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nRF Connect, Ubuntu Gnome 17.04, blank window

Hello everyone,

I'm usually on the cutting edge with Ubuntu Linux. I upgrade my development box frequently, because I like the precompiled binaries in the Ubuntu repository. I prefer to use my time building nRF52 apps from source, rather than building Linux apps from source.

I just upgraded to Ubuntu Gnome 17.04. I also have nRF Connect v 1.1.1. I have a PCA10040 board connected to a USB port, to use as a BLE receiver.

I had everything working in 16.04, save for a mysterious, but apparently harmless, JavaScript error message which occurred when I closed nRF Connect (click here if you're interested).

On 17.04, nRF Connect starts up correctly. The Select serial port pull down menu shows my PCA10040 board attached to /dev/tty/ACM0. However, when I select that board, the whole nRF Connect window goes... blank.

Please advise, thanks.

  • Can you open the console log window by clicking Shift + Ctrl + i in nRF Connect, and see if there are any errors reported?

  • Thanks for your reply, Jørgen. I didn't know about the console log window. It does not appear that I can post a screen shot, so I will have to type what I saw, and it may run longer than one post.

    Item 1 in the console log:

    /home/john/bin/nrf-connect-linux-x64/resources/app/node_modules/nrfconnect-appmodule-ble/node_modules/react/lib/ReactDOM.js:75

    Download the React DevTools and use an HTTP server (instead of a file: URL) for a better development experience: https://fb.me/react-devtools

    Item 2:

    bundle.js:8483

    Database is not ready yet. Storing entries in queue for later storage in DB.

    (to be continued)

  • Item 3:

    /home/john/bin/nrf-connect-linux-x64/resources/app/node_modules/nrfconnect-appmodule-ble/node_modules/fbjs/lib/warning.js:36

    Warning: Using Maps as children is not yet fully supported. It is an experimental feature that might be removed. Convert it to a sequence / iterable of keyed ReactElements instead. Check the render method of DiscoveredDevices.

    Item 4:

    bundle.js:8483

    Database is not ready yet. Storing entries in queue for later storage in DB.

    Finally, when I try to connect to my PCA10040 board with the console log open, I see a popup window that was not visible with the console log closed. It reads:

    DevTools was disconnected from the page. Once page is reloaded, DevTools will automatically reconnect.

    Hope that helps. Thank you!

  • One last thing. My development box is a dual-boot, Windows 10 and Ubuntu system. I just installed JLink and nRF Connect on Windows 10. It works without errors. The problem is software, not hardware. I can boot into Windows when I need to do BLE work for now, but in the long run I would also like nRF Connect working on top of Ubuntu Gnome 17.04. Thanks.

  • Could you try the following (if you have not allready):

    • Install Google Chrome and all dependecies.
    • Install latest JLink driver.
    • Erase the board using nrfjprog eraseall command.
    • Upgrade JLink Interface FW to latest version.
    • Program the connectivity HEX file directly using nrfjprog. The file (for PCA10040) can be found in nrf-connect-linux-x64/resources/app/node_modules/nrfconnect-appmodule-ble/node_modules/pc-ble-driver-js/pc-ble-driver/hex/sd_api_v3
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