nRF52840dk, unable to program firmware: Timed out waiting for response from worker

[Joel Guittet]

Hello,

Revival of an old nrf52840dk board I would like to use for another project, I'm trying to flash a sample application to it but it always fails with the following log:

-- west flash: using runner nrfutil
-- runners.nrfutil: reset after flashing requested
-- runners.nrfutil: Flashing file: /home/joel/ncs/v3.0.2/nrf/samples/peripheral/802154_phy_test/build/802154_phy_test/zephyr/zephyr.hex
-- runners.nrfutil: Erasing address ranges touched by firmware
-- runners.nrfutil: Programming image
Error: One or more batch tasks failed:
* 683326273: Timed out waiting for response from worker. (Generic)

FATAL ERROR: command exited with status 1: nrfutil --json device --x-ext-mem-config-file /home/joel/ncs/v3.0.2/zephyr/boards/nordic/nrf52840dk/support/nrf52840dk_qspi_nrfutil_config.json x-execute-batch --batch-path /home/joel/ncs/v3.0.2/nrf/samples/peripheral/802154_phy_test/build/802154_phy_test/zephyr/generated_nrfutil_batch.json --serial-number 683326273

I have tried to erase + recover the board, this is done successfully.

What should I check/do ?

Thanks for feedbacks!

Joel

[Vidar Berg]

Hello,

It's interesting that you are able to recover the board, but not load the hex file. Did you use "nrfutil device recover" for the recovery and is nrfutil up to date (you can update it by running "nrfutil self-upgrade && nrfutil upgrade"? 

Also, just to be sure, this is a nRF52840 DK and not a nRF52840 PDK board (P stands for preview)?

Thank you,

Vidar

[Joel Guittet]

Hello

Thanks for your answer. Update of nrfutil solved the issue!

I was running version 8.0.0 (2025-01-07). After self-updating I'm running nrfutil v8.1.1 (2025-08-21).

Board successfully flashed with a simple "west flash" after that.

Joel

[Vidar Berg]

Thanks for confirming it’s working now!