Failure in ble_stack_init during startup

[SteveHx]

We are trying to bring up a new run of an existing PCB design. No changes in the area of the processor, but a different assembly house. The first call inside ble_stack_init, a call to nrf_sdh_enable_request(), fails and returns an error code of 8. No reference anywhere gives a usable explanation.

Strangely, if started by "copying" the hex file onto the Jlink "drive" (the nRF52832 DevKit), it succeeds.

What should we be looking for?

[Vidar Berg]

Hello,

It seems like the issue might be with how the firmware is programmed since it appears to work when you use drag&drop programming. How are you programming the device when it fails? Is the same error also returned after a reset? Note that the "SoftDevice enable" function may return NRF_ERROR_INVALID_STATE (8) if the debugger forces execution to start from the application start address instead of address 0x0. This prevents the softdevice's reset handler from running on startup.

Best regards,

Vidar

[SteveHx]

I was starting it from SES (Segger) just as I have on dozens of previous nRF52832 projects, and indeed successfully on previous runs of this board. So there's something different in the hardware, and I'm asking where to look. What sort of "invalid state" is likely?

[SteveHx]

I'm not sure if you fixed something on the website, or my poking around and installing some other commands first fixed it, but it seems to have worked. Now I need to go back to your previous instructions and try again.

2026-06-19  8:57:44.36 d:\Download>nrfutil install toolchain-manager
[00:00:03] ###### 100% [Install packages] Install packages
2026-06-19  8:58:17.81 d:\Download>nrfutil install trace
[00:00:06] ###### 100% [Install packages] Install packages
2026-06-19  8:58:35.05 d:\Download>nrfutil install device
[00:00:05] ###### 100% [Install packages] Install packages
2

[SteveHx]

2026-06-19  9:01:12.66 d:\Download>nrfjprog --memrd 0x40000400
0x40000400: 00000000                              |....|

2026-06-19  9:03:16.55 d:\Download>nrfutil device read --address 0x40000400 --direct
682528135
0x40000400: 00000000                              |....|

So, this reports RESETREAS as all zero, just as my code did. I'm not sure what the second line does, but I think that's the startup value of the stack pointer.

Next?

[Vidar Berg]

Please confirm whether you changed your code so that it is no longer clearing the RESETREAS register. This step is essential for this test. The second line there is the serial number of the debugger and is not a valid memory address.

[SteveHx]

Yes, and I deleted all extraneous code prior to the BLE initialization. It still crashes in the same place and resets.

[SteveHx]

I find that the Beacon example (hex files) runs fine both from drag&drop and from power up. Thus I looked at the source code in main.c for that example, and tried to make my startup identical. It was a struggle, with unresolved references, but by including a bunch of extraneous (to our application) headers, and ble_lbs.c, I was able to get it to work - sort of.

The main additions were log_init(), leds_init(), and buttons_init(), none of which are relevant to our application. If I comment out the call to buttons_init(), it runs exactly as before - just fine from drag&drop, hangs in ble_stack_init() from power up. With the call to buttons_init() included, ble_stack_init() trips two errors. The calls to both nrf_sdh_enable_request() and nrf_sdh_ble_enable() return an error code of 8. I have bypassed the APP_ERROR_CHECK calls because they do nothing useful for me, so it's not surprising that the second call above would return the same error code as the first.

So the two bottom line questions:

1) What is different (and why) in the reset process from drag&drop vs. powerup?

2) What is different between the E1 and E0 revs of the nRF52832QFAA chips?