NRF51/52 - SDK15 - Linux + GCC + ST-Link V2

[beginner]

Hi,

I hope this is the correct place to ask beginner questions. I new to microcontrollers in general. 

So first of all here is what I am using currently:

Software:

• Ubuntu 16.04
• nRF5_SDK_15.2.0_9412b96
• gcc-arm-none-eabi-8-2018-q4-major
• ST-LINK tools (https://github.com/texane/stlink) + OpenOCD 0.10.0+dev-00656-gd140fb2 (installed by following the procedure in the description box https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzTcqwFI1m4&t=1s)

Hardware:

Different nrf51822 boards from aliexpress:

ST-LINK V2 

Goal:

Run the blinky example (nRF5_SDK_15.2.0_9412b96/examples/peripheral/blinky) my nRF51 boards.

What I got running so far:

I can compile the given examples with gcc and also connect to the boards with OpenOCD and it seems like I could flash it.

What I am struggling with:

First of all getting this work until here was super hard. There are so many outdated posts here that made it really cumberstone to know what tools to use.

Now I would like to compile the blinky example for my nrf51 boards, but the examples only have configs for nrf52 afaik. 

How can I make blinky run on my nRF51 boards? What do I have to change in the Makefile? Is the SDK15 even compatible for nRF51 and nRF52 chips?

Where can I learn about building for different targets and how to create my own custom configs from a given hardware?

And finally: Is there a better way to create the whole pipeline?

I appreciate everyone helping and I am also quite happy if you can just guide me to the correct place to read up on this stuff.

Best regards,

Tim

[Turbo J]

The latest SDK for NRF51x has 12.3 version number. You need to download this SDK instead of 15.x.

[beginner]

Just a quick update. With SDK 12.3 I got blinky running.
Edit: So far I only got the precompiled blinky_pca10028.hex working. If I compile it myself I get an nrf51422_xxac.hex in nRF5_SDK_12.3.0_d7731ad/examples/peripheral/blinky/pca10028/blank/armgcc/_build, but it won't run after flashing.

Update: I got it working with help of this blog post https://hackaday.io/project/28180-bluetooth-gamepad-phone-case/log/71821-nrf5-sdk-setup-compilingrunning-sample-applications

I just had to change the target in the Makefile and flash RAM start and size.

Another Update: I got the s130 version working to by following this guide https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/b/blog/posts/rom-and-ram-management and realizing I need to flash the soft device, too.

So for everyone new like me: You need to flash the softdevice from $(SDK_ROOT)/components/softdevice/s130/hex/s130_nrf51_2.0.1_softdevice.hex and then flash the example project with FLASH and ROM settings in the blinky_gcc_nrf51.ld modified according to the guide above!