nRF9161 simply... doesn't work?

[benjamin-eub]

Setup: custom nrf9161 PCB, flashed with nrf9161 modem fw 2.0.1, using NCS 2.6.1

Targeting my custom board, I couldn't even speak to the modem lib, no IMEI etc.

So I dug up a nrf9161dk, flashed the same modem fw and flashed it with stock NCS samples from 2.6.1.

nrf_modem_lib_init error -1, on every stock sample.

I also tried NCS 2.6.0 and 2.7.0.

Weirdly enough, Quick Start flashing AT Monitor sample via nRF Connect for Desktop seems to work...? It initializes everything fine and even gets a network connection.

What's going on...? Is there something vastly different that needs doing when using a nRF9161 compared to a nRF9160...?

[JyriLehtinen]

nRF9161 doesn't ship with IMEI written on it, you need to write it yourself. (nRF9161DK has the IMEI written already). Not sure if that's your only issue, but sounds like it's one of them
nRF Cloud IMEI services (nordicsemi.com)

[benjamin-eub]

It was the IMEI thing.