Unable to see BLE advertising

[viswa]

Hi All,

I have flashed one of the samples on our custom board based on NRF52833. 

SDK : nrf connect v1.7

IDE : Vs Code

OS : Windows 10

I can see the that code is running when I connect a debugger and have played around BLE advertising options. 

Still I couldn't see device advertising in nrf Connect mobile application.

Does the provided examples only work on development kits?

"I have to build an application which can switch between central and peripheral roles on receiving a command from UART."

which example shall I pick to start my development?

I'm relatively newbie in BLE development and completely new to RTOS applications. Need a little help here.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

Still I couldn't see device advertising in nrf Connect mobile application.

You should normally see the advertising packets from a phone, though there can be some exceptions. Which sample have you programmed?

Does the provided examples only work on development kits?

Yes. Most samples work on all development kits, as long as you build for the correct board.

"I have to build an application which can switch between central and peripheral roles on receiving a command from UART."

Perhaps it makes sense to start with a multirole sample. For instance Bluetooth: Central and Peripheral HRS.

[viswa]

I have used peripheral_uart sample and peripheral_hr sample. Built the samples without any modification and flashed into our custom board.

I am expecting at least the advertising visible in my mobile.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

I suggest you see the description of custom boards here, and the linked pages. Most of this process can be quite simple in VS Code, where the nRF Connect plugin has a wizard that helps you. I suggest you watch the recording of the Introducing nRF Connect for VS Code webinar, which demonstrates this as well as other features of the plugin.

[viswa]

Hi Einar

Our custom board supplies 24Mhz as main oscillator. where shall set these settings. I couldn't find clock settings in the project.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

There are no nRF devises that support a 24 MHz clock. If that is your clock frequency the radio will not work (frequency and timing - everything - will be way off). The high frequency oscillator frequency is not configurable. You need to revise your HW and design your board according to the requirements in the product specification. See CLOCK chapter for crystal requirements.

[viswa]

Thanks for prompt reply. We will modify the design to use external 32MHZ crystal. But, in the mean while, can we start testing the radio and other Bluetooth functionalities using internal 64MHz oscillator. If so, can you guide us where to change the code for that.

Thanks in advance.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

viswa said:

Thanks for prompt reply. We will modify the design to use external 32MHZ crystal.

Good.

viswa said:

But, in the mean while, can we start testing the radio and other Bluetooth functionalities using internal 64MHz oscillator

That is not possible. The internal 64 MHz RC oscillator (HFINT) is way to inaccurate for using the radio. Therefore, the Bluetooth stack we provide does not support using the HFINT as a clock source. You will need to wait for your redesigned HW.  I suggest you test your BLE code on a DK in the meantime.

[viswa]

Does nrf5 sdk support? We have some devices in the field without option for external oscillator in our design. Is there anything we can do in that case, some software patch at least.

[Einar Thorsrud]

No, there is no way any software solution can fix this. The radio requires a correct and stable high frequency clock, and that is a hard requirement.

[viswa]

Thanks for the help Einar.