Example code utilizing softdevice will not work properly with IAR compiled hex

[lbehhhh]

Hello,

I have an issue regarding using IAR tools with the examples provided in SDK v13.

I have:

• nRF52840 Preview DK

• v13 of the nordic SDK (www.nordicsemi.com/.../nRF5-SDK)

• IAR v8.10.1 with full license

Issue:

• Followed tutorial provided by you guys on using IAR and provided examples from the SDK (devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../)

• Used the HRM example from v13 of SDK and for board PCA10056

• After starting debug session in IAR, I am unable to find the device. (Note that I have hit the play button so I'm not stuck at main).

What I've done:

• I have a simple phone app that ID's advertising devices and counts bytes of data passed once a connection is established

• When I flash the provided hex files from the SDK using nRFgo Studio I can see the device and talk to it

• When I flash the device from within KEIL I can see and talk to the device (after programming the softdevice hex using nRFgo Studio)

• When I flash the device from within Eclipse I can see and talk to the device (after programming the softdevice hex using nRFgo Studio)

• Looking at the map files for IAR/KEIL I dont see any significant differences with start/stop locations for RAM/ROM (but I may have missed something).

• Confirmed that downloading a non-softdevice example works. I debugged with blinky and had no issues. So to me at least this narrows down to softdevice specific problem on the nRF52840 PDK.

I am at a total loss here. Seems like I am missing something simple since at some point you guys at Nordic must have gotten this working as your provide the .eww and .ewp files for the example in IAR.

Please help.... Otherwise I am going to have to go to IAR with this and I dont think that will prove too helpful since they didnt write the application.

Thanks in advance for any help/pointers

UPDATE: Flashing the compiled hex file built by IAR (from within IAR, or from another utility like nRFgo Studio) does not work either. AKA it is not debugger specific

[Daniel Wang]

The problem is only when you debug with IAR? flashing the application with IAR also works?

[lbehhhh]

No, flashing from within IAR does not work, nor does flashing the compiled hex file from IAR with nRFgo studio work.

[Daniel Wang]

What ROM/RAM start/end values are you using in the IAR project? For HRM is should be:

FLASH (rx) : ORIGIN = 0x22000, LENGTH = 0xde000
RAM (rwx) :  ORIGIN = 0x20002620, LENGTH = 0x3d9e0

[lbehhhh]

I started off using the defaults from the project, which are:

define symbol ICFEDIT_region_ROM_start = 0x22000;

define symbol ICFEDIT_region_ROM_end = 0xfffff;

define symbol ICFEDIT_region_RAM_start = 0x20002620;

define symbol ICFEDIT_region_RAM_end = 0x2003ffff;

I was just looking at this post (devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../) and am trying to change these, but have had no success so far. Also please note that I am hanging in nrf_delay.h on a bunch of NOP assembly instructions (around line 172)

[Sigurd]

Does LED1 blink when you used the hex compiled with IAR? What J-Link version do you have? Note that support for nRF52840/PCA10056 was added in J-Link V6.12c.