PPK: nRF Connect GUI hangs when I change voltage regulator level

[pieterc]

Hi everyone,

I am using the PPK to supply 3V to an external device and measure the current consumption.

When I start nrF Connect, connect to the PPK and change the Voltage Regulator value (from default 2.1V to 3V) the GUI hangs. The scrolling graph from right to left stops. When I click on the Power OFF button, it is reported that "PPK command failed" in the Log window.

I can measure that the output voltage did change to 3V (2.912V actually). If I select "Close Device" and reopen the device, it is reported "Corrupt data detected, please check connection to PPK".

If I close nRF Connect and reopen it and connect to the PPK then the Voltage Regulator output is 3V (2.912V actually)

Info that may help:

1. nrF Connect v3.3.0

2. SEGGER version: J-Link OB-SAM3U128-V2-NordicSemi compiled Jan 7 2019 14:07:15

3. Device s/n 000682661360 (PCA10040)

3. SW2 (DUT select) set to External

4. SW4 (Power select) set to Reg.

5. COM slide switch set to DK

Any tips / hints would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Pieter

https://piconomix.com

[sirio]

I am seeing the same issue with "Voltage Regulator" slider being broken.

If I use the app without touching voltage regulator, it works.

After adjusting voltage, buttons work but no output (lost comm with PPK?).

My version info:

Version: 2.3.1
Official: true
Supported engines: nRF Connect ^3.3.0
Current engine: nRF Connect 3.3.3
App directory: C:\Users\username\.nrfconnect-apps\node_modules\pc-nrfconnect-ppk

my OS: Windows 10

PPK hardware: PCA63511

PPK output when app connects:

22:44:40.033	SEGGER serial: 682800553
22:44:40.033	SEGGER speed: 2000 kHz
22:44:40.033	SEGGER version: J-Link OB-SAM3U128-V2-NordicSemi compiled Mar 17 2020 14:43:00

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Did you read my previous comments? Are you powering the PPK externally? It will not work when connected on top of DK, or with the DK debugger.

[sirio]

I did, thank you.

This is how I am connected:

1. host computer -(USB)-> nRF52-DK (SB9 is cut as per PPK manual)

2. PPK mounted of top of nRF52-DK:

  - Power Select (SW4): DK

  - DUT Select (SW2): External

3. Voltmeter connected between pins of External DUT (P16)

- The Power Profiler App connects to the PPK and initializes it correctly.

- Only 2.87v is measured at External DUT (p16).

- I can change the Voltage Regulator control to any value, but p16 remains 2.87v

- Power ON/OFF control works (0v on OFF), but when returning to ON p16 only has 2.87v

- I can connect and disconnect, but p16 only has 2.87v

- This behavior is the same on Windows and on MacOS (tested this also today). MacOS version data:

# nRFConnect System Report - 2020-05-06T14-58-49.119Z

- System:     Apple Inc. MacBookPro11,5
- BIOS:       Apple Inc. 
- CPU:        1 x Intel® Core™ i7-4870HQ 2.50 GHz 8 cores (4 physical)
- Memory:     660 MB free of 16 GB total
- Filesystem: /dev/disk1s1 (HFS) 931.6 GB 49.6% used

- OS:         Mac OS X (10.14.6) darwin x64

- Versions
    - kernel: 18.7.0
    - git: 2.20.1
    - node: 12.0.0
    - python: 2.7.16
    - python3: 

As a test measure, is there a way to connect with a UART and manually set the voltage on the PPK?

That way I can verify that the PPK is operating properly.

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

If the Power Select (SW4) is set to DK, the regulators will not be used at all, which is why you are not seeing any change in the voltage.

If you set the switch to Reg, you should be able to use the voltage regulator with the latest release (2.3.1):

[anusha_14]

I am facing the same issue with power profiler 2.3.1 with this same setup. Also, I cannot set the regulator voltage to exactly 3000 mV. It either goes to 2996m V or 3005 mV. How can I set the voltage to exactly 3000 mV?