Tools and software versions that are required for developing BLE products with nrf51822 modules.

[SChary]

Hi,

I have purchased an nRf52DK set for developing BLE applications. I am using the Segger Embedded Studio (SES) with GCC and SDK version 16 for development.

I have two questions:
1. I have a few nrf51822 modules that I bought a while ago.  Can I develop code for these modules in the setup that i have ? If not, could you please let me know the setup - Soft device version, SDK version and programmer that I will need to use these modules.

2. How can i check if these modules have a boot loader inside ? If that exists, can i program them over serial port and how to it?

Thanks and Regards

[SChary]

Hello Karl,

For my project with the 51822, i need touse the BLE UART service. So I began with testing the ble_app_uart example of the nrf52832, since that is directly available on the nrf52DK. As i mentioned earlier, i am using the SDK16 and i chose the app_ble_uart for the PCA10040 with soft device 132.

But I am not able to get it to run. It is not advertising at all. To make sure the board does not have a problem I ran the LED Blinky app and that is running fine, i am able to discover it on the nRF Blinky app on my iPad and see the button and LED status.

So i switched back to the UART example and looked at debugging the code. I find that it is getting stuck in the uart initialization. I am running the default example code, no modifications. During uart_init() in main(), it is landing at  atapp_error_weak.c, line 100 ,

in function __WEAK void app_error_fault_handler(uint32_t id, uint32_t pc, uint32_t info):

    NRF_BREAKPOINT_COND;

The call stack shows  it arrived here from the function

static void buttons_leds_init(bool * p_erase_bonds)
{
    bsp_event_t startup_event;

    uint32_t err_code = bsp_init(BSP_INIT_LEDS | BSP_INIT_BUTTONS, bsp_event_handler);
    APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);   /// <<<<<<THIS IS THE PLACE IT IS FAILING

.........

When i checked inside button init, but couldn't catch the problem....

Any tips on checking the source for the problem or known issues information would help....

Thanks and Regards

Sreenivasa Chary

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello Sreenivasa Chary,

That is strange - I have not heard about this trouble when using the unmodified ble_peripheral_uart example before.

Could you make sure DEBUG is defined in the preprocessor defines, as shown in the picture below, and run this again?
This will let you know which error the bsp_init is being called with, so that we may see why the bsp_init failed.




For future reference, this question is diverging from the original "Tools required for developing on the nRF51822" question, and I would recommend that you open a separate ticket regarding debugging of the ble_uart application, to keep the forum tidy.

Best regards,
Karl

[SChary]

Hi Karl,

Yesterday I restarted the whole project import and followed all the guidelines given in the Martin Cowen URL that you shared, it is able to build successfully !! Am going to try to download and run it now, will keep you posted

Regards

Chary BS

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello again Chary,

Sorry for my late reply - I have been out of office for some time.

SChary said:

Thanks for patiently staying with me :) on this issue.

It is no problem at all, I am happy to help!

SChary said:

Yesterday I restarted the whole project import and followed all the guidelines given in the Martin Cowen URL that you shared, it is able to build successfully !! Am going to try to download and run it now, will keep you posted

I am glad to hear that you were able to finally build your project successfully!
Do you have any updates on how it went yet?

Please do not hesitate to open a new ticket in the future if you should encounter any other issues or questions!

Best regards,
Karl

[SChary]

Hi Karl,

Thanks for messaging me ! I am trying to program the board today, a little later in the evening. Will keep you posted.

Regards

Sreenivasa Chary

[SChary]

Hi Karl,

You may close this ticket as i have moved onto the DK52 and using a custom 52810 board, now.

Thanks and Regards

Chary BS

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello again Chary,

SChary said:

You may close this ticket as i have moved onto the DK52 and using a custom 52810 board, now.

I'm happy to hear that you are now working with the nRF52 DK for your nRF52810 SoC. I will close this issue then.

Please do not hesitate to open a new ticket if you should encounter any issues or questions in the future.

Good luck with your development!

Best regards,
Karl