nRF5 action!

[Nca78]

@mfalkvidd said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:

@NeverDie said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:

Is no one else able to download the files either?

From the forum, no. From hightail, yes.

Direct click fails. But if you press Control key while you click, to open in a new tab, then you should be able to download files from the forum ;)

[d00616]

@mfalkvidd said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:

Could this be related to the readback protection? The video I linked before recommends issuing "monitor erase_mass" to completely reset the device and any protection.

This is a simple sketch for mass erasing a nRF5 MCU. Just compile it with the option a SoftDevice is present, when a SoftDevice is present:

#include "nrf.h"

void wait_for_ready()
{
        while (NRF_NVMC->READY == NVMC_READY_READY_Busy) {
        };
}


void setup() {
        // Enable erasing flash
        NRF_NVMC->CONFIG = NVMC_CONFIG_WEN_Een << NVMC_CONFIG_WEN_Pos;
        wait_for_ready();

        // Erase Flash and UICR
        NRF_NVMC->ERASEALL = 1;
        wait_for_ready();

        // Disable erasing
        NRF_NVMC->CONFIG = NVMC_CONFIG_WEN_Ren << NVMC_CONFIG_WEN_Pos;
        wait_for_ready();

}

void loop() {
}```

[NeverDie]

You would think that the programmer device would just do a mass erase as part of its standard procedure, though, so it's a bit odd that it would require me to do it manually. The mass erase that Roger Clark did with his Black Magic Probe seemed nearly instant. I don't have a Black Magic Probe though.

In any case, I can't use the above sketch to do ia mass erase because it presumes I can already load a sketch onto the target--i.e. it presumes the fundamental problem is solved already.

What's the preferred way to do a mass erase? I seem to remember seeing a mass erase as an option in one of the Nordic utility softwares, but I don't recall now which one. Anyone happen to know?

[NeverDie]

Looking further into it, what I may need to first do is UNLOCK the Ebyte module, which appears to be a separate step from mass erasing: https://mcuoneclipse.com/2014/10/05/unlocking-and-erasing-flash-with-segger-j-link/

[Toyman]

@NeverDie may be some hints here:
https://learn.adafruit.com/bluefruit-nrf52-feather-learning-guide/flashing-the-bootloader

And also pay attention to their Adalink tool. The support for nrf52 was added recently.

[NeverDie]

By switching to a Windows 10 computer, I was able to get J-link working over USB from windows. Then I opened up J-Link Command, which mostly utiizes a command line interface. It turns out that for unlocking, the nRF52836 is not on the list of devices (see below), so I simply then issued a mass erase command, which looks as though it may have worked:

J-Link>unlock
Syntax: unlock <DeviceName>
---Supported devices---
  LM3Sxxx [<Auto>]
  Kinetis
  EFM32Gxxx
  LPC5460x
J-Link>erase
Erasing device (nRF52832_xxAA)...
J-Link: Flash download: Total time needed: 0.336s (Prepare: 0.064s, Compare: 0.000s, Erase: 0.263s, Program: 0.000s, Verify: 0.000s, Restore: 0.008s)
Erasing done.
J-Link>mem 0 100
00000000 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
00000010 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
00000020 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
00000030 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
00000040 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
00000050 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
00000060 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
00000070 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
00000080 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
00000090 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
000000A0 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
000000B0 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
000000C0 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
000000D0 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
000000E0 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
000000F0 = FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
J-Link>

:)

[NeverDie]

I received the following message from the Ebyte seller:

Sorry that the two files are incorrect, please just ignore or delete them.
We will send correct files later.

Thank you!

[NeverDie]

It worked! After doing the above mass erase, the nRF52832 Ebyte Module successfully programmed from the NRF52 DK. I uploaded the mysensors lightsensor sketch, and the serialGateway running on the NRF52 DK is receiving its messages. :)

Many thanks to mfalkvidd for his mass erase suggestion and for his link to the Roger Clark youtube video, which had further mass erase commentary.

Also, many thanks to d00616 for his excellent guide:
https://www.openhardware.io/view/376/MySensors-NRF5-Platform
Without that, I would have been lost on how to set anything up.

Thanks to everyone else too who made comments and suggestions. This has been a great group effort with a successful outcome. :) :) :)

[Toyman]

@NeverDie wow!!! Will you write a short tutorial? Is mas erase needed for EVERY time the sketch is uploaded?

[Nca78]

That's great news @NeverDie, thank you for your efforts and thank you also to everyone who helped !
My modules will arrive tomorrow or on Wednesday and you have saved me hours of suffering :D

[NeverDie]

Just now did a very quick range test, and the Ebyte nRF52832 module seems roughly comparable to the nRF52 DK for range. i.e. much better than the Adafruit nRF52832 Feather and also much better than the non-amplified nRF24L01+'s. So, whew! What a relief that is. At least for me, that means I won't need to wait for the nRF52840.

So, now the next question is whether the Ebyte nRF52832 can be made to run in DCDC mode, instead of LDO mode, to make it more suited for battery operation. At the moment, I'm not even sure how big or small a power savings that would equate to. Anyone know?

[d00616]

@NeverDie said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:

So, now the next question is whether the Ebyte nRF52832 can be made to run in DCDC mode, instead of LDO mode, to make it more suited for battery operation. However, at the moment, I'm not even sure how big or small a power savings that would equate to. Anyone know?

There is no DCDC support for ESB radio at the moment. The DCDC mode is only efficient on high current states, like enabled radio and should only enabled in an defined voltage range.

[NeverDie]

@Toyman said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:

Is mas erase needed for EVERY time the sketch is uploaded?

Roger Clark says not. I can't say for sure yet, as I haven't yet tried. I think the answer will probably turn out to be that if you aren't doing anything to specifically protect certain flash memory locations after programming it, then you would only need to do it once to undo and erase whatever came on the chip from the factory.

[scalz]

@NeverDie
like said above DCDC needs to be enabled. Then, the mcu will automatically switch between LDO mode (for light loads) and DCDC mode for higher currents loads like when mcu is wake up, or during radio comms etc.. Can be interesting in some cases.
in datasheet, DCDC mode can divide by two mcu power consumption. Side effects could be -1dB sensitivity, so it's better to filter well by using two inductors (see ref design)

[d00616]

I have found a simple way to mass erase the MCU. Select "None" as SoftDevice and use the "Burn Bootloader" function. There is an error generated but the device is erased.

[NeverDie]

@mtiutiu said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:

I'm going to try this one too when I have time wt51822-s4at

I used your link to order some of those modules just now. They're so small and cheap that they might be nice for simple things.

With the Ebyte module now working, I'm feeling emboldened again. :)

[NeverDie]

Which nRF52832 pins do I use for the mysensors implementation of UART Tx and Rx on the nRF52832? When I looked in Nordic's nRF52832 datasheet (http://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/pdf/nRF52832_PS_v1.3.pdf), I didn't see any pins specifically assigned/reserved for that purpose.

[scalz]

by default nrf52dk is RX(24) and TX(25).
for adafruit, i have not installed the board..but you can check in adafruit howto (or in their variant files).

Peripherals are not fixed, that's a big advantage vs simple 8bits mcu. You define them when doing your design (sometimes it may need some checks in datasheet, depends on mcu).

So, for your ebyte module your options are:

• create a new board for the board manager (see variant files) regarding a specific design.
• or you don't care of this for the moment, and you can simply use nrf52dk board and use the same mapping.
• or, in the same order, use adafruit board and their mapping (or sparkfun board etc.., no matter, just check their board map pictures )

[d00616]

@scalz said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:

So, for your ebyte module your options are:

I working on the fourth option, I publish soon:

• Define the pin mapping in your sketch, then its part of your code

Like @scalz has written. Place the MCU in your layout and define the pin mapping later. Exceptions are analog pins, comparator pins , NFC pins, reset... The pins are documented in Infocenter: Pin assignments Please look at the "GPIO usage restrictions" chapter too.

[mtiutiu]

@NeverDie

For the ebyte nrf52832 based modules did you had to wire some external components? Are there some other requirements for it in order to work?

Thanks.