Disable UART of nRF52

Question

Hi, 
 I am learning nRF development with 52DK device and SDK v16.0. I noticed that by default the 52DK planned P0.5~8 for UART purpose. 
 I am wondering if I can disable UART usage and plan those PINs for other purposes (e.g. SPIM)? 
 
 What will be lost if I don't use UART? I mean debugging through JLink-OB shall still be working and RTT logging shall also work w/o UART. 
 What is needed to turn UART off from software aspect? Should I do extra things or simply don't include any UART related libraries or drivers in my app? 
 
 I understand that adjust of 52DK solder bridges is needed otherwise the i/f MCU might be still connecting to those PIN for UART purposes. Just want get a more complete understanding here from your experts. 
 Regards, 
 yf13

Simonr · Accepted Answer

Hi 
 This should not be too hard to do. First off, you have to remove the function(s) in your main file that is using UART. Then you should go through the sdk_config.h file and disable UART by setting the functions enabling UART to 0, this includes the BLE_NUS_ENABLED and the UARTE peripheral driver, etc. 
 Now you should be free to use these pins as whatever you'd like. You shouldn't lose anything except the UART functionalities when disabling it. You can also use other pins as UART by assigning them to other pins if you need the initial pins for something else but still want to use UART. 
 Best regards, 
 Simon

Disable UART of nRF52

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