How program and debug nrf52832?

[MarcelR]

Hi,

I'm on Linux (openSuse Leap15 and Debian) and got so far that I can program nRF52832 and debug with breakpoints and local variable display with this USB breakout "BLE Nano v2 from RedBearLab":

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/retired/14154

I'm using Visual Studio Code 1.24.1 with PlatformIO IDE 1.3.1 PIO plus v1.4.10, platform: nordicnrf52; board: redbear_blenano2; framework: mbed

Unfortunately the Nano v2 USB break out board is not available any more.

What other usb break out board can I buy to be able to develop, deploy and debug again?

Next question:

Can I do the same (program, deploy, debug with breakpoints and have a serial console) with a plain nrf52840 dongle?

Thank you
Marcel

[awneil]

If you have the cash, buy a J-Link.

The Nordic dev kits have an on-board JLink which can be used to program & debug external targets.

AIUI, The "DAPLink" in the Red Bear kit is CMSIS DAP - so any other CMSIS DAP unit should do?

Various people have reported here success using ST-Link - search the forum

EDIT

It appears that  the RedBear DAPLink firmware (not source) is available for download:

github.com/.../USB-IF

[awneil]

MarcelR said:

the Nano v2 USB break out board is not available any more

In fact, it seems that Red Bear itself is no more: https://redbear.cc/

The above is undated, but https://twitter.com/redbear/status/978629341780127744 suggests it happened early this year.

That explains why I couldn't get hold of RedBear stuff earlier this year ... !

[Bjørn Kvaale]

I agree with awneil. I would get a J-Link. The 52840 dongle only has uart logging & no RTT logging (since it does not have a segger j-link).

Can I do the same (program, deploy, debug with breakpoints and have a serial console) with a plain nrf52840 dongle?

No, but what you could do is buy a 52832 or 52840 dev kit, solder on a SWD connector (same one as used on the dev kits debug in & out ports) & connect the dev kit to the 52840 dongle via an SWD cable. That way, you would have full debugging support. I have tried this myself & it works very well.

You can program the dongle either via DFU on the nRF Connect for Desktop Programmer application or via the dev kit debug out port. I would recommend trying the DFU solution first, as it is simpler & works out of the box. Multiple customers have tried programming via a dev kit & run into issues when trying to use nrf connect again (they erased the pre-programmed bootloader on the dongle). However, if you do things correctly, it

I would also recommend taking a look at Segger Embedded Studio. It is free to use for Nordic products, if you decide to buy a 52 DK for example. Hope that helps!