Thingy 91 asset tracker don't connect to nrf Cloud // no Logs

[Rudolph Aschmoneit]

Hey at all,

today I wanted to set up 7 new Thingy:91 devices. All thingys are 1.4.0 // 2020.23.

So I started with updating modem FW (mfwnrf9160123) and flashing thingy91_ltem_2021-03-04_8e8c6089.hex from the img_app_bl.

I using the nrf9160DK as Debug Probe. Then I registered the 7 IBasis Sim Cards in nrfCloud and swichted all the Thingys on. They were on for half an hour each time on different places (balkony, office). So I would exclude the possibility of bad LTE connection. But the devices just blink white all the time, so they don't connect to nrf Cloud. Also when I tried to registered them in Cloud I get the Error 40412 (No device found for this id. The device has not yet been provisioned. The device cannot be found in the device registry, i.e., it is not "known" by the IoT cloud platform.). I also tried to Update nrf52 Firmware, cause this was an Issue when I started the first time with one thingy some months ago. No differences. I then flash the debug version thingy91_debug_ltem_2021-03-04_8e8c6089.hex but I could not see anything on the LTE Link Monitor. 

Then I flashed the fw from the release before last (thingy91_fw_2020-10-30_5522ca2b). Same problem, only white LED is blinking.

Then I build the fw asset_tracker by myself, to enable more logs, in project_config I additional activated CONFIG_MQTT_LOG_LEVEL_DBG=y, CONFIG_NET_LOG=y, CONFIG_MODEM_LOG_LEVEL_DBG=y, but I could not see any logs in LTE Link Monitor, and same problem as before, LED just blinks white. 

I really don't get it and I think I making a fundemental Error here that I can't see at the moment.

have you any suggestions?

Thanks a lot in Advance!

Best Regards

Rudolph

[Marte Myrvold]

Hi Rudolph,

If the LED on the Thingy:91 is white, then it is still trying to connect to a network, so you have not been able to establish a network connection yet. Are you certain iBasis has coverage in your area? The list over countries where there is iBasis coverage can be found here. If you are in a country where there is only NB-IoT coverage, you must make sure to flash the correct firmware to your Thingy, so that it is using NB-IoT instead of LTE-M. If there is no iBasis coverage in your country, you must contact an operator with LTE-M or NB-IoT coverage in your are for a LTE-M or NB-IoT SIM card from them.

As you are not able to get any logs, it is difficult to say more about why you are having problems. Have you checked out this guide for how to connect to the Thingy:91 using LTE Link Monitor?

Best regards,

Marte

[Rudolph Aschmoneit]

Hey Marte,

thanks for your fast reply. I am using it in Germany, so LTE-M should have national coverage. I also have started with another thingy and an iBasis Sim Card in November. With this device everything was working fine. I started with this device with thingy91_fw_2020-10-30_5522ca2b ,cause this was the newest firmware at this point. With this device I also have no problems to connect with LTE Link monitor. So I will double check again if I really have doing all the steps right with the new ones.

[Rudolph Aschmoneit]

Hey, I have not that much time at the moment to go into this problem. But I get following logs:

[00:00:27.608,215] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: LTE cell changed: Cell ID: 26862086, Tracking area: 16550[0m+CSCON: 1
[00:00:27.838,500] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: RRC mode: Connected[0m+CEREG: 2,"40A6","0199E206",7,0,19+CSCON: 0
[00:00:30.004,425] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: RRC mode: Idle[0m+CEREG: 2,"5BF6","0088BF01",7
[00:00:30.967,712] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: LTE cell changed: Cell ID: 8961793, Tracking area: 23542[0m+CSCON: 1
[00:00:31.175,628] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: RRC mode: Connected[0m+CEREG: 2,"5BF6","0088BF01",7,0,19+CSCON: 0
[00:00:33.677,551] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: RRC mode: Idle[0m+CEREG: 2,"AAB4","00791F01",7
[00:02:50.250,244] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: LTE cell changed: Cell ID: 7937793, Tracking area: 43700[0m+CSCON: 1
[00:02:50.481,628] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: RRC mode: Connected[0m+CEREG: 2,"AAB4","00791F01",7,0,19+CSCON: 0
[00:02:52.895,477] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: RRC mode: Idle[0m+CEREG: 2,"40A6","024BE908",7
[00:02:52.978,149] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: LTE cell changed: Cell ID: 38529288, Tracking area: 16550[0m+CSCON: 1
[00:02:53.122,558] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: RRC mode: Connected[0m+CEREG: 2,"40A6","024BE908",7,0,19+CSCON: 0
[00:02:55.319,488] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: RRC mode: Idle[0m+CEREG: 2,"5BF6","0088BF01",7
[00:02:55.698,120] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: LTE cell changed: Cell ID: 8961793, Tracking area: 23542[0m+CSCON: 1
[00:02:55.819,671] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: RRC mode: Connected[0m+CEREG: 2,"5BF6","0088BF01",7,0,19+CSCON: 0
[00:02:58.401,611] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: RRC mode: Idle[0m+CEREG: 2,"AAB4","00791F01",7
[00:02:58.570,465] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: LTE cell changed: Cell ID: 7937793, Tracking area: 43700[0m+CSCON: 1
[00:02:58.801,757] [0m<inf> asset_tracker: RRC mode: Connected[0m+CEREG: 2,"AAB4","00791F01",7,0,19

So it seems that the Modem changes cell approximately every 3 Seconds

I am using 

Asse-Tracker:

thingy91_debug_ltem_2021-03-04_8e8c6089.hex

Modem-FW:

mfw_nrf9160_1.3.0.zip

Do you have any Idea

[Rudolph Aschmoneit]

Short Update, when I using the iBasis Sim Card from my first Thingy, everything is working well. So it seem to be an iBasis Problem. But I had registered all cards in nrfcloud. And they also have Used 0 / 10.49 Mb as there data usage status. Do you suggest to conntact iBasis directly? Or have you any thoughh's?

[Marte Myrvold]

Hi,

From this and your log it seems to be a SIM card or subscription issue. The network registration status given by the following in your log:

CEREG: 2,"5BF6","0088BF01",7,0,19

shows that you are not registered, and you are getting EMM rejection cause value 19, which indicates that it is an ESM reject cause. The AT command "AT+CNEC=24" will activate reporting of ESM error codes. Could you try sending this AT command to one of the devices that are unable to connect to the network, in order to get more information about the reject cause?

iBasis have a DevZone account to help with customer support here, so it might be that they are able to help if the problem is with your SIM cards, so I will tag them here iBasis Tech Support. I do not see any reason why you should not be able to connect to the network if you have registered the SIM cards on nRF Cloud and you see them in your account, especially considering you are able to connect with the same devices using an older iBasis SIM card.

Best regards,

Marte