NRF9151 Failing Quick Start

RE: NRF9151 Failing Quick Start

john_enganalysis — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 21:40:16 GMT

Wow! I cannot believe I somehow missed this. There was even a jumper bouncing around loose in the box and I didnt see anywhere obvious for it. Thankyou very much for this!

RE: NRF9151 Failing Quick Start

Simon D-M — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 13:10:11 GMT

Hi,

By any chance, have you removed the jumper that was on the "nRF current measurement" 4 pins connector (P22) right above the USB-C "debugger" connector ?

This connector is used to measure the current that the nRF9151 uses. So when not used, the jumper has to get back on to allow the current to reach the nRF9151. Otherwise, the debugger is powered but the nRF9151 is not, which can explain the fact that the board is recognized but cannot do anything.

The jumper has to be on the 2 upper pins "VDD_nRF" and "VDD_5V". It is also possible to "permanently" connect these by soldering the solder bridge (SB34) but I wouldn't recommend it because you don't really gain anything by soldering it instead of putting back the jumper.

Here is the documentation about this connector (link).

Best regards,

Simon D-M

RE: NRF9151 Failing Quick Start

john_enganalysis — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 03:30:19 GMT

Hello - Thank you for the reply.

I have tried restarting my computer and using a different USB port. I am using a dock, and so tried also to plug directly into the MoBo. The error log was different but the behaviour was the same. Here is the log:

2026-01-12T21:36:24.596Z INFO Initialising the bundled nrfutil device
2026-01-12T21:36:24.605Z DEBUG Started watching devices
2026-01-12T21:36:25.466Z INFO Using the bundled core version for nrfutil device: 8.1.1
2026-01-12T21:36:25.506Z INFO Using nrfutil device version: 2.15.7
2026-01-12T21:36:25.506Z INFO Using nrf-device-lib version: 0.22.5
2026-01-12T21:36:25.507Z INFO Using nrf-probe version: 0.51.0
2026-01-12T21:36:25.507Z INFO Using SEGGER J-Link version: JLink_V8.98
2026-01-12T21:36:25.508Z INFO Your version of SEGGER J-Link (8.98) is newer than the one this app was tested with (8.76). The tested version is not required, and your J-Link version will most likely work fine. If you get issues related to J-Link with your devices, use the tested version.
2026-01-12T21:36:27.611Z DEBUG Selected device: nRF9151 DK
2026-01-12T21:36:27.643Z DEBUG Changed step: Info
2026-01-12T21:36:29.629Z DEBUG Changed step: Rename
2026-01-12T21:36:31.809Z DEBUG Changed step: Program
2026-01-12T21:36:34.561Z INFO Opened port with options: {"path":"COM10","baudRate":115200}
2026-01-12T21:36:38.596Z INFO Closed port: COM10
2026-01-12T21:36:39.194Z ERROR Failed to read the device information when setting up default external flash configuration. This is not critical, ignoring this error to allow the next operation to run, but we will probably hit it again on the next operation. The full error was: Device error: Setting the debug port SELECT register failed while powering up sys and debug regions (Unknown error in the J-Link DLL (error code =-1)).

This might indicate that the debug port is unavailable. Double-check device power supply and SWD lines, and ensure that SWD is not disabled

I HAVE tried running the blinky sample, to which I am greeted by this error message:

Lastly, the recovery command also did not work:

I feel like the fact that it says "Unknown Device" in connected devices could be a hint? But at the same time, in the nRF connect app my board IS correctly identified:

RE: NRF9151 Failing Quick Start

Simon D-M — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:16:56 GMT

Hi John,

I believe the error you are seeing is most likely a USB driver or a faulty USB port issue.

Let's start with the basics, have you tried restarting your computer, plugging the device into another USB port ? If you are using a dock, can you try to connect it directly to your computer. Are you sure all your driver are up-to-date (USB, dock, maybe even BIOS).

Have you ever tried programming the DK in any other way than with the Quick start? If you didn't can you try building and programming the "Blinky" sample ? If you are not sure on how to do it, you can follow the first lesson of our DevAcademy (link).

Finally, If that still doesn't work, can you try to run the command "nrfutil device recover" in the nRF Connect Terminal.

Tell me if any of this worked.

Best regards,

Simon D-M