"Approved Solution" for adding serial output over USB from nRF52840 Dongle apps

RE: "Approved Solution" for adding serial output over USB from nRF52840 Dongle apps

Øyvind — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 10:27:45 GMT

Mike,

[quote user="mikew67"]What makes this app different from 'Hello World' to make this possible[/quote]

So the Hello World sample, on its own, is the simplest sample. This has nothing included in its configuration file, prj.conf, only what the board definitions provide e.g. in your case the zephyr\boards\arm\nrf52840dongle_nrf52840\nrf52840dongle_nrf52840_defconfig.

From here you can add functionality to the Hello World e.g. copy the content of zephyr\samples\subsys\usb\console\prj.conf to the zephyr\samples\hello_world\prj.conf. And then copy the content of zephyr\samples\subsys\usb\console\src\main.c to zephyr\samples\hello_world\src\main.c.

Note that there is an overlay file as well to configure the devicetree of the device. Have a look at the DeviceTree HOWTOs to get more information.

Kind regards,
Øyvind

RE: "Approved Solution" for adding serial output over USB from nRF52840 Dongle apps

Mike Wirth — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 19:11:57 GMT

Øyvind,

Many thanks for the very quick and informative reply.

[quote userid="77062" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/92720/approved-solution-for-adding-serial-output-over-usb-from-nrf52840-dongle-apps/390028"]Will need to look into this part. I have not been successful in running CDC ACM on the dongle.[/quote]

The "Console over CDC ACM UART Sample" does exactly that. So that's why my fundamental question was "What makes this app different from 'Hello World' to make this possible.

More comments to follow...

Regards,

Mike

RE: "Approved Solution" for adding serial output over USB from nRF52840 Dongle apps

Øyvind — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 13:10:48 GMT

Hello Mike,

[quote user=""]On a related topic, it's been noted earlier on DevZone that the nRF52840 might not be a good prototyping platform for most Matter apps because of flash memory limits (1 MB) vs. the DK and other nRF52840 boards which have external flash. [/quote]

As you might already know the Matter protocol is per our SDK not tested with the nRF52840 Dongle due to the lack of external flash which is used for e.g. Device Firmware Updgrade, and the dongle has less flash for application due to the pre-programmed bootloader. For that reason our Matter team focuses on providing full support for the development kits. That said, our team did add dongle support in Matter nRF Connect Lighting Example Application in the upstream Matter repository., Note that this is not tested with our samples or current version of the nRF Connect SDK.

[quote user=""]To solve my immediate problem, can you outline a specific set-by-step procedure to modify the template of the Hello World app to direct serial output from printk statements over the USB connection with CDC ACM UART?[/quote]

Will need to look into this part. I have not been successful in running CDC ACM on the dongle.

[quote user=""]Does there exist in either the Nordic or Zephyr documentation a more complete description of the Zephyr configuration files and tools, including not only the formal definition, but more examples? Visual diagrams? Catalog of configuration properties, with logical groupings? Anything to make it easier to understand the process from a practical point of view[/quote]

Nothing more than what is available in the documentation I'm afraid. Circuit Dojo have several videos covering configurations in the Zephyr environment. Have a look at the Circuit Dojo YouTube channel.

If this does not provide any more answer, please specify exactly what you are looking for and I will try to provide better answers.

[quote user=""]Given that these kinds of mods need to be done on "templates" of sample apps, how does this fit into the development process with the VS code extension?[/quote]

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking. You can add "modifications" to overlay files and add them as extra cmake arguments in the build configuration.

[quote user=""]Spent some time with your Developer Academy videos, especially the one dealing with dts file, kconfig, etc., the configuration approach inherited with zephyr. Unfortunately, the relevant video is mainly a rehash of the zephyr docs, thin on practical examples, leaving the discussion as obtuse as ever.[/quote]

Have your provided this feedback in the survey? If not, please provide this valuable feedback there. You may also contact the Academy team directly via academy@nordicsemi.no. Also, each session has its own feedback button on the right hand side.

Kind regards,
Øyvind