Flashing custom nRF52 (Bootloader, SoftDevice, Application)

[Dani]

Good morning,

Is it always required to use Segger J-Link in order to flash Bootloader, Softdevice and Application to a new device?

Could you summarize the different possibilities we have to flash any of these parts?

Furthermore, and regarding the nRF52840: is it possible to use the USB port to flash the device?

Best regards.

[Toyman]

you need J-Link to flash bootloader. The Softdevice and the application can be flashed OTA

[Vidar Berg]

As Toyman mentioned, you need to program the chip with a bootloader first in order to enable FW update over USB,etc. Different options for programming the chips in production are summarized in this guide: http://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/com.nordic.infocenter.gs/dita/gs/prod_test_prog.html?cp=1_0_6  

[Dani]

I have this function as depiced in the following picture:

And the result in what regards time is the same...

[Vidar Berg]

Please comment out the code used to disable the Softdevice and stop the app timer. Also, do you have debug logging enabled in your app to see if the shutdown handler gets called right away?

[Dani]

I get same results with function as in the following picture...

I was not in debugging mode: I will try it....

[Dani]

I have some more info: I have taken again the Smartphone and I have used nRFToolbox instead of nRFConnect, and DFU is also working. When selecting DFU, I select my device and then the zip file. Then, I push 'Upload', and file uploading starts after a few seconds (around 30"). During this seconds, the messages shown at the bottom are the following ones:

- Starting DFU --> Starting Bootloader --> Connecting --> Starting DFU --> File Uploading (upload percentage is shown).

So, what I have such differences depending on the tool I use to carry out DFU process?

All the best,

Dani.

[Dani]

Hi again,

I'm using SDK_15_2: when I try to set NO_VALIDATION (in order to allow me debugging the application), I get the following message:

How can I debug my app with DFU, then?

Best regards,

Dani.

[Vidar Berg]

Hi Dani,

The 15.2 bootloader does not support this option. If you need to disable CRC checking you can change the nrf_bootloader.c::crc_on_valid_app_required() function so it always returns false.

Best regards,

Vidar

[Dani]

OK, thank you.

And what about the time difference when carrying out DFU with nRFToolbox?

Best regards,

Dani

[Vidar Berg]

It's hard for me to say, I have not experienced this difference when testing with the original bootloader and buttonless implementation. Did you see this with the original buttonless template app as well?