Complete beginner requiring help with Bluefruit Feather programming

Question

Hello, I’m completely new to the Arduino family of PCBs & I have no experience of using them. So I have found myself in at the deep end without a clue!

We use Bluefruit Feather PCB nRF52832 for our products. The software we’re using is the official Arduino software.

It appears we can plug the boards into the PC via a standard USB lead and program them by opening a “sketch” and select “upload”.

The software compiles the sketches and then attempts to transfer them to the Feather. We then start getting messages saying there are errors or we need to update the bootloader or the boards are not in “DFU”mode.

We have tried updating and looked up and tried DFU mode but have had no joy.

I believe I may have discovered that our USB cable maybe of the wrong type, so I have another I'm going to be trying in the morning.

I have also downloaded the software on a different laptop to see if that makes a difference.

I have no doubt I am doing something incredibly simply wrong but would appreciate some advice on how to proceed.

TIA

Mark

fmilburn · Answer

I have not used the Nrf Bluefruit feathers so can’t really comment on that. I have used a M0 and M4 express feather without a problem on Windows 10. They both came configured to use Circuit Python if I remember correctly but you should not need to replace the bootloader. There are directions on how to switch back and forth between Arduino and Circuit Python on the Adafruit site. You might make a post on the Adafruit site with your problem. The one experience I had there was a good one and they responded quickly.

cstanton · Answer

marks+ , looks like you're getting two different error messages here. Your error message at https://www.element14.com/community/message/283091/l/re-complete-beginner-requiring-help-with-bluefruit-feather-programm… implies a communication problem with the board, that's related to the timing of sending the code from the software to the device, it hasn't 'caught' the device at the DFU bootloader and so it's being refused acknowledgement from the device. This is usually a matter of sending the code at the right time, usually I tell Arduino to send the code, and then reset the device immediately by shorting the right pins together or pressing a button on the board, then it usually works. Your error message in https://www.element14.com/community/message/283391/l/re-complete-beginner-requiring-help-with-bluefruit-feather-programm… implies a different problem. Unfortunately for me you've covered over some of the error message but it implies that it can't find the right file or package to flash to the device, this's either due to something done since the initial installation or there's something wrong with the hardware support you installed. One thing I notice in the 'path' to the file, is that the slashes alternate in direction suddenly, so you can see c:\users
abur suddenly turn into 0.14.0/bootloader/feather_nrf52832 (from backslashes to forward slashes). So you may have downloaded a file that is expecting to be used in something else other than Windows (say for Mac or Linux) in an attempt to fix problems, or this's a red herring and there's merely something amiss with the file. Seems however you had it setup the first time around may have been the better approach, and if nothing's changed since, then perhaps a different version of the Arduino IDE is in order.

14rhb · Answer

Hi marks+ Just to check, have you selected the correct board under the board manager tab? Looks like you need to set a few things up first as well: https://learn.adafruit.com/bluefruit-nrf52-feather-learning-guide/arduino-bsp-setup

14rhb · Answer

I must confess I hadn't actually read through those instructions on flashing the boot loader. Options (1) and (3) require the use of a Segger J-Link device which is some expensive hardware. Option (2) appears to allow you to flash the bootloader from Arduino IDE using the nRF5x command line tools from Nordic....I'm assuming that was what you tried? However reflashing the bootloader is quite drastic so perhaps it is a good job we haven't managed it yet. I'm thinking there may be something far more simple causing these issues. When I installed the nRF board from the Arduino board manager to see the issues you were facing I noticed there were three different packages available. Perhaps your selected one isn't quite matched to the board still? Some screen shots and a photo of the board might help in identifying the issue. For example any silkscreen id off the board would help as well.

cstanton · Answer

> A few days ago I also discovered we had two versions of the software on the same laptop, and wondered if that was the problem so I uninstalled both, re-installed but still had no joy.

On windows, even if you were running two different versions of the Arduino IDE they may be looking in the same 'sketchbook' location, so if the library wasn't installed properly it would have the same issue in both scenarios. It's difficult to determine from the output being obscured by the menu on top of it.

It depends where the hardware libraries were installed to as well, they may not have been extracted into the sketchbook folder (which is usually in the 'My Documents' folder for the current user) and may have been put into c:\users\<username>\appdata\<local/roaming/locallow>\arduino\<folder structure>\hardware which may also not be removed if you uninstall and reinstall everything.

14rhb · Answer

You are welcome. Without any research to back this statement up: IMO Adafruit have a much better user base and therefore issues will be resolved quickly, if they haven't already. Therefore if you can afford the cost of additonal boards, the Adafruit Feather does sound like a credible way to progress your work.

marks+ · Answer

Hi 14rhb, Yes I believe so. Also tried three different boards, only one of which was brand new. The other two have been opened and used but their status is unknown. I started using them to see if I could manage to do a factory reset and get them working before moving onto a new board.

marks+ · Answer

So, just to recap....

I'm confident I'm getting the board into DFU mode by grounding DFU and resetting, only one blinking red LED.

Still get the same error message.

So I need to know if I need to burn the bootloader and how. I have tried but as mentioned I'm completely new to this.

Here is a screen shot of the error I get. Is this the root of my problem?

marks+ · Answer

Thanks for the feedback!

I discovered early on that we were using a power only USB lead which would explain the early error message.

A few days ago I also discovered we had two versions of the software on the same laptop, and wondered if that was the problem so I uninstalled both, re-installed but still had no joy.

I'll try the reboot method you've suggested.

I have since ordered a Trinket and at least we're now operational BUT I do need to get the feather boards working.

We're going to try the Adafruit version too.

I'll update the thread once I've tried another attempt.

Cheers

Mark

14rhb · Answer

There's a slightly hidden link in that one as well for updating the DFU bootloader: the link takes you to https://learn.adafruit.com/bluefruit-nrf52-feather-learning-guide/updating-the-bootloader Good luck and I'd be interested to hear if you get them working and how you fix them.

14rhb · Answer

OK - hopefully fixable . My first observation is the space in your path between "Mark" and "D"....often a source of gumbling with OS's. I'd try getting that replaced with a underscore if you can both in your commandline and physically on the filesystem.

marks+ · Answer

Thanks again, I'll take a look. Before posting on this forum, a few days ago, I did try doing factory resets for the boards. This involved grounding the DFU pin and pressing reset button for 5 seconds....after no success I then posted on here..... I'll have a read and attempt what's in the link, cheers!!

marks+ · Answer

Hi I have updated everything correctly (i think) but I'm getting the following error while updating the bootloader Error: Invalid value for "-pkg" / "--package": Path "C:\Users\Mark D\Documents\ArduinoData\packages\adafruit\hardware
rf52\0.14.0/bootloader/feather_nrf52832/feather_nrf52832_bootloader-0.2.13_s132_6.1.1.zip" does not exist. Error while burning bootloader. For the record this is the set up I'm trying to use. Arduino: 1.8.9 (Windows Store 1.8.21.0) (Windows 10), Board: "Adafruit Bluefruit Feather nRF52832, 0.2.13 SoftDevice s132 6.1.1, Level 0 (Release)" I have moved onto my home laptop with a different USB lead and I have had a quick go with an Arduino starter kit using an UNO board. I have been successfully tinkering with the blink sketch. So I'm happy my laptop and arduino software is all working as it should. I have remembered to swap over the board names beforehand too. I have then again followed your advice and appear to have everything in place. As it says the bootloader doesn't exist I have downloaded it seperately and copied it into the the correct folder ***0.14.0 BUT it doesn't have the forward slash / part meaning bootloader/feather_nrf52832/ Do I simply rename the file with the above front it on? regards Mark

marks+ · Answer

I wasn't sure what programmer to select but as I've seen the DFU being mentioned in threads elsewhere I chose that.

marks+ · Answer

Here is the screenshot of the error message when I try to upload a sketch. Interestingly (or not) the root for the sketch remains the original one despite me moving it.

14rhb · Answer

I was almost out of ideas, you know the USB cable is good as you programmed other boards and also seem to be selecting the correct board etc. So I used your screenshot and searched the internet and found this article: https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=151796 The errors are almost identical to your screenshot....which is promising, and the posts are from back in May 2019 (so not too old either). They discuss a "double reset" to force into dfu mode. The Original Poster expressed thanks that it worked so it might work for you also.

14rhb · Answer

The third post on this thread https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?t=87391 talks about pressing the reset quickly as you would a mouse button e.g. the "fast double reset" Hopefully that might work for you also.

marks+ · Answer

Sadly still cannot do either, upload the sketch or update the bootloader.

Complete beginner requiring help with Bluefruit Feather programming

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