I would like to be able to leave the bootloader installed and debug an application. I have been able to use the merge tools to get the hex files all merged and generate the crc etc.. That all works. The problem is that this data is incorrect when the application changes. I don't know of a way to modify the elf file to re-calculate the crc before debugging starts. Can this be done with the nordic tools?
Also, it seems that the buttonless dfu service can't be compiled without the bootloader present. Hence the need to debug the application with the bootloader installed.