thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

ToasTer86 — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 12:53:28 GMT

Bjørn explained this perfectly, I was a bit short in my answer.

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

Bjørn Kvaale — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 12:38:13 GMT

Just to comment, ToasTer86 used an SWD cable to connect his nrf52840dk to the Nordic Thingy via the JTAG connector on the Thingy:52 to the right of the USB charging port. For those that want to upload their own FW to the Thingy:52, you have to use Secure DFU as explained in this blogpost. For just updating the Thingy FW written by Nordic Semi, you can either flash the Nordic Thingy:52 FW using an nrf51/52 dk with a SWD cable or via the Thingy app found on the Google Play store or Apple App Store. Just go to the Device Firmware Update Tab, click on the "custom FW" tab &upload your custom FW. If you need help uploading the FW zip file to your smartphone, press the "How To..." button.

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

ToasTer86 — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 12:07:23 GMT

Hey Bjorn using a cable I was able to do a DFU. THanks a lot for your help

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

Bjørn Kvaale — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 11:53:55 GMT

Hi ToasTer86. What's the status of this issue? Have you managed to get secure dfu to work to flash your custom zip file to the Thingy:52?

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

Bjørn Kvaale — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 06:40:41 GMT

I will talk to my boss and mention that a SWD (edit: not JTAG) cable should be included in the purchase of the Thingy:52.

EDIT: Seems like a good idea for those people that want to upload custom FW to their Thingy:52s. The only issue I can think of is that most people most likely won't upload custom FW to their Thingy:52s. They will most likely keep the standard Nordic FW, use the Thingy app & maybe use IFTT.

Concerning your idea with the 5 Thingy:52s and an nrf52840 with a mesh network, this should definitely be possible. You can take a look at this video (in Japanese I believe ) :). It shows a couple of Thingy's being controlled by one Android Nexus tablet. So what you are suggesting shouldn't be a problem at all. Also, having a network of multiple nrf52840 PDKs using thread shouldn't be a problem either. :)

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

ToasTer86 — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 16:42:43 GMT

Was able to get a cable from the electronics department, was able to flash my boot_loader onto the unit know using the direct connection with a nRF52840-PDK. I also compiled the code in the project\pca20020_s132. With my own bootloader the Thingy52 just hangs in the DFU mode.

Seems this topic is about the same problem so I asked a question there to.

Because the cable is allowing me to flash and at least compile&upload the base code to the thingy52 I will start studying the mesh capabilities on the Thingy52. Although at this moment reading the library seems everything is BLE(4) with gap, gatt. Not the bluetooth 5 structure.

Can someone from Nordic tell me if the idea/project idea I had is even really remotely possible with the hardware I have now (6x nRF52840 PDK & 5x Thingy52) but most importantly with the software that is available for the thingy52 and the nRF52840. The idea I am referring to is: Mesh network of 5x Thingy52 & 1x nRF52840-PDK as host. Another network of multiple nRF52840-PDK using thread.

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

ToasTer86 — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 10:48:29 GMT

Trying to verify if my bootloader I compiled using the Thingy52 SDK is correct. So following the guides on the thingy52 website which refers me to the nrfutil guide

If I try to tun the command specified there to check my boot_loader specifics:

> nrfutil settings display nrf52832_xxaa_s132.hex
Failed to parse .hex file: Bad access at 0xFF000: not enough data to read 4 contiguous bytes

Starting to feel a bit helpless with these Thingy52's. No where it is specified while buying these I would need a specific development cable, nor is it delivered with the 5 units that were purchased.

Cant I just use the bootloader that is present on the thingy52 and write my own application? I just want to connect them in a Mesh Network with the nRF52840 and share the sensor data.

Thanks in advance for any help.

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

ToasTer86 — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 10:30:44 GMT

Using the thingy app my boot_loader also does not get loaded correctly. I think it has to do with that error I am getting when using nRFconnect on my desktop. Although I am not getting any feedback or error code from the thingy app.

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

ToasTer86 — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 09:55:01 GMT

I have a Android, is it possible to upload a boot_loader package using the Thingy App. Because I cant see the device in DFU mode when using the thingy app.

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

Bjørn Kvaale — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 09:53:19 GMT

Like I mentioned above, I would either get a cable or try it using the Nordic Thingy app? Do you have an iPhone or are you using an Android phone? I have not tried OTA-DFU using the nrf connect app yet, so I would need to look into that a bit more. But try one of the other two methods I posted first. :)

EDIT: What I have posted previously is wrong, as you need to do Secure DFU in order to flash a custom FW onto the Nordic Thingy. For OTA-DFU of the Nordic Thingy FW, it is possible to either go via nrf51/52 dk/SWD (edit: not JTAG) cable or via the Thingy app for Android or iOS.

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

ToasTer86 — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 09:49:45 GMT

Hey thanks a lot for your response, I will try switching to SES although I do not see a SES project for the bootloader project (thingy_sdk_v2.1.0\project\bootloader_secure).

So right now I have compiled the bootloader project with my own created public key. I also used nrfutil to create a distripackage from it. So I have *.hex file, *.zip file. If I unzip the *zip I also have *.bin & *.dat file

I tried using nRFconenct yesterday on my desktop, I can see the Thingy52 in DFU mode and can connect to it using a nRF52840. But I get the following error when uploading the boot_loader project:

DFU failed with error: When writing 'EXECUTE' command to Control Point Characteristic of DFU Target: Operation code 4 (EXECUTE) failed on DFU Target. Result code 11 (EXTENDED_ERROR) Extended error code 5 (FW_VERSION_FAILURE).
Discovered devices

Start scanClear
Options
-60 dBm

When using my android phone with nRFconnect I can also see the Thingy52 in DFU mode. When using the DFU button at the top right I get a menu with 4 choices :

Distribution packet
Soft Device
Bootloader
Application

When using option 1 Distribution packet the following happens: "initializing, starting DFU, disconnection" no feedback of success or failure.

When using option 3 Bootloader, I do not get the option to select my *.zip file. It just does not see *.zip files on my android file explorer. So what I did was I extracted the zip file to get the *.bin & *.dat file. So I choose the *.bin file. Then I get some message that the *.dat packet file should contain: " revision, application version, list of supported softdevices etc. ". I choose the *.dat. Same happens as before: "initializing, starting DFU, disconnection".

So I tried 2 different ways of uploading it through nRFconnect but can't seem to get it working. Will try getting a cable in the meantime. Unless you have some tips or tricks for me.

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

Bjørn Kvaale — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 08:24:32 GMT

First off, thanks for the kind words! I will mention to Sigurd that you have been pleased with the support you got from us. :)

If I were you, I would use Segger Embedded Studio (SES) instead of Keil from SDK 14 and onwards, as Keil is expensive and has the code limit that you mention (if you do not get the license). Not sure if you heard the news, but you can obtain a license for SES for free. You mentioned that the Thingy SDK does not have a folder labelled SES, so it works fine to use Keil.

Edit: Got a tip from a colleague here at Nordic: it seems what I said previously was not correct. Over the air DFU of custom FW can only be done if a key is generated first. Then you can compile the bootloader with your own generated key & flash the bootloader with an external debugger. Only then can you sign the custom FW with your own defined key & OTA DFU custom FW. It should be possible to use an open bootloader in the future sometime, but for now Nordic uses secure DFU in the Thingy:52. Here's a fantastic blog post that should be able to get you started!

When it comes to starting with secure DFU, you can do this via the SWD (edit: not JTAG) debug cable (attach your nrf52840 to usb, attach a SWD (edit: not JTAG) cable from the P19 port on the nrf52840 to the SWD (edit: not JTAG) connector on the Thingy).

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

ToasTer86 — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 16:06:05 GMT

well I am working with nRF connect to try and work with the Thingy52. got a *.zip bootloader project that I am trying to transfer to the Thingy52. Seems I am not the only one. Posting on that other question : devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../

Think I will just get myself one of those debug cables.

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

ToasTer86 — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 15:09:37 GMT

I am now at the step of generating a DFU on this website: nordicsemiconductor.github.io/.../dfu_generating.html

I generated the key, and got this to compile in the bootloader_secure project.

At the part of :

 Generating the bootloader

To generate a new bootloader, compile the Bootloader project using either Keil μVision or GCC. Flash the compiled bootloader onto Thingy. Remember to flash the SoftDevice as well for the OTA-DFU to function properly.

I am not quite sure how to flash the Thingy, if I am not able to connect it through USB.

EDIT: reading this post devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../ I found out that I dont need to flash a bootloader. If I just hold the button while powering on the Thingy It fires up in DFU. Confused though now if my new key I generated is needed.

RE: thingy52 (&nRF52840) writing my own software

ToasTer86 — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 12:53:11 GMT

Well as most of my posts I will keep this section up to date; I now actually just found this : nordicsemiconductor.github.io/.../dfu_connect.html

It says there should be a FE59 section where I should type in 01. But I do not see this FE59 section.