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  • Case ID: 351386
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Visual Studio Code: Unable to find worker executable / Unable to flash target

radio200000

Hi all

Coming back to an nrf52840 project after some weeks, VScode nRF extension do not work anymore.

Trying to recover a board (nRF52840DK) gives error:

08:52:50] nrfutil-device recover --serial-number 001050261677 --json
[08:52:51] Error: One or more recover tasks failed:
* 1050261677: Unable to find worker executable: Custom { kind: NotFound, error: "Failed to find file plugin-probe-worker. Looked for file in <none>, <none>, /home/vsts/.cargo/registry/src/eu.files.nordicsemi.com-aeee3781a8ecf169/target/release/plugin-probe-worker and /home/developer/.vscode/extensions/nordic-semiconductor.nrf-connect-2025.9.754-linux-x64/platform/nrfutil/bin/plugin-probe-worker" } (Generic)

Trying to flash a binary to the target gives error:

Executing task: nRF Connect: Flash: <project-directory><project-name> (active)

Flashing <project-name> to nRF52840 DK
west flash -d /home/developer/work/<project-directory>/build --domain <project-name> --dev-id 1050261677

-- west flash: rebuilding
[0/10] Performing build step for '<project-name>'
ninja: no work to do.
[1/10] Performing build step for 'mcuboot'
ninja: no work to do.
[4/10] cd /home/developer/work/<project-directory>/build/_sysbuild && /home/developer/ncs/tool[7/9] cd /home/developer/work/<project-directory>/build/_sysbuild && /home/developer/ncs/toolc[8/9] cd /home/developer/work/<project-directory>/build/_sysbuild && /home/developer/ncs/toolchains/7cbc0036f4/usr/local/bin/cmake -E true
-- west flash: using runner nrfutil
-- runners.nrfutil: reset after flashing requested
FATAL ERROR: required program nrfutil not found; install it or add its location to PATH

Validating the toolchain gives no errors:

[09:09:41] =========== Toolchain validation report for nRF Connect SDK Toolchain v3.0.2 ===========
Package Using the nRF Connect SDK v3.0.2 at /home/developer/ncs/v3.0.2
No issues were detected with the toolchain.

Versions:

Visual Studio Code: 1.104.0

nRF Connect for VS Code Extension Pack: 2025.4.4

nRF Connect for VS Code: 2025.9.754

nRF DeviceTree: 2025.8.140

nRF Kconfig: 2025.9.123

nRF Terminal: 2025.8.103

Any idea what's wrong here?

Thanks!

--

Kind regards

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  • 0

    Hello,

    [08:52:51] Error: One or more recover tasks failed:
    * 1050261677: Unable to find worker executable: Custom { kind: NotFound, error: "Failed to find file plugin-probe-worker. Looked for file in <none>, <none>, /home/vsts/.cargo/registry/src/eu.files.nordicsemi.com-aeee3781a8ecf169/target/release/plugin-probe-worker and /home/developer/.vscode/extensions/nordic-semiconductor.nrf-connect-2025.9.754-linux-x64/platform/nrfutil/bin/plugin-probe-worker" } (Generic)

    This is an unfortunate bug introduced in recent update of our VS code extension. We are planning to make a new release to address this soon. In the meantime if you need to recover a board, please use the "nrfutil device recover" from the command line instead.

    FATAL ERROR: required program nrfutil not found; install it or add its location to PATH

    This indicates that the nRF Util executable is not found on your system. It's not part of the toolchain and needs to be installed separately following the instructions here: https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/nrfutil/page/guides/installing.html 

    Kind regards,

    Vidar

  • 0 in reply to Vidar Berg

    Thanks for your reply.

    Flashing the flash has worked before with my setup. So I guess it should still work even after an update of the extension.

    I found nrfutil in /home/developer/.config/nrfconnect/nrfutil-sandboxes/toolchain-manager/0.15.0/bin/nrfutil

    Is there something else that changed?

    Regards

  • 0 in reply to Vidar Berg

    I downloaded nrfutil from the link you provided and gave it the x-flag. I put it in /home/developer/bin which is in $PATH.

    When trying to flash from within VSCode, I get an error:

    Error: nrfutil command `device` not found. See `nrfutil list` for full list of installed commands, `nrfutil search` for installable commands, and `nrfutil install` for installation of new commands.

    Caused by:
    Subcommand nrfutil-device not found
    Error: nrfutil command `device` not found. See `nrfutil list` for full list of installed commands, `nrfutil search` for installable commands, and `nrfutil install` for installation of new commands.

    Caused by:
    Subcommand nrfutil-device not found
    Error: nrfutil command `device` not found. See `nrfutil list` for full list of installed commands, `nrfutil search` for installable commands, and `nrfutil install` for installation of new commands.

    Caused by:
    Subcommand nrfutil-device not found
    -- runners.nrfutil: Board with serial number 1050261677 flashed successfully.
    * Terminal will be reused by tasks, press any key to close it.

    Running your suggested command gives:

    ~/bin$ ./nrfutil device --version
    Error: nrfutil command `device` not found. See `nrfutil list` for full list of installed commands, `nrfutil search` for installable commands, and `nrfutil install` for installation of new commands.

    Caused by:
    Subcommand nrfutil-device not found

    Strange things.

    Regards

  • 0 in reply to radio200000

    The device command is installed with the following command: "nrfutil install device"

  • 0 in reply to Vidar Berg

    Ok, did not do that before. Now 

    ./nrfutil device --version

    Gives similar output as in your example.

    But flashing via VSCode extension gives a new error:

    Executing task: nRF Connect: Flash: <project-name>/<project-name> (active)

    Flashing <project-name> to nRF52840 DK
    west flash -d /home/developer/work/<project-directory>/build --domain <project-name> --dev-id 1050261677

    -- west flash: rebuilding
    [0/10] Performing build step for '<project-name>'
    ninja: no work to do.
    [1/10] Performing build step for 'mcuboot'
    ninja: no work to do.
    [8/9] cd /home/developer/work/<project-directory>/build/_sysbuild && /home/developer/ncs/toolchains/7cbc0036f4/usr/local/bin/cmake -E true
    -- west flash: using runner nrfutil
    -- runners.nrfutil: reset after flashing requested
    -- runners.nrfutil: Flashing file: /home/developer/work/<project-directory>/build/merged.hex
    Error: One or more batch tasks failed:
    * 1050261677: Timed out waiting for response from worker. (Generic)

    FATAL ERROR: command exited with status 1: nrfutil --json device --x-ext-mem-config-file /home/developer/ncs/v3.0.2/zephyr/boards/nordic/nrf52840dk/support/nrf52840dk_qspi_nrfutil_config.json x-execute-batch --batch-path /home/developer/work/<project-directory>/build/generated_nrfutil_batch.json --serial-number 1050261677

    * The terminal process terminated with exit code: 1.
    * Terminal will be reused by tasks, press any key to close it.

  • 0 in reply to radio200000

    Team just pushed a new release (2025.9.789 -> 2025.9.798). I confirmed that this fixed the issue on my end as well.

    radio200000 said:
    Gives similar output as in your example.

    Are you able to successfully run "nrfutil device recover" from the terminal?

  • 0 in reply to Vidar Berg

    Unfortunately, that does not work either:

    ~/bin$ ./nrfutil device recover
    X Failed to recover 1050261677, Timed out waiting for response from worker. Error: One or more recover tasks failed:
    * 1050261677: Timed out waiting for response from worker. (Generic)

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