ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 08:25:55 GMT

Hi,

[quote user="NANDHU NAKULAN"]The error started showing on four pre-production boards suddenly[/quote]

What was done to all the boards prior to when this happened? If all boards stopped working at the same time, there should be a common denominator.

[quote user="NANDHU NAKULAN"]We doubt this could be caused due to handling. The nrf52832 were assembled by our contract manufacture. Could you provide instructions on how to swap the chips?[/quote]

Here is a video on how to change a QFN IC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1PXEp0RQ7s

If you are unsure on how to do this, I would recommend getting help from a colleague or the contract manufacturer.

[quote user="NANDHU NAKULAN"]Also, are there any hardware checks we could do by probing any of nrf52832 pins? [/quote]

You can check the current consumption, and the voltage to ensure that is OK. You could also check certain GPIOs to see if they behave as defined in the firmware that is currently loaded onto the devices.

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 05:48:45 GMT

Hakson,

The error started showing on four pre-production boards suddenly. We doubt this could be caused due to handling. The nrf52832 were assembled by our contract manufacture. Could you provide instructions on how to swap the chips?

Also, are there any hardware checks we could do by probing any of nrf52832 pins?

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

Håkon Alseth — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 09:13:33 GMT

Nandhu, the device does not work as it should, meaning that something is wrong. This can be ESD damage while debugging (clear tape can cause this), or other issues. However; in order to figure this out, you need to debug your design to figure out what is wrong.

Try swap-testing, where you take a bad board and a good board, then swap the chip on those. See if the problem follows the nRF.

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 05:51:54 GMT

[quote user="hkn"]If the center-pad (or other connections) isn't properly soldered, you will see instabilities like these.[/quote]

Hakon, We don't think that the issue is due to solder problem ,because if this issue was due to solder problem it will show up from the initial stage of testing .Actually we started to face this issue only after a couple of weeks of testing, till then we were able to successfully read and write to the device.Also all the boards are showing up the issue simultaneously.

Note:- The hardware we are using is manufactured and passed the QA test from an authorized company.

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

Håkon Alseth — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 11:35:51 GMT

its the pad in the center of the chip (underneath it).

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 11:34:27 GMT

[quote user="hkn"]If the center-pad (or other connections) isn't properly soldered, you will see instabilities like these.[/quote]

What you mean by the center pad

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

Håkon Alseth — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 08:26:52 GMT

Have you tried reworking the devices that are not working? If the center-pad (or other connections) isn't properly soldered, you will see instabilities like these.

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 04:25:52 GMT

[quote user="hkn"]After recovering the device, did you flash the same .hex file to it again?[/quote]

After the device is recovered we didn't flashed any hex to the device. We just tried to read the device using nRF_Connect but the device is not detecting at all

Look the below screen shot of nRF_Connect .

We aren't able to read the device with no hex code in it.

We also tried to write the code to the device ,the same issue showed up

Please have a look in the screen shot

The device is not detecting.

[quote user="hkn"]For debugging purposes, try adding a nrf_delay_ms(100); in the top of your main, or add preprocessor define "DEBUG" to your project to enable blocking assertion[/quote]

We already added the "DEBUG" pre processor define in the project.

[quote user="hkn"]I also see that there are several mechanical links between the debugger and the nRF, are all these connections tested to be working?[/quote]

There is no issues in mechanical links between the debugger and the nrf because we are able to flash the code to our older version boards with the same debugger . The issues is showing only in our latest version boards.Also we have cross checked the mechanical links between the debugger and nrf and its showing good.

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 11:28:36 GMT

Hi Nandhu,

After recovering the device, did you flash the same .hex file to it again?

If there is a assertion occurring in the very beginning, it will be hard to recover again.

For debugging purposes, try adding a nrf_delay_ms(100); in the top of your main, or add preprocessor define "DEBUG" to your project to enable blocking assertions.

I also see that there are several mechanical links between the debugger and the nRF, are all these connections tested to be working?

PS: You should not use normal tape on electronics, as tape will generate a high ESD spike when applied, moved, or removed, and this can damage electronics. You should use ESD-safe tape.

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 04:19:26 GMT

[1.Can you verify that you can program one of our nRF52832 Dev Kits using the software on your PC? This will use the on board SWD programmer which might help isolate the issue.]

The above question is asked by an engineer from nordic to us .

yes , we can able to flash the codes on to nRF52832 Dev Kits using the software on our pc . Also we were able to flash the codes to the older boards(older version of boards). So we think our flashing hardware(j-link) is working fine.

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 08:59:47 GMT

[quote user="hkn"]Have you tried this on another PC?[/quote]

yes in all pc the same issues are showing.

Look these screen shot all your doubts will clear

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 08:56:57 GMT

Hakson,

Leave that error part in log terminal. Its came when i try to remove the connection between jlink and nrf device after waited for long time .

The only thing showing on the log terminal is "using nrfjprog to communicate with target" .

I told you already that without firmware the same issue is showing . Is there any solution for that?

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

Håkon Alseth — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 08:49:19 GMT

Could you share a picture of your physical setup (debugger + device)?

Have you tried this on another PC? The error messages shown now looks to be related to your debugger, not the actual connection to the nRF, as shown in your attached picture:

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 05:56:18 GMT

Is there any solution for these?

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 08:53:53 GMT

Below i attached the screen shot of batch file operation when the device is recovered

And also the screen shot of nrf_connect after these recover done.

Device should connect once in a 50 times attempt.

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 08:41:23 GMT

Then i want inform you these.

We have 4 four custom boards facing these issue.

Among those four i can able to recover one board by using batch file method you suggested .

With the help of nrf_connect app i erased the firmware inside it.

Then after sometimes i tried to connect the same device without firmware using nrf_connect app but the same issues where showing without firmware too. I can't read the device or erase device .

If the issue is with firmware then how the same issue showing after erasing the firmware?

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

Håkon Alseth — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 08:05:42 GMT

Number one reason for a "unresponsive device" is assertions occurring, where the default behavior is to do a system reset, ie. APP_ERROR_CHECK() or similar that is failing in the firmware that you flashed onto the device, which happens early in the boot-up process, and the debugger is then unable to access the DAP before the CPU restarts the whole chip.

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 08:02:47 GMT

[quote user="hkn"]If the device is resetting in the start of the boot-up procedure[/quote]

What are the reason for device reset ?Is it due to firmware present in it or due any other reason?

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

Håkon Alseth — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 07:56:39 GMT

If the device is resetting in the start of the boot-up procedure, as a product of an assert occurring, then it is hard to recover the device.

By running the .batch script, and continuously power cycling the device, while the script is running, there is a higher chance to successfully recover the device. If not, solder up a new device.

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 10:12:41 GMT

please reply

Please reply as soon as possible its a high priority issue to us.

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 07:03:55 GMT

When i used the batch file in command prompt to recover the device , its not recovering look the screen shot

Its not recovering .

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 05:04:05 GMT

[quote user="hkn"]Could you try the script that I linked to?[/quote]

yes i tried it but no result .

Look the screen shot below.When i used jlink commander for reading the device the below error are showing.

When i used command prompt to recover the device (custom board) below error are showing

Its was not recovering the device i don't known why?

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 13:11:15 GMT

Could you try the script that I linked to? If the device was flashed with a firmware that essentially puts it in a reset-loop, it might help you recover the device.

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

NANDHU — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 10:59:39 GMT

[quote user="hkn"]Showed a successful connection to the nRF52832 device.[/quote]

That image is from working board not from the boards showing these issue. Sorry for the confusion

[quote user="hkn"]But, what is interesting in your latest picture is that the sampled voltage is 0.00V. Is the "VREF" pin not connected to the 10 pin programming header?[/quote]

The voltage is not showing because i open the jlink commander without custom board connected to debugger that's why its look like that.

look these screen shot your doubt will clear

[quote user="hkn"]the 10 pin programming header[/quote]

we are programming through a 6 pin needle connector not a 10 pin .

we are only using(SWDIO,SWCLK,GND,VDD) .

RE: ISSUES DUE TO "UNABLE TO FIND OR OPEN THE JlinkARM.dll"

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 10:46:08 GMT

This image that you posted:

Showed a successful connection to the nRF52832 device.

If you had followed up with a "mem32 0, 100" that should have given you the first 100 words in flash.

What has likely happened with your device is that it is asserting, where it then resets. If this happens very early in the boot-up sequence, it is very hard to recover the chip, as it does take a bit of time before the debugger is successfully attaching to the device.

If that is the case, you can try this script: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/45078/nrf52832-not-connected-anymore-after-first-trying-to-debug-keil/177579#177579

But, what is interesting in your latest picture is that the sampled voltage is 0.00V. Is the "VREF" pin not connected to the 10 pin programming header? Your debugger does not have any information about the target voltage of your custom board, so it has to guess what it is (or; just try to connect with 3.0V).

Kind regards,

Håkon