Thingy:91 not connectable. LED is off but can program

RE: Thingy:91 not connectable. LED is off but can program

Simon — Sun, 30 Aug 2020 22:01:20 GMT

I'm a bit confused of what you're actually asking about, it seems like you've figured out how to get serial logging to work. Do you simply want to change what the Thing:91 is actually printing? If that is the case you can't use the precompiled hex file (thingy91_ltem_2020-04-29_bc7ade8b.hex). Instead, you have to open the Asset tracker example located in nrf\applications\asset_tracker\src, modify it according to your needs (e.g. print out accelerometer and environmental data), build it, and eventually program it onto the Thingy:91. Eg. if you're using west:

Install the Toolchain Manager and NCS v1.3.0: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/nordic/nrf-connect-sdk-guides/b/getting-started/posts/nrf-connect-sdk-tutorial
Open Bash from the Toolchain Manager as explained here
Build and program it:

cd C:/Users/<user name>/ncs/v1.3.0/nrf/applications/asset_tracker
west build -b thingy91_nrf9160ns
## comment: Connect the thingy to the PC using a 10-pin cable and an external programmer and set the switch to nRF91
west flash

When running west flash, it will use the generated hex file nrf\applications\asset_tracker\build\zephyr\merged.hex

Best regards,

Simon

RE: Thingy:91 not connectable. LED is off but can program

ImagiSam — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 12:31:02 GMT

Yea, I'm trying to get data out to serial. I was following this advice from one of the Nordicsemi employees. Instead of using usb_uart_bridge source code I was running it from the precompiled firmware. Did I misunderstand is there actually no way of doing the first option?

There are mainly two ways of logging to the computer from the Thingy:91:

Through UART: The USB connector on the Thingy:91 is connected to the nRF52840, and by programming the usb_uart_bridge sample onto the 52840, the UART log from the nRF9160 can be seen on a serial terminal on the computer.
- To program the sample, set the switch on the Thingy:91 to nRF52, cd into ncs\nrf\samples\usb\usb_uart_bridge and run west build -b nrf52840_pca20035 && west flash
Through RTT: If you’ve connected the 10-pin cable to an external programmer, you can enable RTT logging and see the RTT log in a J-Link RTT Viewer.

RE: Thingy:91 not connectable. LED is off but can program

Heidi — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 11:24:18 GMT

Hi! Glad to hear you got it working.

[quote user="ImagiSam"]The next question is that I'd like to get the Thingy 91 printing to serial. Preferably without connecting to it in cloud but right now it doesn't seem to for some reason.[/quote]

From the screenshot you attached, it looks like you're getting out debug information from the Thingy:91, so do I understand you correctly that what you say isn't working is the printing of sensor information?

If that's what you mean, the Asset Tracker sample doesn't print the sensor data to serial so you will have to go into the source code and change that yourself.

If I misunderstood what you're having trouble with, please clarify and I will help you further. :)

Best regards,

Heidi

RE: Thingy:91 not connectable. LED is off but can program

ImagiSam — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 09:04:31 GMT

So, for flashing using the external debugger which in my case is the Nordic: nRF5340 If I connect to that board instead of the Thingy91 in programmer and program will it work or will I need to set anything specific up (it's connected through the 10 pin as expected)

I managed to get it to work. It seems that that was the problem I was using the full version. I wasn't able to find any thorough documentation about the different versions.

The next question is that I'd like to get the Thingy 91 printing to serial. Preferably without connecting to it in cloud but right now it doesn't seem to for some reason. I tried to use it out of the package and I tried: Programming usb_uart_bridge on the nrf52 then ltem on the nrf91 and then connecting to it in cloud:

I have connected to both ports. The first at 115200 and the second at 1000000 as specified in documentation.

To be clear what I'm trying to do is to get the Thingy91 to print sensor data to the serial so that I can use it as for 2 purposes:

Data Collection tool, collecting accelerometer and environmental data
Narrow down where I can add calls to an external AI library to make some predictions based on sensor data. To do this I'd like to add prints in different parts of the code

RE: Thingy:91 not connectable. LED is off but can program

Heidi — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 08:17:36 GMT

Hi, so if you are programming over USB, then we do have an issue with the Thingy v1.0.0 and Windows, that I want to let you know about. If this is the combination you are using, flashing over USB will not work and I recommend you try using the external debugger you have on hand.

You are also using the incorrect files for performing DFU over USB. You need to use the files in "images_dfu_hex", or when building yourself, select the file called "app_signed.hex", see the doc here.

RE: Thingy:91 not connectable. LED is off but can program

ImagiSam — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 06:35:28 GMT

So, I double checked what serial recovery mode meant and I am indeed doing that. It's not raising any errors and if I don't press SW3 and then turn it on then it tells me that I need to be in MCUBOOT mode. (I guess that's the same as serial recovery mode?)

RE: Thingy:91 not connectable. LED is off but can program

ImagiSam — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 14:08:16 GMT

How do I put it into serial recovery mode? I have an external debugger as well. How can I differentiate between them in the programmer tool?

RE: Thingy:91 not connectable. LED is off but can program

Heidi — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 14:00:54 GMT

Hi!

My initial question is: Are you using an external debugger or programming over USB?

If you're using an external debugger, it looks like you're doing everything correctly, so I would be interested in the error message from the programmer application. If you're trying to program over USB using the bootloader, then it doesn't look like you're putting the device in serial recovery mode, which might be your issue.

Best regards,

Heidi