nRF52840 Dongle BLE issue

RE: nRF52840 Dongle BLE issue

Adnan Ashraf — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 20:15:23 GMT

Hi Hung,

Thank you very much for the solution, it worked flawlessly.

Just to add some additional context for others, if the application is intended to run on multiple boards, a sysbuild.cmake file can be used (as mentioned in the linked post) to apply the pm_static.yml only for the nRF52840 dongle. For example:

if(SB_CONFIG_BOARD_NRF52840DONGLE)
  set(PM_STATIC_YML_FILE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/boards/nrf52840dongle_nrf52840_pm_static.yml CACHE INTERNAL "")
endif()

Thanks again for the help.

Best,
Adnan

RE: nRF52840 Dongle BLE issue

Hung Bui — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 14:09:51 GMT

Hi Adnan,

I think I found what's wrong. You can find the explanation from Vidar in this ticket: nRF52840 dongle, BLE peripheral_uart example, SDK migration from 2.6.0 to 2.9.0

Basically you need to add a pm_static.yml file into your project (if you only compile it for the dongle) due to the settings storage is at the same location as the bootloader on the dongle, by default.

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../0652.pm_5F00_static.yml

RE: nRF52840 Dongle BLE issue

Adnan Ashraf — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 22:10:31 GMT

Hi Hung,

Thank you for your response.

Yes, I confirmed that the application is built with the nrf52840dongle/nrf52840 board target.

I have not tried a second dongle yet. However, the same dongle works correctly when programmed via the nRF Connect for Desktop Bluetooth Low Energy app, which suggests that the BLE hardware itself is functioning properly.

I have now also tested the peripheral_lbs sample, and I'm seeing the same behavior that BLE does not start and the application appears to stall at bt_enable(). This occurs with both NCS 3.1.1 / Toolchain 3.1.1 and NCS 3.2.0 / Toolchain 3.2.0.

Thanks again for your help.

Best,
Adnan

RE: nRF52840 Dongle BLE issue

Hung Bui — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 12:34:47 GMT

Hi Adnan,
I assume you selected the nRF52840 dongle as the board when you build the application.

Have you tried with a 2nd dongle or other sample, for example peripheral_lbs ?

What you described should be sufficient to run an BLE application (compile with nRF52840 dongle and flash using the USB bootloader mode )