nRF52832 not running standalone, only running when debugging active

I recently purchased an nRF52832 (XL52832-D01) for a wearables power management project. To test the module I flashed the basic blinky (zephyr). I'm using a ST-Link V2 as I current am already over budget to get a J-Link or SEGGER. I'm using VS paired with openOCD for flashing onto the module, which has been successful. I, however, then noticed that the code only runs when in debugging mode, once removed from the ST-Link and externally powered, I cannot get the board/code to run. Based on some similar issues I have read, I've tried implementing the recommended solution to no success.

DC/DC - I've disabled it in my board overlay but based on further reading this is most likely not implemented in the basic blinky and shouldn't be the issue.
P0.21/RESET - I've configured P0.21 to act as the manual reset pin, which does work, but again, only when running in the debugging mode. I've also pulled the pin up through a 10K resistor.
Clock Configuration - Some suggest that the issue could be based on a clock failure (my board does have an external clock) and switching to an internal clock, which I've also tried to no success. 

At the point of posting this, the only solution I haven't explored is adding decoupling capacitors which my current module might not have. I've attached an image of the type of module that I'm currently working with. 

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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  • Hi 

    Does your board use LDO as you have disabled DC/DC?
    If so try to enable it the following way

    &reg { regulator-initial-mode = <NRF5X_REG_MODE_LDO>; };

    Which version of NCS are you using? 
    in general our DK have a number of Kconfig set in the boards files to match the DK which might not be a valid configuration if your using the dk a bord target for your application

    Regards

    Runar

  • Thank you for the response Runar.

    nRF Connect SDK 3.2.4
    nRF Connect SDK Toolchain 3.2.4
    openOCD 0.12.0
    ST-Link V2

    I finally managed to get a working solution, as far as I've tested. You are quite correct in your response in changing the regulator mode from DC/DC to LDO, a step which I thought I had completed by implementing it in the board overlay. I will try and link some of the sources that helped. As seen in Picture 1, I created a board overlay specific to my current hardware, cleaned and rebuilt but still got the same bahaviour. Harvey.Zhang in another similar thread with an nRF52840 ( My nRF52840 Module keeps resetting after I changing the mode to LDO ) experienced a similar issue in which he solved it by also changing the regulator code in the .dts file. 

    Picture 1

    I found the same .dts file with my specific board in the device tree and also changed the regulator to LDO (Picture 2)


    Picture 2

    Also important to note is that the module I am using does not have the components to support DC/DC, so it would be best to change to LDO to prevent any further damage before flashing you firmware. There are several unpopulated areas (Picture 3) which I hope will not affect BLE function.


    Picture 3

  • Hi 

    I would recommend that you change this in the overlay in your application rather then changing the dts for the 52dk. In general we always recommend that you create a custom board target that matches the HW for your board, as the mentioned DK might have different components then your board

    Regards

    Runar

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