Cannot flash using VSCode in nRF54L15 dev kit

[FMistrorigo]

Hi,

I just finished to setup everything to start using nRF Connect for VSCode Extension. I followed the "nRF Connect SDK Fundamentals" course in the DevAcademy.

I installed nRF Command Line Tools, VSCode and the nRF Connect for VSCode extension pack. I then installed the latest toolchain and SDK. (all versions at the end)

After copying the Blinky example and changing the code to turn on also a second led, I was able to build the configuration and build the project, but once I tryied to flash it to the board nothing changed. (the board shows in the Connected Devices)

I then tryied different things to make it work and found out that using the nRF Connect for Desktop app everything works... using the programmer tool and passing my merged.hex file, it programmed successfully.

I then moved to VSCode and used the "Erase Board" command to be sure that the board was reachable; It worked and removed the firmware from the dev kit.

I really don't know if the problem is related to something I'm missing or if it's a problem of the command in the extension.

Please help me find out what is causing the problem.

Thanks,

Fabio

MORE INFO:

Command Line Tools (10.24.2)

VSCode version (1.95.3)

nRF Connect for VSCode extension pack (v2024.9.5) - so I'm now working with nRF Connect v2024.11.75.

Toolchain (v2.8.0)

SDK (v2.8.0)

running the command "nrfjprog --version" in powershell returns:
"nrfjprog version: 10.24.2 external"
"JLinkARM.dll version: 8.10h"

[mojangeex]

Im having the same problem here. I am using nRF54L15-PDK v0.8.1 and with no success. says flashed successfully but nothing gets loaded to device. 

In dev acedemy: https://academy.nordicsemi.com/courses/nrf-connect-sdk-fundamentals/lessons/lesson-1-nrf-connect-sdk-introduction/topic/exercise-2-1/ 
It says to just use it as dk board but sadly doesnt work either. 

[Vidar Berg]

Are you building for cpuapp or cpuapp_ns? If the latter, please try adding CONFIG_TFM_PROFILE_TYPE_MINIMAL=y to your project configuration.

[FMistrorigo]

Hi, I noticed that I was using V8.10 of JLinkARM.dll, I updated it to be the version that it needs to be V7.94i but nothing changed.

In the tutorial it says: "nRF Command Line Tools are needed to install the SEGGER J-Link package, which is a requirement to flash firmware to your board." so I think that maybe the usage of the version 7.94i is a new thing and maybe for new users it breaks the flashing process in the extension.

 

[Vidar Berg]

Hi, 

The current nrfutil device and nrfjprog versions are tested and validated with JLink_V7.94i, but this does not mean it has to be incompatible with never versions of Jlink. I have JLink_V8.10f installed on my system, and have not experienced any issues.  

Testing blinky sample with SDK v2.8.0 with nRF54LDK (rev. 0.8.1)

Flashing (LED1 starts blinking after this point)

Debugging

But I see that there is a mismatch between Jlink GDB server version and the jlink library in your case. May be worth trying to have only one version of Jlink installed. 

Edit:

Hex file from my build:

8508.merged.hex

It can be programmed from the command line with nrfutil:

nrfutil device program --firmware merged.hex --options chip_erase_mode=ERASE_ALL,verify=VERIFY_READ,reset=RESET_SYSTEM

[FMistrorigo]

Hi,

I was wondering if you can provide the version of everything I need, I noticed that for someone else Python 3.10.x caused problems, maybe the version of nrfutil, west, JLink or someting else is wrong...

(I already changed nrfutil version from 5.2.0 to 5.0.0 after finding problems with python)

I really can't figure out why in the Desktop app everything works but in the VSCode extension I have problems.

This problem is slowing the development process.

[Vidar Berg]

Hi, 

You should be using nrfutil version 7 or above (https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Development-tools/nRF-Util). Previous versions don't support programming. It also does not have any dependencies on Python.

West and Python are bundled with the Toolchain. It doesn't seem like they are related to the issue you're facing.

FMistrorigo said:

I really can't figure out why in the Desktop app everything works but in the VSCode extension I have problems.

I would be nice if you could debug the application without TF-M similar to what you did with TF-M earlier to see where the program hangs.

I still haven't been able to reproduce these issues here. 

[FMistrorigo]

Ok, found the problem...

In the DevAcademy they skip some important steps, I removed everything that was possibly messing around and at this point finally I encountered this error:
"Error: nrfutil command `device` not found. See `nrfutil list` for full list of installed commands, `nrfutil search` for installable commands, and `nrfutil install` for installation of new commands."

Running "nrfutil --version" in cmd confirmed that I was finally using nrfutil 7.13.0

At this point i was able to run "nrfutil search" to see the downloadable commands.

After: "nrfutil install completion", "nrfutil install device" and "nrfutil install nrf5sdk-tools", the flashing process worked...

Follow this guide nRF Util - nordicsemi.com, it was so simple....

[mojangeex]

This worked for me, thank you. 
Nrfutil has multiple versions, on github, pip, nordic website... which is confusing specially if you have previous ones installed.