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SDK for developing on nRF5340

NewtoM

Hi there,

in my passion to keep up with technological advances, I ordered the nRF5340 PDK. I was hoping to pave the way of moving our nRF52832 and nRF52840 based projects onto the new platform. I am fairly familiar with the nRF52 ecosystem and I have been a big fan of the NordicSemi-style documentation and handling of resources. This includes the simple but neat https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/, where I can click through very quickly to the information I need, but also the simple way of getting and setting up the SDK over http://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF5_SDK/.

Now, with the nRF5340 I seem to face a problem. I went as far as to install nRF Connect to be able to get the SDK. And now I am reading all the necessary steps:

  • install Chocolatey and enable some features
  • install cmake
  • install Git
  • install python
  • install ninja
  • install DTC
  • install GPerf
  • install GNU ARM Embedded toolchain

... I am baffled. Is that really the only way to have a working development framework for the nRF53??? Or am I missing something?

I really do want an "old-fashioned" solution, where

  • I download the SDK (from which I only keep parts I need),
  • I create a project in Segger Embedded Studio (based on a sample project from the SDK) and
  • I code on.

This is still the most efficient way I can think of. And that is why we use Nordic products.

I know that most embedded suppliers today go the way of becoming more "modern" and "colorful", but that also makes simple solutions blown-up and complicated. Please do not make that same mistake!

So, here my questions:

  1. Is above "old-fashioned" development approach possible for the nRF5340? If yes, please tell me how to start.
  2. If not, please tell me when it will be possible.
  3. If never, please tell me why.

Thanks in advance!

Tamas

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  • 0

    Hi Tamas,

    I will start by answering your specific questions.

    1. There is currently no option to download an integrated toolchain and SDK in one go. The only option to get started with developing for the nRF53 is using nRF Connect SDK, setting it up as described under Getting started.

    2. We are aware of this issue and are considering ways to make it faster and easier to get the toolchain in plays, but I do not have a detailed timeframe for when this will happen nor details on how it will be.

    3. N/A.

    There are several reasons for this large set of dependencies, but we are aware of the issues it causes. While we recognize the problem, I would argue that getting up and running is not a huge task. We provide detailed instructions that basically can be just copy-pasted into a terminal window. So if you follow the instructions to the point, you will be up and running in about 20 minutes (on a fast internet connection).

    The nRF Connect SDK and Zephyr are very different from the nRF5 SDK. For instance, it uses a set of tools common in the Linux world that may take some time to get used to (particularly Kconfig and Device tree). And it is not yet as mature as the nRF5 SDK. All-in-all this makes the nRF Connect SDK a bit more difficult to get started with, but once you get over the initial hurdles I hope you will find it more appealing. Please also bear in mind though that the nRF5340 is still an engineering sample, and the SW support is at a very early stage.

    Einar

  • 0 in reply to Einar Thorsrud

    Dear Einar,

    thanks for the quick reply! I appreciate your answers a lot. However, I cannot confirm that "getting up and running [the SDK] is not a huge task". I did start to follow the steps listed in the Getting Started Assistand, but things went wrong at

    pip3 install west

    when I got the error message [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED]. It may (or may not) be that a previous Python version on the PC is interfering. After reading some forums, I found out that I can force my way by calling:

    pip3 install --trusted-host pypi.org --trusted-host files.pythonhosted.org west

    I needed the "trusted-host trick" a few times more later, too.

    Eventually, I ended up with an ncs/zephyr/boards/arm directory NOT containing nrf5340... And that's when I removed everything, put the two nRF5340 PDKs into the cabinet and decided to wait a few months in good hope for a new nRF5_SDK version, which I expect to have support for the nRF5340.

    Tamas

  • 0 in reply to NewtoM

    Try to switch to the master branch instead of the v1.1.0 i.e. in the ncs/nrf folder

    git fetch origin
    git checkout origin/master
    west update

    and then you should find the ncs/zephyr/boards/arm/nrf5340_dk_nrf5340 folder


  • 0 in reply to Matt

    Yes, that is an important point. The nRF5340 is currently only supported in the master branch of the nRF Connect SDK.

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