Using GPIOTE with softdevice returns FATAL ERROR

[IlyaM]

I wrote this code to make a 1MHz signal clock with timer and GPIOTE.

#include "mclk.h"

static nrf_drv_timer_t timer = NRF_DRV_TIMER_INSTANCE(0);
void timer_dummy_handler(nrf_timer_event_t event_type, void * p_context){}

void mclk_init(void)
{
    ret_code_t err_code;

    err_code = nrf_drv_ppi_init();
    APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);

    err_code = nrf_drv_gpiote_init();
    APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);

    nrf_drv_timer_config_t timer_cfg =
    {
		.frequency          = (nrf_timer_frequency_t)3,
		.mode               = (nrf_timer_mode_t)TIMER_DEFAULT_CONFIG_MODE,
		.bit_width          = (nrf_timer_bit_width_t)TIMER_DEFAULT_CONFIG_BIT_WIDTH,
		.interrupt_priority = 0,
		.p_context          = NULL
	};
    err_code = nrf_drv_timer_init(&timer, &timer_cfg, timer_dummy_handler);
    APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);

    // Setup PPI channel with event from TIMER compare and task GPIOTE pin toggle.
    uint32_t compare_evt_addr;
	uint32_t gpiote_task_addr;
	nrf_ppi_channel_t ppi_channel;
	nrf_drv_gpiote_out_config_t config = GPIOTE_CONFIG_OUT_TASK_TOGGLE(false);

	err_code = nrf_drv_gpiote_out_init(MCLK_PIN, &config);
	APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);


	nrf_drv_timer_extended_compare(&timer, (nrf_timer_cc_channel_t)0, 1, NRF_TIMER_SHORT_COMPARE0_CLEAR_MASK, false);

	err_code = nrf_drv_ppi_channel_alloc(&ppi_channel);
	APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);

	compare_evt_addr = nrf_drv_timer_event_address_get(&timer, NRF_TIMER_EVENT_COMPARE0);
	gpiote_task_addr = nrf_drv_gpiote_out_task_addr_get(MCLK_PIN);

	err_code = nrf_drv_ppi_channel_assign(ppi_channel, compare_evt_addr, gpiote_task_addr);
	APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);

	err_code = nrf_drv_ppi_channel_enable(ppi_channel);
	APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);

	nrf_drv_gpiote_out_task_enable(MCLK_PIN);

    // Enable timer
    nrf_drv_timer_enable(&timer);
}

It works fine without softdevice, but when I modify my app to use BLE, gpiote doesn't work (I found the problem is GPIOTE when I commented out all lines with it)

My config is 

// <e> GPIOTE_ENABLED - nrf_drv_gpiote - GPIOTE peripheral driver
//==========================================================
#ifndef GPIOTE_ENABLED
#define GPIOTE_ENABLED 1
#endif
#if  GPIOTE_ENABLED
// <o> GPIOTE_CONFIG_NUM_OF_LOW_POWER_EVENTS - Number of lower power input pins 
#ifndef GPIOTE_CONFIG_NUM_OF_LOW_POWER_EVENTS
#define GPIOTE_CONFIG_NUM_OF_LOW_POWER_EVENTS 4
#endif

// <o> GPIOTE_CONFIG_IRQ_PRIORITY  - Interrupt priority
 

// <i> Priorities 0,2 (nRF51) and 0,1,4,5 (nRF52) are reserved for SoftDevice
// <0=> 0 (highest) 
// <1=> 1 
// <2=> 2 
// <3=> 3 

#ifndef GPIOTE_CONFIG_IRQ_PRIORITY
#define GPIOTE_CONFIG_IRQ_PRIORITY 3
#endif

// <e> GPIOTE_CONFIG_LOG_ENABLED - Enables logging in the module.
//==========================================================
#ifndef GPIOTE_CONFIG_LOG_ENABLED
#define GPIOTE_CONFIG_LOG_ENABLED 0
#endif
#if  GPIOTE_CONFIG_LOG_ENABLED
// <o> GPIOTE_CONFIG_LOG_LEVEL  - Default Severity level
 
// <0=> Off 
// <1=> Error 
// <2=> Warning 
// <3=> Info 
// <4=> Debug 

#ifndef GPIOTE_CONFIG_LOG_LEVEL
#define GPIOTE_CONFIG_LOG_LEVEL 3
#endif

// <o> GPIOTE_CONFIG_INFO_COLOR  - ANSI escape code prefix.
 
// <0=> Default 
// <1=> Black 
// <2=> Red 
// <3=> Green 
// <4=> Yellow 
// <5=> Blue 
// <6=> Magenta 
// <7=> Cyan 
// <8=> White 

#ifndef GPIOTE_CONFIG_INFO_COLOR
#define GPIOTE_CONFIG_INFO_COLOR 0
#endif

// <o> GPIOTE_CONFIG_DEBUG_COLOR  - ANSI escape code prefix.
 
// <0=> Default 
// <1=> Black 
// <2=> Red 
// <3=> Green 
// <4=> Yellow 
// <5=> Blue 
// <6=> Magenta 
// <7=> Cyan 
// <8=> White 

#ifndef GPIOTE_CONFIG_DEBUG_COLOR
#define GPIOTE_CONFIG_DEBUG_COLOR 0
#endif

#endif //GPIOTE_CONFIG_LOG_ENABLED
// </e>

#endif //GPIOTE_ENABLED
// </e>

But #define APP_GPIOTE_ENABLED 0

If I change APP_GPIOTE will it help?

[Rune Holmgren]

Hi,

It looks like you are using TIMER0:

static nrf_drv_timer_t timer = NRF_DRV_TIMER_INSTANCE(0);

In section 7.1 of the SoftDevice documentation, there is a table listing hardware peripherals and letting you know if the SoftDevice require them. TIMER0 is "blocked" which means that the SoftDevice need exclusive access to the peripheral as long as it is enabled (and not in a "timeslot"). You simply need to use another timer. If the system is still having trouble, have a look at the table to see if there are other blocked or restricted peripherals used by your firmware.

Best regards,
Rune Holmgren

[IlyaM]

Hi Rune, thanks for your reply. I changed timer to instance 1, but the problem was with gpiote_init, it seems it had been declared previously in some other part of code and I was trying to init it again. I solved the problem just added

if(!nrf_drv_gpiote_is_init())
{
  err_code = nrf_drv_gpiote_init();
  APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);
}