Custom boards bricked after erasing and uploading Soft Device hex using nRFgo Studio

RE: Custom boards bricked after erasing and uploading Soft Device hex using nRFgo Studio

matomback — Tue, 05 May 2020 14:29:43 GMT

Hi Hakon,

Sorry dropped the ball on this one. We eventually discovered that a hardware issue was the culprit. A mistake in assembly (incorrect passive component placed) caused the problem. Though the tip to discontinue our use of the deprecated nRFgo studio was helpful and appreciated.

Best,
Matthew

RE: Custom boards bricked after erasing and uploading Soft Device hex using nRFgo Studio

Håkon Alseth — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 15:07:54 GMT

Hi Matt,

Sorry for the late reply.

I've checked around with my colleagues, and we have not gotten any reports that boards programmed through nrfgo studio is not working. We have this one, where "erase all" had to be issued prior to programming (which is recommended anyway) :

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/54806/issue-with-nrf52832-firmware-installation

Could you try to connect via J-Link Commander, and see if it is able to detect the nRF52832 (cortex m4 core) on the non-working boards?

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: Custom boards bricked after erasing and uploading Soft Device hex using nRFgo Studio

matomback — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 15:23:35 GMT

Hi Håkon,

I did. I was continuously removing and inserting the battery, and tried to do so at different intervals/timing but was unable to recover the device. I also did upgrade nrfjprog which did not seem to have any effect.

Yes I was thinking the same. I will stay away from nRFgo Studio from now on but I'm surprised the boards could have been bricked like this while using it. I had not enabled any specific programming options and just used the default settings after opening the nRFgo Studio application.

Any other thoughts or ways I can try to debug/troubleshoot the issue?

Thanks,

Matt

RE: Custom boards bricked after erasing and uploading Soft Device hex using nRFgo Studio

Håkon Alseth — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 15:05:21 GMT

Hi Matt,

[quote user="matomback"]Thanks for your support. Unfortunately the looping batch script did not seem to work. I tried for a while with both "nrfjprog -e" and "nrfjprog --recover". Still getting the same error messages and unable to see or access the external nRF board. Is there any other command I should try? Or another way to detect or recover the device if it's asserting the way you describe?[/quote]

When this script is running, did you try toggling the power to the custom board simultaneously (ie: removing and inserting the battery) and see if it then was able to successfully recover it?

Did you also upgrade nrfjprog?

[quote user="matomback"]With this information in mind, is there anything specific that nRFgo studio could have done to cause the issues with the boards? Anything else I can try in order to recover them? I am still unable to see or program via any of the tools (nrfjprog, nRF connect, nRFgo studio).[/quote]

nRFgo studio is deprecated, and is not recommended to use with the nRF5-series devices, but it shouldn't have this effect on the boards.

Did you enable any specific programming options in nRFgo Studio?

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: Custom boards bricked after erasing and uploading Soft Device hex using nRFgo Studio

matomback — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 23:06:47 GMT

Hi Håkon,

It seems the problem was using nRFgo Studio specifically. I was able to get another of the prototype boards to work correctly after programming our merged hex application and clearing and then loading the soft device using the command "nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program s132_nrf52_6.1.1_softdevice.hex --chiperase".

I was aware that nRFgo studio was deprecated and can cause issues when using with the a DFU bootloader application. However I thought that this would be a run-time error rather than something that could brick the device just by clearing the application and programming the soft device hex.

With this information in mind, is there anything specific that nRFgo studio could have done to cause the issues with the boards? Anything else I can try in order to recover them? I am still unable to see or program via any of the tools (nrfjprog, nRF connect, nRFgo studio).

Thanks

RE: Custom boards bricked after erasing and uploading Soft Device hex using nRFgo Studio

matomback — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 17:26:24 GMT

Hi Håkon,

Thanks for your support. Unfortunately the looping batch script did not seem to work. I tried for a while with both "nrfjprog -e" and "nrfjprog --recover". Still getting the same error messages and unable to see or access the external nRF board. Is there any other command I should try? Or another way to detect or recover the device if it's asserting the way you describe?

Or could the issue be something else? I had performed an "erase-all" within nRFgo to remove the code on the board before I loaded the soft device, which bricked the board. Could this have left some element of the DFU bootloader or bootloader settings or other aspect of the application on the device? Or would the external nRF have been clear at this point?

I could try to use nrfjprog to program the soft device alone onto a blank board that hasn't been programmed yet... if that works it would seem the issue was caused via nRFgo or by erasing the merged application before loading the soft device. But we only have 10 prototype boards and until I can recover the bricked boards I would like to be somewhat careful in programming the others!

Looking forward to your thoughts. Any additional feedback or guidance is appreciated.

Thanks!

Matt

RE: Custom boards bricked after erasing and uploading Soft Device hex using nRFgo Studio

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 12:54:11 GMT

Hi Matt,

[quote user="matomback"]The remaining blank, unprogrammed prototype boards are functioning normally with the same setup.[/quote]

This indicates that the physical setup is OK.

Could it be that the firmware you loaded into the devices are asserting early on in the process? The default assertion behavior is to issue a soft-reset, which lowers the timing window for the debugger to access the device. If this has happened with your devices, you can try to loop "nrfjprog -e" while you cycle the power to the custom board (plug in and out the battery). A batch script for this can be found here:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/45078/nrf52832-not-connected-anymore-after-first-trying-to-debug-keil/177579#177579

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: Custom boards bricked after erasing and uploading Soft Device hex using nRFgo Studio

matomback — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 16:14:47 GMT

Hi Håkon,

Thanks for your response. Yes, the external board is being powered with 3.3V, and i have tried multiple batteries. The remaining blank, unprogrammed prototype boards are functioning normally with the same setup. They are visible in nRFgo upon connecting and I am able to upload the merged hex file (with DFU bootloader + Soft Device + Application) to these boards. It's only the two that I had erased and then uploaded the softdevice hex alone that are no longer visible after connecting the battery and the nRF52-DK for programming.

Will update nrfjprog - thanks for catching that.

Regards,
Matt

RE: Custom boards bricked after erasing and uploading Soft Device hex using nRFgo Studio

Håkon Alseth — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 13:26:40 GMT

Hi,

Based on the serial number, it seems that you are using a nRF52-DK to program external devices.

In this setup, where the nRF52-DK is acting as the programmer to an external board, it is very important that the external board is powered with the same voltage as the nRF52-DK (3.0V)

Are you powering your custom board from the DK itself, or is it battery powered? If battery powered, try replacing the battery to see if you now can communicate with the board.

PS: your nrfjprog installation is quite old. You should consider updating it: https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-Tools/Development-Tools/nRF-Command-Line-Tools/Download

Kind regards,

Håkon