Error -13 when using nrfCloud location services from Thingy91x

RE: Error -13 when using nrfCloud location services from Thingy91x

cjhorne — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 14:33:02 GMT

Hi Benjamin,

I managed to get it working in the end without having to run the script and install my own certs.

I knew that the Thingy91x device must registered ok in nrfcloud, as the default hello.nrfcloud firmware initially installed on the device worked. I also knew that I had not overwritten the modem firmware when I had flashed my own application firmware to the device, so I knew the certs should still be there. It was a matter of working out the correct config settings to get the correct cert used for authentication. Eventually after a lot of trial and error I got there, and now it's working perfectly.

Thanks for your help though

Chris

RE: Error -13 when using nrfCloud location services from Thingy91x

Benjamin — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:27:06 GMT

Thanks,

In that case, the issue becomes clearer. This sample uses security tag 16842753, and you must use the device_credentials_installer script. The credentials used in the hello.nrfcloud firmware will not work.

Regards,
Benjamin

RE: Error -13 when using nrfCloud location services from Thingy91x

cjhorne — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:06:48 GMT

Hi Benjamin,

We have actually based our code on the nrf_cloud_coap_cell_location application, but heavily customised. I included the security tag information from the prj.conf file in my original post. Are we able to use the hello.nrfcloud security tag? Below is a log from where we have tried to use GNSS (not A-GNSS) with a fallback to cellular. If we try A-GNSS we get the same error -13 when it attempts to download the A-GNSS files.

[00:00:27.171,661] <inf> location: Method specific timeout expired
[00:00:27.178,955] <inf> location: Location retrieval failed using 'GNSS', trying with 'Cellular' next
[00:00:27.189,025] <inf> nrf_cloud_coap_cell_location_sample: Entering Func: location_event_handler
[00:00:27.198,516] <inf> nrf_cloud_coap_cell_location_sample: Location fallback: Timeout -> Cellular
%NCELLMEAS: 0,"01991102","26201","05D8",130,1300,120,38,10,28660,6400,212,57,21,24,6400,477,55,16,24,6400,149,51,9,24,1444,335,43,20,33,20119
[00:00:29.600,280] <inf> nrf_cloud_coap_cell_location_sample: Entering Func: lte_event_handler
%NCELLMEAS: 0,"01991102","26201","05D8",130,20119,1300,120,37,9,28984,1,0,"019A9301","26201","05D8",65535,0,1300,213,40,13,28984,0,0,"019A9300","26201","05D8",65535,0,1300,215,31,-4,28984,0,0,"01991105","26201","05D8",65535,0,6400,212,57,21,29041,0,0,"019A9310","26201","05D8",65535,0,6400,477,54,14,29041,0,0
[00:00:29.964,752] <inf> nrf_cloud_coap_cell_location_sample: Entering Func: lte_event_handler
[00:00:29.981,048] <err> location: Failed to acquire location using cloud location, error: -13
[00:00:29.990,631] <err> location: Location acquisition failed and fallbacks are also done
[00:00:29.999,572] <inf> nrf_cloud_coap_cell_location_sample: Entering Func: location_event_handler
[00:00:30.009,307] <err> nrf_cloud_coap_cell_location_sample: Location request failed

Hope this is usefull.

Thanks

Chris

RE: Error -13 when using nrfCloud location services from Thingy91x

Benjamin — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 10:23:09 GMT

Hi Chris,

Sorry for the delay. You are correct that the device stores credentials in the modem. Other applications, such as nrf_cloud_coap_cell_location, use a different security tag than the hello.nrfcloud firmware. However, if your firmware is based on hello.nrfcloud, the security tag should remain the same. What changes did you make to your firmware?

With the new firmware, do you see any communication with nRF Cloud at all, or is only the A-GNSS failing? If possible, please provide the full log and modem traces.

Best regards,
Benjamin

RE: Error -13 when using nrfCloud location services from Thingy91x

cjhorne — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 12:44:36 GMT

Hi Benjamin,

Thanks for replying.

Isn't the device already onboarded though as part of the scan of the QR code on the Thingy91x, and confirmation that the device is showing on the hello.nrfcloud page in the browser. It must be onboarded with coap enabled as the oob firmware was succesfully uploading data to nrfcloud via coap, which was displayed in the hello.nrfcloud page. I'm trying to connect to nrfCloud as the same onboarded device. My understanding is that certs and keys are held in the modem secure storage, which i am not touching when flashing the custom firmware to the nrf9151.

Chris

RE: Error -13 when using nrfCloud location services from Thingy91x

Benjamin — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 12:30:17 GMT

Hi Chris,

The error you get is -EACCES, meaning the device does not have a valid nRF Cloud CoAP connection.

In your custom firmware, are you able to see any communication to nRF Cloud at all? Please try to follow this guide. Note that you need to run the device_credentials_installer.py script with the --coap argument.

Regards,
Benjamin