NRF52840: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
No edit summary |
|||
| (12 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Project | {{Project | ||
|Name=NRF52840 | |Name=NRF52840 | ||
|Picture= | |Picture=nrf52840-supermini.png | ||
|Omschrijving= | |Omschrijving=Running Arduino with platformio on NRF52840 | ||
|Status=In progress | |Status=In progress | ||
|Contact=bertrik | |Contact=bertrik | ||
| Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
== Intro == | == Intro == | ||
NRF52840 is | This page is about getting inexpensive NRF52840 boards to work with Arduino and platformio. | ||
* low-power | |||
NRF52840 is a nice platform: | |||
* low-power | |||
* inexpensive | * inexpensive | ||
* decent amount of flash (1024k), RAM (256k) and CPU cycles (64 MHz) | * decent amount of flash (1024k), RAM (256k) and CPU cycles (64 MHz) | ||
* support various radio protocols like zigbee, ble, thread | * support various radio protocols like zigbee, ble, thread, enhanced shockburst | ||
* built-in support for quadrature counting | * built-in support for quadrature counting | ||
* | * can run arduino too | ||
However the eco-system of inexpensive boards is a complicated landscape: | However the eco-system of inexpensive boards is a complicated landscape: | ||
* AliExpress sellers offer "promicro" and "supermini" board with unclear characteristics | * AliExpress sellers offer "promicro" and "supermini" board with unclear characteristics | ||
* LEDs are | * LEDs are sometimes swapped (blue = hardware charge, red = software led?) | ||
* Various firmware upload interface options (which one to use?): | * Various firmware upload interface options (which one to use?): | ||
** Using nrfutil, sends a .zip file containing various parts | ** Using nrfutil, sends a .zip file containing various parts, over USB-serial | ||
** Mass storage UF2, activated using the double-reset | |||
** Mass storage UF2, | |||
** SWD debug interface (requires soldering!) | ** SWD debug interface (requires soldering!) | ||
* Confusing situation regarding bootloaders: | * Confusing situation regarding bootloaders: | ||
** Most boards seem to come with a modified version of a bootloader meant for another type of board | ** Most boards seem to come with a modified version of a bootloader meant for another type of board | ||
** Type of bootloader depends on type of firmware you want to run, "ZMK", Arduino using Arduino IDE, Arduino using platformio | ** Type of bootloader depends on type of firmware you want to run, "ZMK", Arduino using Arduino IDE, Arduino using platformio | ||
** Risk of accidentally overwriting the bootloader, with UF2 flash offsets sometimes being absolute, sometimes being relative | ** Risk of accidentally overwriting the bootloader, with UF2 flash offsets sometimes being absolute, sometimes being relative | ||
== Hardware == | |||
[[File:nrf52840-supermini-pinout.png|right|thumb|pinout]] | |||
The boards I have are the "promicro" and "supermini". | The boards I have are the "promicro" and "supermini". | ||
These boards look basically identical hardware-wise. | These boards look basically identical hardware-wise. | ||
| Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
The red LED appears to be under software control. | The red LED appears to be under software control. | ||
=== | Pinout/schematic: https://nicekeyboards.com/docs/nice-nano/pinout-schematic | ||
=== bootloader === | |||
The INFO_UF2.TXT says (after double-tap reset): | The INFO_UF2.TXT says (after double-tap reset): | ||
UF2 Bootloader 0.6.0 lib/nrfx (v2.0.0) lib/tinyusb (0.10.1-41-gdf0cda2d) lib/uf2 (remotes/origin/configupdate-9-gadbb8c7) | UF2 Bootloader 0.6.0 lib/nrfx (v2.0.0) lib/tinyusb (0.10.1-41-gdf0cda2d) lib/uf2 (remotes/origin/configupdate-9-gadbb8c7) | ||
| Line 74: | Line 76: | ||
[509373.296933] sdb: | [509373.296933] sdb: | ||
[509373.297002] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk | [509373.297002] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk | ||
</pre> | </pre> | ||
== Software == | == Software == | ||
Working platformio example project for the nice!nano and supermini/promicro nrf52840 clones: | |||
https://github.com/bertrik/nicenano-example | |||
Links: | Links: | ||
| Line 115: | Line 86: | ||
* Here is a wiki full of useful information on specific boards: https://github.com/joric/nrfmicro/wiki | * Here is a wiki full of useful information on specific boards: https://github.com/joric/nrfmicro/wiki | ||
** Specifically the supermini https://github.com/joric/nrfmicro/wiki/Alternatives#supermini-nrf52840 | ** Specifically the supermini https://github.com/joric/nrfmicro/wiki/Alternatives#supermini-nrf52840 | ||
* See | * nRFMicro Arduino Core: | ||
* https://github.com/ICantMakeThings/Nicenano-NRF52-Supermini-PlatformIO-Support | ** Meant for integration with Arduino IDE, not platformio! | ||
** See https://github.com/pdcook/nRFMicro-Arduino-Core | |||
** Uses https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/nrfx for NRF52840 specific drivers | |||
* Platformio support for supermini: | |||
** Focused on platformio | |||
** https://github.com/ICantMakeThings/Nicenano-NRF52-Supermini-PlatformIO-Support | |||
** Bit awkward installation (copy/overwrite files inside existing platformio folder) | |||
* https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/ncs-3.1.0/page/zephyr/boards/others/promicro_nrf52840/doc/index.html pro-micro information from Nordic Semi | |||
Getting 'circuitpython' to work: | Getting 'circuitpython' to work: | ||
Latest revision as of 16:13, 12 January 2026
| Project NRF52840 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Running Arduino with platformio on NRF52840 | |
| Status | In progress |
| Contact | bertrik |
| Last Update | 2026-01-12 |
Intro
This page is about getting inexpensive NRF52840 boards to work with Arduino and platformio.
NRF52840 is a nice platform:
- low-power
- inexpensive
- decent amount of flash (1024k), RAM (256k) and CPU cycles (64 MHz)
- support various radio protocols like zigbee, ble, thread, enhanced shockburst
- built-in support for quadrature counting
- can run arduino too
However the eco-system of inexpensive boards is a complicated landscape:
- AliExpress sellers offer "promicro" and "supermini" board with unclear characteristics
- LEDs are sometimes swapped (blue = hardware charge, red = software led?)
- Various firmware upload interface options (which one to use?):
- Using nrfutil, sends a .zip file containing various parts, over USB-serial
- Mass storage UF2, activated using the double-reset
- SWD debug interface (requires soldering!)
- Confusing situation regarding bootloaders:
- Most boards seem to come with a modified version of a bootloader meant for another type of board
- Type of bootloader depends on type of firmware you want to run, "ZMK", Arduino using Arduino IDE, Arduino using platformio
- Risk of accidentally overwriting the bootloader, with UF2 flash offsets sometimes being absolute, sometimes being relative
Hardware
The boards I have are the "promicro" and "supermini". These boards look basically identical hardware-wise.
There is a 4-pad connector to program it using SWD (VDD/SWD/SDC/GND). This can be used to write the bootloader for example. The pads have a spacing of 1.5mm.
The blue LED appears to flash independently of software, this is probably the charge circuit behaving randomly without a battery present. The red LED appears to be under software control.
Pinout/schematic: https://nicekeyboards.com/docs/nice-nano/pinout-schematic
bootloader
The INFO_UF2.TXT says (after double-tap reset):
UF2 Bootloader 0.6.0 lib/nrfx (v2.0.0) lib/tinyusb (0.10.1-41-gdf0cda2d) lib/uf2 (remotes/origin/configupdate-9-gadbb8c7) Model: nice!nano Board-ID: nRF52840-nicenano SoftDevice: S140 version 6.1.1 Date: Jun 19 2021
The CURRENT.UF2 file is 1.4 MB
Kernel log says:
[509372.005339] usb 1-2.3: new full-speed USB device number 96 using xhci_hcd [509372.132351] usb 1-2.3: New USB device found, idVendor=239a, idProduct=00b3, bcdDevice= 1.00 [509372.132361] usb 1-2.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3 [509372.132364] usb 1-2.3: Product: nice!nano [509372.132366] usb 1-2.3: Manufacturer: Nice Keyboards [509372.132368] usb 1-2.3: SerialNumber: 98D93A272A6CCC7D [509372.187474] cdc_acm 1-2.3:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device [509372.190177] usb-storage 1-2.3:1.2: USB Mass Storage device detected [509372.190467] scsi host3: usb-storage 1-2.3:1.2 [509373.200470] scsi host3: scsi scan: INQUIRY result too short (5), using 36 [509373.200481] scsi 3:0:0:0: Direct-Access Adafruit nRF UF2 1.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2 [509373.200825] sd 3:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0 [509373.202317] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] 65801 512-byte logical blocks: (33.7 MB/32.1 MiB) [509373.202556] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off [509373.202559] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00 [509373.202782] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] No Caching mode page found [509373.202784] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through [509373.296933] sdb: [509373.297002] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
Software
Working platformio example project for the nice!nano and supermini/promicro nrf52840 clones: https://github.com/bertrik/nicenano-example
Links:
- Nordic technical documentation: https://docs.nordicsemi.com/category/nrf52840-category
- Here is a wiki full of useful information on specific boards: https://github.com/joric/nrfmicro/wiki
- Specifically the supermini https://github.com/joric/nrfmicro/wiki/Alternatives#supermini-nrf52840
- nRFMicro Arduino Core:
- Meant for integration with Arduino IDE, not platformio!
- See https://github.com/pdcook/nRFMicro-Arduino-Core
- Uses https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/nrfx for NRF52840 specific drivers
- Platformio support for supermini:
- Focused on platformio
- https://github.com/ICantMakeThings/Nicenano-NRF52-Supermini-PlatformIO-Support
- Bit awkward installation (copy/overwrite files inside existing platformio folder)
- https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/ncs-3.1.0/page/zephyr/boards/others/promicro_nrf52840/doc/index.html pro-micro information from Nordic Semi
Getting 'circuitpython' to work:
- Here's a page on making it work on nicenano: https://circuitpython.org/board/nice_nano/
- HOWEVER, it also says "On nRF boards, CircuitPython 8.2.0 and later require UF2 bootloader version 0.6.1 or later. Older bootloaders cannot load the firmware. See Update UF2 Bootloader below.". Guess what bootloader came with my board ... 0.6.0
- They point you to https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_nRF52_Bootloader/releases/tag/0.9.2 but now what!?!!!