Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 11:19:45 GMT

Hi.

[quote user="SteveHx"]I can now load and build the Asset Tracker app[/quote]

Great to hear.

If you now can open and build a project in SES, I recommend that you open a new case with your problems with the asset tracker application.

That way, it is easier to keep focus on the issue, and you will be able to load the whole thread.

Best regards,

Didrik

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 21:03:32 GMT

The website is still cutting off the end of this thread.

I can now load and build the Asset Tracker app, and it appears to be downloading to the EVkit, after some fits and giggles. The first time it said it needed to download new firmware, strongly recommended, so with some trepidation I allowed it to do so. Then in crashed when it retried, because the firmware takes much too long to reboot. After it was fully back up, I closed everything and tried again. This time it didn't ask but seemed to download the bootstrap loader again without prompting. I have tried both "build and run" and "build and debug" from SES with the same result. A few blinks of the master LED on the board, and nary a peep from the LEDs on the nRF9160, of which 3 and 4 are described as lit or blinking for the various states, once I found the text describing how the app is supposed to run.

Is there any hope for this tool to be ready for prime time any time soon, or should I move on to other solutions?

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 15:05:40 GMT

The "load next" button can be a bit weird sometimes. I am also using Firefox, and have not had any problems with missing replies, so I do not think it is an issue. Just to be sure, here is a link to my latest comment: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/52266/startup-troubles-on-dev-kit/212934#212934

The Getting Started Assistant can only help you check if you have the toolchain. That is not the problem here. The problem is that you have set one of the options in SEGGER Embedded Studio wrong. There is nothing the Getting Started Assistant can do to help you here, other than this box:

I did not suggest you set the GnuArmEmb_path in the Getting Started Assistant. Please read my latest reply again.

Let me try to explain what you need to do again:

The problem you have is because CMake is unable to find the toolchain needed to compile the project.

CMake uses a path provided by SEGGER Embedded Studio (SES) to find the toolchain.

SES requires you to input that path in one of its settings. The procedure is explained in picture 1.

To know which path to enter, you can follow this procedure:

1. Edit the GnuArmEmb_path in the Getting Started Assistant until you can verify the installation of the GNU ARM Embedded toolchain (see picture)

2. Enter that same path into the "GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain Directory" option in SES (see picture)

3. Load the project. Remember to use the non-secure version of the board (with "ns" at the end of the name), and to clean the build directory.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 13:54:22 GMT

I have gone back to the Getting Started Assistant and set GnuArmEmb_path (over at the right) to C:\arm_segger_embedded_studio_v420a_win_x64_nordic as you suggest. Verify All then fails, so I have set it back to C:\gnuarmemb as suggested earlier, and Verify all succeeds. But I'm no closer to the goal line.

Note: I am using FireFox to access this thread. When I click the "load next" button, it cuts off the bottom of the thread, so I'm not sure if there's more below or not.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 08:46:56 GMT

This is a result of the "JavaScript Alert". NCS uses CMake to produce build files. When loading a project in SES, CMake is used to produce the project file for SES. However, in this case, CMake encounters an error (outputted in the "JavaScript Alert") and is therefore unable to produce a valid project file for SES. When SES then tries to open the project file, it is unable to do so and outputs this error.

It will disappear when the other problem is solved.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 08:21:28 GMT

It still looks like the "GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain Directory" is wrong. I recreated your issue on a Windows 10 VM, by setting it to the path of SES, instead of the path of the ARM embedded toolchain. See pictures:

If you change the "GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain Directory" option to the folder where you installed the ARM Embedded toolchain, then the error goes away, and you should be able to load and build the project. If you did not change the install directory in the ARM Embedded toolchain installer, the correct path should be C:\Program Files (x86)\GNU Tools Arm Embedded\7 2018-q2-update. I have attached pictures of the correct setup (on my VM), along with the content of the folder you should point to (when setting the path, only folders will be displayed, so you will not see the uninstaller):

If you still cannot get it to work, please send pictures of the SES options window, and the folder pointed to by the "GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain Directory" option.

Edit: Also, when opening a project, make sure that the "Clean Build Directory" checkbox is checked, to avoid risking using old settings.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 20:48:57 GMT

Another possible clue: I get this error box:

If I navigate to that specific file and dblclick, another instance of SES opens, and immediately gives me the same box again.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 20:31:41 GMT

Still doesn't work. I'm working with David Martin, and we're still getting this:

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 13:52:45 GMT

I am still working on a solution to the outdated package problem. In the meantime, if you press "yes to all", are you then able to open and build a sample project?

That should make the license "stick", and there does not seem to be anything wrong with the hex files produced by SES after pressing "yes to all", so you would at least be able to start development while you are waiting for a permanent solution on the outdated package.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 15:17:11 GMT

We are going in circles. I am right back where I was two weeks ago.

I have confirmed only one emStudio installed, via Windows Control Panel Programs and Features. I am running exactly that emStudio, in the recommended installation directory. Every time I open it, I get that same dialog box shown two messages above. Whether I answer yes or no, I then get the request to activate. I activate tho Nordic license (corrupting my legal company name because the box won't accept a comma in the company name), and the next time I open emStudio, I'm right back at the beginning of this paragraph.

My client is getting impatient to see some results. So am I.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 12:38:14 GMT

That path is not in c:\arm_segger_embedded_studio_v420a_win_x64_nordic, and I cannot find the mentioned package in my folder.

Do you have another SES version installed?

If so, make sure that you are using the correct version (run the executable emStudio in the c:\arm_segger_embedded_studio_v420a_win_x64_nordic\bin folder).

If that does not help, you might be able to solve the issue by running the other SES version and fixing the problem there, or by uninstalling the other SES version.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 11:32:57 GMT

The ....2018-q2-update directory was already there, and looks as you showed except for the uninstaller. I have reinstalled that and now it looks just like yours.

When I open emStudio, I always get the dialog box shown below. I've tried answering both yes and no different times, and I still always get this. I suspect it indicates I'm still missing some critical step in this absurdly over-complicated setup process:

I have stopped at its first ocurrance this time, pending your answer as to the next step.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 08:55:18 GMT

I am not talking about the unzipped SES folder, but the ARM Embedded toolchain (arm-none-eabi-*). You should have installed it as the last step on page 1 of the Getting Started Assistant ("Install the toolchain"). If you did not, here are the links:

The default install folder from the installer is: C:\Program Files (x86)\GNU Tools Arm Embedded\7 2018-q2-update.

The install folder for the ARM Embedded toolchain should have the same contents the picture from my last comment.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 15:54:42 GMT

I cannot find any directory that looks like your picture. I presume we're talking about where I unzipped EmbeddedStudio_ARM_Nordic_v420a_win_x64.zip. Per your suggestion, I unzipped it directly to C:\ (which seems to me like a bad idea to begin with, but you're the expert). I have tried setting the path in SES to both C:\ and c:\arm_segger_embedded_studio_v420a_win_x64_nordic, same result.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 15:40:06 GMT

It still looks like the "GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain Directory" option is wrong. Can you confirm that the content of the folder you have provided in that option contains the same as:

Also, when building an application which uses the modem on the nRF91, you must build the application as non-secure. The board name should be "nrf9160_pca10090ns", notice the "ns" at the end.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 15:29:46 GMT

Okay, I've jumped thru all the hoops to reinstall the package. Now I'm uto the same place I was a week ago. When I attempt to open the Asset Tracker project, I get this error box:

Here's te option box, exactly as the tools auto-filled it:

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 14:35:57 GMT

Sorry for being unclear. It is not necessary to start over. Just change "hub==2.0" to "git-spindle==2.0" (as I believe you did), and rerun the pip3 command.

Regarding the pyocd error, you can safely ignore it.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 14:23:40 GMT

Do I need to just go back and start over? Your message above was not very clear, but I replaced "hub" in Requirements.txt in the Zephyr directory and it seems to be a little happier. However, there's still a red error message (boldface below) in the resulting text:

Requirement already satisfied: asn1crypto>=0.21.0 in c:\python37\lib\site-packages (from cryptography>=1.5->jwcrypto>=0.5.0->github3.py>=0.8.2->git-spindle==2.0
->-r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 10)) (0.24.0)
Requirement already satisfied: pycparser in c:\python37\lib\site-packages (from cffi!=1.11.3,>=1.8->cryptography>=1.5->jwcrypto>=0.5.0->github3.py>=0.8.2->git-s
pindle==2.0->-r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 10)) (2.19)
ERROR: pyocd 0.19.0 has requirement pyyaml<6.0,>=5.1, but you'll have pyyaml 4.2b4 which is incompatible.
Installing collected packages: wheel, docutils, sphinxcontrib-websupport, sphinx, breathe, sphinx-rtd-theme, sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverter, junit2html, ply, jw
crypto, uritemplate, github3.py, whelk, git-spindle, arrow, gitlint, pyelftools, websocket-client, sortedcontainers, intervaltree, pyusb, pywinusb, pyocd, windo
ws-curses, Pillow, more-itertools, zipp, importlib-metadata, pluggy, wcwidth, py, atomicwrites, pytest
Found existing installation: docutils 0.15.2
    Uninstalling docutils-0.15.2:
      Successfully uninstalled docutils-0.15.2
Found existing installation: Sphinx 2.2.0
    Uninstalling Sphinx-2.2.0:
      Successfully uninstalled Sphinx-2.2.0
Running setup.py install for junit2html ... done
Running setup.py install for ply ... done
Running setup.py install for whelk ... done
Running setup.py install for git-spindle ... done
Running setup.py install for pyelftools ... done
Running setup.py install for intervaltree ... done
Running setup.py install for pyusb ... done
Running setup.py install for pywinusb ... done
Running setup.py install for pyocd ... done
Successfully installed Pillow-6.1.0 arrow-0.14.2 atomicwrites-1.3.0 breathe-4.9.1 docutils-0.14 git-spindle-2.0 github3.py-1.3.0 gitlint-0.12.0 importlib-metada
ta-0.23 intervaltree-3.0.2 junit2html-22 jwcrypto-0.6.0 more-itertools-7.2.0 pluggy-0.13.0 ply-3.10 py-1.8.0 pyelftools-0.24 pyocd-0.19.0 pytest-5.1.3 pyusb-1.0
.2 pywinusb-0.4.2 sortedcontainers-2.1.0 sphinx-1.7.5 sphinx-rtd-theme-0.4.3 sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverter-1.0.1 sphinxcontrib-websupport-1.1.2 uritemplate-3.0
.0 wcwidth-0.1.7 websocket-client-0.56.0 wheel-0.30.0 whelk-2.7.1 windows-curses-2.0.1 zipp-0.6.0

10:17:04.11 d:\296\FW\ncs>

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 14:00:04 GMT

That is a known problem and has been fixed on the master branch.

What has happened is this:

The hub python module that is used by Zephyr has changed the name to git-spindle. Then, a new module was created with the name hub. If you edit the name of the package in the requirements file to "git-spindle", it should work.

Sadly, bugfixes like this have not been backported to the v1.0.0 release.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 13:10:03 GMT

David Martin stepped in to help, but he's traveling today so asked that I come back to this ticket. So here's the update. We went back and started over with the Getting Started Assistant. Step 1 of the 4 steps is complete and appears successful. In step 2 "Clone the nRF Connect SDK", the first 3 subparts are complete. In the 4th part, installing Python modules, the very first install command is

pip3 install -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt

That results in an error message that David was unable to handle immediately. Here's the screen dump from the command box:

11:39:42.08 d:\296\FW\ncs> pip3 install -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt
Collecting wheel==0.30.0 (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 1))
Using cached https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/0c/80/16a85b47702a1f47a63c104c91abdd0a6704ee8ae3b4ce4afc49bc39f9d9/wheel-0.30.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl
Collecting breathe==4.9.1 (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 2))
Using cached https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/2c/a5/040234179dc9140be4a1cb4350af362327d001d0ca7e5bba4d580916ceb4/breathe-4.9.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl
Collecting sphinx==1.7.5 (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 3))
Using cached https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/1b/9f/98d67201c5a6e1aececed03a44a819d0e32adba81414081e303cfaf8c54c/Sphinx-1.7.5-py2.py3-none-any.whl
Collecting docutils==0.14 (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 4))
Using cached https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/36/fa/08e9e6e0e3cbd1d362c3bbee8d01d0aedb2155c4ac112b19ef3cae8eed8d/docutils-0.14-py3-none-any.whl
Collecting sphinx_rtd_theme (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 5))
Using cached https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/60/b4/4df37087a1d36755e3a3bfd2a30263f358d2dea21938240fa02313d45f51/sphinx_rtd_theme-0.4.3-py2.py3-none-an
y.whl
Collecting sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverter (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 6))
Using cached https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/79/83/d712a25303429570c641caa113d1282c27012bbd4157417d07829947a549/sphinxcontrib_svg2pdfconverter-1.0.1-p
y3-none-any.whl
Collecting junit2html (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 7))
Using cached https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/69/93/f2ccef1136dba078dada0513c324bad9ffd2be9236229d09bce71e1338a8/junit2html-022.tar.gz
Requirement already satisfied: PyYAML>=3.13 in c:\python37\lib\site-packages (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 8)) (4.2b4)
Collecting ply==3.10 (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 9))
Using cached https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/ce/3d/1f9ca69192025046f02a02ffc61bfbac2731aab06325a218370fd93e18df/ply-3.10.tar.gz
Collecting hub==2.0 (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 10))
ERROR: Could not find a version that satisfies the requirement hub==2.0 (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 10)) (from versions: 0.0.1, 0.1.0, 0.1.
1, 0.1.2, 0.1.3, 0.1.4, 0.1.5, 0.1.6, 0.2, 0.2.0.1, 0.2.0.3, 0.2.0.4)
ERROR: No matching distribution found for hub==2.0 (from -r zephyr\scripts\requirements.txt (line 10))

11:40:06.99 d:\296\FW\ncs>

Your serve...... ;-)

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 14:16:08 GMT

1. On my Linux VM, I got the Nordic Edition also when pressing continue. I do not know of any other solution, but what I did was simply to type a single letter into every box (except for email, which must look like an email, e.g., a@a.a), and use an old license. It is obviously not a very good workaround, but that is the best I have at the moment.

3. The "GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain Directory" is wrong. It should point to the folder where you installed the toolchain, i.e., compiler. The default path I got from the installer was: C:\Program Files (x86)\GNU Tools Arm Embedded\7 2018-q2-update. If you followed the recommendation from the Getting Started Assistant, it would be in C:\gnuarmemb. Regardless, the content of the folder should be:

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 13:48:17 GMT

1. The Segger Embedded Studio Nordic Edition zip should contain all the necessary parts, and installing a package should not be necessary. I have never encountered that message before, and from the path mentioned in the pop-up, it does not look like you are using the Nordic Edition of SES. Can you confirm that you are using the correct SES version?

If I "continue" as you suggest below, I do not get the Nordic version. If I do as I have been doing all along, and re-activate my license every time I open SES, I clearly get the Nordic version as this screenshot shows. Could there be a connection here? Also, note that my legal company name includes a comma, but the activation will not accept a comma in the company name so I must compromise and leave out the comma.

2. I just tried to set up NCS on two different Linux VMs and encountered your license issue on one of them until I was able to open one of our example projects. For now, you should be able to simply press "continue", while we sort out your other issues.

See above.

3. Can you send me a screenshot of the "nRF Connect" tab of SES's options window, as well as the content of the folder, pointed to by the "GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain Directory" setting?

Note that all locations etc. were guided by the nRF Connect Getting Started Assistant.

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 13:33:28 GMT

Hi.

3. Can you send me a screenshot of the "nRF Connect" tab of SES's options window, as well as the content of the folder, pointed to by the "GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain Directory" setting?

Best regards,

Didrik

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

SteveHx — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 16:25:03 GMT

Every time I open Embedded Studio I get this:

Whether i answer yes or no, I always get a notice that I have no license, and have to jump thru the hoops to get the free license for Nordic users. is there any way to make the license stick?

RE: Startup Troubles on Dev Kit

Didrik Rokhaug — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 13:02:41 GMT

You need to create the GNUARMEMB_TOOLCHAIN_PATH environment variable (along with the ZEPHYR_TOOLCHAIN_VARIANT, though I believe they are only needed when building from the command line).

I sent you links to the toolchain in this comment: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/52266/startup-troubles-on-dev-kit/211001#211001

Make sure that you use the "Nordic Edition" of SES, not the regular version (links here: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/52266/startup-troubles-on-dev-kit/211314#211314).

You can unzip the folder anywhere. There are no other install steps other than unzipping. When using SES with NCS, make sure that you run the correct executable, you can find it in <SES install/unzip folder>/arm_segger_embedded_studio_v418_win_x86_nordic\bin\emStudio.exe

When you first open SES (Nordic Edition), you need to set two options. You can find them by clicking Tools > Options and select the nRF Connect tab.

Zephyr Base - the location of your cloned Zephyr repository (the full path to ncs/zephyr)
GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain Directory - the location of your GNU ARM Embedded Toolchain installation (for example, c:\gnuarmemb)

I agree that there are a lot of dependencies to install, however, if you follow the Getting Started Assistant application in nRF Connect it should not be very hard.