nrfutil 7.5.0 doesn't erase target in some cases

RE: nrfutil 7.5.0 doesn't erase target through J-Link EDU

Sigurd Hellesvik — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:19:48 GMT

A fix to the issue will be available in the next nrfutil release.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

RE: nrfutil 7.5.0 doesn't erase target through J-Link EDU

Adam Varga — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 14:59:49 GMT

Thank you! I'll wait for the official solution.

RE: nrfutil 7.5.0 doesn't erase target through J-Link EDU

Sigurd Hellesvik — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 13:45:25 GMT

With your additional explanations, I am able to reproduce the issue.

I have forwarded this as a bug-report to our developers, and I will return when I know more about this.

Thank you for reporting this.

Just to have it mentioned: as a workaround, I suggest that you use nrfjprog for erasing.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

RE: nrfutil 7.5.0 doesn't erase target through J-Link EDU

Adam Varga — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 11:32:37 GMT

Hi Sigurd, appreciate your help!

I think I've found something interesting that might help to narrow down the problem.

First of all, to eliminate any custom PCB or 3rd-party-module related issues, I've used the nRF52840-dongle as my test target device with the J-Link EDU. This is what I've done:

Erased the dongle with Programmer v3.0.8 (from nRF Connect Desktop)
Programmed the dongle (still using Programmer v3.0.8) with 'ble_app_blinky_pca10059_s140.hex' from SDK16.0.0 and verified that the example works correctly
Erased the dongle with nrfutil 7.5.0 (nrfutil device reset --traits jlink)
The erase was successful, the flash was empty (verified with Programmer v3.0.8)

Then I repeated the exact same steps with the 'sd_s140_bootloader_buttonless_with_setting_page_dfu_secure_ble_debug_with_bonds.hex' example, but this time the erase did not work, the flash remained intact, and the example still worked! The below picture was taken after the nrfutil erase command:

((If somebody is new the the orange error, here's a brief description: RE: Part of the HEX regions are out of the device memory size...from Programmer v2.2.0))

[EDIT]: If I flash the mentioned buttonless example to the nRF52840-DK with its onboard programmer, the issue is present there as well, the flash remains intact after the erase command.

So maybe this is not even a J-Link EDU issue, but something has to do with specific memory content?

RE: nrfutil 7.5.0 doesn't erase target through J-Link EDU

Sigurd Hellesvik — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 12:09:35 GMT

Hi,

The link was supposed to be a note to myself on this case, I am sorry about that.
However, I have gotten my hands on a J-Link EDU now.

And I tested it with nrfutil 7.5.0.

First I programmed a blinky sample to my nRF52840DK.

Then I used "nrfutil device erase --serial-number 518004981"

And the DK stopped blinking, indicating that the flash was indeed erased.

Which version of the nRF52840DK do you use?
I got 1.1.0.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik