB LED is turned off, and when the board is tilted, the LEDs gradually illuminate based on the degree of tilt on the X- and Y-axis.
Choose a Development Path:
Get Software
Installing software for the FRDM-KL82Z
2.1 Jump Start Your Design with the Kinetis SDK!
The Kinetis Software Development Kit (SDK) is complimentary and includes full source code under a permissive open-source license for all hardware abstraction and peripheral driver software.
Click below to download the KL82Z standalone SDK package
2.2 Install Your Toolchain
NXP® offers a complimentary toolchain called Kinetis Design Studio (KDS).
Want to use a different toolchain?
No problem! The Kinetis SDK includes support for other tools such as IAR, Keil and command-line GCC.
2.3 Tool Update
If using Kinetis Design Studio or Arm GCC tool chains, the latest Segger J-Link software tools need to be downloaded and installed. This update is required for those tools to support the KL80 family. Ensure you install this update after installing the IDE of your choice.
First, download the latest “Software and documentation pack”, at least version 5.02, from https://www.segger.com/jlink-software.html
Then Install the software and at the end of the installation, there will be a dialog box asking to update installed IDEs. Make sure the KDS 3.0.0 IDE is checked if using Kinetis Design Studio.
2.4 PC Configuration
Many of the example applications output data over the MCU UART so you'll want to make sure that the driver for the board's virtual COM port is installed. Before you run the driver installer, you MUST have the board plugged in to your PC.
With the serial port driver installed, run your favorite terminal application to view the serial output from the MCU's UART. Configure the terminal to 115200 baud rate, 8 data bits, no parity and 1 stop bit. To determine the port number of the FRDM-KL82Z's virtual COM port, open the device manager and look under the "Ports" group.
Not sure how to use a terminal application? Try one of these tutorials:
Tera Term Tutorial
Tera Term is a very popular open source terminal emulation application. This program can be used to display information sent from your NXP development platform's virtual serial port.
- Download Tera Term from SourceForge. After the download, run the installer and then return to this webpage to continue.
- Launch Tera Term. The first time it launches, it will show you the following dialog. Select the serial option. Assuming your board is plugged in, there should be a COM port automatically populated in the list.
- Configure the serial port settings (using the COM port number identified earlier) to 115200 baud rate, 8 data bits, no parity and 1 stop bit. To do this, go to Setup -> Serial Port and change the settings.
- Verify that the connection is open. If connected, Tera Term will show something like below in it's title bar.
- You're ready to go
PuTTY Tutorial
PuTTY is a popular terminal emulation application. This program can be used to display information sent from your NXP development platform's virtual serial port.
- Download PuTTY using the button below. After the download, run the installer and then return to this webpage to continue.
- Launch PuTTY by either double clicking on the *.exe file you downloaded or from the Start menu, depending on the type of download you selected.
- Configure In the window that launches, select the Serial radio button and enter the COM port number that you determined earlier. Also enter the baud rate, in this case 115200.
- Click Open to open the serial connection. Assuming the board is connected and you entered the correct COM port, the terminal window will open. If the configuration is not correct, PuTTY will alert you.
- You're ready to go
Run
Build and Run SDK Demos on the FRDM-KL82Z
3.1 Explore the SDK Example Code
The Kinetis SDK comes with a long list of demo applications and driver examples. To see what's available, browse to the SDK 'examples' folder of your SDK installation and
select your board, the FRDM-KL82Z (
To learn more about demo applications or driver examples, open the Kinetis SDK Demo Applications User's Guide, located in
3.2 Build, Run and Debug SDK Examples
If one or more of the demo applications or driver examples sounds interesting, you're probably wanting to know how you can build and debug yourself. The Getting Started with Kinetis SDK guide provides easy, step-by-step instructions on how to configure, build, and debug demos for all toolchains supported by the SDK.
Use the guide below to learn how to open, build and debug an example application using the Kinetis Design Studio (KDS) IDE.
Using a different toolchain?
Running a demo using IAR
1. Build the platform library
These steps show how to open a demo workspace in IAR Embedded Workbench, how to build the platform library required by the demo, and how to build the demo application. The example used below is for the hello_world demo, but similar steps can be applied to any demo in the KSDK.
-
Open demo workspace (*.eww file) in:
/examples/frdmkl82z/demo_apps/ /iar After the workspace is open, two projects are shown: one for the KSDK platform library and one for the demo. Also, the platform library project is bold, indicating that it is the active project. The active project can be changed at any time by right clicking on the desired project and selecting "Set as Active" or via the build target drop-down at the top of the workspace browser.
-
There are two project configurations (build targets) supported for each KSDK project:
- Debug - Compiler optimization is set to low, and debug information is generated for the executable. This target should be selected for development and debug.
- Release - Compiler optimization is set to high, and debug information is not generated. This target should be selected for final application deployment. The tool allows you to select either the Debug or Release configuration on a per-project basis, but since the demo has a dependency on the platform library, whichever configuration is selected for the demo must also be selected for the platform library. Selecting a configuration in the drop-down also makes whichever project and configuration that is selected the active project. For this example, select the "ksdk_platform_lib – Debug" target.
-
Click the "Make" button, highlighted in red below.
-
When the build is complete, the library (libksdk_platform.a) is generated in one of the following directories, according to the chosen build target:
/lib/ksdk_platform_lib/iar/KL82Z1287/debug /lib/ksdk_platform_lib/iar/KL82Z1287/release
2. Build a Demo Application
The KSDK demo applications are built upon the software building blocks provided in the Kinetis SDK platform library, built in the previous section. If the platform library is not present, the linker displays an error indicating that it cannot find the library. An easy way to check whether the library is present is to expand the Output folder in the ksdk_platform_lib project. If the platform library binary is not built and present, follow the steps on page 1 to build it. Otherwise, continue with the following steps to build the desired demo application.
-
If not already done, open the desired demo application workspace (*.eww file). This example's workspace file is located in:
/examples/frdmkl82z/demo_apps/hello_world/iar -
Select the desired build target from the drop-down. For this example, select the "hello_world – Debug" target.
-
To build the demo application, click the "Make" button, highlighted in red below.
-
The build will complete without errors.
3. Run a Demo Application
The FRDM-KL82Z board comes loaded with the mbed/CMSIS-DAP debug interface from the factory. If you have changed the debug OpenSDA application on your board, visit http://www.nxp.com/opensda for information on updating or restoring your board to the factory state.
-
Connect the development platform to your PC via USB cable between the "SDAUSB" USB port on the board and the PC USB connector.
-
Open the terminal application on the PC (such as PuTTY or TeraTerm) and connect to the debug COM port you determined earlier. Configure the terminal with these settings:
- 115200 baud rate
- No parity
- 8 data bits
- 1 stop bit
-
Click the "Download and Debug" button to download the application to the target.
-
The application is then downloaded to the target and automatically runs to the main() function.
-
Run the code by clicking the "Go" button to start the application.
-
The hello_world application is now running and a banner is displayed on the terminal. If this is not the case, check your terminal settings and connections.
Running a demo using Keil MDK
1. Install CMSIS device pack
After the MDK tools are installed, Cortex® Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS) device packs must be installed to fully support the device from a debug perspective. These packs include things such as memory map information, register definitions and flash programming algorithms. Follow these steps to install the appropriate CMSIS pack.
-
Open the MDK IDE, which is called µVision. In the IDE, select the "Pack Installer" icon.
-
In the Pack Installer window, navigate to the section with the Kinetis packs (they are in alphabetical order). The Kinetis packs start with "Keil::Kinetis" and are followed by the MCU family name, for example "Keil::Kinetis_K80_DFP". Because this example uses the FRDM-KL82Z platform, the K80 family pack is selected. Click on the "Install" button next to the pack. This process requires an internet connection to successfully complete.
-
After the installation finishes, close the Pack Installer window and return to the µVision IDE.
2. Build the Platform Library
These steps show how to open the demo workspace in µVision, how to build the platform library required by the demo, and how to build the demo application.
-
Demo workspace files can be found using this path:
/examples/frdmkl82z/demo_apps/ /mdk The workspace file is named
.uvmpw. For this specific example, the actual path is: /examples/frdmkl82z/demo_apps/hello_world/mdk/hello_world.uvmpw After the workspace is open, two projects show up: one for the KSDK platform library, and one for the demo. By default, the demo project is selected as the active project.
-
Make the platform library project the active project since the library is required by the demo application to build. To make the platform library project active, right click on it and select "Set as Active Project". The active project has a black box around the project name. After it is active, the platform library project is highlighted.
-
There are two project configurations (build targets) supported for each KSDK project:
- Debug — Compiler optimization is set to low, and debug information is generated for the executable. This target should be selected for development and debug.
- Release — Compiler optimization is set to high, and debug information is not generated. This target should be selected for final application deployment.
The tool allows selection of the build target based on the active project, so in order to change the configuration for the platform library it must be the active project. Choose the appropriate build target: "Debug" or "Release" from the drop-down menu.
For this example, select the "ksdk_platform_lib Debug" configuration.
-
Rebuild the project files by left-clicking the "Rebuild" button, highlighted in red.
3. Build a Demo Application
The KSDK demo applications are built upon the software building blocks provided in the Kinetis SDK platform library, built in the previous section. If the platform library is not present, the linker displays an error indicating that it cannot find the library. If the platform library binary is not built and present, follow the steps on page 2 to build it. Otherwise, continue with the following steps to build the desired demo application.
-
If not already done, open the desired demo application workspace in:
/examples/frdmkl82z/demo_apps/ /mdk The workspace file is named
.uvmpw, so for this specific example, the actual path is: /examples/frdmkl82z/demo_apps/hello_world/mdk/hello_world.uvmpw -
Make the demo the active project.
-
To build the demo project, select the "Rebuild" button, highlighted in red.
-
The build will complete without errors.
4. Run a Demo Application
The FRDM-KL82Z board comes loaded with the mbed/CMSIS-DAP debug interface from the factory. If you have changed the debug OpenSDA application on your board, visit http://www.nxp.com/opensda for information on updating or restoring your board to the factory state.
-
Connect the development platform to your PC via USB cable between the "SDAUSB" USB port on the board and the PC USB connector.
-
Open the terminal application on the PC (such as PuTTY or TeraTerm) and connect to the debug COM port you determined earlier. Configure the terminal with these settings:
- 115200 baud rate
- No parity
- 8 data bits
- 1 stop bit
-
After the application is properly built, click the "Start/Stop Debug Session" button to download the application to the target and start the debugger.
-
After clicking the "Debug" button, the application downloads to the target and should be running
-
Run the code by clicking the "Run" button to start the application.
-
The hello_world application is now running and a banner is displayed on the terminal. If this is not the case, check your terminal settings and connections.
Running a demo using Arm® GCCDownload PDF
1. Set Up Toolchain
This section contains the steps to install the necessary components required to build and run a KSDK demo application with the Arm GCC toolchain, as supported by the Kinetis SDK.
There are many ways to use Arm GCC tools, but this example focuses on a Windows environment. Though not discussed here, GCC tools can also be used with both Linux OS and Mac OSX.
Install GCC Arm Embedded Toolchain
Download and run the installer from launchpad.net/gcc-arm-embedded. This is the actual toolchain (i.e., compiler, linker, etc.). The GCC toolchain should correspond to the latest supported version, as described in the Kinetis SDK Release Notes.
Install MinGW
The Minimalist GNU for Windows (MinGW) development tools provide a set of tools that are not dependent on third party C-Runtime DLLs (such as Cygwin). The build environment used by the KSDK does not utilize the MinGW build tools, but does leverage the base install of both MinGW and MSYS. MSYS provides a basic shell with a Unix-like interface and tools.
-
Download the latest MinGW mingw-get-setup installer from sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files/Installer/.
-
Run the installer. The recommended installation path is C:\MinGW, however, you may install to any location.
-
Ensure that the "mingw32-base" and "msys-base" are selected under Basic Setup.
-
Click "Apply Changes" in the "Installation" menu and follow the remaining instructions to complete the installation.
-
Add the appropriate item to the Windows operating system Path environment variable. It can be found under Control Panel -> System and Security -> System -> Advanced System Settings in the "Environment Variables..." section. The path is:
\bin Assuming the default installation path, C:\MinGW, an example is shown below. If the path is not set correctly, the toolchain does not work.
NOTE
If you have "C:\MinGW\msys\x.x\bin" in your PATH variable (as required by KSDK 1.0.0), remove it to ensure that the new GCC build system works correctly.
-
Download CMake 3.0.x from www.cmake.org/cmake/resources/software.html.
-
Install CMake, ensuring that the option "Add CMake to system PATH" is selected when installing. It's up to the user to select whether it's installed into the PATH for all users or just the current user. In this example, the assumption is that it's installed for all users.
-
Follow the remaining instructions of the installer.
-
You may need to reboot your system for the PATH changes to take effect.
NOTE
The installation path cannot contain any spaces.
Add a New Environment Variable for ARMGCC_DIR
Create a new system environment variable and name it ARMGCC_DIR. The value of this variable should point to the Arm GCC Embedded tool chain installation path, which, for this example, is:
C:\Program Files (x86)\GNU Tools Arm Embedded\4.8 2014q3
Reference the installation folder of the GNU Arm GCC Embedded tools for the exact path name of your installation.
Install CMake
2. Build the Platform Library
-
Open a GCC Arm Embedded tool chain command window. To launch the window, from the Windows operating system Start menu, go to "Programs -> GNU Tools Arm Embedded
" and select "GCC Command Prompt". 
-
Change the directory of the command window to the platform library directory in the KSDK:
/lib/ksdk_platform_lib/armgcc/KL82Z1287 -
There are two project configurations (build targets) supported for each KSDK project:
- Debug — Compiler optimization is set to low, and debug information is generated for the executable. This target should be selected for development and debug.
- Release — Compiler optimization is set to high, and debug information is not generated. This target should be selected for final application deployment.
There are batch files provided to build both configurations. For this example, the "Debug" target is built and "build_debug.bat" is typed on the command line. If the "Release" target is desired, type the "build_release.bat" instead. Alternatively, if using the command line is not desired, you can double click on the batch files from Windows Explorer.
-
When the build finishes, the output looks like the image below.
-
The library (libksdk_platform.a) is generated in one of these directories, according to the build target:
/lib/ksdk_platform_lib/armgcc/KL82Z1287/debug /lib/ksdk_platform_lib/armgcc/KL82Z1287/release
3. Build a Demo Application
KSDK demo applications require that the platform library for the same build target (Debug or Release) is present. Please ensure that you follow the steps in section 7.2 prior to attempting to build a demo application.
To build a demo application, follow these steps.
-
If not already running, open a GCC Arm Embedded tool chain command window. To launch the window, from the Windows operating system Start menu, go to "Programs -> GNU Tools Arm Embedded
" and select "GCC Command Prompt". 
-
Change the directory to the demo application project directory, which has a path like this:
/examples/frdmkl82z/demo_apps/ /armgcc For this example, the exact path is:
/examples/frdmkl82z/demo_apps/hello_world/armgcc -
Type "build_debug.bat" on the command line or double click on the "build_debug.bat" file in Windows operating system Explorer to perform the build. The output is shown in this figure:
4. Run a Demo Application
The GCC tools require a J-Link debug interface. To update the OpenSDA firmware on your board to the latest J-Link app, visit www.nxp.com/opensda. After installing the J-Link OpenSDA application, download the J-Link driver and software package from www.segger.com/downloads.html.
-
Connect the development platform to your PC via USB cable between the "SDAUSB" USB port on the board and the PC USB connector.
-
Open the terminal application on the PC (such as PuTTY or TeraTerm) and connect to the debug COM port you determined earlier. Configure the terminal with these settings:
- 115200 baud rate
- No parity
- 8 data bits
- 1 stop bit
-
Open the J-Link GDB Server application. Assuming the J-Link software is installed, the application can be launched by going to the Windows operating system Start menu and selecting "Programs -> SEGGER -> J-Link
J-Link GDB Server". -
Modify the settings as shown below. The target device selection chosen for this example is the "MKL82Z128xxx7".
-
Hit OK to connect to the board. You may see a warning about licensing, so accept the terms to move on.
-
After it is connected, the screen should resemble this figure:
-
If not already running, open a GCC Arm Embedded tool chain command window. To launch the window, from the Windows operating system Start menu, go to "Programs -> GNU Tools Arm Embedded
" and select "GCC Command Prompt". 
-
Change to the directory that contains the demo application output. The output can be found in using one of these paths, depending on the build target selected:
/examples/ /demo_apps/ /armgcc/debug /examples/ /demo_apps/ /armgcc/release For this example, the path is:
/examples/frdmkl82z/demo_apps/hello_world/armgcc/debug -
Run the command "arm-none-eabi-gdb.exe
.elf". For this example, it is "arm-none-eabi-gdb.exe hello_world.elf". 
-
Run these commands:
- "target remote localhost:2331"
- "monitor reset"
- "monitor halt"
- "load"
- "monitor reset"
- "monitor go"
-
The application is now downloaded and halted at the reset vector. By executing the "monitor go" command, the demo application will begin.
The hello_world application is now running and a banner is displayed in the terminal window.
Create
Create an Application for the FRDM-KL82Z
4.1 Get SDK Project Generator
Let's create our own project and make a simple SDK-based application. NXP provides an intuitive, simple project generation utility that allows creation of custom projects based on the Kinetis SDK.
4.2 Run the SDK Project Generator
After extracting the ZIP file, open the utility by clicking on the KSDK_Project_Generator executable for your computer's operating system. Point the tool to your SDK installation path, name your project, and select the board that it uses as a reference. Click on the Quick Generate button to finish.
4.3 Open Your Project
Your new project will be located in
4.4 Write Some Code
Now, let's make our new project do something other than spin in an infinite loop. The SDK examples provide a board support package (BSP) to do various things specific to the board, including macros and definitions for items such as LEDs, switches and peripheral instances. To keep things simple, lets make the LED blink using the BSP macros.
Update the main() function in your project's main.c file with the following code:
volatile int delay;
// Configure board specific pin muxing
hardware_init();
// Initialize the UART terminal
dbg_uart_init();
PRINTF("\r\nRunning the myProject project.\n");
// Enable GPIO port for LED1
LED1_EN;
for (;;)
{
LED1_ON;
delay = 5000000;
while(delay--);
LED1_OFF;
delay = 5000000;
while(delay--);
}
4.5 Build, Download, Run
With the changes made to your main() function, build your application. Remember to build the SDK platform library first if you did not build any of the other SDK examples in the previous steps. Once the build is complete, download the application to your board.
If you need help figuring out how to build, download or run an application, reference your tool-specific guide from section 3.2.
4.6 Success!
With the application downloaded, you will see the FRDM-KL82Z's red LED blinking. You can also view terminal output using PRINTF.
Running a demo using Kinetis Design Studio IDE
1. Install Eclipse Update
Before using KDS IDE with KSDK, some KDS Eclipse updates must be applied. Without this update, Eclipse cannot generate KSDK-compatible projects.
Note for Mac® OS Users
The steps required for Mac OS are identical to Windows; the only difference is that the IDE looks slightly different.
Note for Linux® OS Users
The steps required for Linux are identical to Windows; the only difference is you need to launch KDS IDE from the command line as the root user when installing these updates. On the command line, use this command, assuming the default KDS IDE install path:
user@ubuntu:~$ sudo /opt/NXP/KDS_x.x.x/eclipse/kinetis-design-studio
-
Select “Help”->Check for Updates
-
On the selection screen, uncheck all the components except for the “Processor Expert® for Kinetis” component.
-
Click on “Next” and follow the prompts to finish the installation of the Processor Expert update.
-
Once the Process Expert update is complete, Kinetis Design Studio will restart, and now the KSDK Eclipse Plugin can be installed.
-
Select "Help" -> "Install New Software".
-
In the Install New Software dialog box, click the "Add" button in the upper right corner. Then, in the Add Repository dialog, select the "Archive" button.
-
In the Repository archive dialog box, browse the KSDK install directory
-
Enter the
/tools/eclipse_update folder and select the KSDK__Eclipse_Update.zip file. -
Click "Open", and the "OK" button in the Add Repository dialog box.
-
The KSDK update shows up in the list of the original Install dialogs
-
Check the box to the left of the KSDK Eclipse update and click the "Next" button in the lower right corner.
-
Follow the remaining instructions to finish the installation of the update.
-
After the update is applied, restart KDS for the changes to take effect.
2. Build the Platform Library
These steps show how to open and build the platform library project in KDS IDE. The platform library is required by the demo and does not build without it.
NOTE
The steps required for Linux and Mac OS are identical to those for Windows.
-
Select "File->Import" from the KDS IDE menu. In the window that appears, expand the "General" folder and select "Existing Projects into Workspace". Then, click the "Next" button.
-
Click the "Browse" button next to the "Select root directory:" option.
-
Point to the platform library project for the appropriate device, which can be found using this path:
/lib/ksdk_platform_lib/kds/KL82Z1287 -
After pointing to the correct directory, your "Import Projects" window should look like the figure below. Click the "Finish" button.
-
There are two project configurations (build targets) supported for each KSDK project:
- Debug — Compiler optimization is set to low, and debug information is generated for the executable. This target should be selected for development and debug.
- Release — Compiler optimization is set to high, and debug information is not generated. This target should be selected for final application deployment.
-
Choose the appropriate build target, "Debug" or "Release", by clicking the downward facing arrow next to the hammer icon, as shown below. For this example, select the "Debug" target.
-
The library starts building after the build target is selected. To rebuild the library in the future, click the hammer icon (assuming the same build target is chosen).
4. Run a Demo Application
NOTE
The steps required for Linux and Mac OS are identical to those for Windows.
The FRDM-KL82Z board comes loaded with the mbed/CMSIS-DAP debug interface from the factory. This interface is not supported with the K82 in the current version of KDS. In order to debug, you must install the J-Link OpenSDA v2 application or P&E OpenSDA v2 application in order to use the KDS IDE to download and debug their board. You will also need to update the Segger JLink KDS installation since the version that comes with KDS 3.0 does not know about the K8x family.
To install the JLink OpenSDA v2 application on the FRDM-KL82Z board:
-
With the board unpowered, hold down the Reset button on the FRDM-KL82Z and plug in a micro-B USB cable into the “SDA USB” USB port on the board.
-
Release the Reset button
-
The board will enumerate as a “BOOTLOADER” driver
-
Drag and drop the JLink OpenSDA v2 application .bin file into this drive.
-
Do a power cycle, and now the board will be running the JLink OpenSDA application
To update the Segger JLink Tool for KDS (you may have done this already from an earlier page)
-
Download the latest “Software and documentation pack”, at least version 5.02, from https://www.segger.com/jlink-software.html
-
Install the software
-
At the end of the installation, there will be a dialog box asking to update installed IDEs. Make sure the KDS 3.0.0 IDE is checked.
-
For more information, see this MCU on Eclipse blog post.
Now continue with the instructions to connect to the board via KDS and a serial terminal
-
Open the terminal application on the PC (such as PuTTY or TeraTerm) and connect to the debug COM port you determined earlier. Configure the terminal with these settings:
- 115200 baud rate
- No parity
- 8 data bits
- 1 stop bit
-
For Linux OS users only, run the following commands in your terminal. These install libudev onto your system, which is required by KDS IDE to launch the debugger.
user@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get install libudev-dev libudev1user@ubuntu:~$ sudo ln —s /usr/lib/x86_82-linux-gnu/libudev.so /usr/lib/x86_82-linux-gnu/libudev.so.0 -
Ensure that the debugger configuration is correct for the target you're attempting to connect to. Consult Appendix B for more information about the default debugger application on the various hardware platforms supported by the KSDK.
-
To check the available debugger cfigurations, click the small downward arrow next to the green "Debug" button and select "Debug Configurations".
-
In the Debug Configurations dialog box, select debug configuration that corresponds to the hardware platform you're using. For Windows or Linux users, select is the CMSIS-DAP/DAPLink option under OpenOCD. For Mac users, select J-Link.
After selecting the debugger interface, click the "Debug" button to launch the debugger.
-
-
The first time you do this you will see the following dialog box to accept the JLink OpenSDA Terms of use. You can click on the checkbox to avoid seeing it in the future, and then click on Accept.
-
The application is downloaded to the target and automatically run to main():
-
Start the application by clicking the "Resume" button:
-
The hello_world application is now running and a banner is displayed on the terminal. If this is not the case, check your terminal settings and connections.
