Issue Running DFU Sample on Custom Board with nRF5340 SDK v3.0.2

RE: Issue Running DFU Sample on Custom Board with nRF5340 SDK v3.0.2

Luis Santos — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 19:16:17 GMT

Thanks a lot for your support, Amanda!

RE: Issue Running DFU Sample on Custom Board with nRF5340 SDK v3.0.2

Amanda Hsieh — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 18:07:45 GMT

Use the content of nrf5340dk.overlay for mcuboot.overlay.

RE: Issue Running DFU Sample on Custom Board with nRF5340 SDK v3.0.2

Luis Santos — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 17:26:31 GMT

Hi Amanda,

Thanks for your reply, and sorry for the late response.

Although my custom board is based on the nRF5340DK, I forgot that my external memory is an MX25R8035F (8 Mbit) instead of the MX25R6435F (64 Mbit) used on the DK. My apologies for that oversight.

I tried to update the .dts for my memory, but I ran into same issues.
Following your recommendation, I ran the spi_flash sample to verify the behavior of my external memory.

Here is the relevant part of my nrf5340dk.overlay:

/ {
  chosen {
 /delete-property/ zephyr,ipc_shm;
 /delete-property/ nordic,pm-ext-flash;
 nordic,pm-ext-flash = &mx25r80;
  };
};

&mx25r64 {
  status = "disabled";
};

&qspi {
	status = "okay";
	pinctrl-0 = <&qspi_default>;
	pinctrl-1 = <&qspi_sleep>;
	pinctrl-names = "default", "sleep";
	mx25r80: mx25r8035f@0 {
		compatible = "nordic,qspi-nor";
		reg = <0>;
		/* MX25R80 supports only pp and pp4io */
		writeoc = "pp4io";
		/* MX25R80 supports all readoc options */
		readoc = "read4io";
		sck-frequency = <8000000>;
		// size = <0x800000>;
		size-in-bytes = <0x800000>; 
		jedec-id = [c2 28 14];
		sfdp-bfp = [
			e5 20 f1 ff  ff ff 7f 00  44 eb 08 6b  08 3b 04 bb
			ee ff ff ff  ff ff 00 ff  ff ff 00 ff  0c 20 0f 52
			10 d8 00 ff  23 72 f5 00  82 ed 04 b7  44 83 38 44
			30 b0 30 b0  f7 c4 d5 5c  00 be 29 ff  f0 d0 ff ff
		];
		has-dpd;
		t-enter-dpd = <10000>;
		t-exit-dpd = <35000>;
	};
};

When I change the sample defines to:

#define SPI_FLASH_TEST_REGION_OFFSET 0x1000 // or any multiples of 4096 | default value sample was 0xff000

the sample runs perfectly.

*** Booting nRF Connect SDK v3.0.2-89ba1294ac9b ***
*** Using Zephyr OS v4.0.99-f791c49f492c ***

mx25r8035f@0 SPI flash testing
==========================

Perform test on single sector
Test 1: Flash erase
Flash erase succeeded!

Test 2: Flash write...Code

I’m now trying to add this new node to my DFU BLE app. When I configure it in my nrf5340dk_nrf5340_cpuapp.overlay and on my mcuboot.overlay:

&mx25r80 {
	status = "okay";
};

/ {
	chosen {
		nordic,pm-ext-flash = &mx25r80;
	};
};

But, I get the error:

devicetree error: /home/santos/Desktop/l9_e5_sol/l9_e5_sol/sysbuild/mcuboot.overlay:1 (column 1): parse error: undefined node label 'mx25r80'
CMake Error at /home/santos/ncs/v3.0.2/zephyr/cmake/modules/dts.cmake:305 (execute_process):
  execute_process failed command indexes:
  
    1: "Child return code: 1"

Call Stack (most recent call first):
  /home/santos/ncs/v3.0.2/zephyr/cmake/modules/zephyr_default.cmake:133 (include)
  /home/santos/ncs/v3.0.2/zephyr/share/zephyr-package/cmake/ZephyrConfig.cmake:66 (include)
  /home/santos/ncs/v3.0.2/zephyr/share/zephyr-package/cmake/ZephyrConfig.cmake:92 (include_boilerplate)
  CMakeLists.txt:18 (find_package)


-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
CMake Error at cmake/modules/sysbuild_extensions.cmake:514 (message):
  CMake configure failed for Zephyr project: mcuboot

  Location: /home/santos/ncs/v3.0.2/bootloader/mcuboot/boot/zephyr/
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  cmake/modules/sysbuild_images.cmake:43 (ExternalZephyrProject_Cmake)
  cmake/modules/sysbuild_default.cmake:21 (include)
  /home/santos/ncs/v3.0.2/zephyr/share/zephyr-package/cmake/ZephyrConfig.cmake:75 (include)
  /home/santos/ncs/v3.0.2/zephyr/share/zephyr-package/cmake/ZephyrConfig.cmake:92 (include_boilerplate)
  /home/santos/ncs/v3.0.2/zephyr/share/sysbuild-package/cmake/SysbuildConfig.cmake:8 (include)
  template/CMakeLists.txt:10 (find_package)


-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
See also "/home/santos/Desktop/l9_e5_sol/l9_e5_sol/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log".
FATAL ERROR: command exited with status 1: /home/santos/ncs/toolchains/7cbc0036f4/usr/local/bin/cmake -DWEST_PYTHON=/home/santos/ncs/toolchains/7cbc0036f4/usr/local/bin/python3.12 -B/home/santos/Desktop/l9_e5_sol/l9_e5_sol/build -GNinja -DBOARD=nrf5340dk/nrf5340/cpuapp -S/home/santos/ncs/v3.0.2/zephyr/share/sysbuild -DAPP_DIR:PATH=/home/santos/Desktop/l9_e5_sol/l9_e5_sol

Why isn’t my new node being recognized in my mcuboot.overlay?

I’ve attached this project to the final ticket.

Tanks in advance.

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../3482.l9_5F00_e5_5F00_sol.zip

RE: Issue Running DFU Sample on Custom Board with nRF5340 SDK v3.0.2

Amanda Hsieh — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 17:07:42 GMT

Do you also update the mcuboot.overlay and mcuboot.conf?

Could you provide the simple project for your ble dfu app?

RE: Issue Running DFU Sample on Custom Board with nRF5340 SDK v3.0.2

Amanda Hsieh — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 18:28:02 GMT

Hi,

I have tested your uploaded file with nRF5340DK. It can output the RTT log, advertise and update via BLE DFU without issue.

I would suggest you run zephyr/tree/main/samples/drivers/spi_flash to test your QSPI setting.

-Amanda H.

RE: Issue Running DFU Sample on Custom Board with nRF5340 SDK v3.0.2

Luis Santos — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 11:36:46 GMT

Hi Amanda,

Thanks for your reply.

I’m trying to perform DFU only on the APP Core.
Following the l9_e5_nrf5340_both_sol example and your configuration, the only difference I noticed is the fragment:

SB_CONFIG_MCUBOOT_MODE_OVERWRITE_ONLY=y

but even thought with this fragment, I got the same beahavior described above.

However, even with this fragment enabled, I still get the same behavior described earlier.

RE: Issue Running DFU Sample on Custom Board with nRF5340 SDK v3.0.2

Amanda Hsieh — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 17:10:28 GMT

Please refer to https://github.com/NordicDeveloperAcademy/ncs-inter/tree/main/l9/l9_e5_nrf5340_both_sol for using QSPI external flash.

RE: Issue Running DFU Sample on Custom Board with nRF5340 SDK v3.0.2

Luis Santos — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 16:45:49 GMT

Hello Amanda,

Thanks for your reply — your previous suggestion worked for me.

Now I’m trying to run the same sample using my custom project structure and external memory. I’m using an mx25r64 with the same pinout as on the nRF5340DK.

When I enable the fragment

SB_CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY=y,

my code doesn’t seem to run on the MCU, since neither RTT nor debug mode on app show any activity. However, when I set.

SB_CONFIG_PM_EXTERNAL_FLASH_MCUBOOT_SECONDARY=n,

I’m able to run DFU successfully.

Running the debug mode on mcu_boot, the code stop on loader.c:

        for (slot = 0; slot < BOOT_NUM_SLOTS; slot++) {
            fa_id = flash_area_id_from_multi_image_slot(image_index, slot);
            rc = flash_area_open(fa_id, &BOOT_IMG_AREA(state, slot));
            assert(rc == 0);

            if (rc != 0) {
                BOOT_LOG_ERR("Failed to open flash area ID %d (image %d slot %d): %d, "
                             "cannot continue", fa_id, image_index, (int8_t)slot, rc);
                             
                FIH_PANIC; <== Stoped here
            }
        }

Could you please review my code to check if there are any gaps or misconfigurations I may have missed?

Thanks in advance for your support.devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../l9_5F00_e5_5F00_sol.zip

RE: Issue Running DFU Sample on Custom Board with nRF5340 SDK v3.0.2

Amanda Hsieh — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 13:41:34 GMT

Hi,

[quote user=""]My goal is to perform DFU over BLE using external flash. However, before getting to that, I'm facing an issue that occurs even without enabling external flash.[/quote]

Try to also add the setting in mcuboot.conf file under the sysbuild folder.

Regards,
Amanda H.