Power failure while flashing - can't access the chip now... :(

Hello,

Power failure while flashing an nRF52840 based platform (flashed through nRF52840DK) left the unit not accessible.

Any attempt to flash it, erase it or recover it ends with an error.

e.g. -

I've attached log.log if this can assist..

(nRF52840, NCS2.70)

Thanks for any advice.

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[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] C:\Program Files\Nordic Semiconductor\nrf-command-line-tools\bin\nrfjprog.exe --program c:\devtools\nordic\ncs\projects\west-workspace-270\application\build_cortex1_a0_debug\zephyr\zephyr.hex --chiperase --verify -f NRF52 --snr 1050286816 --log
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] nrfjprog version 10.24.2 external
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [ info] Load library at C:\Program Files\Nordic Semiconductor\nrf-command-line-tools\bin\nrfjprog.dll.
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [ info] Library loaded, loading member functions.
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [ info] Member functions succesfully loaded.
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] [ Client] - open
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] [ Client] - start
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [ info] [ Client] - stdout: Jlinkarm nRF Worker ready. Handling sequence 6d149109-24d4-4229-8f84-5a30fb802e97.
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [trace] [ Client] - Command open executed for 54 milliseconds with result 0
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] [ Client] - config
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] [SeggerBackend] - Logger sink registered in Segger backend logger
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] [ JLink] - Logger sink registered in JLink logger
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] [ nRF52] - open
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] [ nRF52] - just_check_family
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] [SeggerBackend] - open_dll
[2025-Mar-14 21:10:22] [debug] [SeggerBackend] - No J-Link DLL path was provided. Attempting to auto detect.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

  • Hi

    Can you share more on what exactly happened with this initial "power failure during flashing"? If the power was cut in the middle of flashing the device it might be that the device is in a reset loop, meaning that you have a very small window to recover it between resets. If that's the case, your best chance is to make a script that just continuously tries to do nrfjprog --recover, and hope you hit the right spot.

    The error message -102 points to there being an issue connecting to the board with the debugger, so that also checks out with this hypothesis. What voltage is the external board supplied with here? The nRF52840 DK supports 3V supply voltages.

    Best regards,

    Simon