UART not working with nRF52840DK and Thread coprocessor (merged.hex is not generated)

RE: UART not working with nRF52840DK and Thread coprocessor (merged.hex is not generated)

runsiv — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 13:03:31 GMT

I agree it can be a bit confusing, but I'm happy to hear you were able to get everything running.

Don't hesitate to create new tickets if you have questions or face any troubles in the future.

Regards

Runar

RE: UART not working with nRF52840DK and Thread coprocessor (merged.hex is not generated)

beczike — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 07:32:47 GMT

Dear Runar,

Thanks again for the suggestion. I was under the impression that I was supposed to see some output with UART, so I just tried the steps you mentioned.

For me at least, the documentation from Nordic is confusing:

- The documentation (developer.nordicsemi.com/.../tools.html talks about the ot-cli, ot-ctl and ot-daemon applications

- However, ot-cli is generated by compiling the OpenThread project, while ot-ctl and ot-daemon are compiled in the nRF Connect SDK

Maybe the aspects above should be clarified in the documentation.

As a result, the last steps, at least for me are mixing the two SDKs: https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/protocols/thread/tools.html#running-the-openthread-posix-applications

In any case, I have tried using the ot-cli, with the following output:

bela@bgenge-l:~/openthread$ sudo ./build/posix/src/posix/ot-cli 'spinel+hdlc+uart:///dev/ttyACM0?uart-baudrate=1000000' --verbose
./build/posix/src/posix/ot-cli[4767]: Running OPENTHREAD/d62167ee3; POSIX; Oct 17 2023 09:01:12
./build/posix/src/posix/ot-cli[4767]: Thread version: 4
./build/posix/src/posix/ot-cli[4767]: Thread interface:
./build/posix/src/posix/ot-cli[4767]: RCP version: OPENTHREAD/d5a6630a8; Zephyr; Oct 17 2023 10:06:07
>

Then, as a next step I was also able to run the OTBR as documented here: https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/protocols/thread/tools.html#running-otbr-using-docker

I am also able to access the Web interfave, and getting OK for the Thread Border Agent:

Oct 17 07:20:32 70f938c51dc3 otbr-agent[186]: [INFO]-BA------: Start Thread Border Agent: OK

So, at the end, I think that I was a bit confused by the documentation, but now I also managed to run the OTBR, so I guess everything is ok.

Thank you for your help, things are much clearer now for me 🙂

RE: UART not working with nRF52840DK and Thread coprocessor (merged.hex is not generated)

runsiv — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 12:43:08 GMT

Did you do the following steps from the last link:

Regards

Runar

RE: UART not working with nRF52840DK and Thread coprocessor (merged.hex is not generated)

beczike — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 11:59:48 GMT

Thanks again for the details, however, I do not see anything new. Here are more details on the steps that I perform:

Build command: west build -b nrf52840dk_nrf52840 -- -DOVERLAY_CONFIG:STRING="overlay-logging.conf"

Program command: ./nrfjprog -f nrf52 -s 683488383 --verify --chiperase --program ./zephyr.hex --reset

Then check communication, but without anything showing up on the CLI: minicom -D /dev/ttyACM0 -b 115200

Welcome to minicom 2.9

OPTIONS: I18n
Compiled on Sep 23 2023, 19:55:08.
Port /dev/ttyACM0, 14:56:32

Press CTRL-A Z for help on special keys

RE: UART not working with nRF52840DK and Thread coprocessor (merged.hex is not generated)

runsiv — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 11:53:32 GMT

I'm sorry, I switched things up, you need to include the overlay-logging.conf. Add the following to your build command "-DOVERLAY_CONFIG:STRING="overlay-logging.conf""

Logging goes over RTT and not UART, and if you want to interact with the RCP you have to run a Openthread POSIX application developer.nordicsemi.com/.../tools.html

Regards

Runar

RE: UART not working with nRF52840DK and Thread coprocessor (merged.hex is not generated)

beczike — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 11:31:36 GMT

Thank you for the quick response.

To build the sample I ran: west build -b nrf52840dk_nrf52840

In the sample folder I could not find a particular overlay for this board. This is the contents of my sample folder:

boards CMakeLists.txt Kconfig overlay-debug.conf overlay-logging.conf overlay-usb.conf overlay-vendor_hook.conf prj.conf README.rst sample.yaml src usb.overlay

Can you please provide an example build instruction that you used?

RE: UART not working with nRF52840DK and Thread coprocessor (merged.hex is not generated)

runsiv — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 11:21:47 GMT

Hi,

Is example should not build any merged hex as there no other image. The sample demonstrates using a co-processor target on the MCU to communicate with `ot-cli` on Unix-like operating system.
According to the co-processor architecture, the MCU part must cooperate with user higher layer process to establish the complete full stack application.
The sample shows how to set up the connection between the co-processor and the host.

Did you build it with the overlay for the nRF-52840dk? I tested it and I had UART working

Regards

Runar