Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

RE: Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

wz2b — Tue, 26 May 2020 01:40:56 GMT

That summary is right. Based on you asking if I modified any of the rest of the SDK, I removed the entire SDK, and re-unzipped it. Now it works. So I guess the answer is "I must have" though I don't know what I could have touched.

RE: Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

Einar Thorsrud — Mon, 25 May 2020 15:19:25 GMT

Hi,

Summing up:

The prebuilt hex file works as expected
The unmodified SDK 16 example that you build yourself advertises, but there is an error after connecting to it.
You build with SES 4.52c

As you have reverted all changes (extracted a fresh SDK zip), then the only difference on the nRF side is the toolchain. However, I just tested now building with SES 4.52c, and it still works as expected. This leaves a few possible explanations.

Can you clarify if you have made sure the entire SDK is unmodified, or if you just made sure that the BLE blinky application is unmodified? Could it be that you (accidentally or purposely) modified an SDK file that causes misbehavior?

RE: Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

wz2b — Mon, 25 May 2020 14:15:59 GMT

OK. I took the SDK zip file and unpacked the ble peripheral blinky app again, and this time I just compiled it with ZERO modifications. It behaves exactly the same - I can see that it's running, it's sending out advertisements, but I can't connect to it.

Also, I ordered a DK, but it would be nice to figure this out before it gets here, if I can. Is there a .map file for the pre-compilex .hex in the SDK (in the ble_app_blinky/hex folder) that I can compare to mine?

RE: Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

wz2b — Mon, 25 May 2020 14:04:45 GMT

I don't have a DK but I'll get one. I figured out the app doesn't actually crash, it's still sending out advertisements. But I can't "Connect" from nRF connect.

RE: Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

Einar Thorsrud — Mon, 25 May 2020 14:02:20 GMT

Hi,

The memory layout needs to be correct (which it is in the unmodified SDK example). The MBR is on the first page, then the SoftDevice starts on page 1 (address 0x1000), and the application must start immediately after SoftDevice. So for S140 7.0.1 the size is 0x27000 bytes including the MBR, meaning that the application start address also has to be 0x27000. So this is correct. The FLASH_SIZE should be set so that FLASH_START + FLASH_SIZE is lower than the start address of the bootloader.

When it comes to RAM, the RAM start address and size is dictated by the SoftDevice configuration, as described here. But again, if you use an unmodified example you can use the configuration as is without changing anything. But setting a higher RAM start address and lower size as you do is not a problem (unless you need the additional RAM).

[quote user="wz2b"]The application runs now, but not for very long - I can see it advertise but when I try to connect it just crashes / stops sending advertisements / stops responding.[/quote]

In such cases, having a DK to test on is very helpful, since using the onboard debugger will give you a good insight into what is happening. Do you have a DK? If so you can use the exact same firmware you use on the dongle on the DK to test on.

RE: Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

wz2b — Mon, 25 May 2020 13:47:28 GMT

Yeah. I think that's right, the startup address for s140 7.0.1 should be 0x27000. I couldn't find that in the release notes so I'm not sure where I should be looking. I'm guessing on the RAM but this is blinky so it shouldn't need much, so I guessed:

FLASH_START=0x27000
FLASH_SIZE=0xD9000
RAM_START=0x20004000
RAM_SIZE=0x3C000

which probably give SoftDevice more RAM than it actually needs. The application runs now, but not for very long - I can see it advertise but when I try to connect it just crashes / stops sending advertisements / stops responding.

RE: Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

wz2b — Mon, 25 May 2020 13:22:13 GMT

I answered this question myself: PH means physical. So it looks like you're defining the physical limits first, then the remainder tells what memory your application can use.

RE: Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

wz2b — Mon, 25 May 2020 12:58:43 GMT

OK, that explains why the conflict in the programmer. Mine still doesn't run, though. Does the entry point of my application need to be at an exact address in order for the bootloader to detect it? I'm following the out-of-the-box compiled one which places the flash at 0x27000. I did that, my map shows this:

*(.vectors .vectors.*)
.vectors 0x0000000000027000 0x200 Output/ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s140 Release/Obj/ses_startup_nrf52840.o
0x0000000000027000 _vectors

RE: Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

Einar Thorsrud — Mon, 25 May 2020 08:42:04 GMT

Hi,

The example (<SDK16>examples\ble_peripheral\ble_app_blinky\hex\ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s140.hex) works out of the box. The only difference between this and the example you build yourself is that the examples in the hex folder are merged with the SoftDevice. So you will get the same result by merging the SoftDevice hex (<SDK16>\nRF5_SDK_16.0.0_98a08e2\components\softdevice\s140\hex\s140_nrf52_7.0.1_softdevice.hex), or by simply adding both files to the nRF Connect programmer.

The reason you are getting a conflict when adding the MBR hex file as well is that the SoftDevice hex file contains the MBR, so there will be overlap. And in any case, adding the MBR has no point, since it is already present and is anyway stripped away before programming (via USB DFU).

RE: Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

wz2b — Sun, 24 May 2020 18:05:20 GMT

Reading this document https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/nordic/short-range-guides/b/getting-started/posts/adjustment-of-ram-and-flash-memory it seems like I have this wrong. So I changed it based on this:

S140

7.0.0

0x20001678

0x27000

I've actually got 7.0.1 but I figured this would at least get me closer.

S140 7.0.1 seems to have a bootloader in it, so I specified blinky plus s140 7.0.1 and the programmer is happy and flashes it ... but it doesn't run. So it's still not right, but I feel like I'm on the right track.

RE: Should ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s149 work out of the box?

wz2b — Sun, 24 May 2020 14:08:44 GMT

By the way, I noticed in that sample project that flash_placement.xml refers to a bunch of variables that didn't seem to be set anywhere, so I went into settings / common / linker and set placement macros:

FLASH_PH_START=0x0

FLASH_PH_SIZE=0x100000

RAM_PH_START=0x20000000

RAM_PH_SIZE=0x40000

FLASH_START=0x1000

FLASH_SIZE=0xDF000

RAM_START=0x20000008

RAM_SIZE=0x3FFF8

What does PH stand for?