nRF Connect Extension for VS Code Unable to run most commands

[teedoubleyuh]

While following the "nRF Connect SDK Fundamentals" tutorial, my nRF Connect extension fails on the "Install Toolchain" step with error command 'nrf-connect.installToolchain' not found. I'm able to circumvent for now by using nRF Connect for Desktop and installing the toolchain with its Toolchain Manager, but still troubling that none of the commands seem to work directly from the VS Code nRF Connect extension. Nearly all nRF Connect commands similarly fail from VS Code including "Install SDK", "Manage Toolchains", "Check nRF Command Line Tools Update".

Any help to resolve would be greatly appreciated!

My setup:

• Windows 10 64bit PC
• VS Code v1.86.1
• nRF Connect for VS Code Extension pack v2023.11.3
• nRF Command Line tools v10.24.0

[teedoubleyuh]

Hi Priyanka,

This was a first-time install. After initial installation, this was the welcome screen:

When trying to select "Install Toolchain" here or manually running "nRF Connect: Install Toolchain" via the command palette it gave this error:

Trying commands "Install SDK", "Manage Toolchains", and "Check nRF Command Line Tools Update" in the command palette give similar errors.

Thank you!

[Priyanka]

Hi Travis,

Do you have the nRF Command Lines tools installed? https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Development-tools/nRF-Command-Line-Tools/Download?lang=en#infotabs 

If not, please try installing this first and then reload your VSCode window. [(Ctrl + Shift + P) and enter "reload window"]. Please try to install the SDK and Toolchain after these steps.

Regards,

Priyanka

[Priyanka]

Hi Travis,

I guess you are getting confused with everything, which I understand as there have been a lot of new changes within a very short period. I will try to explain everything to my best, in here. Please bear with me.

First, we will go through the installations. It's true that in case you are using the SES, then you need to have the SDK v1.x.x . But since you also need to work with the v2.x.x, it would be great if you install the "nRF Connect for Desktop" application (which you have already done).

Within this, please select the Toolchain Manager and go to the "settings" on the top left. There, please de-select the following option:

This will allow you to see all possible nRF Connect SDK versions in Toolchain Manager and you can manage them easily.

Regarding the path location, it would be better if you could save all SDK versions in one place to avoid confusions. It can be either C:\ncs or C:\nordicsemi or C:\anything_of_your_choice. Just make sure that you have a small path length and not too lengthy ones, to avoid building errors related to this. This is how my path location looks like, for reference:

Now, moving on to operating in the VSCode extension, as you had mentioned, the previous settings no longer exist, but the new ones are pretty user-friendly too. First, select the "Manage toolchains" option, followed by "set active toolchain":

And this will allow you to select the required toolchain:

The same applies for selecting SDK version too:

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Priyanka

[teedoubleyuh]

Thank you, Priyanka! This helps me understand the desired folder structure when installing the SDK versions, but my initial issue with the nRF Connection Extension for VS Code not running commands properly still exists. When I try to select "Manage Toolchains" or "Manage SDKs", VS Code errors:

I am not able to run "Manage Toolchains" or "Manage "SDKs" like you show in your screenshots.

Here is my cleaned-up SDK installation directory:

Could you please provide any hints on why the nRF Connect for VS Code extension doesn't run the commands properly? I have tried both leaving default extension settings as well as setting the Toolchain Paths manually in User Settings and neither help. I have also tried completely uninstalling and reinstalling VS Code and the nRF Connect for VS Code Extension.

I'm guessing the order of how to install things when mixing 1.x versus 2.x SDKs is important and it seems to have messed-up my extension settings. If you follow the instructions here:
https://academy.nordicsemi.com/courses/nrf-connect-sdk-fundamentals/lessons/lesson-1-nrf-connect-sdk-introduction/topic/exercise-1-1/
If using SDK 1.x, it has you install VS Code and the extension last and then manually set the toolchain and SDK extension settings. If using SDK 2.x, it has you install  VS Code and the extension first and use all of the extension defaults. 

[Priyanka]

Hi Travis,

Could you share the Support Information here?

For this, please press Ctrl+Shift+P which opens up the command pallette and select the option "nRF Connect: Generate Support Information".

Regards,

Priyanka

[teedoubleyuh]

Hi Priyanka,

Even the "nRF Connect: Generate Support Information" command doesn't seem to work properly

When I select this option, it just spins indefinitely without producing any output:

[Priyanka]

Hi Travis,

That's sad. Really sorry for this.

Could you take a look at this ticket and try to follow the steps mentioned?

Regards,

Priyanka

[teedoubleyuh]

Hi Priyanak,

Yes I seem to have the same issue as that user wherein the nRF Connect for VS Code extension isn't able to run the nrfutil commands directly from the extension UI. I have a default version of the nrfutil toolchain with an asterix in front it when I manually run nrfutil toolchain-manager list in the terminal. I can follow that open ticket to see if a resolution is provided. Currently the issue appears to still be unresolved for the original ticket author. 

[Priyanka]

Hi Travis,

We are trying to resolve this. Could you try to Ctrl+Shift+P , which opens the developer console, followed by typing reload window.

Select the reload window option and then try if VSCode goes back to working well.

-Priyanka

[teedoubleyuh]

Hi Priyanka,

No, the reload window doesn't help.

[Priyanka]

Thanks for the update.

I have mentioned this to the team.

[Priyanka]

Hi,

Apologies for the confusion, but could you try to reload the window once again and then follow the following steps too?

1. Reload the window as previously mentioned.

2. Select “Manage Toolchains” again, to trigger the error notification.

3.  See whether any additional output appears in the developer console, which might tell us anything about why the extension did not activate correctly.

Also, to verify if the extension really did not activate completely, as we assume, the users should also go to the extension’s page and there open the “Runtime status” tab.

If it activated correctly, then it would look like this:

But yours might look like this:

-Priyanka