beacon firmware flash struggles

RE: beacon firmware flash struggles

Michael — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 04:59:06 GMT

Yes, the beacon kit has a xxAA chip (256k flash), while my chip is a xxAB (128k flash). Both are 16k RAM. If I understand the compatibility matrix properly, I need to set

IRAM base - 0x20002800 IRAM size(16 kB RAM) - 0x1800

IROM base - 0x1C000 IROM size(128 kB Flash) - 0x4000

So I installed the SDK and Keil DK and opened the ble_app_beacon. Under "project->options" I selected "nRF51822_xxAB" as the device, changed the xtal to 16Mhz, and set the IROM1 and IRAM1 to the above values. I got the hex file out and programed my device, but no beacon :(

I did notice that the default keil setup for the "ble_app_beacon" is

IROM start: 0x0 IROM size: 0x20000 IRAM1 start: 0x0000000 IRAM1 size: 0x4000

I assume those are incorrect, but an interesting artifact is the LED now comes on when I program the board with those settings. Perhaps this is just an anomaly.

Thanks everyone for your help.

RE: beacon firmware flash struggles

Øyvind Karlsen — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 07:35:35 GMT

Hi,

Different chips have different memory configurations, likely the QFAB chip you describe is not the same chip type that the beacon kit was designed for. Consult the compatibility matrix to figure out which chip you have, and what RAM and ROM sizes it has.

You will have to make some alterations to the IRAM and IROM settings to make everything work correctly. Some common values are shown at the bottom of this blogpost.

Best regards,

Øyvind

RE: beacon firmware flash struggles

Michael — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 17:28:09 GMT

There is a footprint for the 32k crystal, but it's not populated. I figured it was for a real time clock circuit and not critical to the firmware running correctly, but that could be a big assumption.

RE: beacon firmware flash struggles

Michael — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 17:26:05 GMT

Thanks for the reminders. Always good to cover all debugging bases. Before I re-flashed the device, I saw it as a "bluetooth" device in a regular scan, so it used to transmit. I have Android 6.0.1, and I can still view my nRF51288/pca20006 beacon. I also see my nRF app detect my wife's fitbit charge HR, which I'm pretty sure is ble/smart.

RE: beacon firmware flash struggles

H. Carl Ott — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 15:07:09 GMT

Confirm your retasked hardware also has a 32khz crystal in addition to the 16mhz.

You should also double check the compatibility matrix for the code you are uploading for that ver IC. QFABCO

RE: beacon firmware flash struggles

RichieJH — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 07:54:48 GMT

Hi Michael, at the heart of it, "iBeacon" is still Bluetooth Smart so any BLE Sniffer on Android should be able to pick it up. Without wanting to state the obvious, but these are important to check: Is the beacon actually transmitting (i.e., not broken)? Is your Android able to pick up other Bluetooth Smart devices. Some Android smartphones on a later version of Android can have their BLE stack freeze under constant scanning and only work on rebooting the phone. I know you say your Nordic app has worked fine with other beacons, but is it fine now?