NRF Connect for desktop install fail - blank screen and error windows

[Chiprobot]

I am trying to install NRF Connect onto a brand new Windows 11 PC (all WIN11 updates made) to program both the PDA10056 and PDA10059 DK's

I installed Segger 5.20a Embedded Software plus the J-Link software plus the NRF SDK and managed to get the blink program compiled and sent to the PDA10056 (Works flawlessly)

To program the PDA10059 Dongle I have tried to install the NRF connect for desktop, a selection screen pops up however when I try to install services they fail with errors (see below) or just give a blank screen with rotating blue swirly thing.

I have checked at the location above and the file does exist there.

I have also uninstalled j-link and segger embedded , then tried reinstalling nrf connect, however same error messages.

I have also tried installing Microsoft Visual Code manually (which works), however nrf connect still fails.

Do you have any ideas on how to proceed ?.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

This seems like the same issue as in this thread. It has not been resolved yet, but I am checking with the team to get some suggestions.

Can you check the content of C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Programs\nrfconnect\resources\app.asar.unpacked\node_modules\@nordicsemiconductor\nrf-device-lib-js\Release\?

[Chiprobot]

I have been testing further and have also been getting this error, when trying to install the toolchain/serial services.

I have tried backtracking releases without much success, many give just a blank nrf connect screen, even when i refresh screen. 

[Chiprobot]

Einar Thorsrud said:

But it could be interesting if you can check which device provider you have selected as shown in this post? If you have the latest versions of the tools, you should normally select "nrfutil", but it would be interesting to know if either of the options work in your case.

Bingo..... the Device Provider had defaulted to "nrfutil" !!!.... when I changed to "nrfjprog" (that is the second selection in its dropdown list) and refreshed the VB's connected devices ......the PDA10056 signed in and is detected correctly.

I was expecting the PDA10059 dongle to show up there also, alas it is not, should it appear there? or do I have to drop hex files and soft devices to it using the NRF Connect Programmer.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

Thanks for confirming that switching to nrfjprog helps. Does nrfutil work if you download nrfutil from here, add it in your path and install the device command as explained on the download page?

Regarding the nRF52840 dongle (pca10059), that will not show up as it does not have an onboard debugger. So you need to use nRf Command Programmer, which will program it via USB DFU.

Edit: I confirmed that nrfutil is bundled with the VS Code plugin, but it would be good if you could get the stand-alone version and try "nrfutil device list" to see if it lists you DK? Also, can you generate the support information by clicking here and share that?

[Chiprobot]

It does manually install ok .... and path set to find it in system variables, however VB code does not pick up the nrfutil utility.

Command line does find both the PCA10056 and PCA10059

[Chiprobot]

Einar Thorsrud said:

Regarding the nRF52840 dongle (pca10059), that will not show up as it does not have an onboard debugger. So you need to use nRf Command Programmer, which will program it via USB DFU.

From the documentation :-

(+) One tool to rule them all: nRF Util becomes a unified command line utility - Blogs - Nordic Blog - Nordic DevZone (noruicsemi.com)

It seems to indicate that both the Jlink and the DFU dongle are accessible ...shouldn't VBCode pick both up in its connected device using the nrfutil selection... it strikes me as strange that this is overlooked.

Qoute :- nrfutil is now a unified command line utility for Nordic products. The new version includes support for programming all Nordic devices using programming probs (for example J-Link). It also has support for MCUboot DFU, thereby supporting nRF Connect SDK applications. You can use it to list (discover), flash, recover, erase, and do various operations on Nordic devices, including development kits, dongles, Nordic Thingies, or your own Nordic-based board. "

[Einar Thorsrud]

It is good information that nrfutil lists the devices.

Chiprobot said:

...shouldn't VBCode pick both up in its connected device using the nrfutil selection...

Yes it should, so there is something wrong here that we are trying to understand.

Are you able to share the support information from VS code as well? That may contain useful information for our VS Cod team looking into this.

[Chiprobot]

Yes for sure ...please find enclosed txt of the support information.

Fullscreen chiprobot000.txt Download

IMPORTANT: The data below could contain sensitive or confidential information about your environment.
If you do not wish this to be seen by others, please make sure to remove it before sharing.

For help and support, visit the Nordic DevZone at https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/.

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[Einar Thorsrud]

Thank you. I have forwarded it to the team looking into this.

[Chiprobot]

Here the situation is still the same, any updates from the team looking into it ?

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

We have found the cause of the issue and hope to release a fixed version next week.