nRF52 Dongle Firmware for ProMicro?

[Jeremy]

I found a related post ( RE: Unable to Connect NRF52840 Board to nRF Connect ) where the advice was given to just get a DevKit, which I agree with for development, but my understanding is the nRF52 dongle firmware contains a bootloader that allows it to be reprogrammed without a JLink chip which opens the window for my question.

Ultimately I would like to flash the Wireshark compatible BLE Sniffer firmware on a device that isn't a giant devkit, or a wobbly PCB-usb dongle, and the ProMicro (https://keeb.io/products/supermini-nrf52840-pro-micro-bluetooth-le-ble-controller) has a nice form factor. Is the nRF52840 dongle firmware available anywhere?

I understand I would still need a JLink programmer or DevKit to flash the bootloader, but it would be nice to use nRF Connect to manage any updates.

Alternatively, would either of the nRF52840 sniffer images work if flashed directly to the ProMicro nRF52840 over SWD? Not sure what underlying bootloader or soft device those images are expecting to function correctly.

[Priyanka]

Hi Jeremy,

Is the nRF52840 dongle firmware available anywhere?

The original firmware for the nRF52840 dongle is not directly available for download. However, there is a way to revert to the production bootloader, as mentioned in the nRF52840 Dongle Programming Tutorial under "Revert to production bootloader" section. 

I would like to flash the Wireshark compatible BLE Sniffer firmware on a device that isn't a giant devkit, or a wobbly PCB-usb dongle

The BLE Sniffer firmware is designed for the nRF52840 dongle, so we cannot guarantee it's working on other nRF52840-based boards without modification, as it may expect specific hardware configurations or bootloaders present on the dongle.

would either of the nRF52840 sniffer images work if flashed directly to the ProMicro nRF52840 over SWD?

Yes, it's possible to flash firmware over SWD, but as mentioned earlier, the sniffer images are designed for the nRF52840 Dongle and may expect specific bootloaders or SoftDevices. Flashing them directly to a different nRF52840-based board may not work as expected.

it would be nice to use nRF Connect to manage any updates.

To use nRF Connect for Desktop to manage updates, the device needs to support the USB DFU. This is embedded in nRF Connect for Desktop apps for the nRF52840 Dongle, but may not be present on other nRF52840-based boards.  Please take a look at the Programming Dongle documentation. You can see that the nRF Connect for Desktop apps require specific firmware to be present on the nRF52840 Dongle to function correctly. The apps will update the firmware if needed.

Regards,

Priyanka