Custom Board is not doing anything (JFlash + Connect SDK 2.4.0)

[Basti_Klein]

I was an Arduino user for many years but thanks to the Xiao nrf52840 board from Seeed I completely fell in love with Nordic products. This is the reason why I tapped into new water and for the first time ever designed a custom board using the nrf52840 chip. I encountered a road block and maybe someone could point me to the right direction.

Custom board: The custom board is basically just a breakout board for most of the pins (plus a hall sensor and rfm95w lora chip). I copied the "Circuit configuration no. 6 for QIAA aQFN73".

My code: I use the nrf Connect SDK 2.4.0 and created a new board (using vscode plugin) based on the 52840 chip. My main.c just toggles a pin 26 (P0.26 // G1) HIGH every 2 seconds. No errors appear when I click on 'Build'.

Flashing the software: I have a J-link probe and are using the JFlash tool to

1. connect to the board using SWD (Found 1 JTAG device. Core ID: 0x2BA01477 (None) - Connected successfully)
2. Drag and drop the zephyr.hex file into JFlash and hit "Production programming"

Output:

Opening data file [/Users/basti/nrf_projects/hello_world/build/zephyr/zephyr.hex] ... - Data file opened successfully (33292 bytes, 1 range, CRC of data = 0x215175CE, CRC of file = 0x1ADB6364) Auto programming target (33292 bytes, 1 range) ... - Checking if selected data fits into selected flash sectors. - Start of preparing flash programming - End of preparing flash programming - Start of determining dirty areas in flash cache - End of determining dirty areas - CPU speed could not be measured. - Start of erasing sectors - Blank checking 0x00000000 - 0x00008FFF - Erasing range 0x00000000 - 0x00008FFF ( 9 Sectors, 36 KB) - End of erasing sectors - Start of flash programming - Programming range 0x00000000 - 0x00007FFF ( 8 Sectors, 32 KB) - Programming range 0x00008000 - 0x00008FFF ( 1 Sector, 4 KB) - End of flash programming - Flash programming performed for 1 range (36864 bytes) - 0x0000 - 0x8FFF ( 9 Sectors, 36 KB) - Start of verifying flash - End of verifying flash - Start of restoring - End of restoring - Executing exit sequence ... - De-initialized successfully - Target erased, programmed and verified successfully - Completed after 1.166 sec Starting application ...

So far so good. But here comes the problem.

Problem: Nothing happens on pin 26. I tried to measure some voltage changes, but nothing happens. As I am a beginner I am pretty sure that the error is me. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Here the code:

#include <zephyr/kernel.h>
#include <hal/nrf_gpio.h>
#include <nrfx_systick.h>

#define g1 26

void main(void)
{
nrf_gpio_cfg_output(g1);

while (true)
{
nrf_gpio_pin_set(g1);
nrfx_systick_delay_ms(2000);
nrf_gpio_pin_clear(g1);
nrfx_systick_delay_ms(2000);
}
}

[JONATHAN LL]

Hi,

I will try to help you here. 


I do see a potential down the line issue that will effect the quality of the radio performance. So for some later reading pleas check out my reply here: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/98199/matching-network-placement-and-routing-ble-antenna-routing . We also preform reviews if you want some help with the radio\antenna section and some other Nordic specific things. 


But first, could you share the schematic, so that I can have a look at the pins and see that all is ok. 

Regards,
Jonathan

[Basti_Klein]

Hi Jonathan,

thanks for the fast reply and the provided link. Indeed my radio setup is not ideal. Will improve further here for sure!

Attached you find the schematic for this project. I tried to be as close to the reference (no.6) design as possible. Really appreciate your time and effort helping me.

Best

Basti

Schematic_Nrf52840 QIAA aQFN73 (no.6) Modul_2023-07-04_basti.pdf

[JONATHAN LL]

Mostly looks ok, I want to comment on one thing here and that it that the 32MHz crystal, you have what seems to be the correct pins but often the at least one of the extra pins on the crystal should be connected to ground. 

But looks like it should work from a HW standpoint. 


When you mad your project did you use VS code and the nRF Connect addon ? 

You might want to look at the how to add a custom board here: https://nrfconnect.github.io/vscode-nrf-connect/guides/bd_work_with_boards.html#how-to-add-a-custom-board 
https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/zephyr/develop/application/index.html#custom-board-devicetree-and-soc-definitions 
https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/zephyr/hardware/porting/board_porting.html#board-porting-guide 


If you are building for the 5240DK then you can create an overlay for the pins that you use for on your board as an option. 

Regards,
Jonathan

[Basti_Klein]

Ok, I think I understand where the issue is. I designed the board with the smallest trace and via width JLCPCB can provide. But I read multiple times now that this is not advisable and can result in unpredictable behavior. I will redesign my board and test again. Thanks for your time Jonathan!

[JONATHAN LL]

Thanks for updating! But could you also update us when you have the new revision of your boards, so that we can know that that in fact was the issue. 

And always feel free to ask for anything and we will do our best to help. 

Regards,
Jonathan