flashing problem with some nrf52832 shields using the DK-nrf52

[PhilippeG]

Hello

i just bought my DK-nrf52 to move to BLE after playing few months with arduino. I have connected various nrf52832 shields from China (from Holyiot 17095, which is very small). 

after learning the basics from Keil and your board. i finally compile and flashed correctly the blinky example using the s132. 

first i have to report this has been a very long time consuming because i might not have found the community to help for that. is there any links that you might share from people doing simple tutorials? the one i have seen from you are very generic and doesnt go far enough for beginers like me. 

saying so. i do have problem flashing more complexe example on my nrf52832, for instance the proximity_ble example compiles and is flashed on the device without any error on Keil. but no phone can detect this device? 

i have also noticed, that sometimes, flashing from Keil is mentionning that the content is flashed successfully as well as the program is running, while (either on the DKnr52 board or the external devices, the former program is still running. 

Sorry for asking all my questions in the same message. but i try to move fast because i noticed that the nrf52832 seems having a low distance of fonctionning (few meters) the proximity app on my phone is mentionning that the signal is lost after few meters. Is that normal? if so, i might have to come back to my arduino and HC06 Bluetooth. I hope i misunderstood something about that. 

thanks a lot

Philoppe

[Nguyen Hoan Hoang]

there are other blog post links bellow that helps to make it easier to write BLE firmware.

Eclipse GCC environment development for nRF51 & nRF52 series. Eclipse is totally free without restrictions. 

BLE programming the easy way.  Many example code to write BLE firmware with Eclipse as easy as Arduino

[PhilippeG]

Oh thanks a lot.. i will look at that. Is Eclipse free? because Keil is extremely expensive for what i need to do.

[Nguyen Hoan Hoang]

There are nRF52832 modules here with full software support.

[PhilippeG]

thanks, i will try to make my module work first because i bought a bunch of them. I will buy one of yours if i can not find a solution with mine. Some works, some dont. 

[Martin Lesund]

Hi Philippe,

 If you are looking at a pcb with the nRF52832 for prototyping, I would recommend you look at the nRF52 Development Kit which already has a "programming chip" on-board so you can easily flash and debug the chip. (For purchase: buy now)

 If you however would like to use nRF52832 modules (as nguyen suggests) you should look at this list for several options and where to buy.

 

As for your former post, I am sorry but I missed that one. 

As a beginner (I agree, do not start out with the proximity example) I would recommend you to instead play with the UART example. Since it is the same as what you requested: "much easier tutorial (like for arduino), where you just connect to the device, and send message to it with a terminal. "

If you want to play with BLE you can look at the "ble_app_uart" example. 

Do not use SDK v10 if you are starting out. It is an old SDK. Please use the latest version (SDK v15).

And what are the purpose of those shields you are describing? 

(here are some older tutorials, which can be useful)

(but I recommend the ones made by bjorn, especially this one and also this)

 

 

[PhilippeG]

Hi Martin, thanks a lot for this detailed answer. Sorry for my late response. I have bought a nrf52 DK it works perfectly with the chip on board. but there are some issues with the Holyiot 17095 . it flashes it ok, the blinky or any simple peripheral programms are working great on it. but no ble examples works. the devices is shown as a proximity, blinky ble etc... but my phone cannot connect to the Holyiot. 

Thanks for the uart, this is exactly what i would need but working on an external module flashed with my nrf52 DK. any ideas of incompatibilities with some modules (since you mentionned holyiot in yout list of provider of nrf52832 modules?)

Ok thanks for you warning regarding the sdk v10, i am using the v15. 

the purpose of the module is to controle a small motor with various speed using an app in ble on my phone. 

the next step is to programm an app that can controle a ble module. what would be your best suggestion for me to start programming such an app (IOS and Android)

thanks a lot

[PhilippeG]

Dear Martin

I compiled and flashed ble_app_uart on the DK-nrf52 but i cannot connect using any terminal. i am using the "bluetooth terminal" for Android. i am using a Huawei Y7. What UART terminal would you advise me to use. I am getting really lost with so many troubles just to use your examples. 

[Martin Lesund]

Hi Philippe,

Please use the app referred to in the example documentation.

On the Android side you can either use "nRF Connect" or "nRF Toolbox".

On the PC side you can use your prefered serial terminal. (I like to use "termite")

[PhilippeG]

Hi Martin, this is the kind of information that are very helpful for a beginner. thanks. I use termite and configure as mentionned on the example documentation. i connected with nRF Connect or nRF Toolbox on my android phone.  It connects perfectly. I have differencies with the documentation though. if write 30 31 32 33 ... either in nRF Connect or nRF Toolbox, i see the same text appearing in Termite (running on my PC). it is said i should read 123 ... 

Then, the text i wrote into termite never appeared on my nRFconnect or nRF Toolbox. is there a specific set up to get the communication bi-directional? thank you

One more question: (on the top of  all above working perfectly: bi-directional text), the only thing i would need to do is a similar app to the nRF UARTv2.0 for Android and IOS.. Does it exist a documentation on this app? What IDE is used to write such an app? is there  a source code somewhere or information?

Sorry for so many questions. I wish there was low level video tutorial for people like me. ;-(

[Martin Lesund]

Hi Philippe,

Your experience is expected. The nRF Connect app has been updated after the "testing" text in the documentation. 

Before you could send hex, but now if you send "01234" you would get "01234" on the other side. So the documentation is outdated.

If you swipe right, you should get up the "terminal" log window in 'nrf Connect' app, so you can see what you send from your computer to the device.

(so it works both ways)

similar to this:

---

For your last question:

You have the UART app in the nRF Toolbox app which you can use instead of the deprecated "nRF UARTv2.0".

The source code and documentation can be found here:

• Android  (uses Android studio IDE)
• iOS   

[PhilippeG]

Dear Martin

Thanks again for your help. 

I am glad if my questions have been helpful to point out something to correct into the documentation. 

Regarding the two ways communication. Unfortunately it doesnt look like working on my side . please find three pictures here:

1/ the termite's terminal showing the type of message send from the phone and message sent from my computer 

 

2/   2 screenshots regarding the information available on my phone. 

Thanks for the links regarding the code from the app. this will be very useful. 

Warm regards

Philippe

[PhilippeG]

oh sorry i forgot to comment your advise :"You have the UART app in the nRF Toolbox app which you can use instead of the deprecated "nRF UARTv2.0"."

actually i do have the UART app in the nRF Toolbox app, but it really doesnt look like a terminal