i2C operation with SDK V2.9.0

Question

I have a production system running a modified asset_tracker_v2 sending temperature data to AWS. All is working fine with V2.5.0 on several hundred sensors. I am trying to upgrade to v2.9.0 and I ran into a problem with I2C. I have attached my prj.conf file and my overlay file. In my code I have set up I2C as shown below but it fails whether I have any references to I2C at all.. even if I make the "#if 1" be "#if 0" so that there is no reference to I2C in any way. The program crashes on boot up with the messages show below. The setup is similar to what I have in V2.5.0. Did something change with I2C? I am completely stopped with V2.9.0 until I can get I2C to work as in V2.5.0 and talk to my temperature sensors. any idea what I am doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.

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system crash on bootup

Attempting to boot from address 0x8200.
I: Trying to get Firmware version
I: Verifying signature against key 0.
I: Hash: 0xfc...dd
I: Firmware signature verified.
Firmware version 1
I: Setting monotonic counter (version: 1, slot: 0)
*** Booting My Application v2.1.0-dev-12e5ee106034 ***
*** Using nRF Connect SDK v2.9.0-7787b2649840 ***
*** Using Zephyr OS v3.7.99-1f8f3dc29142 ***
I: Starting bootloader
I: Primary image: magic=unset, swap_type=0x1, copy_done=0x3, image_ok=0x3
I: Secondary image: magic=unset, swap_type=0x1, copy_done=0x3, image_ok=0x3
I: Boot source: none
I: Image index: 0, Swap type: none
I: Primary image: magic=unset, swap_type=0x1, copy_done=0x3, image_ok=0x3
I: Secondary image: magic=unset, swap_type=0x1, copy_done=0x3, image_ok=0x3
I: Boot source: none
I: Image index: 1, Swap type: none
I: Bootloader chainload address offset: 0x28000
[00:00:00.254,333] <err> os: ***** BUS FAULT *****
[00:00:00.254,364] <err> os: Precise data bus error
[00:00:00.254,364] <err> os: BFAR Address: 0x0
[00:00:00.254,394] <err> os: r0/a1: 0x00063c10 r1/a2: 0x00063c18 r2/a3: 0x01980000
[00:00:00.254,394] <err> os: r3/a4: 0x40009000 r12/ip: 0x00000000 r14/lr: 0x000527af
[00:00:00.254,425] <err> os: xpsr: 0x01000200
[00:00:00.254,425] <err> os: s[ 0]: 0x00000000 s[ 1]: 0x0005d111 s[ 2]: 0x200145dc s[ 3]: 0x00000000
[00:00:00.254,455] <err> os: s[ 4]: 0x00000000 s[ 5]: 0x00000000 s[ 6]: 0x00000000 s[ 7]: 0x0003d991
[00:00:00.254,486] <err> os: s[ 8]: 0x00000001 s[ 9]: 0x000558fd s[10]: 0x000558fd s[11]: 0x2001fe58
[00:00:00.254,486] <err> os: s[12]: 0x000558fd s[13]: 0x00040400 s[14]: 0x00040400 s[15]: 0x00040400
[00:00:00.254,516] <err> os: fpscr: 0x00040400
[00:00:00.254,516] <err> os: Faulting instruction address (r15/pc): 0x0005272a
[00:00:00.254,547] <err> os: >>> ZEPHYR FATAL ERROR 25: Unknown error on CPU 0
[00:00:00.254,577] <err> os: Current thread: 0x200140c8 (unknown)
[00:00:00.362,915] <err> os: Halting system

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my I2C setup

#if 1

/* start I2C test */

#include <zephyr/drivers/i2c.h>

// #if DT_NODE_HAS_STATUS(DT_ALIAS(i2c0), okay)

// #define I2C_DEV_NODE DT_ALIAS(i2c0)

#if DT_NODE_HAS_STATUS(DT_ALIAS(i2c1), okay)

#define I2C_DEV_NODE DT_ALIAS(i2c1)

// #elif DT_NODE_HAS_STATUS(DT_ALIAS(i2c2), okay)

// #define I2C_DEV_NODE DT_ALIAS(i2c2)

#//elif DT_NODE_HAS_STATUS(DT_ALIAS(i2c3), okay)

// #define I2C_DEV_NODE DT_ALIAS(i2c3)

#else

#error "Please set the correct I2C device"

#endif

const struct device *const i2c_dev = DEVICE_DT_GET(I2C_DEV_NODE); //!< pointer to I2C device

uint32_t i2c_cfg = I2C_SPEED_SET(I2C_SPEED_STANDARD) | I2C_MODE_CONTROLLER; //!< I2C configuartion parameters

// uint32_t i2c_cfg = I2C_SPEED_SET(I2C_SPEED_FAST) | I2C_MODE_CONTROLLER;

/* end I2C test */

#endif

6242.prj.conf

2133.nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns.overlay