Running simple project with Softdevice and SDK 17.1.0

[Syntima_Chris]

Hello,

I am developing a new application using nRF52832 and writing and debugging code on Segger embedded studio (Release 5.68) with SDK v17.1.0. 

I try to run simple application like the one below:

-------------------------

int main(void)

{

SEGGER_RTT_printf(0, "firmware started\n");

while(1)

{

 SEGGER_RTT_printf(0, "test\n");

nrf_delay_ms(1000);

}

}

--------------------

The application has been tested on both development kit board and my own board with same result. When I display RTT terminal, I get straigth away 7 messages "test" and then no more messages like if microcontroller when to sleep. 

I have two questions:

1) nrf_delay_ms doesn't operate correctly. I ahev already read some thread about this issue but none of what I read helped me. Any suggestions?

2) Is there any necessary code to keep awake micro in the main loop like idle_state_handle() function etc...

Thank you for your help

[Syntima_Chris]

Hi, I have moved a step forward. First of all, I got a nrf52832 dev kit and run simple blinky example using sdk 17.1.0 without any problems. I am now moving to my own custom board. 

I have 1 LED (IO_13) and 3 test_pins (IO_29 to 31) I can easily use to start running simple project. Unfortunately, I have not been able to see any gpio toggling right now. 

I have created my custom board, and modify simply blinky example to match with my board. I can run program step by step and can through assembly code, but none of the GPIOs toggle. 

If you have any suggestions for my next steps, it would be helpful :-)

[Edvin]

Hello,

Are you sure you have mapped the GPIOs correctly? That your IO_13 is connected to P0.13 on the nRF? And if you run the same application on the DK, does the corresponding GPIOs toggle? On your custom board, do you have an LFXTAL? If not, have you told your application that it doesn't have it?

If you flash the softdevice and a BLE sample, do you see any advertisements?

Best regards,

Edvin

[Syntima_Chris]

I have a ublox dev kit on hand. I have ran simple blinky app on the kit and have same issue than with my custom board. I guess there is something simple to fix in configuration of the project. Looking deeper in project configuration ...

[Syntima_Chris]

I think I found the issue. I use a ublox chip on my custom board and realized that ublox remapped gpios to different pin numbers. I am now able to toggle LEDs on the ublox dev kit. :-)

[Edvin]

I am glad you found the cause of the issue! Best of luck with the rest of the development

Best regards,

Edvin

[Syntima_Chris]

Quick question for my understanding: why sdk_config.h file is different between examples. When we are building project with BLE, UART, SPI and so on, how can we trust any examples !!!! and documentation !!!!

[Edvin]

Hello Christophe,

I agree that this file can be a bit confusing. And yes, it varies between the examples. 

The thing is that there is nothing magical about this file. It is just a file containing a lot of #define statements. When you are pulling features from one application example into another, you typically first start with the .c and .h files that define the functions that you want to use, and include them in your project. Then you may see that the functions are not declared even though you included the file. Take for example nrfx_clock.c, you added it to your project, but still it can't find the definition for any of the functions defined inside that file, such as nrfx_clock_init().

If you look close to the top of that file, you will see the line:

#if NRFX_CHECK(NRFX_CLOCK_ENABLED)

This checks if:

1: NRFX_CLOCK_ENABLED is defined, and,

2: NRFX_CLOCK_ENABLED is set to anything other than 0.

Now, to "activate" this file, you need to set NRFX_CLOCK_ENABLED to 1. You can look for it in the sdk_config.h of the file in your current application, but if you can't find it there, you can copy it from the application that you are copying from. 

I like to include everything that looks related to the driver/library that I am trying to import, so in this case, I would copy this chunk from the application that I was looking at into my own application:

// <e> NRFX_CLOCK_ENABLED - nrfx_clock - CLOCK peripheral driver
//==========================================================
#ifndef NRFX_CLOCK_ENABLED
#define NRFX_CLOCK_ENABLED 1
#endif
// <o> NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_LF_SRC  - LF Clock Source
 
// <0=> RC 
// <1=> XTAL 
// <2=> Synth 
// <131073=> External Low Swing 
// <196609=> External Full Swing 

#ifndef NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_LF_SRC
#define NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_LF_SRC 1
#endif

// <o> NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_IRQ_PRIORITY  - Interrupt priority
 
// <0=> 0 (highest) 
// <1=> 1 
// <2=> 2 
// <3=> 3 
// <4=> 4 
// <5=> 5 
// <6=> 6 
// <7=> 7 

#ifndef NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_IRQ_PRIORITY
#define NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_IRQ_PRIORITY 6
#endif

// <e> NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_LOG_ENABLED - Enables logging in the module.
//==========================================================
#ifndef NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_LOG_ENABLED
#define NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_LOG_ENABLED 0
#endif
// <o> NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_LOG_LEVEL  - Default Severity level
 
// <0=> Off 
// <1=> Error 
// <2=> Warning 
// <3=> Info 
// <4=> Debug 

#ifndef NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_LOG_LEVEL
#define NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_LOG_LEVEL 3
#endif

// <o> NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_INFO_COLOR  - ANSI escape code prefix.
 
// <0=> Default 
// <1=> Black 
// <2=> Red 
// <3=> Green 
// <4=> Yellow 
// <5=> Blue 
// <6=> Magenta 
// <7=> Cyan 
// <8=> White 

#ifndef NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_INFO_COLOR
#define NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_INFO_COLOR 0
#endif

// <o> NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_DEBUG_COLOR  - ANSI escape code prefix.
 
// <0=> Default 
// <1=> Black 
// <2=> Red 
// <3=> Green 
// <4=> Yellow 
// <5=> Blue 
// <6=> Magenta 
// <7=> Cyan 
// <8=> White 

#ifndef NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_DEBUG_COLOR
#define NRFX_CLOCK_CONFIG_DEBUG_COLOR 0
#endif

// </e>

// </e>

The <e> and <o> stuff is not strictly necessary, but Keil IDE has a tool that can be used to parse these files, and it uses these to understand how to present it. 

Please note that if you are struggling with enabling something, then you should be aware that there is a file called apply_old_config.h, and it checks for duplicates between the old legacy names and the "new" nrfx driver names. So if both are present, then the old name, without NRFX will be the one that becomes valid, and "overwrite" the new one.

Best regards,

Edvin