Error setting up nRF52840 mini

Development Boards Other Microcontrollers
1

I’m trying to setup the nRF52840 mini breakout in the Arduino IDE (v1.8.12) on my PC following the steps at https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/nr … cuitpython. Installing the Adafruit nRF52 (v0.20.1) works fine. First of all, the ‘Adafruit Bluefruit on nRF52840DK PCA10056’ that is mentioned as alternative on the page doesn’t appear in the list. Then, after configuring the board definitions and restarting the Arduino IDE, indeed the SparkFun appears in the boards list. But when I select it and compile the Blink sketch, I get an error:

C:\Users\reprive\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\adafruit\hardware\nrf52\0.20.1\cores\nRF5\Uart.cpp:247:48: error: 'PIN_SERIAL1_RX' was not declared in this scope

   Uart Serial1( NRF_UARTE0, UARTE0_UART0_IRQn, PIN_SERIAL1_RX, PIN_SERIAL1_TX );

                                                ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~

C:\Users\reprive\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\adafruit\hardware\nrf52\0.20.1\cores\nRF5\Uart.cpp:247:48: note: suggested alternative: 'PIN_SERIAL_RX'

   Uart Serial1( NRF_UARTE0, UARTE0_UART0_IRQn, PIN_SERIAL1_RX, PIN_SERIAL1_TX );

                                                ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                PIN_SERIAL_RX

C:\Users\reprive\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\adafruit\hardware\nrf52\0.20.1\cores\nRF5\Uart.cpp:247:64: error: 'PIN_SERIAL1_TX' was not declared in this scope

   Uart Serial1( NRF_UARTE0, UARTE0_UART0_IRQn, PIN_SERIAL1_RX, PIN_SERIAL1_TX );

                                                                ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~

C:\Users\reprive\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\adafruit\hardware\nrf52\0.20.1\cores\nRF5\Uart.cpp:247:64: note: suggested alternative: 'PIN_SERIAL_TX'

   Uart Serial1( NRF_UARTE0, UARTE0_UART0_IRQn, PIN_SERIAL1_RX, PIN_SERIAL1_TX );

                                                                ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                                PIN_SERIAL_TX

exit status 1
Error compiling for board SparkFun Pro nRF52840 Mini.

I tried selecting the Nordic nRF52840DK (PCA 10056) board instead, and then the sketch compiles fine. I can also upload the sketch to the device, and it uploads successfully although the LED doesn’t work (it lights up when downloading, but then stays on instead of blinking). When I upload the Blinky Button BLE Example, I can see the device in nRF Connect, I can connect, and I can see the button state change, so that works. But the LED doesn’t - and I expect that’s because I’m not using the SparkFun configuration. I tried it on my Mac as well with the same result. What do I need to do to make the SparkFun configuration work?

2

I would suggest trying solutions found on these other similar posts and let us know if they didn’t work:

viewtopic.php?f=114&t=52419

viewtopic.php?f=96&t=52850

3

Thanks, the fix in viewtopic.php?f=96&t=52850 did the trick. This looks like something that should be fixed more structurally by adding it to the instructions on https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/nr … cuitpython, or better, updating in the board definition zip file.