Programming and Debugging a PCB with 52832 SoC using nRF52 DK

[jake11212]

Hello, 

I want to program and debug a custom PCB using the nRF52832 SoC and nRF52 DK.  I plan to use this setup:

From what I understand, the GND detect will cause the PCA10040 on the DK to subvert the nRF52832 chip on the DK and program directly to the nRF52832 chip on the custom PCB.  Is this correct?  

I was also wondering how to debug using this.  Is it possible to use a terminal emulator such as putty to debug using this setup in the same way that putty would be used to debug the development kit?  Or do I need to use a different method to debug?

Thanks!

[Stian Røed Hafskjold]

Hi, You can not power your board with both VDD on the DK and the power supply. So use just one of them:

 

From what I understand, the GND detect will cause the PCA10040 on the DK to subvert the nRF52832 chip on the DK and program directly to the nRF52832 chip on the custom PCB.  Is this correct?  

 Correct

 

Is it possible to use a terminal emulator such as putty to debug using this setup in the same way that putty would be used to debug the development kit?  Or do I need to use a different method to debug?

You can use a terminal emulator (UART), but then you need to route the UART wire (TX) from you board to the DK (or a separate UART->USB converter).

You can use RTT debugging instead. It uses the SWD interface you have already connected.

[jake11212]

Stian Røed Hafskjold said:

You can use RTT debugging instead. It uses the SWD interface you have already connected.

Okay, so when I have the DK connected to the custom PCB in this way does this mean that the DK is acting as the JTAG debugging probe?  Can I connect the DK via USB to a computer and then debug using RTT viewing software like the ones in Segger Embedded Studio or J-Link RTT viewer?  

Or do I need to use a standalone JTAG probe to do this debugging?

[Stian Røed Hafskjold]

 Hello

jake11212 said:

Okay, so when I have the DK connected to the custom PCB in this way does this mean that the DK is acting as the JTAG debugging probe?  Can I connect the DK via USB to a computer and then debug using RTT viewing software like the ones in Segger Embedded Studio or J-Link RTT viewer?  

That is correct. You can use the JLink tools as if you were debugging the chip on the DK. You connect to the DK, and you will be debugging the external chip instead.

BTW, the debugging protocol used is SWD, not JTAG

jake11212 said:

Or do I need to use a standalone JTAG probe to do this debugging?

No

[jake11212]

Excellent, thanks for all the help!