Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

Bill Westlake — Tue, 11 May 2021 15:43:35 GMT

We understand that, but if I can't program it successfully every time now with the DK, I am not confident that a dedicated programmer will. I am trying to determine if there is something wrong with our custom boards, or the programming setup, or if it is just the DK. I will talk to them about getting a programmer for this to test and see if that works better. But spending money only to find out it doesn't work well is also problematic.

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 11 May 2021 11:02:31 GMT

Hi awneil!

[quote user="awneil"]I think the licence for the on-board J-Link specifically prohibits "production" use?[/quote]

You're absolutely right (https://www.segger.com/products/debug-probes/j-link/models/j-link-ob/#licensing-options). I'll change my wording to explicitly disallow this option.

Cheers,

Håkon

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

awneil — Tue, 11 May 2021 08:14:25 GMT

[quote userid="2115" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/74954/programming-custom-board-using-nrf52-dk/309127#309127"]For production programming, we strongly recommend that you use a dedicated debugger made for this purpose[/quote]

I think the licence for the on-board J-Link specifically prohibits "production" use?

But any decent manufacturer should have production programming equipment

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 11 May 2021 07:45:20 GMT

Hi,

[quote user=""]When I connect this to the nRF52 DK according to information here I can program the custom board, most of the time. However, periodically, it will act as though it programmed but the firmware does not run. I have tried this from J-Link and SES.[/quote]

If the flash content is verified successfully, it might indicate that the firmware isn't running as it should. Try entering debug mode and see what the device executes.

[quote user=""]

I have a contractor doing some design for me, and he tells me that we also need to disconnect power from the nRF52 chip on the DK before we program, but I can find nothing about this on this site, and I prefer not to make changes to this dev kit.

I am looking for some guidance because, when we go into production we are going to need to program these devices on the custom board successfully every time. As it stands I often times have to reprogram it 10 or 12 times before it works.

[/quote]

As previously mentioned by awneil, you need to power your custom board. I usually recommend that you power it from the DK itself, to ensure that the voltage is equal on both DK and custom board, but a 3V source shall be fine.

If your custom board has a coincell battery, it might be that this has been drained too low for the DK to successfully detect the voltage.

For production programming, you shall use a dedicated debugger made for this purpose (See seggers website: https://www.segger.com/products/debug-probes/j-link/). Our DK's are meant as a development platform only, and shall not be used in any production programming setup.

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

Bill Westlake — Mon, 10 May 2021 18:23:32 GMT

I see. So if we hook up the reset line, do we connect it to the reset header on the DK during programming?

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

awneil — Mon, 10 May 2021 18:18:49 GMT

Example: If the code gets stuck in a low-power mode, where the debugger is disabled - a hardware reset can recover from that.

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

Bill Westlake — Mon, 10 May 2021 18:17:45 GMT

Actually, the CE says he knows why so that the programer can reset the processor before it loads. He is going to put in a line so we can test that.

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

Bill Westlake — Mon, 10 May 2021 18:02:46 GMT

I'm just the software guy, the hardware people didn't put the reset line on any of the headers. I will ask the Chief Engineer but I am sure they won't be spinning a new board any time soon.

How does the reset line help with loading firmware? I am sure the chief engineer will ask!

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

awneil — Mon, 10 May 2021 17:36:04 GMT

reset as in the nRF reset pin.

You really do want access to that!

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

Bill Westlake — Mon, 10 May 2021 16:54:57 GMT

I don't have access to the reset on the custom board. You mean reset to reset or to something else?

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

awneil — Mon, 10 May 2021 15:43:05 GMT

adding RESET might help?

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

Bill Westlake — Mon, 10 May 2021 15:27:59 GMT

I don't have a stand-alone J-Link. The custom board is 3.3V.

Also, I forgot to mention, that sometimes it won't connect at all. I power both the custom and DK on and off several times and then it will connect.

my connection is as follows:

Custom VDD to DK VDD and VTG

Custom SWD IO to DK SWD IO

Custom SWD CLK to DK SWD CLK

Custom GND to DK GND DETECT and GND

RE: Programming Custom Board using nRF52 DK

awneil — Mon, 10 May 2021 15:14:49 GMT

[quote userid="104211" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/74954/programming-custom-board-using-nrf52-dk"]he tells me that we also need to disconnect power from the nRF52 chip on the DK before we program,[/quote]

No, he's wrong.

If the DK detects power from an external target, it will switch the debug connection to that target.

Have you tried this with a standalone J-Link (or other SWD adaptor) ?

What voltage is your custom board running at? Note that the nRF52 DK only supports 3.3V external targets.