nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

sunil kumar — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 11:21:48 GMT

I faced the same problem, when i connected DTR of nrf51 to DK it worked in both ways.

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

wlgrd — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 08:35:07 GMT

I've just discovered that I had to connect with flow control and DTR set high. Everything went fine then.

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

Hung Bui — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 08:33:42 GMT

@tasketrond: Do you also use the PCA10028 DK ? And tested with the uart example ? I suggest you to create another question and link to this case.

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

wlgrd — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 10:54:49 GMT

I have the exact same issue. Can receive from PC through to nRF, tx from nrf to segger, but nothing appears in terminal on PC side. Tried upgrading as well, confirmed 6.0.2601.5 but still no success :\

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

Hung Bui — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 08:51:29 GMT

Thanks for updating the case and solution. This will be useful for other users who may face the same issue.

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

todd_blackmon — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 05:51:04 GMT

The auto installed driver on Windows 7 apparently was somehow incorrect. So I ran this driver install: C:\Program Files (x86)\SEGGER\JLink_V492\USBDriver\CDC\InstDriversCDC.exe

I believe I have this package as a download from Segger (I have a regular J-Link as well).

Just to show this was the problem, if I uninstall, reconnect and let the Windows 7 driver install, the problem reappears.

For reference, by right clicking the CDC Port in the device manager and looking at the Driver tab, you can see the version of the driver.

Windows 7 attempts to install this version: 6.0.2600.5. On this version, I have not been able to receive in a terminal anything sent from the nRF51. Otherwise it works fine.

My package installs this version 6.0.2601.5, which is fully functional. This CDC driver has not changed since so it can be obtained with the latest package from Segger as well (V496b).

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

Hung Bui — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 15:48:39 GMT

Hi Todd,

Do you have further update on this case? If you have managed to fix or got a replacement please update an answer.

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

todd_blackmon — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 17:01:58 GMT

I appreciate the responses, but I stated this specifically in my original post two weeks ago: "see the data transmitted from the nRF part to the Segger part". I made a dedicated attempt to do as much legwork as possible before posting. I think I'll try to get a replacement board instead. I'd like to avoid debugging a dev board any longer.

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

Bjørn Inge — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 16:55:04 GMT

So you've monitored breakout pins P0.8-P0.11, and you can see UART data going from nRF51 to Jlink? If you want to see data going from Jlink to the PC you need a USB and/or a UART trace application.

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

todd_blackmon — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 14:51:28 GMT

I am able to get past flow control, but the data to be returned never appears in console. I can see the TX data on a scope at the breakout area. What is the pin on the JLink part that I need to probe to see if it is connected? I would like to probe the tx from the Jlink part and the RX back to the part. But I could not find a schematic.

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

Bjørn Inge — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 15:32:52 GMT

If you open e.g. Segger Jlink Configurator you will see that the Jlink OB devices are named differently on pca10001 and pca10028. They are also treated differently in the Jlink FW, for instance regarding the UART flow control.

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

todd_blackmon — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 12:10:43 GMT

Is this Jlink OB FW different from the one used on the PCA10001? If the PCA10001 works, shouldn't the PCA10028?

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

Bjørn Inge — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 20:37:04 GMT

Hi Todd,

the Jlink OB FW on the pca10028 uses a "dynamic" flow control, which means it will enable flow control based on some conditions. It will enable flow control if it senses that flow control on the nRF51 is enabled, but only if a certain control signal is sent from the terminal. Try to both set the DTR signal and disable flow control in the terminal (sounds confusing, but the flow control is anyway controlled from the Jlink OB).

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

Hung Bui — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 14:47:09 GMT

I assume that testing with UART example (with no softdevice) resulted the same ?

I can't think of anything but hardware issue, could you check if the pin on the Atmel chip is connected to TX pin on nRF51822 (you can use a multimeter to check) If the issue remains, you can request a replacement from the distributor, or you can send the board to us for a replacement.

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

todd_blackmon — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 01:17:15 GMT

I have tried the UART example. I do not see any visible disconnects on the board. I assume that the layout is known good. As I said in the original post, I can receive from the PC so RX is working, and I can see the data on TX from the nRF but it doesn't get back to the host. And, I have yet to be able to change any of the flow control lines change.

RE: nRF51 (PCA10028) uart

Hung Bui — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 15:31:19 GMT

Hi Todd,

I'm also thinking it's a hardware issue. Have you tried with the stock UART example in the sdk ?

Could you check the 4 lines RX TX RTS, CTS on the board if it is connected properly between the nRF51 chip and the Atmel chip ? You can try to toggle pin P0.08 to P0.11 from the firmware to make sure they are connected to the chip.