disconnecting while operations are in progress never gives BLE_GAP_EVT_DISCONNECTED event

[Paul Bradford]

2020-01-24-092119EST-ProductStoppedGettingEventsFromNordicDK.txtImprivataTestNordicEventsNotReceived.zipCalls_to_pc_ble_driver.cpp0285.2020-02-24-TestProgramUploadedToNordicSupport.zipFeb25TestProgramUploadedToNordicSupport.zipImprivata_bgTestApp.zipbgSDKTestAppMay4.zip2020-05-05-035347-NordicDK_USB840M_200505_ClockInternal_2in1.hex.txt.txtbgSDKTestAppMay6.zipI’m developing an application based on pc-ble-driver to talk to an nRF52840-based dongle (from Fanstel).

I’m having trouble disconnecting cleanly when a connection has operations in progress.  For example, I call ‘sd_ble_gattc_write’, which returns NRF_SUCCESS, but I don’t receive event BLE_GATTC_EVT_WRITE_RSP (after waiting 60 seconds), so I decide to disconnect. When this happens, sd_ble_gap_disconnect returns NRF_SUCCESS, but I do not receive BLE_GAP_EVT_DISCONNECTED even after waiting 30 seconds. The connection supervision timeout is 4 seconds.  What could cause the disconnect to not generate any BLE_GAP_EVT_DISCONNECTED event?

What I’m trying to accomplish here: if a connection is not responsive, I want to end that connection, without disturbing other connections I have open.

Thanks,

Paul Bradford

[Paul Bradford]

I have attached a new test program Imprivata_bgTestApp.zip. There is a file called README with instructions, and a description of the problem.   I suggest you try this on a Dell 64-bit Windows 10 laptop that has not had Nordic dev tools installed on it. Usually the problem occurs with in an hour or two.

This test program reproduces the problem on two 64-bit Windows 10 laptops and does not reproduce this on one 64-bit Windows 10 laptop. I don't know what difference between these laptops causes two to fail and one to succeed. All have the same driver usbser.sys 10.0.18362.1 winbuild 160101.0800. Problem has occurred when plugged into USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports.

Failing laptops: both Dell, one Windows 10 version 1903 build 18362.657, another Windows 10 version 1909 build 18363.752 (the latest public Windows 10 build)

Laptop that does not reproduce the problem: Lenovo ThinkPad, Windows 10 version 1903 build 18362.657 (exactly the same as one failing laptop). This one has had Nordic tools like nRF Connect installed. One consequence is that when I plugged in an nRF52840 it would show in Device Manager as 'nRF Connect USB CDC ACM (COMx)'. To make it like my other laptops that do not have Nordic tools, I uninstalled the driver so that the nRF52840 would show up as 'USB Serial Device (COMx)'

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

I have had the new application running on my PC with 5 parallel devices for 8 hours yesterday and 4 hours today. So far, I have not been able to reproduce the issue. I do have another PC that does not have Nordic tools installed, but this is not a Dell PC. I will try to setup the test on that one next. It's a bit harder to find equipment for testing this with the limited factors where you have managed to reproduce the issue, due most of us working from home-office due to the Corona situation. Is it still a requirement to have heavy Bluetooth activity around the device in order to reproduce the issue? This could also be a problem to facilitate during home-office.

[Paul Bradford]

I loaded 200505_ble_connectivity_s140_usb_hci_pca10056_lfrc_mergedsoftdevice.hex into the Nordic DK, and I'm running the test program. But when I start PuTTY to log the JLINK serial port, I see no output at all. I'm using the same procedure I've been using the last few days, including BAUD rate 115200.

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Did you connect a wire between P0.31 and P0.06 on the DK, as I described in the last change-point below?

Jørgen Holmefjord said:

When running on DK, a wire must be connected between P0.31 and P0.06 to output logs.

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Hi Paul,

I tracked down the reset that I'm seeing to a call to sd_nvic_SystemReset() in ser_conn_generic_command_process() when a SER_GENERIC_CMD_RESET command is received. This indicates that the pc-ble-driver application is issuing a reset command. This also looks to be the case in the log output from your application:

>bgsdkTestApp.exe -u27527585-e5bb-4697-b0af-0e92785043b6 -f5 -v0 -cCOM4
use challenge/response frequency of 5 seconds
logging level 0
'd' to disconnect any connected devices
'q' to quit program
'r' to do a hard reset of the dongle - after this the program exits
's' to show status of all monitored phones
'+' to increase logging level
'-' to decrease logging level
2020-05-05 15:49:48.999: (WARNING) Nordic event handler received an un-handled event with ID:  30
2020-05-05 15:50:31.955: (WARNING) restart scanning because we've gone 10 timer ticks with no advertisements
2020-05-05 15:50:33.799: (ERROR) Error:  Failed to decode event, error code is 14/0xe.
2020-05-05 15:50:33.924: (WARNING) bgsdk::details::AdvDataParser::Parse MAC =  42:f5:68:c6:cd:d1 failed to parse 1e ff 06 00 01 09 20 02 9b 89 59 dc cd f2 0f a9 46 2f b7 61 7a  invalid advertisement: section length = 30 results in end index 31 > size 21
2020-05-05 15:50:47.656: (WARNING) restart scanning because we've gone 10 timer ticks with no advertisements
2020-05-05 15:50:48.968: (ERROR) Error:  Failed to decode event, error code is 14/0xe.
2020-05-05 15:50:49.281: (ERROR) Error:  Failed to decode event, error code is 14/0xe.
2020-05-05 15:55:40.263: (WARNING) trigger reset hardware_radio_error because we've gone 300 timer ticks with no advertisements, indicating the Bluegiga hardware failed
IMPBGSDK reported HardwareFailure (for Nordic this happens when we don't detect advertisements for a long time)
IMPBGSDK reported HardwareSoftResetInitiated WITH DeviceRemoval (for Nordic this happens when we don't detect advertisements for a long time)
2020-05-05 15:55:40.910: (ERROR) Error:  serial port write operation on port COM4 failed. Error: The device does not recognize the command.[22]
2020-05-05 15:55:42.218: (WARNING) resetting Nordic failed:  0x802a NRF_ERROR_SD_RPC_H5_TRANSPORT_NO_RESPONSE
2020-05-05 15:55:43.773: (ERROR) Error:  Error purging UART 22
2020-05-05 15:55:43.779: (WARNING) std::exception during keepalive: sd_ble_gattc_read failed (Error: 32773) : 0x8005 NRF_ERROR_SD_RPC_NO_RESPONSE
2020-05-05 15:55:43.784: (ERROR) bgsdk::BeaconController::Impl::StopAdvertising Failed to stop advertising:  Nordic adapter closed (Error: 36865) : Unknown error
2020-05-05 15:55:43.786: (ERROR) bgsdk::BeaconController::Impl::StartAdvertising Failed to start advertising:  Nordic adapter closed (Error: 36865) : Unknown error
2020-05-05 15:55:43.787: (WARNING) start scanning caused exception:  Nordic adapter closed (Error: 36865) : Unknown error
2020-05-05 15:55:43.787: (WARNING) Event wait terminates because of global reset

This was seen when running your latest application (bgSDKTestAppMay4.zip). I did not see similar output in the old application. Did you make any changes to the application to make the chip reset? I will try to test with the Imprivata_bgTestApp.zip application to see if I'm still able to reproduce.

Best regards,
Jørgen

[Paul Bradford]

The reset you are seeing is induced by the test program, and has changed since prior versions. This test program uses lots of code from our product, and one thing it does is reset the nRF52840 after a prolonged period of receiving no advertisements, since we're scanning constantly and should always be seeing advertisements - we take this 5+ minutes with advertisements to mean the chip has failed, so we reset it. Note that earlier we had noticed that advertisements stopped and had tried to restart them: "restart scanning because we've gone 10 timer ticks with no advertisements".  Does the firmware logging show what's going on that causes no advertisements to be received? 

It may not mean anything, but the line of output from the test program "Nordic event handler received an un-handled event with ID:  30" indicates it received event BLE_GAP_EVT_SEC_REQUEST which the product does not process. I don't recall ever seeing that event. Is your test phone somehow set up to requiring pairing or bonding? If it were, it would not successfully stay connected to the test program.

When you run the test program, do you verify that shortly after starting it has connected to the phone ("phone is being tracked") as described in the README? 

On the PuTTY question from earlier, I had missed the instruction about wiring pins on the DK. I'll work on this with the limited equipment I have at home.

[LeoChen]

Hi Jorgen,

Thanks for detail.

I found where cause the new problem on my code.

I am following the latest Nordic patch file and compiler again.

I already installed three dongles to try.

My log is setup to RTT Viewer.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z5xll23kkcpaxks/USB840M_200506.rar?dl=0