Change of ADV data in SDK 17

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

Karl Ylvisaker — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 13:10:18 GMT

Hello,

[quote user="KTM"]

I got to the root cause of the problem.

I hit HardFault handler in the function sd_ble_gap_adv_set_configure

If I call the function from our main loop - I do not hit any breakpoint and everything works smoothly.

[/quote]

Great observation, thank you for clarifying!

[quote user="KTM"]I hit an error. Is there any restriction or when the sd_ble_gap_adv_set_configure is called or context of the caller?[/quote]

Nothing beyond what is written in the sd_ble_gap_adv_set_configure documentation.

[quote user="KTM"]One more question: by logger you mean rtt viewer right?[/quote]

That depends - have you configured the logger module to use the RTT backend?
In that case, yes, I do mean RTT viewer or the Debug Terminal in SES ( please not that you need to define NRF_FPRINTF_FLAG_AUTOMATIC_CR_ON_LF_ENABLED to 0 for Debug Terminal to work ).
Are you seeing any output on your RTT Viewer at all, when your program is running?
While you may continue debugging as you currently are, I would highly recommend making use of the logger module, since this will drastically ease debugging.
If you are not seeing any logger outputs, then we should solve that problem before continuing the advdata_update issue - since having a logger working will make all future debugging easier.

[quote user="KTM"]And one more observation is that when I disabled usage of man specific data at all and just call for the update of ADV data with the same parameters that I initialised at the beginning I still crash - which may be points to the direction of contexts...[/quote]

Yes, I too would say this points in the direction of the context.
What context is the advdata update function called from in your regular program? Could you change the priority of the interrupt that triggers the update, to see if this affects your issue?

Looking forward to resolving this issue together!

Best regards,
Karl

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

KTM — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 06:07:55 GMT

And one more observation is that when I disabled usage of man specific data at all and just call for the update of ADV data with the same parameters that I initialised at the beginning I still crash - which may be points to the direction of contexts...

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

KTM — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 06:01:16 GMT

One more question: by logger you mean rtt viewer right?

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

KTM — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 05:58:38 GMT

I just wanted to state it more clear - if the function BLE_update_advertise is being called at the context of main loop - no problem

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

KTM — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 05:54:32 GMT

I got to the root cause of the problem.

I hit HardFault handler in the function sd_ble_gap_adv_set_configure

If I call the function from our main loop - I do not hit any breakpoint and everything works smoothly.

However when I use our regular flow:

I hit an error. Is there any restriction or when the sd_ble_gap_adv_set_configure is called or context of the caller?

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

Karl Ylvisaker — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 09:08:51 GMT

[quote user="KTM"]No[/quote]

Thank you for clarifying this. Are you seeing anything being written to your logger at all when your program is running?

[quote user="KTM"]But I managed to take a GATTS example app (ble peripheral) and cal the function and did not observe any kind of delay I do in our app. So probably this is a problem on my side[/quote]

I too would think this - I have successfully tested this function myself, and I know of other cases in which it has been used successfully - so the question becomes what is causing this, and how to remedy it. I suspect that you might be inputting invalid parameters to the update function - however, this should result in an error message being written to your logger ( since you have DEBUG defined in the preprocessor defines ). If you are not seeing anything at all in the logger output when the device resets, then we need to take a closer look at that first, and resolve the seemingly separate logger issue.

[quote user="KTM"]Sorry bothering you and thanks a lot for help[/quote]

It is no problem at all, I am happy to help and not bothered at all by this. If you would like, I can still help you resolve this issue - but you need tell me more about your application, and what behavior you are seeing / not seeing.
The more specific and elaborate you are, the easier it is for me to help you in a timely manner.

Should you not want to continue this support ticket, you may also close it at any time.
In that case, feel free to open a new ticket in the future if you should encounter any issues or questions!

Best regards,
Karl

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

KTM — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 08:59:45 GMT

[quote userid="87869" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/66982/change-of-adv-data-in-sdk-17/274469#274469"]Are you seeing anything at all being written to your logger when this behavior occurs?[/quote]

But I managed to take a GATTS example app (ble peripheral) and cal the function and did not observe any kind of delay I do in our app. So probably this is a problem on my side

Sorry bothering you and thanks a lot for help

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

Karl Ylvisaker — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 07:07:04 GMT

Then I must concur that it sounds like the device is resetting, most likely due to an error being generated in / by the update function.

[quote user="Karl Ylvisaker"]Are you seeing anything at all being written to your logger when this behavior occurs?[/quote]

Best regards,
Karl

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

KTM — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 16:35:24 GMT

[quote userid="87869" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/66982/change-of-adv-data-in-sdk-17/274344#274344"]did you hit this breakpoint, did you hit it a first time when starting the application, and then again when attempting to update the advertising data?[/quote]

Exactly

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

Karl Ylvisaker — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 13:28:14 GMT

[quote user="KTM"]

I put a break point in the main on the first line.

I hit it so I assume there was a reset due to some error

[/quote]

Breakpoints before having enabled the SoftDevice is fine - since it will not assert if it is not enabled and active.
To clarify my last comment: you might very well use breakpoints to debug your application - the first part will behave as usual: when a breakpoint is encountered, the CPU is halted, and the debugger shows you the contents of different registers ol. at that time.
However, the difference comes when the SoftDevice is active at this time, and thus does not get to run when it needs to in order to maintain a connection or other timing-critical obligations. This will cause the SoftDevice to assert the moment it is given back control of the CPU ( which happens as soon as you click "resume" on the debugger ). So, long story short: You may indeed use breakpoints, but it will cause the device to reset immediately when you leave an encountered breakpoint.

[quote user="KTM"]

I hit it so I assume there was a reset due to some error

This is a way I figure out that there is probably a device reset...

[/quote]

When did you hit this breakpoint, did you hit it a first time when starting the application, and then again when attempting to update the advertising data?

[quote user="KTM"]Also within a function ble_advertising_advdata_update I put a point after sd_ble_gap_adv_set_configure call (i.e. on return) and never hit this line so I guess that the reset comes from sd_ble_gap_adv_set_configure[/quote]

As mentioned, this will work - you should encounter the breakpoint as usual - but the SoftDevice will assert immediately upon resuming the program.

[quote user="KTM"]How would you suggest to debug that?[/quote]

I would make sure that all SDK function that returns error codes are accounted for, and that their returned error values always is passed to an APP_ERROR_CHECK, to see if the code is anything other than NRF_SUCCESS.
This way, you should see the exact error printed by your logger - along with which function that returned it - if an error different than NRF_SUCCESS is returned.
Are you seeing anything at all being written to your logger when this behavior occurs?

Best regards,
Karl

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

KTM — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 12:48:48 GMT

I put a break point in the main on the first line.

I hit it so I assume there was a reset due to some error

This is a way I figure out that there is probably a device reset...

Also within a function ble_advertising_advdata_update I put a point after sd_ble_gap_adv_set_configure call (i.e. on return) and never hit this line so I guess that the reset comes from sd_ble_gap_adv_set_configure

How would you suggest to debug that?

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

Karl Ylvisaker — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 12:24:19 GMT

Hello,

[quote user="KTM"]

I override simply a data in the ble_advertising_init_t with the new one and call to the ble_advertising_advdata_update

(To my understanding this shall be ok since soft device copies ADV data into internal buffer)

Am I wrong?

[/quote]

No, your understanding here is correct - because the ble_advertising_advdata_update function from SDK v.17 does the copying for you. If you were using an older SDK, such as v.16, you would have had to provide separate buffers for the updated data ( which you might have read other tickets about on the forum ), but this is not the case with SDK v.17.

[quote user="KTM"]

Idid some more testing and as soon as mark out the call to the function:

ble_advertising_advdata_update

I am not hitting main. Otherwise I do have a reset(hitting main)

[/quote]

I am sorry, but I do not understand what you are saying here - you said in your previous reply that ble_advertising_advdata_update always returns NRF_SUCCESS, are you now seeing another error code returned?
I suspect that the 1 - 2 second delay between updates is a result of a device reset, which again might be caused by an error cod ebeing returned somewhere.

[quote user="KTM"]It looks like a crash is within sd_ble_gap_adv_set_configure in the function ble_advertising_advdata_update[/quote]

How do you pinpoint this? Using error codes, or using breakpoints?
Please be advised that you may not use breakpoints with a running SoftDevice. The breakpoints will halt the CPU, and the SoftDevice will be unable to perform its timing-critical tasks in time, before you release the CPU again, this will cause the SoftDevice to assert immediately upon leaving the breakpoint.
Are you seeing anything written to your log before the crash? Could you also elaborate what exactly you mean when you say that it looks like it crashes?

Looking forward to resolving this issue together!

Best regards,
Karl

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

KTM — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 10:09:50 GMT

Idid some more testing and as soon as mark out the call to the function:

ble_advertising_advdata_update

I am not hitting main. Otherwise I do have a reset(hitting main)

It looks like a crash is within sd_ble_gap_adv_set_configure in the function ble_advertising_advdata_update

What can cause a crash their?

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

KTM — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 08:49:41 GMT

Hello Karl

I ma not hitting app_error_handler and do run with DEBUG (turned it on)

The error code returned by the function ble_advertising_advdata_update is NRF_SUCCESS

However I do see in the over the air behaviour a delay

The timer is our internally implemented timer which expires every second and from the timer I call to the function

ble_advertising_advdata_update(&m_advertising, &advdata, NULL); (We do not need any scan response data)

I override simply a data in the ble_advertising_init_t with the new one and call to the ble_advertising_advdata_update

(To my understanding this shall be ok since soft device copies ADV data into internal buffer)

Am I wrong?

RE: Change of ADV data in SDK 17

Karl Ylvisaker — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 08:15:43 GMT

Hello,

[quote user=""]We are currently attempting to move to SDK 17. What I have noticed is that if I change and ADV data during advertisement by the help of new API function ble_advertising_advdata_update I see that there will be a delay of ±2 seconds (I see it in air trace) during which there will be no ADV at all.[/quote]

This does sound strange. Is your call to ble_advertising_advdata_update returning any error codes at any point?
The updating of advertising data can be done between every advertisement, and should take effect before the next advertising, or at worst before the second advertising.

[quote user=""]Even when I configured ADV interval to be 100 milli and data rate change is 1 time at a second I see a delay of 2 seconds over the air until an updated data takes place.[/quote]

How are you queueing the updating of the data, through a timer?

Could you make sure that you have DEBUG defined in your preprocessor defines, like shown in the included image?

1 - 2 seconds sounds like you application might be encountering an error and / or resetting. Could you verify if this occurs, that the device resets in this timespan?

Looking forward to resolving this issue together!

Best regards,
Karl