nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

rockerderek — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 23:33:23 GMT

Hi Jared,

I'm having a similar problem. I'm trying to use SDK 2.3.0 nrf/samples/bluetooth/direct_test_mode with built-in USB on nRF5340 or the UART-to-USB virtual COM port with an FTDI cable that has a TC2030 connector on the end, but that hasn't worked.

The TC2030 connector looks like this on our PCB:

6242.TC2030-MCP-NL.pdf

Based on this document DTM for DUT

Our UART_DBG_TX pin is P0.28 and the UART_DBG_RX pin is P0.27. Do I need to edit the nrf5340dk_nrf5340_cpunet-pinctrl.dtsi file like so?

And do I add CONFIG_DTM_USB=y to my prj.conf file without adding any files like zephyr/drivers/usbc.h or other code to use DTM on my custom board via USB? I also added CONFIG_CLOCK_CONTROL_NRF_K32SRC_RC=y to the prj.conf file since we don't have an external 32KHz oscillator between X1 and X2. Is there anything else I need to do to make the nRF Connect DTM app on my Windows 10 PC work with my custom board?

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 00:27:57 GMT

Hi,

The issue turned out to be a hardware problem without any apparent cause.

My H/W engineer did equip 32MHz Xtal with wrong direction.
The direct test mode example is working on my custom board now.

Please close this ticket.

BR
Paul

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

Jared — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 13:52:56 GMT

Hi,

I see so you're setup is basically this:

I misunderstood you, I didn't understand that you had already had a spectrum analyzer for testing, I thought that you wanted to use the DK as a tester, but I now understand that you have a spectrum analyzer for testing. What kind of spectrum analyzer is it? The nRF Connect DTM sw is made to be used with a development kit as a tester, if you're using a spectrum analyzer such as a Anritsu then you have to use the scripts that are made by the manufacturer of that spectrum analyzer,

regards

Jared

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 03:15:53 GMT

Hi
Please find my configuration for certification.
IF DUT is replaced with DK, DTM test result is OK

BR
Paul

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

Jared — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 14:00:29 GMT

Paul,

The computer is indeed running nRF Connect DTM but you still need either a Anritsu or a DK as a tester. I think it would be good if you could share a picture or a sketch that shows how you have setup the test, it would clarify any confusions.

Thank you,

regards

Jared

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 12:46:34 GMT

Hi,

DUT has UART interface connected to PC or Anritus as Fig 2 you attached.
And dtm example should be programed into DUT after modifying UART configuration.

This dtm example is not interworking with nRF connect DTM directly?
Computer in Fig 2 is not nRF connect DTM?

BR
Paul

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

Jared — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 14:11:53 GMT

Hi,

[quote user="paul0208"]I want to do DTM test for my custom board by nRF Connect DTM directly. not thru DK board.
[/quote]

This is not supported, you either have to use a DK or a Anritsu as a production tester. This is described in the app note I shared earlier:

[quote user="paul0208"]My board use 1.8V. Can I program this board by nRF52840 DK or nRF52832 DK ?[/quote]

From the documentation:

Note: The voltage supported by external debugging/programming is VDD voltage. Normally, this is 3 V when running from USB, but if the onboard nRF52840 SoC is supplied from either USB or Li-Ion, the nRF power source switch (SW9) is in either Li-Po or USB position, and VDD can be set by the nRF52840 firmware. Make sure the voltage level of the external board matches the VDD of the nRF52840 DK.

regards

Jared

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 06:29:08 GMT

Hi,
My board use 1.8V. Can I program this board by nRF52840 DK or nRF52832 DK ?

BR
Paul

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 14:37:07 GMT

Hi,
I want to do DTM test for my custom board by nRF Connect DTM directly. not thru DK board.

This is my history to test

1. I have modified example source code of UART, and compile and upload to my custom board.
2. but nRF Connect DTM app did not recognize my custom board. I found "Communication Error"
3. So, I made this ticket. "nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device."
4. To exclude my custom board's H/W problem, I wanted to test DK board first.
5. After compile example WITHOUT any modify and upload to DK board, but nRF Connect DTM can not recognize uploaded F/W on DK board as I mentioned before.

I want to test my custom board by nRF Connect DTM directly thru USB UART.

BR
Paul

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

Jared — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 11:09:59 GMT

[quote user="paul0208"]You said nRF5SDK original example should work on DK board. It is correct or not?[/quote]

That is correct, the unmodified example should work on the DK, but you were mentioning custom board as well, so I understood it as you wanted to do DTM test on your custom board using the DK as a tester.

[quote user="paul0208"]I have modify DTM example to fit UART pin for my custom board, but nRF Connect DTM can not recognize my custom board, *communication error*.
[/quote]

nRF Connect shouldn't be connected to your custom board, it should be connected to your DK if I have understood what you want to do correctly.

Can you clarify what you want to do? Do you want to use the DK as a tester and perform DTM test on your custom boad?

regards

Jared

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 15:19:26 GMT

Hi, Jared

You said nRF5SDK original example should work on DK board. It is correct or not?

I have modify DTM example to fit UART pin for my custom board, but nRF Connect DTM can not recognize my custom board, *communication error*.

OK. I will do this again.

static void uart_init(void)

{

uint32_t err_code;

const app_uart_comm_params_t comm_params =

{

NRF_GPIO_PIN_MAP(0,12), // RX_PIN_NUMBER,

NRF_GPIO_PIN_MAP(1,9), // TX_PIN_NUMBER,

NRF_GPIO_PIN_MAP(1,16), // RTS_PIN_NUMBER,

NRF_GPIO_PIN_MAP(1,15), // CTS_PIN_NUMBER,

APP_UART_FLOW_CONTROL_DISABLED,

false,

DTM_BITRATE

};

APP_UART_FIFO_INIT(&comm_params,

UART_RX_BUF_SIZE,

UART_TX_BUF_SIZE,

uart_error_handle,

APP_IRQ_PRIORITY_LOWEST,

err_code);

APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);

}

BR
Paul

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

Jared — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 13:48:59 GMT

[quote user="paul0208"]I have download nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560 newly for clarify.
And, compile at nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560\examples\dtm\direct_test_mode\pca10056\blank\armgcc without modify.
I program the compiled hex file to my DK 52840 DK board and run "Direct Test Mode" App on nRF Connect for desktop. But I found as follow error popup window

When I press Program button, "Direct test Mode" App updates my DK board by some binary automatically.
Start Test is OK

I did not modify dtm example.[/quote]

I think I need to clarify how the DTM test should be run. There is several options for running a DTM test, one of the options is to use a development kit as a tester. You have the development kit where you flash the software from the nRF Connect DTM, and then you have the device that you want to test, where you flash the DTM example from the SDK. The picture that you shared is not an error, but it is telling you that the device that you want to use as a tester doesn't have the proper DTM tester application programmed.

You need to:

Flash the Development kit with the nRF Connect DTM application.
Modify the DTM example from the nRF5SDK so that the UART pins fits your custom board, and then flash it to your custom board.
Perform DTM test

See this note for more information.

regards

Jared

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 02:45:20 GMT

Hi,
I know that a support engineer has been assigned to this ticket.
When can I get the support?

BR
Paul

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 14:30:08 GMT

After update the DK board, I have read back DK board program again.

But compiled binary of example as follow.

Some different between good and bad.

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 14:22:13 GMT

Hi,

Thanks for reply.

I have download nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560 newly for clarify.
And, compile at nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560\examples\dtm\direct_test_mode\pca10056\blank\armgcc without modify.
I program the compiled hex file to my DK 52840 DK board and run "Direct Test Mode" App on nRF Connect for desktop. But I found as follow error popup window

When I press Program button, "Direct test Mode" App updates my DK board by some binary automatically.
Start Test is OK

I did not modify dtm example.

BR
Paul

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

Jared — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 11:30:30 GMT

[quote user="paul0208"]How and what can I modify the main.c in dtm example code to run on DK board?[/quote]

The unmodified example should work on our development kit, you don't need to modify it.

[quote user="paul0208"]My custom boad is connected to PC by port p1.9 and p0.12 thu USB-uart converter.[/quote]

Then you need to replace RX_PIN_NUMBER and TX_PIN_NUMBER in uart_init() with these pins,

[quote user="paul0208"]Do I have to use RTS and CTS to use "DTM tool"?[/quote]

The unmodified example do not use Hardware Flow Control so it's not required if you don't modify this.

regards

Jared

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 00:12:55 GMT

Do I have to use RTS and CTS to use "DTM tool"?

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 22:47:24 GMT

My custom boad is connected to PC by port p1.9 and p0.12 thu USB-uart converter.

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 14:04:22 GMT

Hi,
How and what can I modify the main.c in dtm example code to run on DK board?
BR
Paul

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

Jared — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 13:42:20 GMT

Hi,

[quote user="paul0208"]When I apply my dtm code to DK board after modify UART config of main.c, it does not work.[/quote]

It won't work to switch pins on the DK since P0.06 and P0.08 is connected to the interface chip on the development kit via UART and the interface chip push the data to the USB port, it acts as a UART-to-USB bridge between the interface chip and the nRF52840. Switching pins will therefore not work on the DK.

You switched the UART pins to the P0.12 and P1.9 and connected CTS and RTS on your custom board and it still didn't work?

Can you tell me how everything is connected to your custom board?

regards

Jared

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 13:06:34 GMT

When I apply my dtm code to DK board after modify UART config of main.c, it does not work.
"DTM tool" can not detect my DTM S/W on DK board,
DTM tool" try to update the DK with pre-compiled dtm binary.

"DTM tool" think DK board's F/W is not DTM S/W, even though I program my dtm code to DK board.

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 12:55:47 GMT

Hi, Jared,

My custom board does not use P0.6 and P0.8.
That is way that I did not apply pre-compiled binary on my custom board.

Yes,
I modify this structure for my custom board.

BR
Paul

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

Jared — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 09:06:52 GMT

Hi,

[quote user=""]But, Direct test Mode appl do upgrade nrf52840 DK board firmware to some binary(maybe pre-compiled version by Nordic)
And DTM test is success by your binary.[/quote]

What do you mean, it works when using the pre compiled binaries on your custom board but it doesn't work when you use your modified code?

[quote user="paul0208"]For DTM, do I have to assign RTS/CTS pin?[/quote]

Here:

regards

Jared

RE: nRF52840 DTM Can not communicate with my custom device.

paul0208 — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 08:50:48 GMT

For DTM, do I have to assign RTS/CTS pin?