µVISION: Why is the "Big Endian" checkbox greyed-out?

Information in this knowledgebase article applies to:

• MDK v5.x
• Cortex-M devices

QUESTION

I'm working with a Cortex-M4 based evaluation board. I found out in µVision Options for Target - Target - Big Endian option is greyed-out, as shown in this screenshot.

How can I enable this Big Endian option?

ANSWER

As summarized here (Data endianness: Little-endian or big-endian), unlike legacy ARM cores, the Cortex-M endianness of the device is permanently set by the silicon vendor and cannot be changed by user for a device.

Since your device is designed for and can only use little-endian, µVision prevents you from changing it.

See The device vendors Data Sheet or Reference Manual to find out if a chip is designed to use little-endian or big-endian ordering.

MORE INFORMATION

• Refer to Cortex-M0 implementation options
• Refer to Cortex-M3 implementation options
• Refer to Cortex-M4 implementation options
• Refer to Cortex-M7 processor options

Last Reviewed: Tuesday, November 24, 2020