Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Petter Myhre — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 14:37:49 GMT

I think you should add a new question and link to this one if relevant.

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

nordic_fan — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 17:13:56 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to run experimental_ble_blinky from SDK 12.3 on my custom board having nRF51822QFAA. My starting example .ld file is from PCA10028 (armgcc folder) but i am not able to get it working. I am expecting nRF connect app on my phone to be able scan and discover. However i am not finding it. When i use Eclipsce-Jlink-GDB i am seeing it is not returning from ble_stack_init particularly stuck at softdevice_enable(&ble_enable_params);

Based on various forum inputs tried the following- tried a example without soft device. Just blinky and it worked

Checked basic clock input 16Mhz using code below and found 16M clock source is good NRF_CLOCK->EVENTS_HFCLKSTARTED = 0;

NRF_CLOCK->TASKS_HFCLKSTART = 1;

while (!NRF_CLOCK->EVENTS_HFCLKSTARTED);

Custom board doesnt have external 32Khz crystal Tried changing nrf_clk_lf_cfg as below and didnt help

// example default nrf_clock_lf_cfg_t clock_lf_cfg = NRF_CLOCK_LFCLKSRC; nrf_clock_lf_cfg_t clock_lf_cfg = { .source = NRF_CLOCK_LF_SRC_RC,

.rc_ctiv = 4, // Check temperature every 4 * 250ms

.rc_temp_ctiv = 1, // Only calibrate if temperature has changed. };

// Initialize the SoftDevice handler module.

SOFTDEVICE_HANDLER_INIT(&clock_lf_cfg, NULL);

Called sd_power_dcdc_mode_set(NRF_POWER_DCDC_ENABLE); as first funcion inside main() and didnt help either.
I am using s130_nrf51_2.0.1_softdevice.hex and .ld script looks this way

MEMORY

{ FLASH (rx) : ORIGIN = 0x0001B000, LENGTH = 0x25000

RAM (rwx) : ORIGIN = 0x20001870, LENGTH = 0x2790 }

I have a micro:bit hardware as well. The behaviour is very similar there as well though i am using Kiel

Would be grateful for any solution/pointers. Stuck here for past few days.

Thank you

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Petter Myhre — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 11:08:22 GMT

Then you should be able to get RTT logging from that. Or you could just put a breakpoint in softdevice_enable(), after sd_ble_enable(), and check the value of app_ram_base. That should be your RAM starting point. You could also run the code on the nRF51 DK first.

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Wed, 01 Mar 2017 17:15:14 GMT

I program my board using the external interface (connector P20) on the nrf51-DK

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Ole Bauck — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 09:20:55 GMT

I guess you program your board using a programmer/debugger? RTT uses the debug pins for logging. All you need is to connect a jlink debugger like the one on the nRF5x DK.

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Sat, 18 Feb 2017 16:46:53 GMT

This means that I have to run my code on the nrf51-DK first, because my board has no outputs...

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Ole Bauck — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 09:42:20 GMT

You should use the RAM settings from the example to start with. The code will log (on UART or RTT) if you have allocated too much RAM or too little RAM (in the latter you will also go to the error handler). So if you later change things such that you need a different amount of RAM you will be noticed.

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 19:41:57 GMT

So as a general rule, every example that I use on my board, I need to copy the RAM settings (adjusted to 128K device) from the example's script?

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Ole Bauck — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 14:10:28 GMT

The newer SoftDevices has a flexible RAM scheme, so the SoftDevice RAM consumption will vary from application to application depending on how large the ATTribute table is (how many and how large services), how many connection it can have, the banbwidth configuration and so on.

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Mon, 06 Feb 2017 13:35:09 GMT

I changed the .rc values to 16. Why there is a difference in RAM origin between this script and the one from your previous answer? Isn't there a "one script that works with every code" on a given device?

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Ole Bauck — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 13:17:44 GMT

Did you also changed the size of the FLASH and RAM? The RAM should be 0x4000 (16K) less and the FLASH should be 0x20000 (128K) less (compared to this):

MEMORY
{
  FLASH (rx) : ORIGIN = 0x1b000, LENGTH = 0x5000
  RAM (rwx) :  ORIGIN = 0x20002080, LENGTH = 0x1f80
}

Did you also set the .rc_ctiv and .rc_temp_ctiv in addition to NRF_CLOCK_LF_SRC_RC?

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Sat, 04 Feb 2017 23:39:16 GMT

Hi. Didn't want to open a new thread, because I have the same issue with a different example. This time it's the "BLE Services, a beginner's tutorial". The code runs on the nrf51-DK but gets stuck (reset?) on the same SOFTDEVICE_HANDLER_INIT line. I use the same linker script as was suggested here and the clock is set to NRF_CLOCK_LF_SRC_RC. What is the problem this time? Thanks.

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Ole Bauck — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 11:37:32 GMT

No problem. Can you mark the answer as correct (grey checkmark under the arrows) so that others can find the correct solution?

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Thu, 12 Jan 2017 18:30:17 GMT

I'm happy to say that your suggestion regarding the linker script helped. It works now. Thank you.

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Thu, 12 Jan 2017 15:08:39 GMT

Ok. If I pass the same parameters to SOFTDEVICE_HANDLER_INIT as described in the thread I mentioned, should this function at least return with/without an error and continue running?

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Ole Bauck — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 14:44:56 GMT

The clock settings passed in the SOFTDEVICE_HANDLER_INIT(..) function is for the low frequency clock (LFCLK/32Khz clock). Here you can choose between using a crystal (if one is on the custom board) and the internal RC oscillator.

When it comes to the high frequency clock (HFCLK/16MHz), it is required to use the crystal for the radio and hence required for bluetooth. If you use the internal oscillator for the LFCLK it will use the HFCLK crystal to calibrate itself. If the crystal does not work correctly, for example the load capacitors are wrong value, then the code may stop in the SOFTDEVICE_HANDLER_INIT(..) function.

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Thu, 12 Jan 2017 13:35:42 GMT

Hi Ole. I will check this later today. How about the thread I referred to? If I understood it correctly, the guy had some issues with his crystal, so he used the chip's internal(?) oscillator to make it work temporary. That's what I was trying to do myself as a last resort, without success.

RE: Can't run modified nrf51-DK example on custom board

Ole Bauck — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 13:24:32 GMT

You are sure the 16MHz crystal is working correctly? You can test this with this code:

NRF_CLOCK->EVENTS_HFCLKSTARTED = 0;
NRF_CLOCK->TASKS_HFCLKSTART = 1;    
while (!NRF_CLOCK->EVENTS_HFCLKSTARTED);

If the code continuous after the while loop, then it is working.

The qfab chip has 128 KB of flash and 16 KB of RAM, is the FLASH and RAM LENGTH in the linker script changed to this?:

MEMORY
{
  FLASH (rx) : ORIGIN = 0x1b000, LENGTH = 0x5000
  RAM (rwx) :  ORIGIN = 0x20001eb0, LENGTH = 0x2150
}