Power Profile Kit : Fail to measure current consumption.

[pankti583]

Hello,

The Power Profiler Kit(PPK) is not able to measure current consumption. I got this notification asking to reprogrammed the device, I clicked yes and then-after it said failed to read ppk                                                                                                                                                                                                       metadata.I went through Nordic DevZone and User Manual for PPK..

I followed the steps as mentioned in user manaul :                                                                                                                               

1. I downloaded Python v2.7.12 with 32-bit Microsoft Windows x86 Installer, upgraded the pip with the latest version.
2. Downloaded PPK software packages and ran python_packages.bat. There I got warning while instaling pyside :-                                                                                                                         Warning: The software is tested with PyQtGraph >=0.10.0, and may not work with your version (0.11.0)
3.  Also, mounted PPK on nRF52840 DK accordingly, as shown in user manual and have kept DUT select, Power Select and COM switch all set to DK.
4.  I flash flash_ppk.py script it said following :                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          PPK erased
                                                                 PPK reprogrammed
                                                                 PPK ready to go.

5. I ran ppk.py and got the following thing : Initialization failed, could not read calibration values.

Currently, Python v2.7 was ended in Jan 2020, so I tried with different version of python above 2.7. With python v3.7 on the terminal, i got following thing : only these python versions are supported: [(2, 6), (2, 7), (3, 2), (3, 3), (3, 4)]. When I tried with the version supported with (3,3) and (3,4) it gave Runtime error: python v3.5 above required. I tried all the different version of python. got the following ---> No module named 'PySide'
                                              Software needs 'PySide' installed
                                               Please run pip install 'PySide' and restart 

After installing Pyside and restarting it, there was no change got the same warning and error :-            

Python version in use: 3.7.0

Checking installed packages
pyside: 5.15.0
pyqtgraph: 0.11.0
numpy: 1.19.1
pynrfjprog: 10.9.0
Warning: The software is tested with PySide >=1.2.4, and may not work with your version (5.15.0)
Warning: The software is tested with PyQtGraph >=0.10.0, and may not work with your version (0.11.0)
Initialization failed, could not read calibration values.      

Before python v2.7.12 support ended, I was able to reprogrammed the PPK following the steps from manual, and measure current consumption. Currently, I am not able repraggemed it, is it because of python v2.7.12 ended? Is there any other way to reprogram the PPK?

[Simonr]

Hi

Can you confirm that you have cut the SB40 solder bridge on your nRF52840 DK? I just tried to download the PPK firmware myself using the Power Profiler app in nRF Connect for Desktop and did not have any problems doing so. If the PPK is mounted on top of the nRF52 DK, and the solder bridge is cut correctly, pressing Yes in the "Device must be programmed" pop-up window should flash the PPK for you and open the PPK without problems. If that doesn't work, you can try to power cycle the PPK (and the DK it's mounted on) to see if that helps. 

nRFConnect version: v3.4.1
Power Profiler version: v2.3.1

The user manual for the PPK here on DevZone is rather outdated, and I'd suggest looking at the Power Profiler Kit user guide found on our Infocenter instead. I assume the reason you're not able to program the PPK the "old fashioned" way, is indeed because Python v2.7 is no longer supported.

Best regards,

Simon

[pankti583]

Hi, 

Yes, I cut the SB40 solder bridge on nRF52840 DK and press Yes in the "Device must be programmed" pop-up window. It started the PPK afterwards when I press start to see the current measurement. It shows PPK command failed as shown in the below image.                                                                                                                                Tried to power cycle the PPK(and the DK it's mounted on), getting same PPK command failed.

[Simonr]

Hi

A few things you can try:

• Erase the application on the PPK completely by using the following nrfjprog command: nrfjprog -e
• If you're using a USB hub you can try changing the USB port or connecting the DK/PPK directly to the computer.
• Check the USB cable you're using and try using another cable as it might be bad.
• Make sure that the J-Link isn't running already, as not closing a previous instance using the J-Link driver might cause a bad connection with the board.

What operating system are you running on your computer?

Best regards,

Simon

[pankti583]

Hi 

I am running on windows 10. I tried to erase PPK mounted on nRF52840 DK, with power select, DUT select and COM switch to DK, with connecting USB cable to nRF52840 DK, LED on nRF52840 and LED2 on PPK should turn on right? (solder bridge was cut).

Here, in my case only the Led on nRF52840 turns on. After Erasing it using the command nrfjprog -e, it then turned LED2 on. Next, i stated Power Profile on nRF Connect then select yes in "device to be programmed window". After selecting the start to measure current consumption again it gave, PPK command failed.   Meanwhile, LED1 on PPK turned on too.

Again, I tried to repeat the whole process again, now even after  using the command: nrfjprog -e , it does not turn on the LED2 on the PPK with the same connection, only nRF52840 led is on.

I tried with different usb cable too. I think the USB cable is fine, because it is working well with only nRF52840 DK and other custom board too.

Thank you

[Simonr]

Okay

The LED behavior you're describing seems correct to me.

A few more things:

• Make sure that the nRF power source switch on the DK is set to VDD, the VEXT->nRF switch is set to OFF, and that the nRF ONLY|DEFAULT switch is set to DEFAULT.
• Check that you have the latest version of nRFConnect for Desktop and the Power Profiler app.
• Check that you have the latest JLink drivers.

Can you confirm that you haven't done any modifications to the DK that might have interfered with the routing on it? Can you also provide a picture of the PPK mounted on the DK so I can have a look?

Best regards,

Simon