PC doesn't recognize nRF52833 after burning heart_rate_demo.hex

[Eitan zair]

Hi all,
I got the nRF52833-DK 2 months ago. I've deployed the heart_rate_demo.hex example to it and it seemed to work.
Now i'm trying to connect the DK to the PC again and it doesn't seem to recognize it at all.

It must be something basic as i'm new to it. When connecting the DK to the PC, what is the indication that I suppose to get?

Thanks

[AHaug]

Hi,

I need an answer to the following questions to help identify this issue. There might be, as you say, something very basic that causes the issue

1. First of could you describe which position every switch on your DK is put to? There should be 3 switches, the power switch, nRF power source switch and nrf only|default switch.
   1. The switches should be set to on, VDD and default
2. Which micro-usb port have you connected your device to? Is it the nRF USB port on the long side or the usb port on the short side?
   1. It should be connected to the usb port on the short side of the DK
3. Does the device show up in Device Manager on your computer? Please try to connect and disconnect the kit a few times. It might show up with unexpected names. 
4. Have you tried a different USB cable? Faulty cables are surprisingly often the problem.
   1. In addition to cables breaking, some cables are also only designed to provide power for charging, and not to do both powering and programming. If you've swapped your cable since you programmed the DK the last time, check with either the same cable you used back then, or a new one that you know you can do programming with
5. Have you tried using a different computer? If it works on a different computer we know that the kit is not broken and that it is probably a driver issue.
6. Have you measured the supply voltage on the kit? It should be somewhere between 2.8V-3.3V. If it isn't, then the hardware is probably broken.

In addition, did you follow any specific guides when getting into developing with the DK? And are you using nRF5 SDK or nRF Connect SDK? If its either of those, could you also specify which version? It's not necessarily related to the issue, but it gets easier to suggest resources to you if I know which SDK you're working with.

Kind regards,
Andreas

[Eitan zair]

Hi Andreas, thanks for the quick reply.

1. The switches are set to on, USB and default
2. USB port on the short side of the DK
3. DK doesn't seem to appear in Device Manager after a few connections/disconnections
4. USB cable is a brand new Data USB cable (not charge only)
5. DK doesn't seem to connect on 2 different PC's.
6. Didn't measured the voltage on the kit actually.

I'll ask a few question myself:

1. What indication should I get when connecting the DK? Should I see in "My Computer"?
2. Maybe it has something to do with the heart_rate demo I've deployed to it? if so - how can I reset the fw? (couldn't do it with the BOOT/RESET button).

[AHaug]

Hi,

Eitan zair said:

The switches are set to on, USB and default

I was a bit too quick when writing my previous reply. I see I wrote "USB" as one of the switch settings, the correct one is "VDD". I've edited my previous reply to the correct setting now. Does it work with that setting?

Eitan zair said:

USB cable is a brand new Data USB cable (not charge only)

Did you test with multiple cables? Lets remove that potential fault by verifying with multiple cables as well, as they unfortunately sometime can be broken out of the box as well. But check with the above comment first.

Eitan zair said:

1. What indication should I get when connecting the DK? Should I see in "My Computer"?

The device should be visible under Ports in Device Manager if is connected to the computer

 

And you should be able to find the board in a terminal with nrfjprog --com when it is connected if you've installed the command line tools.

Eitan zair said:

2. Maybe it has something to do with the heart_rate demo I've deployed to it? if so - how can I reset the fw? (couldn't do it with the BOOT/RESET button).

You can examine the board in the programmer in nRF Connect for Desktop if you're able to find it on your computer. Here you can see if the board has anything on it, and you can recover the device

 

Another way to do this is again to use nrfjprog in command line. See nrfjprog -h for information about what the various flags and commands does, and then run nrfjprog -e to erase what is on the device. You might be required to run nrfjprog --recover to unlock a device locked by readback protection. See the attached image for expected output.

AHaug said:

In addition, did you follow any specific guides when getting into developing with the DK? And are you using nRF5 SDK or nRF Connect SDK? If its either of those, could you also specify which version? It's not necessarily related to the issue, but it gets easier to suggest resources to you if I know which SDK you're working with.

If you know what you're working with, a response to this might be of help with finding the issue!

Kind regards,
Andreas

[Eitan zair]

Hi,
Thanks again!
I made sure everything as it should be..
The board was sent to me by one of your developres for the academic project i'm doing.

But now I think the contacts are ruined - the board doesn't get connected at all, but sometimes when I touch (with my hand) in the pins under the <nRF Only/DEFAULT> switch, it get's connected for a few seconds...

Can it happen? all I did was to change the switches states, the board didn't fell or anything..
How can I proceed, in your opinion? Maybe there's any tech support here in Israel for NORDIC boards?

Thanks, Eitan.

[AHaug]

Hi, 

The switches on your board may have some loose connections, it does unfortunately happen some time and the board may be malfunctioning due to that.

Also, I've sent you a PM. Could you please check your notifications?

Kind regards,
Andreas