nrfutil "image not found error"

[Ramy]

Hi there,
I'm using nrfutil (nrfutil version 6.0.1) to dfu via ble (dongle),

Mac (10.15.2), windows (10), linux (raspbian) have been tried out to update the firmware
none has successfully updated the firmware

the command line used to update firmware is </nrfutil dfu ble -pkg <FilePath> -ic NRF52 -n "<DeviceName>" -f>

for windows extra </-p COM1> was added which was the dongle com port,

for raspbian, it was a deadend since the beginning of installation as the latest version available for module (pc-ble-driver-py) was 0.11.4, while requirements was 0.14.1, so I assumed to have it working first on the other 2 platforms,

so, I got for Mac the following error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/bin/nrfutil", line 8, in <module>
    sys.exit(cli())
  File "/Users/ramyezzat/Library/Python/3.7/lib/python/site-packages/click/core.py", line 764, in __call__
    return self.main(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/Users/ramyezzat/Library/Python/3.7/lib/python/site-packages/click/core.py", line 717, in main
    rv = self.invoke(ctx)
  File "/Users/ramyezzat/Library/Python/3.7/lib/python/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1137, in invoke
    return _process_result(sub_ctx.command.invoke(sub_ctx))
  File "/Users/ramyezzat/Library/Python/3.7/lib/python/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1137, in invoke
    return _process_result(sub_ctx.command.invoke(sub_ctx))
  File "/Users/ramyezzat/Library/Python/3.7/lib/python/site-packages/click/core.py", line 956, in invoke
    return ctx.invoke(self.callback, **ctx.params)
  File "/Users/ramyezzat/Library/Python/3.7/lib/python/site-packages/click/core.py", line 555, in invoke
    return callback(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/nordicsemi/__main__.py", line 1099, in ble
    ble_driver_init(conn_ic_id)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/nordicsemi/__main__.py", line 68, in ble_driver_init
    from pc_ble_driver_py.ble_driver    import BLEDriver, Flasher
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pc_ble_driver_py/ble_driver.py", line 77, in <module>
    import pc_ble_driver_py.lib.nrf_ble_driver_sd_api_v5 as driver
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pc_ble_driver_py/lib/nrf_ble_driver_sd_api_v5.py", line 13, in <module>
    from . import _nrf_ble_driver_sd_api_v5
ImportError: dlopen(/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pc_ble_driver_py/lib/_nrf_ble_driver_sd_api_v5.so, 2): Library not loaded: /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.7/Python
  Referenced from: /usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pc_ble_driver_py/lib/_nrf_ble_driver_sd_api_v5.so
  Reason: image not found

and for windows I got the following error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "c:\users\developer\python3\lib\site-packages\pc_ble_driver_py\ble_driver.py", line 2731, in __init__
    snr = [d.serial_number for d in serial_ports if d.port == serial_port][0]
IndexError: list index out of range
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\developer\PYTHON3\Scripts\nrfutil-script.py", line 11, in <module>
    load_entry_point('nrfutil==6.0.1', 'console_scripts', 'nrfutil')()
  File "c:\users\developer\python3\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 764, in __call__
    return self.main(*args, **kwargs)
  File "c:\users\developer\python3\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 717, in main
    rv = self.invoke(ctx)
  File "c:\users\developer\python3\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 1137, in invoke
    return _process_result(sub_ctx.command.invoke(sub_ctx))
  File "c:\users\developer\python3\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 1137, in invoke
    return _process_result(sub_ctx.command.invoke(sub_ctx))
  File "c:\users\developer\python3\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 956, in invoke
    return ctx.invoke(self.callback, **ctx.params)
  File "c:\users\developer\python3\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 555, in invoke
    return callback(*args, **kwargs)
  File "c:\users\developer\python3\lib\site-packages\nrfutil-6.0.1-py3.8.egg\nordicsemi\__main__.py", line 1120, in ble
    flasher = Flasher(serial_port=port, snr = jlink_snr)
  File "c:\users\developer\python3\lib\site-packages\pc_ble_driver_py\ble_driver.py", line 2733, in __init__
    raise NordicSemiException("Board not found: {}".format(serial_port or snr))
pc_ble_driver_py.exceptions.NordicSemiException: Board not found: COM1

eventually I'd like to wrap the code into another python module,

any idea what could possibly be wrong or missing?

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

For the window case, you cannot use ASUS USB-BT400. The example you refer to is based on HCI, but nrfutil is based on serialized SoftDevice API's via pc-ble-driver. This is completely different. Therefore, you can only use nrfutil with nRF5 devices.

For the Mac case, the error indicates that you are using the python version that is shipped with Mac OS, and that will not work. We only test with the python distribution from python.org, and there is a hard requirement that the path is what is used by it (/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.7/Python).

[Ramy]

what about Ubuntu, is it possible to use the ASUS dongle? or is it still recommended to use the NRF5 devices?
and in case using a NRF52 DK is there an example has to be on the DK, or using nrfutil with <-snr <DK serial number>> would be using the ble directly?

[Einar Thorsrud]

Ramy said:

what about Ubuntu, is it possible to use the ASUS dongle? or is it still recommended to use the NRF5 devices?

No, it is not possible to use a random dongle. Usage of a nRF5 device is not a recommendation, it is a hard requirement. This has nothing to do with the host OS, but is a technical limitation that there is no way around. (To be more specific, you can use a non-Nordic board, but it must contain a nRF5 chip, and you must have a way to program it with the connectivity firmware that it needs. So in practice this is only development boards / development dongles.)

Ramy said:

and in case using a NRF52 DK is there an example has to be on the DK, or using nrfutil with <-snr <DK serial number>> would be using the ble directly?

I did not understand this question. Can you elaborate? 

[Ramy]

yes reading it again it's confusing

Is it enough to connect the DK and use the nrfutil + <-snr <DK serial number>>? would the nrfutil will be using the ble on DK board directly?
or should I build and run an example from SDK?

thinking about it again, I think it's enough to direct the nrfutil to the connected DK, isn't it?

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

You do not need to build an example from the SDK, but you need to program the correct connectivity firmware for nrfutil. Firmware for the DK can be flashed by nrfutil with the "-f" option. Unlike the nRF Connect BLE app, nrfutil does not do it for you automatically for the dongle. You can refer to this post for more details.

[Ramy]

thanks a lot for the support!

one last thing, the linux .whl module of pc_ble_driver_py latest version doesn't meet the nrfutil repo. requirement, where it has to be 0.14.1 or more while the available latest for now is 0.11.2