[NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

Lalit Kumar — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 17:45:14 GMT

As the board is very small, it is very difficult to check the connectivity. I have made a new design, and it is working correctly. So my guess is either balun or crystal is improperly soldered.

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

Tanasis! — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 17:41:19 GMT

Yes check also the crystals. Some people had issues with those on custom hardware.

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

Lalit Kumar — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 17:31:03 GMT

As I have mentioned earlier, the same settings and code works on some boards and doesn't on some, so configuration can't be the issue.. The code doesn't stop anywhere in debug mode either, so my guess is that either balun or crystal is not soldered properly.

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

Tanasis! — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 14:57:37 GMT

Maybe you are not configuring Flash/RAM correctly in the linker and/or the clock-freq in the softdevice. Check this one: turlucode.com/.../

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

FormerMember — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 06:02:41 GMT

If you run the chip in debug mode, does it hang anywhere if you stop the code from running?

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

Lalit Kumar — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:05:55 GMT

I might have cause a misunderstanding. I am able to program the softdevice and application, but the device is not broadcasting.

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

FormerMember — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 11:07:47 GMT

I'm sorry for the delayed response.

On the boards that you are able to program, but not able program the softdevice to: could you try to erase the chip before programming the softdevice?

Erase chip: nfjprog -e
Program softdevice

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

Lalit Kumar — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 10:09:26 GMT

Hi, any updates on this? From what I can think, it seems impossible to debug :(

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

Lalit Kumar — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 07:24:45 GMT

As close as I can see, everything looks perfectly soldered and the voltage is coming to be 3.3V, which I am giving from the nrf51-dk. I have also tried changing the source of power to a better one, but with no success.

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

FormerMember — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 06:26:18 GMT

I see that the crystal is symmetrical with respect to the ground and crystal pads, so flipping 180 degrees should not make any changes.

For the boards that you are not able to program, could you verify that everything properly soldered? And that the chip has the correct voltage, by measuring it?

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

Lalit Kumar — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 09:56:36 GMT

Also when I checked the crystal polarity, it is 180 degrees flipped. This explains why some are not working, but why are some working then? I'm using this crystal.

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

Lalit Kumar — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 09:49:06 GMT

I'll explain in detail what is happening. I have 12 board, soldered by pick and place. I am using nrf51-dk to program them as I have mentioned. When I connect the pins to program the board and try to connect it using JLinkExe on Linux, I am able to connect 8 out of 12. For the rest 4, the dk just disconnects from pc and reconnects. On working 8, i upload a BLE example and softdevice from sdk11. 4 are working properly and broadcasting well. On the remaining 4 out of initial 8, I'm able to see the output on RTT and run app without sd, but they are not broadcasting for app with sd. Sorry for the mess here, don't know a better way to explain :P

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

FormerMember — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 07:24:48 GMT

Thanks! Okay, I see. On the boards that doesn't work/run code, could you verify if the 16 MHz crystal has been mounted correctly, i.e. not shifted by 90 degrees for instance ?

If you run you chip in debug mode, where does the problem occur?

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

Lalit Kumar — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 11:36:01 GMT

I have uploaded the same. Sorry can't take a better picture as the size is too small to focus properly. Also I would like to mention again, just in case, that some PCBs of the same design are working perfectly.

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

FormerMember — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 10:33:44 GMT

Thanks! Could you also upload a picture of the setup?

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

Lalit Kumar — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 09:25:26 GMT

I have edited the question and attached the files.

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

FormerMember — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 09:09:43 GMT

If you don't want to upload schematic, layout and picture here, you can create a support case from myPage on www.nordicsemi.com, and refer to this question.

RE: [NRF51822CEAA][CUSTOM BOARD]- Help in debugging custom board

FormerMember — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 09:08:10 GMT

Could you please upload a schematic, layout, and a picture of the module? The problem may be related to the schematic/layout.