Program bluetooth for nrf51822 yunjia board with STLink-v2

[ben b.]

Hello everyone,

i'm kinda new to microcontroller programming and feel like i bit of more than i can chew. I bought a variant of the nrf51822 chip (github.com/.../Board:-yunjia-nrf51822) and thought it would be easier to get it to run with BLE.

For the start I wanted to run the example programs provided in Keil from Nordic, since I don't have the Nordic Developer board, programming seems to be a bit more challenging. Following different guides that support my available resources like STLink-V2, using SWD andOpenOCD seemed most promising. Using the following:

openocd -f interface/stlink-v2.cfg  -f target/nrf51.cfg   or
openocd cat -f C:/openocd/openocd-0.9.0/tcl/RIOT/boards/yunjia-nrf51822/dist/openocd.cfg

and

telnet 127.0.0.1 4444
halt
nrf51 mass_erase
flash write_image erase "../ble_app_hrs.hex" 0
reset

With this the nrf is programmed, I bought the BLE400 board later since I couldnt be sure that the programming worked and also because I thought it would make programming easier (what was wrong). The blinky example (\ARM\Device\Nordic\nRF51822\Board\PCA10001\blinky_example\arm\blinky.uvproj) is working, so I know the programming is ok.

What isn't working are bluetooth examples. I try to get ble_app_hrs.hex running, which as I understand needs the softdevice programmed additionally. I had some orientation from here: devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../

But it seems softdevice (I tried s110_nrf51_8.0.0_softdevice.hex) just gets overwritten when using:

program softdevice.hex

program app.hex

reset

or vice versa.

So the normal functionality of the bluetooth heart rate example doesn't seem to work, no leds are blinking. Functionality: devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../group__ble__sdk__app__hrs__eval.html

I don't get any errors, the programming seems to run normally. Does anyone have a tip how get BLE running on this chip?

Or do I have to buy a new programming device? A problem is that I do not have any debugging feedback to see what went wrong.

My setup:

Chip description: N51822, QFAAC0, 1311AH

[nick]

Take a look here. I posted a link to stackexchange with all the steps to program a board with keil Link

Keil provides everything to program the board

If you want to use the ble part. You first need to flash the softdevice. If you then flash you own code you need to flash only the part that isnt used by the softdevice or you will erase it from the flash. Take a look at the softdevice specification for more information. In Keil you can use "Erase full chip" for the softdevice, and "Erase selected" for your own code.

[ben b.]

Hey nick, I tried to program the chip like it was told here: http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/175878/how-do-i-get-a-chinese-nrf51822-development-kit-running-examples-with-an-st-link Though it is good to know that Keil gives me the opportunity to program easily, the hrs examples (s130 from keil nordic pack or s110 from sdk 8.0.0) still don't work. After flashing and resetting the program, LED03 and LED04 are constant on. Any idea, went something wrong with the softdevice again?

[nick]

Hello

First try if Keil flashes your program right. Try some of the examples with ble and check with de toolbox app if the work. If the ble works the right way you can try to locate why your leds are constant on.

If the ble doesn't work. I would check if you use the right settings mentioned at stackexchange. Also check your chip code if you use the right SDK version en softdevice Compatibility Matrix

Nick

[ben b.]

I tried multiple ble examples, the matrix says s110 and s130 are compatible with the BLE 400 and nrf51822. I still cant find the device with MCP or Toolbox on my iPad mini (should have a name right?). Some examples also seem to work with one blinking LED, still no advertized device in the lists. Could it be, that I have to adjust the target options (e.g. to nrf51822, although it says its ok with nrf51422 in the link) or that I need to give credit to the fact, that it is a cheap chinese board? ([http://riot-os.org/api/group__boards__yunjia-nrf51822.html])

[Anders Strand]

Yo. Can you post a link to the exact device you have? The SDK examples are made for the DK, and do not always run out of the box with other boards. There exists three chip revisions, and the custom boards do not always have an external 32 Khz oscillator. The SDK examples use this oscillator, and will hang if it is not present.

[ben b.]

I have this one: yunjia nrf51822 -> github.com/.../Board:-yunjia-nrf51822 It is the NRF51822QFAA variant I think.