nRF52840DK Freezes on Matter AddScene Command After Upgrading to nRF Connect SDK v2.9.2

Hi,

I'm developing firmware for the nRF52840 DK using nRF Connect SDK v2.9.2, and I’m running into a problem that didn’t occur in v2.8.0.

My project uses Zephyr and Matter (from the SDK), and includes the SceneManagement cluster using the default implementation via:

#include <app/clusters/scenes-server/scenes-server.h> 

The .zap file was originally created using the ZAP tool from SDK v2.8.0. After upgrading, I regenerated it using the updated ZAP tool from v2.9.2 to avoid version mismatches.

What Worked in v2.8.0

  • Device commissioned successfully with the Matter controller

  • All commands (including AddScene) worked as expected

  • No freezing or unexpected behavior

What’s Failing in v2.9.2 (and Later)

  • Device still commissions correctly

  • Most commands and attribute reads work

  • But when the controller sends an AddScene command, the device freezes

  • After the freeze, the device becomes unresponsive until manually reset

  • Retrying AddScene causes the same issue every time

I’ve also tested this on newer SDK versions, up to v3.0.2, and the issue still occurs.
So far, v2.8.0 is the last version where AddScene works properly.

Log Output Before Freeze

I: 25652 [EM]>>> [E:8195r S:57904 M:4530699] (S) Msg RX from 1:84ADB1584D83D5D4 [3B1D] to 0000000000000533 --- Type 0001:08 (IM:InvokeCommandRequest) (B:108)

No further logs appear after this point — it looks like the system hangs internally within the SDK.

Additional Context

  • I haven’t added any custom logic for the Scene cluster — using default server implementation only

  • The .zap file structure remains the same, just regenerated using the newer SDK’s ZAP tool

  • Other clusters (e.g., OnOff) continue to work without issues

  • I’ve reviewed the changelogs and known issues from v2.9.0 to v3.0.2, but couldn’t find anything relevant to this problem

My Questions

  1. Were there any changes to the Scene Management cluster between v2.8.0 and v2.9.2 that could explain this behavior?

  2. What’s the best way to approach debugging a system freeze like this within the Matter SDK?

Thanks in advance for your help!

  • Hello, 

    Were there any changes to the Scene Management cluster between v2.8.0 and v2.9.2 that could explain this behavior?

    There was a Matter specification update from v1.3 in nRF Connect SDK v2.8.0 to v1.4 in SDK v2.9.0.

     from the table on the Matter documentation launch page

    The Scenes management cluster definition in the specification is unchanged, and also provisional in both releases of the SDK. 

    I can see that there was quite a few additions to the scenes-server between 2.8.0 and 2.9.2, please take a look at this commit which includes most of the changes: https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-connectedhomeip/commit/0e766168d71cfd16c9fc310988ddd672e527de6c 

    What’s the best way to approach debugging a system freeze like this within the Matter SDK?

    If your Matter application is small enough, building with debugging optimizations with CMake or in the VS Code extension will enable common debugging options like higher logging level. This may shed some light on what is happening before the freeze, but it is likely that the freeze still happens when the application is built with debugging optimizations. 

    By running a debugging session when you send AddScene from the controller you could be able to find out where the freeze happens. Since it freezes when receiving the AddScene command I suggest adding some breakpoints in AddSceneParse to start and go from there. 

    If you have the network key for the underlying Thread network you can also capture the network traffic and analyze it with Wireshark. It could be interesting to also capture the traffic for the v2.8.0 version of the Matter device. 

    Hope these high-level tips are helpful! 

    Just to let you know, I will go on vacation today, but the case should be transferred to a colleague after some time. Apologies if this transfer causes some delays. 

    Best regards,

    Maria

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