nRF52840 DK debugger HW VER 3.0.0 not working

[Gil]

Hi,

 

We have an issue with the new nRF52840 DK as a debugger.

 

Our target board reference design is RAYTAC (Nordic's Third party) Eval Board:

www.raytac.com/.../ins.php

And we are using the same nRF module in our application.

 

We had a pair of nrf52840 DKs and we just purchased two more. We are using the DKs as jlink debuggers.

 

Until now, we had 2 of the nRF52840 DK PCA10056 Ver 2.0.1 and we managed to debug the code with segger embedded studio easily.

 

But now, with new purchased nRF52840 DK PCA10056 Ver 3.0.0 debug is not working (both kits). It seems like jlink usb drivers are ok in the Win10 Device manager.

 

We are facing a simillar issue like in this case:

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../nrf-52840dk-debug-out-on-board-version-3-0-0-not-working

 

Yet, with a major difference: our target board runs/outputs a VCC=3.3V.

 

So, to make sure that there is nothing wrong with our target board, we tried to run debugging on RAYTAC (above mentioned) as a target board connected to "Debug out" connector of nRF52840 DK which is used as the debugger, and we got the same results: 2.0.1 is working but 3.0.0 is not working. See photo:

We also tried to upgrade the interface MCU firmware, but the jlink configurator messaged that no firmware upgrade is required:

 

OS: Windows 10

Segger Embedded Studio: V6.20a

Jlink V7.58b

 

Additional info:

 

When the 3.0.0 nRF52840 DK is connected to RAYTAC eval board and i run: nrfjprog --deviceversion i get:

C:\Users\SDSI5>nrfjprog --deviceversion

NRF52840_xxAA_REV2

 

But as i disconnect the jlink cable between the two i get:

C:\Users\SDSI5>nrfjprog --deviceversion

NRF51xxx_xxAA_REV1

 

Can you please help me understand what is wrong here?

 

Regards,

Gil

[Kazi Afroza Sultana]

Hello Gil,

''Yet, with a major difference: our target board runs/outputs a VCC=3.3V.'' One reason could be that nRF52840 Development Kit(DK) only supports programming devices at 3V. Your target board runs at 3.3V. 

Could you please update the nrfjprog and jlink to a upgraded version to see if still the problem exists?

Thanks.

Best Regards,

Kazi Afroza Sultana

[Gil]

Hi Kazi,

I installed nrfjprog 7.70c and restarted my computer:

C:\Users\SDSI5>nrfjprog --version
nrfjprog version: 10.16.0 external
JLinkARM.dll version: 7.70c

and also upgraded the DK's firmware version, see screenshot:

but the problem still remains:

Regrds,
Gil

[Kazi Afroza Sultana]

Hello,

Our Dk can only support program device for 3.0 V. Your custom board requires 3.3 V, you may try to use a dedicated debugger to program your custom board for different voltage level.

Thanks.

Best Regards,

Kazi Afroza Sultana

[Gil]

Hi Kazi,

Unfortunately, "try to use a dedicated debugger" is not acceptable since new 3.0.0 DKs were already purchased by the company based on the fact that DK version 2.0.1 are working.

Yet, we managed to get it operating (even with a 3.3V target) both as a programmer and a debugger.

Our local Nordic representative guided us to conect DK to target using DK connector P20 adhering to this connection scheme:

.... and it works perfectly.

Thanks for your assistance

Gil

[Kazi Afroza Sultana]

Hello Bil,

Good to hear it worked this way. 

Thanks.

BR

Kazi Afroza Sultana