NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

RE: NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

ahmdm — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 06:13:05 GMT

thanks for all your help. I have successfully made it work. it was the 32 Mhz oscillator soldering issue

RE: NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

awneil — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 13:30:33 GMT

[quote userid="74960" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/40157/nrf52832-programming-ic-with-qfn48-adapter/156302"] I also have made a custom board prior to this one and it was working good enough.[/quote]

So compare what's happening on that board with what's happening with this new IC.

Look for the differences to see where it's going wrong ...

RE: NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

haakonsh — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 13:15:02 GMT

Do you have any debug information?

RE: NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

ahmdm — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 12:39:53 GMT

I have successfully preprogrammed the IC and got it to work. however I am getting the following issue. The BLE peripheral is not showing up and it's not advertising. The LED for advertising is glowing but it does not show up on nrfConnect. i have followed the reference design for nrf52832 and I also have made a custom board prior to this one and it was working good enough.

What could be the potential issue here?

RE: NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

haakonsh — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 12:02:19 GMT

You do not need an external oscillator for programming, but you need to ground and decouple the IC properly and that is not possible with that pcb without modifications to it.

RE: NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

awneil — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 10:26:25 GMT

[quote userid="13562" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/40157/nrf52832-programming-ic-with-qfn48-adapter/155895"]TC-2030[/quote]

One of these: http://www.tag-connect.com/TC2030-IDC-NL

You can see an example of how to use it on the Nordic Dongle.

And here's one that I prepared earlier:

That's the 10-pin version - you can see the locating holes & connecting pads at top-left of the board.

Google will find you plenty of examples of home-made versions; eg,

Search for "Pogo Pins" or, as haakonsh mentioned, "bed of nails"

EDIT

"top-left" - not right!

RE: NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

ahmdm — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 10:22:20 GMT

I am using this to power the IC externally. since this connects to the USB of the PC like the NRF DK the grounds are common eventually. though I have made the said connection as well.

Do I need an oscillator and other components (like on the reference design) in order to just program it?

RE: NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

haakonsh — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 09:56:13 GMT

You're missing the 6th connection:

DK GND --> IC GND.

Also how does your grounding and supply pin decoupling look? You will most likely need to swap that pcb with one that is as close to our reference design as possible, otherwise that IC socket will probably not be able to support the nRFs during programming, and it will certainly not support it for debugging purposes.

Your other options are:

A) Post assembly programming, like Andrew suggests. Either use a TC-2030 connector or get a cheap bed-of-nails from Shenzhen.

B ) Pre assembly programming by a third party. The IC will be programmed and re-packaged onto new reels.

RE: NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

awneil — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 08:28:36 GMT

[quote userid="74960" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/40157/nrf52832-programming-ic-with-qfn48-adapter/155870"]can you suggest any alternatives or solutions[/quote]

Like I said - program it on the board!

You don't need to place a connector on the board - just two test points for SWD (and use existing connection points for power & ground).

RE: NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

ahmdm — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 08:23:51 GMT

I totally agree with you but since its a custom project and I wanted to save some space, Hence I went for this option.

can you suggest any alternatives or solutions?

RE: NRF52832 programming IC with qfn48 adapter

awneil — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 08:22:29 GMT

[quote userid="74960" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/40157/nrf52832-programming-ic-with-qfn48-adapter"] I want to pre program an IC and then solder it on my custom board[/quote]

Why?

It is far easier - and, therefore, far more common - to program the chip after it is soldered to a board!

Those adaptors are notoriously unreliable.