nRF52840 DK board developed off Hardware files v3.0.3 would like to get the on-board SEGGER J-Link debugger flashed on the board

[chuck rekiere]

Hi,

We had a nRF52840 DK board developed off Hardware files v3.0.3 build.  The manufacturer didn't have any of the MCU or SEGGER J-Link debugger files on the device.  We are using SDK 3.0.2.

The board built is exactly like the nRF52840. 

What has been tried

• Is the j-link-ob-sam3u128-v2-nordicsemi-170724.bin the file to put on the board.
  
  • Tried to do the hold reset and turn on the board power , hold reset and over usb a storage device will show up and the above .bin needed to be moved to the storage devicer and the MCU would program.   The LED only blinked and turned off and the storage device didn't show up.
    docs.nordicsemi.com/.../if_mcu.html
• Connected the nordic nRF52840 DK Debug out (10 pin) to the nRF52840 DK build board Debug in.  The board didn't show up . (had previously done with a Fanstel and it worked)

So which steps need to be done to get the MCU / SEGGER J-Link debugger flashed / programmed onto the nRF52840 board .  Do we need to purchase a J-Link SEGGER programmer? 

• If so which model of J-Link SEGGER programmer ?
• How would the J-Link SEGGER be connected to the board?

Can the nRF52840 DK (nordic) be used to Flash the MCU / SEGGER J-Link debugger onto the nRF52840 DK (build) ?

• https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/ug_nrf5340_dk/page/UG/dk/ext_programming_support_P20.html

Would prefer the simplest and reproducible method as will need to use in production.

The basic question is have build an nRF53840 board and need to get the MCU and the SEGGER J-Link debugger on the boards.

Input appreciated

[chuck rekiere]

Thank-you PaKa,


Completed an example of how to use the GPIO pin to put the nRF52840 Dongle into DFU mode.

(to bad cannot change the title as it eventually became how to program the nRF52840 dongle).

Used the following command to convert the hex to zip
nrfutil pkg generate --hw-version 52 --sd-req=0x00 --application zephyr.hex --application-version 1 app.zip

This command to flash
nrfutil device program --firmware app.zip --traits nordicDfu

src/main.c

/*
 * USB Serial with argc/argv style command parsing
 */
#include <zephyr/kernel.h>
#include <zephyr/sys/printk.h>
#include <zephyr/usb/usb_device.h>
#include <zephyr/drivers/uart.h>
#include <zephyr/drivers/gpio.h>
#include <string.h>

BUILD_ASSERT(DT_NODE_HAS_COMPAT(DT_CHOSEN(zephyr_console), zephyr_cdc_acm_uart),
             "Console device is not ACM CDC UART device");

const struct device *const dev = DEVICE_DT_GET(DT_CHOSEN(zephyr_console));

#define DFU_PIN 19
#define LED_RED   8
#define LED_GREEN 6
#define LED_BLUE  12

#define MAX_CMD_LEN 64
#define MAX_ARGS    8

static char cmd_buffer[MAX_CMD_LEN];
static char *argv[MAX_ARGS];
static int argc = 0;
static uint8_t cmd_idx = 0;          // ← Fixed: was missing

static bool blink_red = false, blink_green = false, blink_blue = false;
static uint32_t blink_counter = 0;
static uint32_t blink_interval = 25;        // medium

const struct device *gpio0 = DEVICE_DT_GET(DT_NODELABEL(gpio0));

void set_led(int pin, bool on)
{
    gpio_pin_configure(gpio0, pin, GPIO_OUTPUT);
    gpio_pin_set(gpio0, pin, !on);
}

static void parse_command(void)
{
    char *saveptr;
    char *token;
    argc = 0;

    token = strtok_r(cmd_buffer, " \t\r\n", &saveptr);
    while (token && argc < MAX_ARGS) {
        argv[argc++] = token;
        token = strtok_r(NULL, " \t\r\n", &saveptr);
    }
}

void enter_dfu_mode(void)
{
    printk("\r\n\r\n>>> Entering DFU Bootloader mode <<<\r\n");
    gpio_pin_configure(gpio0, DFU_PIN, GPIO_OUTPUT);
    gpio_pin_set(gpio0, DFU_PIN, 0);
    k_sleep(K_MSEC(500));
    NVIC_SystemReset();
}

void normal_reset(void)
{
    printk("\r\n\r\n>>> Normal Reset <<<\r\n");
    k_sleep(K_MSEC(100));
    NVIC_SystemReset();
}

void update_blinking(void)
{
    blink_counter++;
    if (blink_counter % blink_interval == 0) {
        bool state = (blink_counter / blink_interval) % 2;
        if (blink_red)   set_led(LED_RED, state);
        if (blink_green) set_led(LED_GREEN, state);
        if (blink_blue)  set_led(LED_BLUE, state);
    }
}

int main(void)
{
    uint32_t dtr = 0;

    if (usb_enable(NULL)) return 0;

    while (!dtr) {
        uart_line_ctrl_get(dev, UART_LINE_CTRL_DTR, &dtr);
        k_sleep(K_MSEC(100));
    }

    gpio_pin_configure(gpio0, DFU_PIN, GPIO_OUTPUT);
    gpio_pin_set(gpio0, DFU_PIN, 1);
    set_led(LED_RED, false);
    set_led(LED_GREEN, false);
    set_led(LED_BLUE, false);

    printk("\r\n=== nRF52840 Dongle Ready ===\r\n");
    printk("argc/argv style command parsing enabled\r\n");
    printk("Examples:\r\n");
    printk("  led red on\r\n");
    printk("  led all blink\r\n");
    printk("  led speed fast\r\n");
    printk("  dfu | reset\r\n> ");

    while (1) {
        uint8_t ch;

        update_blinking();

        if (uart_poll_in(dev, &ch) == 0) {
            printk("%c", ch);

            if (ch == '\r' || ch == '\n') {
                cmd_buffer[cmd_idx] = '\0';

                if (cmd_idx > 0) {
                    parse_command();

                    if (argc > 0) {
                        if (strcmp(argv[0], "dfu") == 0) {
                            enter_dfu_mode();
                        }
                        else if (strcmp(argv[0], "reset") == 0) {
                            normal_reset();
                        }
                        else if (strcmp(argv[0], "led") == 0 && argc >= 2) {
                            if (strcmp(argv[1], "red") == 0 && argc >= 3) {
                                if (strcmp(argv[2], "on") == 0)      { blink_red = false; set_led(LED_RED, true); }
                                else if (strcmp(argv[2], "off") == 0) { blink_red = false; set_led(LED_RED, false); }
                                else if (strcmp(argv[2], "blink") == 0) blink_red = true;
                            }
                            else if (strcmp(argv[1], "all") == 0 && argc >= 3) {
                                if (strcmp(argv[2], "on") == 0) {
                                    blink_red = blink_green = blink_blue = false;
                                    set_led(LED_RED, true); set_led(LED_GREEN, true); set_led(LED_BLUE, true);
                                }
                                else if (strcmp(argv[2], "off") == 0) {
                                    blink_red = blink_green = blink_blue = false;
                                    set_led(LED_RED, false); set_led(LED_GREEN, false); set_led(LED_BLUE, false);
                                }
                                else if (strcmp(argv[2], "blink") == 0) {
                                    blink_red = blink_green = blink_blue = true;
                                }
                            }
                            else if (strcmp(argv[1], "speed") == 0 && argc >= 3) {
                                if (strcmp(argv[2], "fast") == 0)   blink_interval = 8;
                                else if (strcmp(argv[2], "medium") == 0) blink_interval = 25;
                                else if (strcmp(argv[2], "slow") == 0)   blink_interval = 60;
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }

                cmd_idx = 0;
                printk("\r\n> ");
            }
            else if (cmd_idx < MAX_CMD_LEN - 1) {
                cmd_buffer[cmd_idx++] = (char)ch;
            }
        }

        k_sleep(K_MSEC(10));
    }
}

app.overlay 

	};

prj.conf

CONFIG_USB_DEVICE_STACK=y
CONFIG_USB_DEVICE_PRODUCT="nRF52840 Dongle"
CONFIG_USB_DEVICE_PID=0x0004
CONFIG_USB_DEVICE_INITIALIZE_AT_BOOT=n

CONFIG_SERIAL=y
CONFIG_CONSOLE=y
CONFIG_UART_CONSOLE=y
CONFIG_UART_LINE_CTRL=y
CONFIG_UART_INTERRUPT_DRIVEN=y
CONFIG_GPIO=y