Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

RE: Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

awneil — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 09:31:45 GMT

[quote userid="8164" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/51647/is-the-sdk-ble_app_template-project-for-pc10056e-properly-working/207608"]I think a better location would be in the "Testing" section of all example[/quote]

Sounds reasonable - like the note that says, "remember to program the SoftDevice" on the BLE examples...

[quote userid="8164" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/51647/is-the-sdk-ble_app_template-project-for-pc10056e-properly-working/207608"]Or maybe instead a small FAQ / troubleshooting page[/quote]

That would be good - in general.

Although we know that people don't look at such things, but just jump straight onto the forum...

😞

RE: Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

tesc — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 09:09:53 GMT

Hi,

I think a better location would be in the "Testing" section of all examples. A note that application data is not erased when programming , so we recommend to erase flash before programming if the board has been previously used with a different application.

Or maybe instead a small FAQ / troubleshooting page, covering typical error situations (like this one), that can be linked to from each example documentation page?

Regards,
Terje

RE: Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

awneil — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 14:32:21 GMT

[quote userid="8164" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/51647/is-the-sdk-ble_app_template-project-for-pc10056e-properly-working/207428"]for many use cases it is a better default behavior to keep application data when (re)flashing the application[/quote]

I agree.

[quote userid="8164" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/51647/is-the-sdk-ble_app_template-project-for-pc10056e-properly-working/207428"]It is easy to erase all before programming, when an empty data storage is needed[/quote]

Indeed.

But it can be a surprise that stuff is "left over" - as here, and as I referenced earlier.

Maybe this could be noted in the FDS and/or fstorage documentation ... ?

RE: Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

tesc — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 13:36:00 GMT

Hi,

Let me add that for many use cases it is a better default behavior to keep application data when (re)flashing the application, than to remove it.

It is easy to erase all before programming, when an empty data storage is needed.

It can be complicated to restore application data that was erased during programming, when that is what you need.

Regards,
Terje

RE: Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

awneil — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 12:50:25 GMT

This was a "previously enjoyed" DevKit - wasn't it?

So some previous project had probably been correctly configured to use FDS.

But now you've changed the whole memory layout (to emulate a different chip) - so the FDS gets confused byt finding some "left over" bits in Flash.

It's not a bad practive to do a full chip erase whenever you start a new project.

The thing with persistent storage is that it will, well ... persist!

RE: Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

Julian — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 12:43:37 GMT

When I first noticed the issue, it was originally in a modified folder as I was trying to target my new hardware as well as the DK board... but I had jumped back to a brand new untouched whole SDK folder in a different HDD location before posting this, and was getting the same issue.

Anyway- manually attaching the debugger and manually clearing from there seems to have fixed my issue (on the DK board at least... will check the problem is also better on my custom board tomorrow when I get back to it)

So whats the deal with the un-erased flash? is there a way I can configure my project to actually clear out the whole chip on programming for a debug session? If something so crippling can happen when things go wrong, I feel that might be useful.

RE: Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

awneil — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 12:39:23 GMT

I've certainly seen Nordic Fatal Errors from FDS crashing due to stuff "left over" in Flash...

EDIT

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/50359/fds-init-fail-error-11/201007#201007

RE: Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

Julian — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 12:33:28 GMT

there is no debug build for the 10056e for SES... but having a look there is a debug build for 10056, so I will try to copy that configuration across as a build option for 10056e... I guess it'll be helpful next time something funny happens.. unless debug build isn't in the project for 10056e for a reason?

by "run off into the weeds" yeah I could have explained that better - it was getting trapped in the handler.. but since it wasn't compiling a debug build, there wasn't much in the way of useful info I could see when it got there.

Anyway.. it seems that the full erase has fixed it... I haven't seen that kind of issue before with nRF52832 or any other arm processor..

RE: Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

awneil — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 12:11:15 GMT

[quote userid="8164" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/51647/is-the-sdk-ble_app_template-project-for-pc10056e-properly-working/207389"]"nrfjprog -e", or use the nRF Connect programmer [/quote]

Or Target > Erase All in the SES IDE

RE: Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

tesc — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 12:01:25 GMT

Hi,

I have no trouble running the (unmodified) ble_app_template_pca10056e_s112 example from nRF5 SDK v15.3.0 on a PCA10056 board here. Are you running the unmodified example?

One first trick is to erase flash on the DK before programming. in case anything is left in UICR or in application storage flash pages. ("nrfjprog -e", or use the nRF Connect programmer app.)

As suggested by awneil, with the Debug configuration you should get more information about what may be the issue.

Regards,
Terje

RE: Is the SDK ble_app_template project for PC10056e properly working?

awneil — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 11:22:54 GMT

[quote userid="82964" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/51647/is-the-sdk-ble_app_template-project-for-pc10056e-properly-working"]the app crashes and runs off into the weeds[/quote]

It shouldn't "run off into the weeds" - it should just end up in the Error Handler.

With the Debug configuration, you should get some info on the Log output to say what the error is ...