Getting started with the Thingy:91

[Calin M]

Trying to get started with the Thingy:91

- It's connecting to NRF Cloud and reporting data.

Problems:

1. Keeps blinking blue and does not get a GPS lock. I did leave it near the window. I did hold down the button for more than 10 seconds as suggested in another post, to turn on the GPS. I'm in Vancouver, Canada and using the iBasis SIM. How would I find out if this is because my provider does not support power saving mode?

2. Is the LTE Link monitor supposed to work over USB? I connected it via USB but I get "No devices available". I did uncheck auto device port filter.

I don't have a NRF9160 DK.

Thanks!

Calin

[Calin M]

Hi Didrik Rokhaug

It's hard to get in touch with Rogers support.

Now it's stuck in a reboot loop, here's the log:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SzWjFYZxjnUnBmiNQCMwtF9f5FmqkEyB?usp=sharing

Looks like there's something wrong with the nrfcloud registration. I used a hologram SIM for a bit, now I switched back to ibasis.

I pressed the button to start the GPS search but it keeps saying I'm pressing it too soon.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Calin

[Didrik Rokhaug]

You have to wait for the Thingy to connect to nRF Cloud before activating the GPS.

From the logs, it looks like you are having the same problems as this case:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/52208/socket-error-pollhup

Can you try to delete the Thingy from your nRF Cloud account, and register it again? (from https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/nordic/nordic-blog/b/blog/posts/thingy-91-faq)

[Calin M]

./applications/asset_tracker/build_folder/zephyr/.config:CONFIG_LTE_PSM_REQ_RPTAU="00000110"
./applications/asset_tracker/build_folder/zephyr/.config:CONFIG_LTE_PSM_REQ_RAT="00000000"

Could it be the case that other values for these parameters would work on more networks? In particular, should CONFIG_LTE_PSM_REQ_RAT be all zeros?

Thanks!

[Calin M]

Hi Didrik Rokhaug

Is there a way to enable some debugging in the asset tracker, or run some AT commands and show that the network operator does not support the PSM? PSM is one of the selling features of LTE-M, I find it hard to imagine they turned it off.

Thanks,

Calin

[Didrik Rokhaug]

Hi, and sorry for the slow response, but due to the TechTour and some sickness we are a bit short on staff with nRF91 experience at the moment.

If I understand correctly, the Hologram SIM card is also roaming? If so, I would expect the performance to be similar to the iBasis SIM card.

The +CPSMS command lets you set and read the requested timer values, and can therefore not be used to check whether those values got accepted.

If you do not get any log messages between the "Searching for satellites [...]" and "Stopping GPS. The device will try again [...]" to my knowledge that means that it has not entered PSM.

For how to check if you are in PSM, you might be able to use the +CEREG with response type 4 or 5, or the %XMONITOR. What we are interested in is the Active-Time and Periodic-TAU values. However, I am currently working on another case which reports some problems with the %XMONITOR command, that probably also includes the +CEREG command.

I will keep you informed about any progress I make.

Best regards,

Didrik

[Calin M]

Thank you Didrik for your reply.

Here is what I get for CEREG level 5

AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 5,5,"8980","061B8B0B",7,,,"11100000","11100000"

Please let me know if you make any progress.

Cheers,

Calin

[Didrik Rokhaug]

The problems reported with %XMONITOR and CEREG seems to be confusion on the customers part.

The two last values of the CEREG level 5 response is the ones related to PSM, Active-Time (the time after a transmit event when the device is reachable) and Periodic-TAU (the time between regular transmit events to keep the connection alive).

The meaning of the values can be found in 3GPP TS 24.008, section 10.5.7.4, but long story short, when they start with "111" the timers are not active, i.e. you do not have PSM activated.

[Calin M]

Hi Didrik,

I got a local SIM, not roaming, and finally got it to connect. Then I updated the asset_tracker application from git, and now it seems I cannot send AT commands anymore. I get getddadrinfo failed, probably because the APN is not set and I cannot set it because I cannot send AT commands. Any ideas how I can make it accept AT commands?

Is there a known good version of the asset tracker that works on the thingy and takes AT commands?

Thanks,

Calin

[Calin M]

This is what I get:

***** Booting Zephyr OS build v1.14.99-ncs3-snapshot2-1279-g1c3a001f62e6 *****\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:11.749Z DEBUG modem << Asset tracker started\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:11.792Z DEBUG modem << [00:00:00.413,757] \x1B[0m<dbg> nrf_cloud_transport.nct_client_id_get: client_id = nrf-352656100833741\x1B[0m\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:11.829Z DEBUG modem << [00:00:00.423,095] \x1B[0m<dbg> nrf_cloud_transport.nct_topics_populate: shadow_base_topic: $aws/things/nrf-352656100833741/shadow\x1B[0m\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:12.049Z DEBUG modem << [00:00:00.434,875] \x1B[0m<dbg> nrf_cloud_transport.nct_topics_populate: accepted_topic: $aws/things/nrf-352656100833741/shadow/get/accepted\x1B[0m\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:12.107Z DEBUG modem << [00:00:00.447,570] \x1B[0m<dbg> nrf_cloud_transport.nct_topics_populate: rejected_topic: $aws/things/nrf-352656100833741/shadow/get/rejected\x1B[0m\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:12.149Z DEBUG modem << [00:00:00.460,235] \x1B[0m<dbg> nrf_cloud_transport.nct_topics_populate: update_delta_topic: $aws/things/nrf-352656100833741/shadow/update/delta\x1B[0m\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:12.188Z DEBUG modem << [00:00:00.473,266] \x1B[0m<dbg> nrf_cloud_transport.nct_topics_populate: update_topic: $aws/things/nrf-352656100833741/shadow/update\x1B[0m\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:12.233Z DEBUG modem << [00:00:00.485,229] \x1B[0m<dbg> nrf_cloud_transport.nct_topics_populate: shadow_get_topic: $aws/things/nrf-352656100833741/shadow/get\x1B[0m\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:12.248Z DEBUG modem << Connecting to LTE network. This may take several minutes.\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:18.284Z DEBUG modem << [00:00:01.669,128] \x1B[0m<dbg> lte_lc.at_handler: recv: +CEREG: 2,"2B01","01AE1C0B",7\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:18.299Z DEBUG modem << \x1B[0m\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:18.313Z DEBUG modem << [00:00:03.716,339] \x1B[0m<dbg> lte_lc.at_handler: recv: +CEREG: 1,"2B01","01AE1C0B",7\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:18.326Z DEBUG modem << \x1B[0m\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:18.339Z DEBUG modem << Connected to LTE network\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:18.352Z DEBUG modem << [00:00:03.727,050] \x1B[0m<dbg> nrf_cloud_transport.nct_connect: getaddrinfo failed 22\x1B[0m\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:18.371Z DEBUG modem << cloud_connect failed: 22\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:18.385Z DEBUG modem << LTE link disconnect\x0D\x0A
2019-11-02T05:51:18.399Z DEBUG modem << Shutdown modem\x0D\x0A

[Calin M]

I hardcoded the IP address, bu then I get

Connected to LTE network

[00:00:05.122,161] 

[0m<dbg> nrf_cloud_transport.nct_connect: IPv4 Address 0x34ce4b60

[0m

cloud_connect failed: -111

LTE link disconnect

Shutdown modem

[Didrik Rokhaug]

Hi.

You can find pre-compiled hex files for the Thingy:91 on our website: https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-Tools/Prototyping-platforms/Nordic-Thingy-91/Download#infotabs

Best regards,

Didrik