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The nRF52840 dongle can no longer be accessed after flashing hex file

Frank

Hi Nordic Support, community,

 

After I flashed, the connectivity hex, ble_connectivity_s140_usb_hci_pca10059.hex from the SDK v15 downloaded after executing the patch on the PC BLE driver package,via the Programmer applic (provided via nRFConnect) on Windows 10 Pro, I lost connectivity on Windows 10 with the USB dongle.

 

 

The nRF dongle was no longer visible in the Windows Device Manager and when plugged in the red LED was not blinking anymore after pressing the "RESET" button on the dongle. 

I googled around and searched on the Dev Zone, I found a ticket that described how to re-install the drivers, so with the help of Zadig, I was able to see back my dongle in Windows Device Manager as SDFU device in the COM section and in the Nordic Programming applic.

This time I reflashed the dongle with the example applic, the ble_app_blink_pca10059.hex from the latest SDK v15. The dongle stopped blinking red, and a green led is lit, not blinking but steady. However when replugging the USB dongle it is no longer recognized nor in the Device Manager nor in the nRFConnect applics, and there is no USB-JLINK connectivity more in SEGGER IDE. 

Unfortunately the trick with Zadig no longer applies as the device is no longer listed and no windows composite driver can be applied. 

Any idea how to proceed further, can the dongle be bricked after flashing it via the Programming app, as far as I could see no conflicts (or overlap) were reported during the process?

BTW if I insert the dongle the green LED immediately is on, no chance to go into booting and DFU mode anymore (meaning no more red led blinking). 

I also described my first issue here after flashing the connectivity hex :

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/38504/use-nrf52-dk-or-nrf52-usb-dongle-without-nrfconnect

Thanks in advance,

Frank

UPDATE:

Nor sure if this is relevant information. But this can also be seen in Windows. Windows sees a Nordic_Blinky device... 

However after adding it nothing much happens... 

Ok, so now I can access it wireless (BT) via the nRFConnect APP running on the mobile to enable or disable the LED. But still no way to access it on the Windows desktop to upload firmware. 

What can be done to make it visible again... or to get it back into DFU mode.

Parents Reply Children
  • 0 in reply to zsnave

    Hi zsnave, 

    Indeed this should be the solution but it does not do that anymore, when pressing the RESET button on the dongle the red LED doesn't start to blink anymore. I don't think the dongle is broken as the key press is detected in the nRFConnect app running on a smartphone when connected via BT. As described also the red and green led can be activated via the nRFConnect app on the smartphone.

    I plugged the dongle in other USB ports  and also in a different PC running Windows 10 but the nRF52 dongle is no LONGER detected by the  Windows OS. In the  Windows Device manager the dongle is no longer listed. 

    So when it is not detected the nRFConnect desktop applic is not able to see it do any firmware upload anymore. A

    I have done plenty of stuff but so far without any succes, example, removed the Nordic USB drivers, re-installed them via installing back the nRFConnect applic.

    Also the Zadig applic doesn't see the device anymore to install a generic Windows USB driver.

    So it seems after uploading (via the Programming applic from the nRFConnect suite)  the blinky applic from the SDK v15, latest version, the dongle is somewhat bricked. 

    Anyhow thanks for replying.

    Best regards,

    Frank

  • 0 in reply to zsnave

    Hi zsnave,

    I had a much better look at the dongle, and it seems I pushed the wrong button so far. 

    The "extremely small" reset button is next to the big WHITE button that I wrongly thought was the reset button, despite I looked at the Nordic documentation... Yeah with aging the eyes don't improve so I missed the small button in front of the big white one!

    Thanks for putting my attention/FOCUS back to the RESET button, however I thought the dongle would always be seen by the device manager also when it is not in DFU booting mode. 

    The first time you plug it into the USB port no firmware is present and so it is by default in DFU booting mode, and lights up the red LED in blinking mode .

    The moment firmware is flashed into it, it seems the USB dongle is no longer visible in the device manager of Windows... . 

    However I'm wondering if additional drivers are not missing... 

    Before flashing the hex, I saw something different than SDFU, and also in the nRFConnect desktop applic a Nordic annotation was present, it was more than just Serial port COMM10. 

    Best regards,

    Frank

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