Little File System (LittleFS) Debugging and Error Handling#

The Little File System (LittleFS) includes robust mechanisms for detecting and managing errors that can occur during development or runtime.
This section provides practical debugging strategies and an overview of common error codes returned by LittleFS and related system components when used on SiWx917.

Common Debugging Tips#

Debugging LittleFS requires attention to system logs, return values, and the implementation of block device operations.
The following best practices can help you identify and resolve issues efficiently.

1. Inspect Return Codes and Handle Errors#

• All LittleFS API functions return negative error codes when operations fail.

• These error codes correspond to the lfs_error enumeration in lfs.h or to error values returned by user-implemented block device functions.

• Always check the return code after each LittleFS operation.

2. Enable and Analyze Debug Messages#

Enabling debug messages in LittleFS provides valuable insight into its internal operations, such as block reads, writes, erases, and synchronization.
These logs help developers identify inconsistencies, performance bottlenecks, or faults in the storage layer.

3. Verify block device operations#

Confirm that user-provided functions for read, program (prog), erase, and sync are correctly implemented and interact reliably with the underlying storage.

Common issues include incorrect addressing, caching mismatches, or failure to flush data.

• If your storage device caches writes, ensure the sync function flushes data to non-volatile memory and guarantees that subsequent reads return the correct data.

• Misconfigured or unreliable block device operations can lead to corruption or instability in the file system.

Error Code Handling#

LittleFS and related system components return error codes that describe the outcome of an operation. Use these codes to identify and resolve issues effectively.

The following table lists common error codes and their meanings.

The first group comes from LittleFS, and the second group corresponds to Silicon Labs status codes.