I can't program Fanstel EV-BT832 with Nordic NRF52 DK

[josma]

Hi,

I am new to Nordic. I bought an NRF52 DK and a Fanstel EV-BT832 development board. As you can see in the picture, both boards are connected to the computer via USB. The 10 wire cable is connected to "debug-out" on NRF52 DK and the other end is connected to "debug-in" on Fanstel board.

I am trying to upload "ble_app_blinky_pca10040_s132" example to the fanstel board with Segger Embedded Studio. To do that, I click "Target --> Download ble_app...". Apparently the code is uploaded to the board but when I use NRF Connect on my phone, I can't see the Nordic device. However, when I upload the same code in the NRF52 DK, it works.

Any idea what is happening? How could I know the code is uploaded? Thanks in advance.

[Edvin]

As awneil says, the example probably isn't compatible with the fanstel board. Have you tried to debug the project to see what's going on?

I suspect the fanstel board doesn't have any LFXTAL. In addition, the buttons and LEDs may not be on the same pins. I suggest you see if you find any examples provided by Fanstel to get started. It is easier to start development when you have something that you know is working.

Best regards,

Edvin

[josma]

NRF52 DK has an nrf832 chip, as well as the fanstel board has a BT832 BLE module based on nrf832. I assumed that the code was the same for both, but it seems that I am wrong...

You mean that the hardware connections are different so the code needs to be changed. Would it be enough to just adapt the code and the pinout to the BLE module? Apart from the LEDs or buttons of the board (that will be different), what I expected after uploading the code, is being able to see it as a possible connection when I scan for devices with NRF Connect. 

This is the link of the fanstel BLE module  https://www.fanstel.com/bt810

and the link of the documentation https://www.fanstel.com/bt810

I think they don´t provide any code, just the hex file. So any idea what would be the next steps to make this work? Thank you very much I would appreciate any help.

[josma]

Sorry the second link was this https://www.fanstel.com/download-document

I have just found there a file to download, nRF5_SDK_14, with examples. it doesn´t provide examples for Segger so I will change to Keil. 

Thanks

[awneil]

josma said:

I assumed that the code was the same for both,

Although the chips are the same, what's on the boards around them is almost certainly different - so it's unlikely that examples specific to one particular board will ever "just work" on a different board.

Even when the microcontrollers are identical.

This is nothing specific to Nordic - it would apply to any component.

This suggests that you are new to embedded development - yes ?

In that case, the nRF chips (or, in fact, any wireless SoC) are probably over-complicated as a starting point - you would probably be better to start off on a simpler, more conventional microcontroller ...

josma said:

You mean that the hardware connections are different so the code needs to be changed

Yes.

josma said:

Would it be enough to just adapt the code and the pinout to the BLE module?

That would depend on exactly how different the boards are!

As preciously stated, you would be far better off starting with examples specific to the particular board.

josma said:

I think they don´t provide any code

Have you asked them?

[awneil]

josma said:

nRF5_SDK_14

That's rather an old version - the current nRF SDK version is 16.0.0:

https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/struct_sdk/struct/sdk_nrf5_latest.html

josma said:

it doesn´t provide examples for Segger

because that started in n15, IIRC

josma said:

I will change to Keil.

You will need a licence - you won't get far with the free download!

[Edvin]

In addition, I don't see any references to XTALs. It doesn't mean that there isn't one, but check with Fanstel whether there is an LFXTAL (32kHz) on the module/board. If not, you need to set it up using the RC Oscillator (search here on DevZone on how to do this).

[josma]

Thank you very much for your tips, they are really useful at this stage. I will ask Fanstel if they can provide a later SDK version and start from there.

[awneil]

Why would you get the SDK 2nd-hand ?

It's Nordic's SDK - why not go straight to the horse's mouth ?

Your photo shows that you also have a Nordic development board.

I would strongly suggest that you spend some more time on the Nordic board to get familiar with the product and the tools.

The Nordic SDK has lots of examples which are designed specifically for the Nordic boards - so they should "just work".

You need to spend time with those examples, and schematics of the Nordic board to understand what's going on, and how the software relates to the physical resources on the board.

Once you have done that, then you will be in a position to study the Fanstel board schematics to understand what they provide, and how it differs from the Nordic boards - and, thus, how to adapt the code to run on the Fanstel board.

Note the 'Getting Started' section in the Nordic SDK documentation:

https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/struct_sdk/struct/sdk_nrf5_latest.html

See also:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/nordic/short-range-guides/b/getting-started

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLgnHuGI69s

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/30338/getting-started-for-beginners