Cannot get my custom board to run.

RE: Cannot get my custom board to run.

Cory Klopotic — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 13:24:41 GMT

Flashing just the SoftDevice didn't fix it either. I went into J-Flash Lite to verify what areas were being programmed when. I then decided to do an entire chip erase all, verified it was completely blank and then start over. I went into the Blinky example with the S132 SoftDevice and programmed the chip. To my surprise I now had a blinky light. I then was able to close out of that project, open my application, and program the chip. It is now running as expected. I'm not sure what happened, but for some reason the SoftDevice, Bootloader, or something else was corrupted or causing me issues. Erasing the entire chip and then programming fixed the issue for me.

RE: Cannot get my custom board to run.

haakonsh — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:17:31 GMT

If your crystal is specced at 12pF you'll need 20pF loading caps.

The formula is as follows: Cl1 = Cl2 = 2 * Crated - (Cstray + Cpad), where Cstray + Cpad = 4pF.

Your oscilloscope probes are most likely 12pF probes themselves so you end up with 12pF + 12pF = 24pF when scoping the crystals. 24pF is probably outside of what the oscillator is able to drive.

I recommend using a crystal with a lower specced loading capacitance than 12pF, and fit the loading capacitor to your probe's capacitance when you're probing. An alternative is using an active probe.

RE: Cannot get my custom board to run.

haakonsh — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:11:50 GMT

Yes, you'll need to flash the SoftDevice as well.

RE: Cannot get my custom board to run.

Cory Klopotic — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 21:47:22 GMT

I've just tried running the Nordic Blinky example. No BLE. First tried the one with the softdevice and that had the same "hang" issue. I then tried the same blinky example with no soft device, and it is now running as expected.

How do these dev boards come loaded? Do I have to install the softdevice independent of my project? I am using Segger Embedded Studio for ARM V4.5. I am assuming that when I started my project from the BLE template, that it has the softdevice all linked into my project and when I compile and program, it drops it into my chip every time. Is that not the case?