Programming the Beacon Kit with S130

RE: Programming the Beacon Kit with S130

Vebjørn — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 09:14:27 GMT

The GPIO you have to solder of course.. I just did it like this: http://i.imgur.com/ygYznnf.png. Not the best work, but I also put some hot-glue around the cables and beacon so they stayed in place :)

RE: Programming the Beacon Kit with S130

Vebjørn — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 09:08:22 GMT

you don't have to solder the programming pins, you simply "poke" the 6-pin adapter onto the beacon and hold it there while you flash it. The "no legs" version you linked is a better option for programming the beacon than the adapter i linked, because the legs are a bit in the way when poking the beacon. See this pic: http://www.tag-connect.com/Materials%202/NL_pinout.jpg. The 6 pins in the middle are the SWD-signals from the debugger, and the 3 outer "pins" are simply there so you cant put it on the beacon the wrong way. The 6 pins in the middle have springs on them, so when you push the entire thing onto the beacon it stays firmly in place. Some adapters have latching legs (like the one i linked) but those wont work so well on the beacon, because there are no holes for the legs

RE: Programming the Beacon Kit with S130

SergP — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 23:27:16 GMT

Thanks, does that mean that I have to solder the cable to the Beacon or there are some kind of cables which don't require soldering? I am trying to avoid soldering because the Beacon would go in/out of the box and I want to avoid multiple soldering/unsoldering operations when I need to upgrade softdevice/application. So, wondering how you use it exactly. I've found TC2030-IDC-NL "No Legs" 6-pin Plug-of-Nails tm Cable where they say: "... The "No Legs" versions of our cables are designed to be held in place by hand for a fast programming operation ..." which sounds pretty positive but I am not sure how achievable that is, so, wanted to know an opinion (whether it really has to be soldered or not really) from someone who already has an appropriate experience.

RE: Programming the Beacon Kit with S130

Vebjørn — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 10:31:20 GMT

Yea, the previous link is just an adapter that fits the beacon programming pads. The actual debugger can be any one of these models: https://www.segger.com/jlink-debug-probes.html. I use the J-link EDU since I'm a student and it's the cheapest one, but it has what you need to flash the nrf51822 :)

RE: Programming the Beacon Kit with S130

SergP — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 10:14:51 GMT

Thank you for the answer, do you have some kind of pointer or link to the J-link debugger (as I can see the link you provided above is just 1 part of that system - the cable/adapter)? I would like to buy one (looking for one which just works and doesn't require any changes) so I am able to program and debug my Beacon Kit.

RE: Programming the Beacon Kit with S130

Vebjørn — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 09:33:19 GMT

That is correct. It is the same chip as on the evaluation kit, so they can perform the same functions, except the GPIO availability on the beacon is limited.

Programming it can be a bit tricky, though, as it has no On-Board debugger. Personally I use a normal J-link debugger, with this 6-pin adapter: https://www.segger.com/jlink-6-pin-adapter.html