CC2640R2F: Module advertises when in debug mode from the debugger but doesn't advertise when powered externally

Hi Parick,

What software are you loading onto the device? Does it happen to be based on one of the BLE OAD examples? If that is the case, did you also flash the bootloader (BIM) project?

Hello,

Thank you for your quick reply. I'm using CCS v9. I created a fresh workspace and imported the simple peripheral OAD BIM, Stack and App. I cleaned the workspace and built all projects (3). I loaded the flash.out for the bim first, then the stack and finally the app. At this point I can see the device advertising. I clicked the one click debug button in CCS and built and deployed the app this way also and all worked. I then disconnected the debugger and applied 4.5 volts externally. I measured the voltage on the TPS62740 and VOUT and VLOAD both measured 3.00VDC.

I noticed that the the debugger supplies 3.3VDC. Do I need to make some accommodation for the fact that VCC to the CC2640r2 is now 3V instead of 3.3V?

Thanks again,

Patrick

Hi Patrick,

I would not expect you need to make any special considerations when operating on 3V instead of 3.3V. If you only take power from the debugger (in other words, 3.3V), do the device run as intended or is the behavior when not in a debug session the same for both 3V and 3.3V?

Hello M-W,

When connected to the debugger and operating in either debug mode or edit mode, the device operates as expected. Under this circumstance VCC is 3.3VDC. In this condition the CC2640r2 advertises as expected. Then when I disconnect from the debugger and connect my board to an external lab grade power supply (Keithley 2281S with 100mA current limit) at 4.5VDC under simulated battery conditions, all power levels sourced from the TPS62740 seem to be as expected, VCC = 3.0VDC. The noise on this power line as measured by the Keithley DMM6500 is ~1mV RMS. Under this circumstance, my board doesn't advertise.

Can you suggest where in the code I should look to see if advertising is initiated? Perhaps I can set a breakpoint to see if it ever get there.

Thanks for your help.

Patrick

Hi Patrick, 

What do you mean with "operating in either debug mode or edit mode"? If you refer to the views in CCS, this have nothing to say on how the device runs. What i was looking for is that if you simply power it via the debugger (not connecting to the debugger with CCS, so only for power), will the device run?

Typically if working on projects with OAD and bootloaders, if the project fails to run outside of the debug session, then most likely there is an issue with getting the bootloader up and going. If you debug the OAD application in CCS it will jump directly to that application, skipping any potential bootloader, and run. i would advice you try to verify that the bootloader -> application part is actually setup and working as intended.  

Hi M-W,

I'm sorry for the confusion. I simply meant to say that it works when run through the debugger, and it doesn't work when powered by the launchpad or external supply.

I suspected the bootloader too. In an external OAD project like ours, is the bim stored in the external memory when initially loaded? Maybe it's not getting there or coming back. Do you have any suggestions of things to try or places in the code to look to confirm the bim operation?

Thanks,

Patrick

Hi M-W,

Thanks very much for your continued help. This resolved my problem.

Using the procedure outlined on this page:

 

http://dev.ti.com/tirex/explore/node?node=APgDxfpPQjPebRJTChVmkg__krol.2c__LATEST

 

I changed the load process to first load the stack image from CCS, then I switched to the TI program “UniFlash” to load the app image (and turned off “Run Target After Program”), and then returned to CCS to load the BIM.  I then unplugged the LaunchPad from my computer, and then plugged it back in.  I could see the device from LightBlue and was able to connect to it and interact with all the characteristics, with no need to run the CCS debugger.

Thanks again,

Patrick