QSG185: SiWG917 Commander Command Line Interface (CLI) Quick Start Guide#

Overview#

Simplicity Commander is a cross-platform command-line utility from Silicon Labs.
It enables you to program, configure, and communicate with Silicon Labs devices — including the SiWx917 System-on-Chip (SoC) family — through a unified Command Line Interface (CLI).

Purpose#

This guide helps engineers, developers, and manufacturing personnel quickly get started with the Simplicity Commander CLI for the SiWG917 or SiWx917 SoC.

Use this guide to install, configure, and operate the Commander CLI for common device management tasks, such as:

  • Provisioning and reading the Master Boot Record (MBR)

  • Loading NWP and M4 firmware

  • Combining NWP and M4 firmware images

  • Performing flash dump and erase operations

  • Resetting the device and reading memory regions

  • Writing to the user-space data region

By following these steps, you can set up your development environment and perform essential programming and maintenance operations for SiWG917 devices.

Simplicity Commander CLI Capabilities#

The Commander CLI supports the most common development and manufacturing workflows, such as programming firmware, reading device information, managing flash memory, and combining images.

Key Capabilities#

  1. Device Management: Detect connected devices, retrieve information, and perform resets.

  2. Flash and Memory Operations: Program, read, erase, and directly access memory.

  3. MBR Management: Provision and read the Master Boot Record (MBR).

  4. Firmware Handling: Load RPS images for the Network Wireless Processor (NWP) and M4, and generate combined firmware images.

  5. Flash Dump and Erase: Back up or restore flash contents for debugging or production.

  6. Memory Inspection: Read specific memory addresses for verification or analysis.

  7. User-Space Management: Read, write, and manage user-defined flash partitions.

  8. Automation: Integrate Commander CLI commands into scripts for continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) and manufacturing.

For a complete list of commands and syntax, see
Simplicity Commander documentation.

System Requirements and Supported Platforms#

Supported Operating Systems#

  • Windows: Windows 10 (64-bit) or later

  • Linux: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, CentOS 7/8, or equivalent distributions

  • macOS: macOS Catalina (10.15) or later

    • Compatible with both Intel (x86_64) and Apple Silicon (ARM64) architectures

Hardware Requirements#

  • Host system with 2 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended)

  • At least 100 MB of free disk space

  • USB 2.0/3.0 interface

  • Segger J-Link debugger for SWD/JTAG programming

  • Optional: USB-UART bridge (for serial communication, e.g., CP210x or FTDI)

  • SiWG917 Evaluation Kit (EVK) or module

Software Requirements#

  • SEGGER J-Link drivers (required for programming and debugging)

  • libusb for Linux/macOS platforms

    sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0-0

Note: The Segger J-Link drivers are included with the Simplicity Commander CLI; you do not need to install them separately.

Commander CLI Compatibility#

  • Always use the latest version of Simplicity Commander to ensure compatibility with SiWG917 devices and firmware image formats.

  • Older Commander versions may not support new RPS structures or combined image functionality.

Optional Tools#

  • Simplicity Studio: A GUI-based IDE that integrates with Commander for visual workflows.

  • Python 3.x: Enables scripting of Commander commands for automated manufacturing and testing.

Reference#

Official Simplicity Commander documentation:
https://docs.silabs.com/simplicity-commander/latest/simplicity-commander-start/