Config and Pinout

RE: Config and Pinout

Simonr — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 06:51:04 GMT

Hi again Stein

What kind of sample are you looking for here? We don't test specifically with RAK boards since they are a third party module. But the low power sample projects in the previously linked DevAcademy course showcase how to put the device in a low power mode. Repos for that can be found here: https://github.com/NordicDeveloperAcademy/bt-lowpow

Regarding the example you got from RAK, what nRF Connect SDK version is this based on? If it's not too long ago, migrating to a newer SDK version that supports the newer PM routines should be possible.

If you want to send us a couple of modules so we can try on our end, that's something we can do as well. It's hard for us to guess to what this 950µA comes from without having the HW ourselves.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: Config and Pinout

SteinC — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:05:56 GMT

Hi, we have removed all io units from the Wisboard, measured the wisboard separate to 6 microamps, put the RAK4361 back in, still not gotten under 950µA. Got an example referred to us by RAK on Git but its to old using old PM routines. So we are struggling. Would be great to get a small example to verify that we understand the docs correctly.

RE: Config and Pinout

Simonr — Fri, 22 May 2026 11:11:35 GMT

Hei Stein

Takk for ærlige tilbakemeldinger!

I'll continue in English since other users might read this as it is a public ticket.

Regarding sleep and optimizing current consumption. With the nRF52840, the idle current consumption should be in the single digit µA range, even in power ON idle. Drawing 900+µA means something external is most likely running, as very few of the peripherals on the nRF52840 are able to draw that much power. I assume this is the whole system's current consumption, correct?

We released a Power optimization course on DevAcademy here https://academy.nordicsemi.com/courses/designing-low-power-bluetooth-le-products/lessons/lesson-1-power-consumption-essentials/?version=v3.3.0 and also have the optimization recommendations from our documentation pages here: https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/ncs-latest/page/nrf/test_and_optimize/optimizing/power_general.html

In the Zephyr RTOS, the application should move to the idle thread (low power) as long as nothing else in the application is requesting any clocks/peripherals. So I assume either the microphone, SD card, or similar is left running in your application causing this 900µA current consumption.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: Config and Pinout

SteinC — Fri, 22 May 2026 10:03:52 GMT

Hi, we seem to have established that there is no routine for LoRa sleep in Zephyr. Is that correct or do you have a workaorund?

RE: Config and Pinout

SteinC — Fri, 15 May 2026 16:11:35 GMT

Hei, skriver på norsk siden ikke alt jeg skriver er god reklame for dere og jeg vil dere egentlig alt godt. Ganske imponert at dere har klart dere så bra i den sterke konkurransen som er på dette markedet. Dere var faktisk min kunde på slutten av 80 tallet :-) Så da skjønner du sikkert at jeg ikke er helt nybegynner, selv om jeg har hatt roller som ikke direkte har vært å utvikle. Men litt kritikk: de pio som dere sender til meg er faktisk ikke korrekte, vi måtte til et referanseprpsjekt på RAK for å finne ut at det 04 og 21 som er riktig pinout på SD i vår config. Og i søken i databasen deres på PDM issues så har dere spørsmål som er 9år gamle som ikke er besvart !!! Ikke akkurat god reklame!! Det kan dere fikse lett!!. Så vår condig kjører komfortabelt nå, men vi sliter litt med strømforbruk. Pt , så klarer vi ikke få sleep til under 950 µA med Zephyr Sleep. Har dere noe referansetall på denne config? Vet at vi kan gå til Power Off, men velger å teste ut uten. Takk for hjelpen!! mvh Stein

RE: Config and Pinout

Maria Gilje — Fri, 08 May 2026 13:37:34 GMT

Hi Stein,

Thank you for your patience.

[quote user="SteinC"]Do you have some test routines that we could use just to verify the setup of this kit?[/quote]

We don't have any test conde for the RAK boards in general, but we have some tests for peripherals. I.e. the dmic_dump_buffer which tests a PDM microphone. It has an overlay for the nRF52840 DK which you can use as the basis for testing the PDM module on your RAK boards.

[quote user="SteinC"]We have now been able to use the mic and the SD card seperately but we are struggling to get them to be on the same SPI. We power down the PDM mic before turning the SD on and have ried several ways of setting timing between but it still seems to unstable. Do you have any hints or even test-software that can help us?[/quote]

Are there any pin conflicts for the SD card and microphone configurations which could explain why they work on their ownbut not together? You could i.e. inspect the built applications with the devicetree extension to investigate if there are any configurations which they share.

Best regards,

Maria

RE: Config and Pinout

SteinC — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:31:39 GMT

Hi, thanks for feedback. We have now been able to use the mic and the SD card seperately but we are struggling to get them to be on the same SPI. We power down the PDM mic before turning the SD on and have ried several ways of setting timing between but it still seems to unstable. Do you have any hints or even test-software that can help us? Thx Stein

RE: Config and Pinout

SteinC — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 18:50:21 GMT

Hi , thanks for feedback. We are disabling uart0 in main because we have found that we need to "shut down" PDM after recording before starting up SD to write the recording-data.(SPI sync) We did this successflly with RAK11720 and a analog mic but are struggling with the PDM and the SD on this kit. We are using DMIC. Have not been focusing on the PDM clock so far. We got some test software from RAK which they claime worked on this kit but it failed. Do you have some test routines that we could use just to verify the setup of this kit?

RE: Config and Pinout

Maria Gilje — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 12:54:56 GMT

Hello,

Thank you for your patience and for updating with the proper overlay file.

Pins P0.20 and P0.19 are configured to uart0 by default. Where do you disable uart0 or change its pin configuration? Potentially, choose other pins for PDM if you are using uart0.

If the pins are not the issue, verifying the PDM clock frequency is a good next step.

Best regards,

Maria

RE: Config and Pinout

SteinC — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 07:46:27 GMT

Hi, sorry did not see that. But its my mailsystem that "helps". Here is the code from VSC.

/ {

aliases {

disk0 = &sdhc0;

};

/* Enable PDM */

&pdm0 {

status = "okay";

pinctrl-0 = <&pdm0_default>;

pinctrl-names = "default";

};

/* Define PDM pins */

&pinctrl {

pdm0_default: pdm0_default {

group1 {

psels = <NRF_PSEL(PDM_CLK, 0, 20)>,

<NRF_PSEL(PDM_DIN, 0, 19)>;

};

/* Enable SPI0 for SD card */

&spi0 {

status = "okay";

compatible = "nordic,nrf-spim";

cs-gpios = <&gpio0 26 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;

sdhc0: sdhc@0 {

compatible = "zephyr,sdhc-spi-slot";

reg = <0>;

status = "okay";

spi-max-frequency = <400000>;

mmc {

compatible = "zephyr,sdmmc-disk";

disk-name = "SD";

status = "okay";

};

RE: Config and Pinout

Turbo J — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 07:01:49 GMT

That overlay looks like it gotten heavily maimed by AI translation. You MUST NOT translate overlay files - switch any information source to native english without any translation active.

RE: Config and Pinout

SteinC — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:01:15 GMT

Hi, thanks for swift answer, this is how our overlay looks like.:

/ {

aliaser

disk0 = &sdhc0;

};

/* Aktiver PDM */

&pdm0 {

status = "ok";

pinctrl-0 = <&pdm0_standard>;

pinctrl-navn = "standard";

};

/* Definer PDM-pinner */

&pinctrl {

pdm0_standard: pdm0_standard {

gruppe1

psels = <NRF_PSEL(PDM_CLK, 0, 20)>,

<NRF_PSEL(PDM_DIN, 0, 19)>;

};

/* Aktiver SPI0 for SD-kort */

&spi0 {

status = "ok";

kompatibel = "nordisk, nrf-spim";

cs-gpios = <&gpio0 26 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;

sdhc0: sdhc@0 {

kompatibel = "zephyr, sdhc-spi-spor";

reg = <0>;

status = "ok";

spi-maks-frekvens = <400000>;

mmc

kompatibel = "zephyr, sdmmc-disk";

disknavn = "SD";

status = "ok";

};

RE: Config and Pinout

Maria Gilje — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:15:00 GMT

Hello,

You need to ensure that the pins you are using are correctly configured. I.e. that NFC are pins configured as GPIOS with &uicr { nfct-pins-as-gpios; }; in your board overlay if you are using them, or that the module have the pins accessible/routed to the base board. Other than that you should be able to choose pins freely.

May I ask if you are using some sample firmware for your application? I.e. the DMIC driver sample? Please note that the frequency settings need to be changed in main.c to reflect the frequencies the ones which the RAK18030 microphone supports.

It is also possible to share your overlay to get a second opinion on it from me (or community members), but please note that I am not familiar with the WisBlock system, so I would need some time to get to know it to provide proper feedback.

Best regards,

Maria