NRF24L01 module trouble

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-05-28 by Andrey

Hi all!
trying to connect NRF24L01 to my F3Discovery i use the sample

SPI1.setup({sck:A5, miso:A6, mosi:A7,baud:100000});
var nrf = require("NRF24L01P").connect( SPI1, B0, B1 );
function onInit() {
  nrf.init([0,0,0,0,2], [0,0,0,0,1]);
}
onInit();
setInterval(function() {
  nrf.masterHandler();
}, 50

then try nrf.getAddr(nrf.C.RX_ADDR_P1) to check SPI communication and get:

>nrf.getAddr(nrf.C.RX_ADDR_P1)
ERROR: Using '.' operator on undefined at line 1 col 17
nrf.getAddr(nrf.C.RX_ADDR_P1)
                 ^

why C is undefined and what wrong with It?
IDE v 0.44.0 espruino 1v63
I tryed "No minification" and "Simple Optimizations" in
communication Settings.

[gfwilliams]

Posted at 2014-05-29 by @gfwilliams

Hi, there's not actually a problem - the module just isn't designed to export the constants. In the module the variable C is defined, but it isn't assigned to exports.C so you can't use it directly.

For simple tests it's probably best to just copy the value out of the module

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-05-29 by Andrey

Thanks a lot, Gordon. I can't still establish connection between 2 NRF's. Sending

nrf.sendCommand("1+2", function(r) { print("=="+r); });

I've always got the Tx timeout subj.
I managed the spi connection, and did as you recomended: nrf.getAddr(0x0b); but here in this topic: http://forum.espruino.com/conversations/244/#comment1930 you told that the answer must be like [0,0,0,0,1], but I've got [1,0,0,0,1]. Is it wrong answer? And what I have to pay attention more to get the connection?
Thanks again.

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-05-29 by Andrey

Additionaly here is the registers content of master side:

=undefined
>nrf.getAddr(0x00)
=[0,0,0,0,0]
>nrf.getAddr(0x01) 
=[63,63,63,63,63]
>nrf.getAddr(0x02) 
=[3,3,3,3,3]
>nrf.getAddr(0x03) 
=[3,3,3,3,3]
>nrf.getAddr(0x04) 
=[3,3,3,3,3]
>nrf.getAddr(0x05) 
=[2,2,2,2,2]
>nrf.getAddr(0x06) 
=[0,0,0,0,0]
>nrf.getAddr(0x07) 
=[14,14,14,14,14]
>nrf.getAddr(0x08) 
=[0,0,0,0,0]
>nrf.getAddr(0x09) 
=[0,0,0,0,0]
>nrf.getAddr(0x0A)
=[1,0,0,0,1]
>nrf.getAddr(0x0B) 
=[2,0,0,0,2]
>nrf.getAddr(0x0C) 
=[195,195,195,195,195]
>nrf.getAddr(0x0D) 
=[196,196,196,196,196]
>nrf.getAddr(0x0E) 
=[197,197,197,197,197]
>nrf.getAddr(0x0F) 
=[198,198,198,198,198]
>nrf.getAddr(0x10) 
=[1,0,0,0,1]
>nrf.getAddr(0x11) 
=[0,0,0,0,0]
>nrf.getAddr(0x12) 
=[0,0,0,0,0]
>nrf.getAddr(0x13) 
=[0,0,0,0,0]
>nrf.getAddr(0x14) 
=[0,0,0,0,0]
>nrf.getAddr(0x15) 
=[0,0,0,0,0]
>nrf.getAddr(0x16) 
=[0,0,0,0,0]
>nrf.getAddr(0x17)
=[1,1,1,1,1]
>

Looks it ok, or maybe some things are wrong?
furthermore:
Finding the problem I discovered the sequence in module code:
masterHandler func waiting for non-zero dataReady func result,
which can be non-zero in case when func getReg(STATUS=7) returns not 14 value, but it returns exactly 14. inside of getReg I see spi.send which returns 14.

>nrf.spi.send([7,0],B0)[1] 
=14

Gordon, does It mean than something is wrong with the SPI settings, or NRF module?
I checked 2 brand-new modules with the same results.

[gfwilliams]

Posted at 2014-06-02 by @gfwilliams

I'd be pretty sure that SPI is working fine and that the modules are doing the right thing if you can read the register values. The Tx timeout is because the module is sending the data and waiting for a response, but it isn't getting it from what it's sending to.

Can you paste up the code that you used to initialise each module? One module needs to have one address, say:

nrf.init([0,0,0,0,2], [0,0,0,0,1]);

and the other must have the opposite:

nrf.init([0,0,0,0,1], [0,0,0,0,2]);

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-06-02 by Andrey

sure, I took code from the site: slave:

SPI1.setup({sck:A5, miso:A6, mosi:A7,baud:100000});
var nrf = require("NRF24L01P").connect( SPI1, B0, B1 );
function onInit() {
  nrf.init([0,0,0,0,1], [0,0,0,0,2]);
}
onInit();
setInterval(function() {
  nrf.slaveHandler();
}, 50);

and master:

SPI1.setup({sck:A5, miso:A6, mosi:A7,baud:100000});
var nrf = require("NRF24L01P").connect( SPI1, B0, B1 );
function onInit() {
  nrf.init([0,0,0,0,2], [0,0,0,0,1]);
}
onInit();
setInterval(function() {
  nrf.masterHandler();
}, 50);

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-06-02 by Andrey

I thought also, that installed GYRO chip on the board, connected to spi1 can disturb to communication, but its CS signal is in "1" what means that it disabled. And the registers look ok, all but RX_ADDR_P1 and RX_ADDR_P0. Supply of the NRF boards are ok (3.0V took from the F3 boards). NRF's are close to each other.

[gfwilliams]

Posted at 2014-06-02 by @gfwilliams

Ok, and you always get TX not received when sending? Could you connect to both boards at the same time, so that you can see if anything happens on the slave (like maybe there is some error initialising).

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-06-02 by Andrey

I always get "TX timeout" from NRF.prototype.send. I connected both boards, and seen no errors or something else on the slave side. :-(

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-06-09 by Andrey

Update: Changed both NRF's to new - the same "TX timeout" .

[gfwilliams]

Posted at 2014-06-09 by @gfwilliams

What was the number after TX timeout?

I just updated the NRF module - can you try again? I'm not sure if it'll help, but it changes some of the default nrf register values, and also adds the ability to set the data rate.

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-06-09 by Andrey

>nrf.sendCommand("1+2", function(r) { print("=="+r); });
TX timeout
=undefined

the same. no numbers after TXtimeout

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-06-09 by Andrey

I tryed to connect nrf to SPI2 using
SPI2.setup({sck:B13, miso:B14, mosi:B15,baud:100000});
var nrf = require("NRF24L01P").connect( SPI2, B0, B1 );
it doesn't work after downloading - I can't put any command in teminal after that.

[gfwilliams]

Posted at 2014-06-09 by @gfwilliams

On the STM32F3Discovery board again?

Honestly I don't know what to suggest - did you try the suggestions I sent in response to your PM? What responses did you get?

It seems plenty of other people here are using this fine with the Espruino board so I really don't know what's going wrong in your case...

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-06-09 by Andrey

ok, anyhow I'll keep trying to get it working. Perhaps I have to buy some logik analyser to investigate data traffic more detailed. Thanks for your time, Gordon.

[gfwilliams]

Posted at 2014-06-09 by @gfwilliams

Just a thought: What about using software SPI?

var spi = new SPI();
spi.setup({sck:A5, miso:A6, mosi:A7});
var nrf = require("NRF24L01P").connect( spi, B0, B1 );

That'll work on any pins, and should avoid any issues there may be with hardware as it uses just normal GPIO. If that doesn't work, maybe it's something as simple as a power supply issue?

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-06-10 by Andrey

Hi, Gordon, Hi all! Good day! It starts working! after var spi = new SPI()
I've got an answer

>nrf.sendCommand("1+2", function(r) { print("=="+r); });
TX not received 30
=undefined
==3

why it says "TX not recieved".... But at least it works! Thanks a lot!
Also

>nrf.getAddr(0x0b)
=[0,0,0,0,2]

not [2,0,0,02] as before.
Actually, you've recomended new SPI() to Daniel here: http://forum.espruino.com/conversations/244/#comment1930
but i couldn't imagine that it's the way to fix the problem.

[gfwilliams]

Posted at 2014-06-10 by @gfwilliams

Great! Glad it's sorted! Not sure why you get the 'TX not received' either, but at least it's a good start!

It could be it's an issue with SPI on the STM32F3 - I guess possible issues could be:

• SPI CPOL/CPHA wrong
• nCS (the last arg to SPI.send) is raised too soon (although I thought we'd tested for that by connecting nCS to MISO) and sending some bytes

Hopefully someone with a storage scope or signal analyser might be able to figure out what's up...

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-06-10 by Andrey

I must say: after cleaning both boards >>> reset(); save() TX not received message has gone

[gfwilliams]

Posted at 2014-06-10 by @gfwilliams

great! does that happen even when using hardware spi?

[espruino-discuss2]

Posted at 2014-06-10 by Andrey

no, hardware spi still doesn't work. soft spi works well.