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Getting Started with MPLAB® Harmony v3 Drivers on SAM D21 MCUs Using FreeRTOS™: Step 1

Last modified by Microchip on 2023/11/15 13:04

Create MPLAB® Harmony v3 Project Using MPLAB X IDE

Select File > New Project from the main IDE menu.

Select a new project

Close all existing opened projects before you start creating a new project.

In the Categories pane of the New Project dialog, select Microchip Embedded. In the Projects pane, select 32-bit MCC Harmony Project, then click Next.

Project creation setup

Browse to the folder you downloaded the framework to in the Framework Path edit box. Then click Next.

  • The path to your MPLAB Harmony 3 installation folder should already be populated. if not, create a folder somewhere on your computer, like C:\harmony3, and point the project to that path.
  • The MPLAB Harmony 3 necessary files will be downloaded to that path later during these steps.

Project path setup

In the Project Settings window, apply the following settings:

  • Location: Indicates the path to the root folder of the new project. All project files will be placed inside this folder. The project location can be any valid path, for example, C:\microchip\harmony\v3\harmony_projects.
  • Folder: Indicates the name of the MPLABX.X folder. Enter "drivers_freertos_sam_d21_xpro" to create a drivers_freertos_sam_d21_xpro.X folder.

This must be a valid directory name for your operating system.

  • Name: Enter the project’s logical name as "getting_started_drivers_freertos_sam_d21_xpro". This is the name that will be shown from within the MPLAB X IDE.

The Path box is read-only. It will update as you make changes to the other entries.​​​​​​

  • Click Next to proceed to Configuration Settings.

Project naming setup

Clicking on the Show Visual Help button will open a help window providing a detailed description of the various fields in the Project Settings window.

Project naming setup help

Follow the steps below to set the project’s Configuration Settings.

  • Name: Enter the configuration name as "sam_d21_xpro".
  • Target Device: Select ATSAMD21J18A as the target device.

You can select the Device Family or enter a partial device name to filter the Target Device list in order to make it easier to locate the desired device.

After selecting the target device, click Finish to launch the MCC.

Project setup finish

The New Project Wizard opens a Configuration Database Setup window to allow you to review the packages that will be used by the current project.

The MCC Content Manager window is displayed. In this click Select MPLAB Harmony (by default this option is selected).

Launch MCC step

Click Launch to launch the MCC tool with the packages.

MCC launch finish

The MCC plugin’s main window for the project will be displayed.

Launched MCC view

Before proceeding, set up the compiler toolchain. Click on the Projects tab on the top left pane. Right click on the project name getting_started_drivers_freertos_sam_d21_xpro. Go to Set Configuration and select Customize....

View project

Select SAM D21 Xplained Pro as the Connected Hardware Tool. Make sure that XC32 (v4.30) is selected as the Compiler Toolchain for XC32. Click on Apply and then click on OK.

XC32 setup

If you closed MCC accidentally and would like to open it again, go to Tools > Embedded > MPLAB Code Configurator v5: Open/Close.

In the future, if you want to open the completed MCC configuration, press MCC > Loadstate > .xmlfile (firmware > src > config > sam_d21_xpro > sam_d21_xpro.xml).

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Verify Clock Settings

Launch Clock Easy View by going to the Project Graph tab in the MPLAB X IDE and then selecting Plugins > Clock Configuration.

Clock configuration open

A new window, Clock Easy View, is opened inside MCC.

In the Clock Easy View window, verify that the Main Clock is set to 48 MHz.

Clock configuration setup

Double-click on the Clock Easy View tab to maximize/minimize the window.

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