Exiting DTM Mode - BL654

Introduction

The goal of this document is to introduce the Ezurio Exit DTM utility for BL654 modules. This utility is used to switch modules from DTM mode back into interactive mode whereby the firmware can be upgraded or applications loaded to the module.

Requirements

The following are required to use the Exit DTM utility:

• A Ezurio BL654 module in DTM mode – part # 451-00001, 451-00002, 451-00003, 455-00001, or 455-00002
• UART access to module (with hardware flow control) to a host PC
• Host PC running Windows (7 or newer), Linux (Kernel 3.16 or newer), or Mac (El Capitan or newer) with UART to the module or USB to UART converter to the module
• ExitDTM software – Provided by Ezurio at https://github.com/LairdCP/BL654-ExitDTM

Overview

To exit from DTM mode, you must use Ezurio’s development board or your own equivalent implementation to provide a UART access to the module, including CTS and RTS lines for hardware flow control.

Application Options

To access the application options from the ExitDTM software, follow these steps:

1. Download and run the ExitDTM software as described on the front Github page. This process varies depending on the host OS of your PC.
2. Once complete, run the application.

A window (Figure 1) appears with various options. Use the tab selection at the top of the window to switch the log display view (Display or Config) (Figure 2).

Exiting DTM Mode

To exit DTM mode, follow these steps:

Select the module’s serial port from the drop-down menu. Ensure that the description of the port matches your serial port or driver.

Once this is configured, press Start to begin the process.

If an error displays regarding permission issues (Figure 3) then this is likely caused by one of the following:

• Another application has the serial port already open
• A permission issue (for non-Windows systems) where a user was not granted access rights to certain devices. If this is the case, please follow the instructions on the UwTerminalX Github Wiki: https://github.com/LairdCP/UwTerminalX/wiki/Granting-non-root-USB-device-access-(Linux).

If an error message displays about the module not being in DTM mode (Figure 4) then this means that this utility does not need to be used on this module as it is already in interactive mode.

If no errors occur, then the application switches to the display tab and begins the process of exiting DTM mode on the module. This can take up to 15 seconds. Commands being sent to and received from the module are displayed in the main log window (Figure 5).

Once complete, a message displays the result of exiting DTM mode. If successful, you can close the utility and communicate with the module in interactive smartBASIC mode using a terminal emulator utility (Figure 6).

If you have the license check option enabled and the exit DTM process successfully completes but does not find a valid license on the module, the following message displays (Figure 7). This message contains information which should be sent via email to the Ezurio Wireless Support team at cs-support@ezurio.com

If there was a problem exiting from DTM mode, the following warning message displays which includes debugging information. This information can be used to narrow down where an issue is arising (Figure 8).

If you get this error, first ensure that the module is powered correctly (at the same voltage level as the USB to UART interface chip, if used – 1.8 to 3.6v). Also ensure that you’re using the correct UART pins (with CTS and RTS connected correctly for hardware handshaking support) (Table 1).

Table 1: UART interface

If you are unable to exit DTM mode or get this application working successfully after following the guide, please contact the Ezurio Wireless Support team via email at support@ezurio.com for support.

Batch Mode

This application can be automated from the command line as part of a test or development system. There are various command line arguments which can be provided to control the functionality of the application. These are explained in Table 2.

Table 2: Command line arguments

Please ensure you check the latest files in the project on Github as the application may be updated with additional features/functionality which is not reflected in this document.

The exit code of the application determines if an error occurred or if exiting DTM was successful. These result codes can be found in the DtmMainWindow.h file. They are also displayed in Table 3. Note that fully automatic operation must be enabled to use the exit code status.

Table 3: Exit codes

Further Information

Further information relating to the BL654 module is available from the BL654 product page of the Ezurio website: https://www.ezurio.com/products/bl654-ble-thread-nfc-modules.