Thingy91 modem dead after successful firmware update

[kattomatto]

Hi,

I have a brand new thingy 91. I could turn it on, it was blinking blue, I could register it on cloud and it worked fine:

App Name
asset_tracker

App Version
thingy91_1.4.0_production_final

Board
nrf9160_pca20035

Modem Firmware
mfw_nrf9160_1.1.1

I was notified that my firmware are out of date. I followed the instructions on  https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/device_guides/working_with_nrf/nrf91/thingy91_gsg.html#id44 

I successfully updated the connectivity bridge, then I went on with the modem firmware.

Seemingly the firmware update was fine:

17:12:15.182	Getting serialport options from persistent store THINGY91_EFD81B49F30F.pc-nrfconnect-programmer
17:12:26.256	Modem DFU starts to write...
17:12:26.256	Writing /Users/xxxxx/Downloads/mfw_nrf9160_1.3.5.zip to device THINGY91_EFD81B49F30F
17:16:24.038	Modem DFU completed successfully!

But after this the thingy stopped blinking and went offline on nrf cloud. I repeated the updte a few times both on a PC and on M1 mac with the same result. I tried to put back version 1.1.1 but the result is still the same.
Thingy is available on USB as usual.

I opened the terminal, both com ports are visible. When I send AT or AT+CFUN? I get no response at all on any ports.

What happened? Please help!

[Øyvind]

Hello, 

Did you update the application on your Thingy:91 after updating the modem FW? If you have updated your Thingy:91 using USB then please note that the whole flash will be deleted leading to a seemingly "faulty" device. Programming the Asset Tracker v2 or another sample should fix the issue. Please download the precompiled firmware package from the Thingy:91 downloads section and program e.g. Asset Tracker v2. 

Kind regards,
Øyvind

[kattomatto]

Hi Øyvind,

To be on the safe side I updated the firmware again:mfw_nrf9160_1.3.5.zip
Then I uploaded asset tracker again: thingy91_asset_tracker_v2_2023-06-01_0677b099.hex

Device is still not blinking and there is no nrf cloud connectivity.

[kattomatto]

one more thing, if I program asset tracker, the thingy is not appearing as a USB drive, the device is only visible in MCU mode.
I only see the thingy as an USB drive when I have the connectivity bridge installed (thingy91_nrf52_connectivity_bridge_2023-06-01_0677b099.hex). Then I can upload mfw_nrf9160_1.3.5.zip and only after this  thingy91_asset_tracker_v2_2023-06-01_0677b099.hex. Is this intentional?

[Øyvind]

Hello, are you programming the device using an external debugger or using MCUboot? See Programming Firmware for more information. Make sure to program Connectivity Bridge to the nRF52840 SoC, and the modem FW and Asset Tracker to the nRF9160 SiP

The board enters bootloader mode if any of the following buttons are pressed while the Thingy:91 is being powered on (using SW1):

• SW3 - The main button used to flash the nRF9160 SiP.

• SW4 - The button used to update the nRF52840 SoC.

Following are the three recommended steps when you start to program a Thingy:91:

1. Updating the Connectivity bridge application firmware in the nRF52840 SoC.

2. Updating the modem firmware on the nRF9160 SoC (especially if you want to incorporate the latest changes from a newly released modem firmware).

3. Programming the application firmware on the nRF9160 SiP.

Kind regards,
Øyvind

[kattomatto]

Hi,

I'm using USB.

1, I uploaded connectivity bridge with the SW1-SW4 combination
2, Then I uploaded the new firmware with the SW1-SW3 combination
3, Then I uploaded asset tracker with SW1-SW4 again

So the problem was step 3, I uploaded asset tracker to the wrong chip, now that I used SW1-SW3 it works!

Thanks!