nRF52840 Feather-sudden death syndrome

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bizzz3
 
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nRF52840 Feather-sudden death syndrome

Post by bizzz3 »

Hello All,
BLE connects quickly to my laptop and phone, code runs as expected (for a while). Then a glitch happens on 1 or 2 inputs. Perhaps the battery is underpowered, so I connect to usb cable for power. After checking hardware connections I go to reprogram, only to find that it doesn't see the board. I check my PWM outputs and they are no longer working. The board is dead.

I am embarrassed to say that I have gone thru 10 of these Ada boards. Methodically connecting outputs and inputs 1 at a time to discover what is happening, to no avail. Yes, of course, the board is powered down when connecting things. All connections are finally made and pairing quickly and running smoothly and then the board fails, usually less than 30 mins. Many times I can reprogram and pair, but then get "driver error" for my HID device. Another message is: no connection, try again.
After which the board can't be seen with the programmer.

I developed my C code on the Nordic nrf52840 dev board using Segger and J-link. All is good, up and running to my breadboard for days. Quite happy with wake up after the phone goes to sleep
.
Then I use the same code using j-link to program Adafruit 52840 feather using the same breadboard.

When I start having issues with the Adafruit board I return to the Nordic board and all is good. The hardware is solid.

I checked the Adafruit feather pinouts and made some changes and stayed away from the analog-capable pins. Since none of my inputs are analog. I found no difference in the reliability, soon another one bytes the dust..

I am using these pins for input: SCL, SDA, RX, TX, D11, D12 pull-up High, go low to activate
I am using these pins for PWM output: D6, D9, D10,

Does anyone have insights into what I'm experiencing?

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adafruit_support_carter
 
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Re: nRF52840 Feather-sudden death syndrome

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

After checking hardware connections I go to reprogram, only to find that it doesn't see the board.
The reprogramming here was being attempted via the JLink? Is the JLink being used for all firmware uploading? Or are you using Arduino in some way?

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bizzz3
 
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Re: nRF52840 Feather-sudden death syndrome

Post by bizzz3 »

Thank you for asking.
I only use jLink to Segger. I don't use a bootloader or anything Arduino.

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Re: nRF52840 Feather-sudden death syndrome

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

OK. And by "dead", do you mean can you can not even reconnect to the board via JLink?

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bizzz3
 
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Re: nRF52840 Feather-sudden death syndrome

Post by bizzz3 »

That's correct, jLink says no id found.

But as mentioned above sometimes it does re-program as usual,
but then the laptop Bluetooth says to try again or driver error.

Re-programming doesn't bring it back to a operating state... dead beef.

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bizzz3
 
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Re: nRF52840 Feather-sudden death syndrome

Post by bizzz3 »

I just killed #15.
This time I think I caught it.

adafruit 52840 feather pin# D11 is pulled high to be a button.
Same with SCL, SDA, RX, TX -- these work just fine.
Connected to D11 only 3 secs before the device disconnected from the laptop. Then said paired.

Tried to re-connect. The laptop doesn't see it.
I re-program as usual.
Tried to re-connect. The laptop finds it, then it won't connect. It says: try connecting again.

I don't see D11 being special, just a normal HS gpio.

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Re: nRF52840 Feather-sudden death syndrome

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

How are you reprogramming it if JLink can not connect?

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bizzz3
 
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Re: nRF52840 Feather-sudden death syndrome

Post by bizzz3 »

I'm sorry. I am using the word connect both for programming and Bluetooth connection to the laptop.
I have been mainly using connect for bluetooth pairing.
I'll make a distinction from now on.

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Re: nRF52840 Feather-sudden death syndrome

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

Can you try disconnecting everything from the Feather and then try a basic JLink connect again?

For the programmer not to be able to connect is indicating some kind of low level hardware issue.

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bizzz3
 
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Re: nRF52840 Feather-sudden death syndrome

Post by bizzz3 »

Thank you for helping me.
I wasn't able to find the issue with the adafruit nrf 52840 of dying so suddenly.
I connected my Nordic nrf 52840 dev board to my hardware; leds and detectors and have no issue.
That Nordic is too large, I was hoping to use the adafruit board to save space.

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