Unable to flash a build of the sample blinky following the nRF Connect SDK Fundamentals tutorial

[Geert V]

Hey everyone,

I am new to the development of Nordic chips so I might get some things wronog here or there.

I am using windows 11 and am trying to flash a nRF54l15 DK board

Lets start with the sittuation. I am attempting to follow the nRF Connect SDK Fundamentals tutorial with a new nRF54l15-DK board. I followed all the steps for installing the nRF Connect SDK and VS Code. I then imported, build and tried to flash the code. When I did I had the fatal error that the nrfutil was not installed or in the path. I downloaded that, placed it in the blinky folder and used my windows command prompt to install it. After having done that, I lost the nrfutil fatal error but gained a new one. I also tried connecting using the quick start of the nRF connect for desktop and got to the program step. Here the Erase device shows green but the others are red.

Here is the log of the quick start, which has the same error I get from VSCode's terminal.

2025-01-10T11:01:13.537Z INFO Initialising the bundled nrfutil device
2025-01-10T11:01:13.545Z DEBUG Started watching devices
2025-01-10T11:01:14.562Z INFO Using the bundled core version for nrfutil device: 7.13.0
2025-01-10T11:01:15.012Z INFO Using nrfutil-device version: 2.7.5
2025-01-10T11:01:15.012Z INFO Using nrf-device-lib version: 0.17.41
2025-01-10T11:01:15.012Z INFO Using nrfjprog DLL version: 10.24.2
2025-01-10T11:01:15.012Z INFO Using JLink version: JLink_V7.94i
2025-01-10T11:01:16.538Z DEBUG Selected device: nRF54L15 DK
2025-01-10T11:01:16.558Z DEBUG Changed step: Info
2025-01-10T11:01:23.661Z DEBUG Changed step: Rename
2025-01-10T11:02:17.819Z DEBUG Changed step: Program
2025-01-10T11:02:45.962Z ERROR  NRFDLException(1): [Probe] Emulator error: No emulator with connection info 'Usb(JLinkSerialNumber(1057701372))' was found
2025-01-10T11:02:45.967Z ERROR [ProbeLib] [2025-01-10 11:02:45.963873Z] Trace channel disconnected unexpectedly.

I have already installed a new version of J-Link, v794i (conform these specs: https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/ncs-2.9.0/page/nrf/installation/recommended_versions.html). I didn't remove the older version though, v794e.

If anyone has any idea how I can fix this problem please let me know!

Geert

[runsiv]

Hi Geert

Could you try to run "nrfutil device list" just to verify that you can see your device?  

You might have to install device for nrfutil, this can be done by running "nrfutil install device" 

I would also recommend placing nrfutil in a sensible place (I have mine in a folder named tools) and add that folder to the windows path

Regards

Runar

[Geert V]

Hey Runar,

Thansk for the quick response!

I did as you adviced, moving nrfutil to a more sencible place (due to some admin restriction I moved it to the bin folder of VSCode which is within my system path) and rand nrf device list. I even reinstalled it using --force to be sure it was the newest version. This is what my cmd gave back:

---------------------------------------------------------------
PS C:\Users\geert> nrfutil install device --force
nrfutil-device already installed
Uninstalled nrfutil-device
[00:00:01] ###### 100% [Install packages] Install packages
PS C:\Users\geert> nrfutil device list
1057701372
product         J-Link
board version   PCA10156
ports           COM3, vcom: 0
                COM4, vcom: 1
traits          boardController, devkit, jlink, seggerUsb, serialPorts, usb

Found 1 supported device(s)

PS C:\Users\geert>

---------------------------------------------------------------

When i ran device search I noticed that only device was installed. I read through the others and as a precaution I installed completion, nrf5sdk-tools amd toolchain-manager BEFORE running the above mentioned commands.

I also again used the nRF Connect for Desktop v5.1.0 (after restarting the program) to see if anythin changed. It again found the right board and gave the same error. Listed below is the LOG output as proof.

---------------------------------------------------------------

2025-01-15T09:14:44.222Z INFO Initialising the bundled nrfutil device
2025-01-15T09:14:44.230Z DEBUG Started watching devices
2025-01-15T09:14:45.267Z INFO Using the bundled core version for nrfutil device: 7.13.0
2025-01-15T09:14:45.713Z INFO Using nrfutil-device version: 2.7.5
2025-01-15T09:14:45.713Z INFO Using nrf-device-lib version: 0.17.41
2025-01-15T09:14:45.713Z INFO Using nrfjprog DLL version: 10.24.2
2025-01-15T09:14:45.713Z INFO Using JLink version: JLink_V7.94i
2025-01-15T09:14:47.224Z DEBUG Selected device: nRF54L15 DK
2025-01-15T09:14:47.243Z DEBUG Changed step: Info
2025-01-15T09:14:50.280Z DEBUG Changed step: Rename
2025-01-15T09:14:51.025Z DEBUG Changed step: Program
2025-01-15T09:14:55.203Z ERROR  NRFDLException(1): [Probe] Emulator error: No emulator with connection info 'Usb(JLinkSerialNumber(1057701372))' was found
2025-01-15T09:14:55.207Z ERROR [ProbeLib] [2025-01-15 09:14:55.205854Z] Trace channel disconnected unexpectedly.

---------------------------------------------------------------

If you have any other advice please let me know!

[runsiv]

Hi 

Thank you for the patience. Can you confirm you have install nRF Command line tools? I can see that you have Jlink so that part should be fine. 

If you try to run throught the Quick start app from nRF Connect for Desktop, are you able to complete the process?

Also  which version of NCS and toolchain are you using ?

I would also like to see the output from  nrfutil device list

Regards

Runar

[Geert V]

Hey,

I do have nRF Command line tools installed. The version I installed is nrf-command-line-tools-10.24.2-x64 (was still in my download). I verivied it by checking the version of nrfjprog I have. The output is shown below.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS C:\Users\geert> nrfjprog -v
nrfjprog version: 10.24.2 external
JLinkARM.dll version: 7.94i

--------------------------------------------------

When I use the Quick start of the nRF Connect for Desktop I run into the problem of my original post.. That is the log output of my quickstart attempt. To be sure I went through the quick start process again using nRF connect for desktop and below is the log.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

2025-01-16T08:52:39.234Z INFO Initialising the bundled nrfutil device
2025-01-16T08:52:39.346Z DEBUG Started watching devices
2025-01-16T08:52:41.442Z INFO Using the bundled core version for nrfutil device: 7.13.0
2025-01-16T08:52:41.886Z INFO Using nrfutil-device version: 2.7.5
2025-01-16T08:52:41.886Z INFO Using nrf-device-lib version: 0.17.41
2025-01-16T08:52:41.886Z INFO Using nrfjprog DLL version: 10.24.2
2025-01-16T08:52:41.886Z INFO Using JLink version: JLink_V7.94i
2025-01-16T08:52:42.238Z DEBUG Selected device: nRF54L15 DK
2025-01-16T08:52:42.256Z DEBUG Changed step: Info
2025-01-16T08:52:44.352Z DEBUG Changed step: Rename
2025-01-16T08:52:45.342Z DEBUG Changed step: Program
2025-01-16T08:52:48.142Z ERROR  NRFDLException(1): [Probe] Emulator error: No emulator with connection info 'Usb(JLinkSerialNumber(1057701372))' was found
2025-01-16T08:52:48.146Z ERROR [ProbeLib] [2025-01-16 08:52:48.145165Z] Trace channel disconnected unexpectedly.

--------------------------------------------------

I believe I am using V2.9.0. When building in VSCode it says the build will use SDK v2.9.0 and the toolchain 2.9.0. Also when I look into my directory, there is only one folder with a version number and that is v2.9.0.

Below I ran the nrfutil device list again

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS C:\Users\geert> nrfutil device list
1057701372
product         J-Link
board version   PCA10156
ports           COM3, vcom: 0
                COM4, vcom: 1
traits          boardController, devkit, jlink, seggerUsb, serialPorts, usb

Found 1 supported device(s)

PS C:\Users\geert>

--------------------------------------------------

That is all the info you asked for but as I was trying to understand the problem I also tried reading the firmware version of my nRF54l15DK board to see if that helps using the fw-info command. I got the same emulator error. Listed below is the output for clarification.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS C:\Users\geert> nrfutil device fw-info --serial-number 1057701372
Error: Failed to get firmware info for one or more devices:
 * 1057701372: [Probe] Emulator error: No emulator with connection info 'Usb(JLinkSerialNumber(1057701372))' was found, code: Generic
PS C:\Users\geert>

--------------------------------------------------

Thank you for your time!

Geert

[runsiv]

I'm checking internally, but there is one thing you can try while I check. Reinstall the JLink_V7.94i and be sure to select the install legacy usb support option. If this is the first installation of Jlink on your computer you might not have the legacy support. Without the legacy support you will not be able to detect the debugger 

Regards

Runar