Nordic nrf52 debugging with ST-Link V2?

1

I plan to do Nordic nrf52832 development and would like to have an inexpensive hardware debugger (for loading the firmware, breakpoints, single step, etc).

Looking at one of the nrf52832 boards (link below) suggests the this can be done with ST-LINK/V2 from ST which I already have from past STM32 development. Is it so? Any suggestion for other inexpensive debuggers debuggers for nrf52832? I need a debugger to debug my own custom board rather than debugging eval boards.

https://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/boards/nordicnrf52/adafruit_feather_nrf52832.html#board-nordicnrf52-adafruit-feather-nrf52832

2

In my eyes, the most universal and featurerich debugger is a J-Link (JTAG + SWD for a lot of MCUs). Next in line is a ST-Link V2 as sold on Amazon, ebay etc… These aftermarket ones only cost <10€ and have the exact same chip + FW as the real ones.

3

Thanks @maxgerhardt. This is very useful. I will try with the original ST-Link V2 I already have an go for there.

The original Segger is too expensive for this open source product (to reduce the cost of reproducing the environment by other people). I also saw J-Link clones on Aliexpress, do they work? Do they have any advantage over ST-Link V2?

4

Yes, a deeper level access to the hardware is possible with the JLink. Also, you can converter a ST-Link to a JLink with a firmware upgrade.

For that, I also remember that for my nRF52 boards, it complained about a certain lock bit for the debug port access, which I could not clear with a ST-Link, and a JLink was needed.

5

Thanks @maxgerhardt, I think I have now enough information to continue.

6

I would recommend a Segger J-Link Edu Mini (US$20) over any ST-Link V2 probe for nRF52840 hands down. As @maxgerhardt’s comment above, J-Link is far more flexible and powerful. This is especially true with regard to Segger Real Time Transfer (RTT) hook-in to the ARM cores for debugging.
RTT provides high performance Real-Time debugging. I use it all the time with nRF52840 development under ZephyrRTOS / PlatformIO.

Checkout the link below.
https://www.codeinsideout.com/blog/stm32/j-link-rtt/

7

Thanks @zpm1066, I just ordered one J-Link Edu Mini from Segger.

8

I was trying to get another J-Link Edu Mini from the usual electronics distributors (Digikey, Mouser, Farnell UK) but they all have been out of them for months and currently on back order for one-off units.

I have a couple of the Edu Mini but wanted to purchase the Segger J-Link Edu. The latter have been out of stock everywhere for the last six months. Anyway, I’ll order another Edu Mini directly from Segger. Unsurprisingly, limited to one per customer.