Reconnecting LTE after Disconnect

occurrentarts · 2022-02-25T14:36:41+00:00

Hello! Reaching out in parallel to David Barlia who I’m working with on this project. He sent an email requesting feedback on the same subject, but I’m also...

occurrentarts

@jaredwolff

Just wanted to follow up to mention that using sys_reboot approach we were able to get our device to consistently re-connect to LTE after dropouts. Thanks again for your help.

jaredwolff

occurrentarts excellent!! When you have time I would upgrade to the latest MFW and NCS so you can avoid rebooting the device.

Also, you only need to run the connect() call once in your application. Turning the modem on into “normal” mode should make it connect. (That’s what I’m doing in the aforementioned sample)

Barliesque

Hi Jared,

Brian (a.k.a. occurrentarts) has just rewritten the code to work with the 1.7.1 SDK and the latest MFW, which appears to be working well. Meanwhile, I’m having a problem applying the MFW firmware update and could use your assistance to figure it out.

Here’s what shows up in the terminal when I attempt to apply the update:

PS D:\David\Wildlife\DeterGents\ZephyrToolsRepo\nfed\samples\mfw_update> python3 update_modem.py mfw_nrf9160_1.3.1.zip com3 1000000
# modem firmware upgrade over serial port example started.
[HighLevel] Creating new probe
[HighLevel] Initialize new probe.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFUProbe] Dll directory is C:\Users\barli\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.10_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python310\site-packages\pynrfjprog\lib_x64.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFUProbe] Find and connect to dfu dll
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFUProbe] Using DFU dll at C:\Users\barli\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.10_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python310\site-packages\pynrfjprog\lib_x64\NRFDFU.dll.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFUProbe] Load library at C:\Users\barli\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.10_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python310\site-packages\pynrfjprog\lib_x64\NRFDFU.dll.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFUProbe] Library loaded, loading member functions.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFUProbe] Member functions succesfully loaded.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Initialize new probe.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Successfully opened port: com3@1000000,flow_control:none,parity:none.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] {
    "duration": 903,
    "error_code": "Ok",
    "operation": "open_uart",
    "outcome": "success",
    "progress_percentage": 100
}
[HighLevel] Probe initialization complete!
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Check if provided file exists
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Check if provided file can be read
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Programming bootloader
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Programming modem bootloader 72B3D7C.ipc_dfu.signed_1.1.0.ihex.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Extracting 13416 bytes from 72B3D7C.ipc_dfu.signed_1.1.0.ihex.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] {
    "duration": 0,
    "message": "Calculating image size",
    "operation": "upload_image",
    "progress_percentage": 5
}
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] {
    "duration": 0,
    "message": "Uploading image to device",
    "operation": "upload_image",
    "progress_percentage": 10
}
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] {
    "duration": 30004,
    "error_code": "Timeout",
    "message": "Image upload failed. Bad response from device",
    "operation": "upload_image",
    "outcome": "fail",
    "progress_percentage": 100
}
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Error during image file upload. Upload returned an error.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Failed to program bootloader file
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFUProbe] Failed to program DFU package
[HighLevel] Failed programming the device.
[Probes.com3] b'An error was reported by NRFJPROG DLL: -220 TIME_OUT. \n[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Error during image file upload. Upload returned an error.\n\textra: [Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Failed to 
program bootloader file\n\textra: [Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFUProbe] Failed to program DFU package\n\textra: [HighLevel] Failed programming the device.'
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFUProbe] Uninitializing ModemUARTDFU probe at serial port com3.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Sending device reset request
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Sending reset request to device.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Closing connection to mcuboot device
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] serial port com3 closed.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] {
    "duration": 1,
    "error_code": "Ok",
    "operation": "close_uart",
    "outcome": "success",
    "progress_percentage": 100
}
[HighLevel] Done.
[HighLevel] Closing and freeing sub dlls.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "D:\David\Wildlife\DeterGents\ZephyrToolsRepo\nfed\samples\mfw_update\update_modem.py", line 43, in <module>
    run(args.uart, args.firmware, args.baudrate)
  File "D:\David\Wildlife\DeterGents\ZephyrToolsRepo\nfed\samples\mfw_update\update_modem.py", line 26, in run
    modem_dfu_probe.program(modem_firmware_zip)
  File "C:\Users\barli\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.10_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python310\site-packages\pynrfjprog\HighLevel.py", line 388, in program
    raise APIError(result, error_data=self.get_errors(), log=self._logger.error)
pynrfjprog.APIError.APIError: An error was reported by NRFJPROG DLL: -220 TIME_OUT.
[Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Error during image file upload. Upload returned an error.
        extra: [Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFU-com3] Failed to program bootloader file
        extra: [Probes.com3] [ModemUARTDFUProbe] Failed to program DFU package
        extra: [HighLevel] Failed programming the device.

Thanks,
David

jaredwolff

Barliesque you can actually use nrfjprog to apply modem firmware updates now.

nrfjprog --program mfw.zip

You do need a programmer that supports mfw updates though. I know the nRF9160DK works.

You can get the latest nrfjprog from Nordic here: https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Development-tools/nrf-command-line-tools/download

Barliesque

I don’t understand why I would need to get a programmer, given Brian was able to apply the firmware update without it – I’m just trying to follow the same process he’s already had success with.

Barliesque

I have your SDK tools installed in VS Code, with the following:

nrfjprog version: 10.15.0 external
JLinkARM.dll version: 6.88a

jaredwolff

Ahh I saw nrfjprog DLL in the output so I assumed you were trying to use a programmer. My bad.

As for the error, it’s stating a timeout. So, I would make sure that

The mfw_update sample is programmed to the device
That you’re choosing the correct serial port
Also to be doubly sure make sure you install the python requirements:

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Run that within the mfw_update sample folder.

Hope that helps

jaredwolff

Also what type of system are you running this on? Windows?

Barliesque

PS D:\David\Wildlife\DeterGents\ZephyrToolsRepo\nfed\samples\mfw_update> pip3 install -r requirements.txt
Requirement already satisfied: pynrfjprog in c:\users\barli.zephyrtools\env\lib\site-packages (from -r requirements.txt (line 1)) (10.15.2)
Requirement already satisfied: future in c:\users\barli.zephyrtools\env\lib\site-packages (from pynrfjprog->-r requirements.txt (line 1)) (0.18.2)

I am running on WIndows, yes.

Barliesque

I’ve also verified the device is on COM3

Barliesque

Any ideas?

jaredwolff

The mfw_update sample is programmed to the device

Can you confirm Barliesque?

Make sure your device is not in bootloader when running the script. Also make sure you don’t have any open serial connections to COM3.

Barliesque

Yes, mfw_update is programmed to the device. Using LTE Link Monitor, all AT commands fail – not sure if that’s expected for mfw_update. Pressing the RST button doesn’t cause any messages to appear there either. Before attempting the upload, I’ve made sure to close down anything that could have an open connection to COM3. The blue light is unlit, so not in bootloader mode.

jaredwolff

Are you able to run at_client on that board? (And try again with AT commands?) The mfw_update firmware will not respond to AT commands.

Barliesque

Sorry, where do I find that?

I’ve run plenty of things on this board to know it works properly–most recently Blinky, which I installed just before the mfw_update.

jaredwolff

The biggest thing is to confirm bidirectional comms over that USB to UART chip. You can find at_client in nfed/samples/at_client

Barliesque

Built and installed the at_client, then opened up LTE Monitor, pressed RST button and the terminal showed this:

2022-03-03T02:48:48.515Z DEBUG modem << õýÕ÷¯ÿõ÷õÕUý÷·Uÿõ÷÷ýßõõõõõõ÷õõ÷ÿõ½×õõý÷µÿÿõ÷·ÿßÿõýwõ÷õÿuõõÿõUuW÷uõõUu_UuõõWu]UõýUuWUuõõUuýõÝõWw}õuýWuÿõýõUw]UõõUwÿõßõUõýUõýWw}õõõýõ÷õ]ÝõUõõUõýWuõUõýUwõUõýUuõUõýWuÿ]]ÕõW÷õõÝõWw_uõõõýuWuõõõUuWuõõõýõõõõÝõWõ÷õõýõWWÿÕwuõwß__õU»uuu}õU÷WýUõõU÷õõ_}Uý}ÝõýõõõõýõÿuõõU*** Booting Zephyr OS build v2.6.99-ncs1-1 ***
2022-03-03T02:48:48.520Z DEBUG modem << The AT host sample started

Kind of gives me mixed messages there – looks like the at_client is working, but what’s the garbage before that? Is it maybe some random data that’s been sent as a test?

jaredwolff

It’s the SPM image running at 1M baud. Change your BAUD to 1M to see what it says. 😉

If you hit AT and press enter, does it respond?

Barliesque

jaredwolff If you hit AT and press enter, does it respond?

It responds to AT with OK.

jaredwolff Change your BAUD to 1M…

I thought it already was at 1M

jaredwolff

For monitoring its 115200

For transferring its 1000000