Debug Serial Usage

• Debug Serial Usage
  • zephyr-tools-monitor
  • nRF Connect For Desktop - LTE Link Monitor
  • CoolTerm

The nRF9160 Feather comes with an on-board Silicon Labs CP2102 USB-to-UART chip. You can use it with most serial terminal viewers. If you have an older version of Windows you will have to install the driver. The download is located here.

Here's some recommendations for software to communicate with the nRF9160 Feather. No matter what program you use, the standard baud rate for the console is 115200. All other options are standard/default (8 bits, oon-pairty, 1 stop bit).

zephyr-tools-monitor

zephyr-tools-monitor comes with the Zephyr Tools VSCode Plugin. Here is the help dialog:

❯ zephyr-tools-monitor --help
App
USAGE:
  app [OPTIONS]
FLAGS:
  -h, --help            Prints help information
OPTIONS:
  --list, -l            Lists serial ports avaiable
  --follow,             Follow serial port if it disconnects
  --port,               Port to connect to
  --baud,               Baud to use (default 115200)
ARGS:
  <INPUT>

Typical usage includes:

• List all available ports use:

  ❯ zephyr-tools-monitor -l
  ["/dev/tty.URT2","/dev/tty.URT1","/dev/tty.BLTH","/dev/tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port","/dev/tty.usbmodem0009600833633","/dev/tty.usbmodem0009600833631","/dev/tty.usbmodem0009600833635","/dev/tty.SLAB_USBtoUART","/dev/tty.usbserial-14530"]⏎
  

• A typical connection attempt:

  ❯ zephyr-tools-monitor --port /dev/tty.SLAB_USBtoUART --follow
  

If you'd like to download zephyr-tools-monitor standalone you can do so by downloading the pre-built binary here.

nRF Connect For Desktop - LTE Link Monitor

If you haven't already, make sure you check out the LTE Link Monitor. It's a great multi-purpose tool for using and debugging the nRF9160 Feather.

CoolTerm

CoolTerm has been my go-to for testing and debugging. Fortunately it's also multi-platform! You can download it by going here: https://www.freeware.the-meiers.org