Unable to log anything on the serial terminal using Nordic Thingy 91

[harisahmed]

Hi,

I am trying to follow this tutorial (https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/nordic/cellular-iot-guides/b/getting-started-cellular/posts/ncs-tutorial---temporary) on Nordic Thingy 91 but I am unable to print anything on the serial terminal. Although, when I use the asset tracker application which was provided in the firmware I could see the info on the serial terminal. I added the following lines:

CONFIG_SERIAL=y
CONFIG_UART_0_NRF_UARTE=y

but still couldn't see anything on the terminal. I am using these settings to select the board:

Can you tell me what the issue is?

Thank you.

Regards,

Haris Ahmed

[Didrik Rokhaug]

Hi.

What terminal are you using on your computer?

The Thingy:91 uses 2 COM ports, and if you open the "wrong" one, you will not get any log.

The sample should work out on the box on the Thingy as well. Can you send me your project folder so that I can check if you have done something wrong?

Best regards,

Didrik

[harisahmed]

I tried with Realterm and Putty as well. I tried using both of the COM ports which are associated with Thingy 91 but couldn't see anything on both of them. Although on the asset tracker app, I can see the output on COM port 1. Also, this issue is not limited to just this hello world project but I tired to run nrf9160 samples like cloud client etc as well on my Thingy 91 but I couldn't see anything on the serial terminal. But I am sending you the project folder of Hello World anyways so you can have a look for yourself.

Thanks.hello_world.rar

[Didrik Rokhaug]

Your project works for me.

One thing I noticed (though it might be a coincidence), is that there are no build artifacts for nrf9160_pca20035ns (Thingy:91), only nrf9160_pca10090ns (nRF91DK).

Are the programs you are trying to run for the Thingy or DK?

Only applications configured for the Thingy will work as expected.

I have attached my compiled version of your program.

merged.hex

[harisahmed]

I uploaded your merged.hex file in MCUboot to Thingy91 but I still cannot see anything in the serial terminal. Here are my serial terminal settings:

Also, I am trying both COM ports which are associated with the Thingy91 board. Am I missing something? 

After uploading the code, I just turned off my board and then turned it back on and connected to the PC and opened the serial terminal but still nothing.

[harisahmed]

I tried running the sample program on nrf9160 dk using pca10090ns as the board and all I can see on  one COM port through the serial terminal is:

The other two ports don't show anything. I am not sure what the issue is.

[Didrik Rokhaug]

harisahmed said:

I uploaded your merged.hex file in MCUboot to Thingy91

 Do you have a debugger/programmer that you can connect to the Thingy?

The sample is not made to support bootloaders, so unless you have an external programmer the sample will not work out of the box.

You can use the "Debug Out" port on the nRF91DK to program the Thingy.

 

harisahmed said:

I tried running the sample program on nrf9160 dk using pca10090ns as the board

 Did you build from source?

The Thingy and DK uses different pins for the UART, so you will not get any output if you use a hex file built for the worng board.

[harisahmed]

I have nrf9160dk but I am not sure how to upload the merged.hex file to the Thingy91 using Segger Embedded Studio. Can it be uploaded with SES or do I have to do it via Commands?

And yes, the sample which I ran on nrf9160 dk, I built it from the source for the pca10090ns board.

[harisahmed]

I uploaded the merged.hex file you provided using nrf Connect Programmer app while using nrf9160dk's debug out. But now whenever I open the serial terminal and select the COM port of Thingy 91 the serial program becomes not responding. I tried with RealTerm, Termite and PuTTy but same result everytime.

[Didrik Rokhaug]

harisahmed said:

I have nrf9160dk but I am not sure how to upload the merged.hex file to the Thingy91 using Segger Embedded Studio. Can it be uploaded with SES or do I have to do it via Commands?

 Yes, downloading the firmware from SES should work.

 

harisahmed said:

I uploaded the merged.hex file you provided using nrf Connect Programmer app

 That is also an option.

 

harisahmed said:

whenever I open the serial terminal and select the COM port of Thingy 91 the serial program becomes not responding. I tried with RealTerm, Termite and PuTTy but same result everytime.

 Does the same happen if you use another sample? As you are printing inside a loop without any sleeps/delays the terminals might struggle with allocating memory fast enough.

When you try the hello_world project, you can also try to build it for the secure version of the boards (without "ns" at the end). As the project does not use the modem, it should function as usual, but it will let us rule out any problems with the SPM.