nRF Connect app (Android) DFU does not perform Validation/Reset

RE: nRF Connect app (Android) DFU does not perform Validation/Reset

clockis — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 15:19:27 GMT

After a lot of testing and validating the cause of this issue it was found that the problem was including the Tracing configuration options listed in my previous comment.

More specifically:

CONFIG_SEGGER_SYSTEMVIEW=y
CONFIG_TRACING=y
CONFIG_TRACING_THREAD_STACK_SIZE=8192
CONFIG_TRACING_BUFFER_SIZE=8192
CONFIG_RAM_TRACING_BUFFER_SIZE=8192
CONFIG_TRACING_CMD_BUFFER_SIZE=64

After removing these the DFU process (I always use the 'Confirm only' option) returned to its expected behavior and everything worked as it did previously.

Thank you very much for your support. This ticket can now be closed.

RE: nRF Connect app (Android) DFU does not perform Validation/Reset

AHaug — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 14:48:31 GMT

Hi Stavros,

Apologies for the long response time, I have been out of office since my last inquiry

Could you verify what Nowakowski (who's one of the devs behind the apps) asks and we'll look further into it if it's something else causing hte issue?

Kind regards,
Andreas

RE: nRF Connect app (Android) DFU does not perform Validation/Reset

Aleksander Nowakowski — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 11:38:57 GMT

Hello,

Are you sure that you're using CONFIRM ONLY option in nRF Connect for Android?

Recent version added a new option called "Upload only (no revert)", which can be used when the McuBoot is in "DirectXIP without revert" mode. This mode indeed only uploads without doing confirmation and reset.

RE: nRF Connect app (Android) DFU does not perform Validation/Reset

clockis — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 13:02:48 GMT

Hello,

I can confirm that I have not made any changes to the OTA updates anything even remotely related to the MCUMgr & SMP well as the BLE stack and their configuration option has not been modified in the slightest ( the changes I made were for some details in the driver of an IMU sensor we use ).

The process I use, after performing a change to the FW I need to test, is the following:

Perform Pristine Build
Rename & Copy the dfu_application.zip to my mobile phone ( I am giving it a very short name just to be able to distinguish the different images on my phone)
Connect to the device using the nRF Connect application (Android)
Press the DFU button in the upper right corner and select the image with the 'Confirm only' option selected

I am aware that if the FW image is already present on the device it will skip the transfer step and proceed with the Validation & Reset, this is not the behavior I am referring to. I am always aware of this so this is why I always perform a pristine build for each of the FW images I use. During testing, I have three or four different images(all built with pristine builds, which means different hashes) that I rotate for testing the update so that the new image is always uploaded and the complete DFU process is performed( not just the Validation & Reset).

I have been performing updates like these for months now, just last Friday I was updating some devices like this with no issues and wanted to test a new version so I tried updating them a second time and it started skipping the Validation & Reset steps while the nRF Connect Device Manager always performs these steps correctly with no issues at all.

The one thing I had enabled in these last few versions of the FW for which this issue started happening was I had some Tracing enabled. More specifically the following options:

CONFIG_SEGGER_SYSTEMVIEW=y
CONFIG_TRACING=y
CONFIG_TRACING_THREAD_STACK_SIZE=8192
CONFIG_TRACING_BUFFER_SIZE=8192
CONFIG_RAM_TRACING_BUFFER_SIZE=8192
CONFIG_TRACING_CMD_BUFFER_SIZE=64

Could this cause an issue with the FW update?

I want to still emphasize that even though the issue was present with the typical update procedure I have used for months ( utilizing the nRF Connect app ) the nRF Connect Device Manager app always performed the updates correctly 100% of the time. I have reproduced this issue several times and have confirmed that for the same images, the first app skips the last and crucial steps (Validation & Reset) and the second app does not.

Thank you very much for your support and immediate response and I look forward to hearing from you!

Kind regards,

Stavros

RE: nRF Connect app (Android) DFU does not perform Validation/Reset

AHaug — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 08:19:17 GMT

Hi,

Two questions:

The developers wants you to verify if you've made any changes to the firmware related to OTA updates in between you firmware updates was successful with confirm only and when it required you to perform it twice (one to upload the image and one time to validate and reset device)?

Could you also describe the complete procedure for building your FW, flashing, building new image for update up until you perform the update?
What I want to verify with this is to double check if you've forgotten some steps that you used to do previously (for not making changes in the code or in firmware revision numbering such that you're now attempting to update your firmware with the exact same firmware that is currently running on the application)

Kind regards,
Andreas

RE: nRF Connect app (Android) DFU does not perform Validation/Reset

clockis — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 15:55:17 GMT

Hi Andreas,

Great! Thank you for the immediate feedback!

It would also be useful if you have any other hints as to what differences the nRF Connect app & nRF Device Manager app have, as well as any way this could be FW related ( although that would be very strange as the MCUMgr setup as well as the BLE stack settings were not changed at all ).

Thanks again!

Kind regards,

Stavros

RE: nRF Connect app (Android) DFU does not perform Validation/Reset

AHaug — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 14:17:52 GMT

Hi Stavros,

I will check in with the developers and ask if there has been any changes in the Android app. I know that the iOS app has been updated in between NCS 2.1.0 and 2.5.2, so you might be on to something

Kind regards,
Andreas