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Cannot program Thingy 91 anymore

Usually, I programmed the Thingy 91 with the nRF connect Programmer (right now version v.3.3.3). As my Thingy did not work with the asset tracker software and only with the original firmware a friend sent me his app_signed.hex file from the asset tracker. After programming it with his file it did also not work.


I own a debug probe (JLink mini from Segger) and tried to flash the asset tracker SW with the official manual using SEGGER (version 4.42a) to build and download it to the Thingy. It all succeeded but my Thingy didn't do anything after it.
The LTE Monitor didn't show any activity and the AT commands always resulted in Timeouts.


Therefore I tried to reset the Thingy by flashing it with the original firmware. It always stopped at 5% with an "erasing image failed" "Please make sure that the device is in MCUboot mode and try again.
As I used the Thingy before I know how to enter the MCUboot mode.


In another step I tried a modem and firmware update as I read in the forum it can resolve these issues. The update was successful but the Thingy still won't work and I can't program anything else.
I as well tried to program it using mcumgr and again using SEGGER with the debug probe as well as with the debug probe using nRF Connect Programmer. All different ways fail.
To make sure it's not a nRF software issue I tried it as well using a different computer.

It kind of seems that the Thingy can't enter the MCUboot mode correctly anymore. But even with a debug probe where the MCUboot mode is not needed it does not work which makes the whole thing strange again.

Can anyone help me with this issue?

Parents Reply
  • Thank you for your help!

    I programmed it using SEGGER and the debug probe and it seems to complete successfull. But after that nothing is happening. 
    Is there an additional step i should do after programming the usb_uart_bridge to the thingy?

    I tried diferent things like swapping back to Thingy:91 and updating the firmware of the modem and programming different samples using SEGGER but so far my Thingy is "dead". 

    If I open the LTE Link Monitor i can't run a single AT+CFUN coomand as it always times out.

    Is there maybe a way to have deeper insight with logs or something similar when the Thingy is starting?

Children
  • Could you describe more how you're flashing - Are you using a command line and running west flash or using nRF Connect Programmer application? Can you send a picture of the setup (debug probe, Thingy:91, debugger)? What samples did you test? What modem firmware did you flash - 1.2.0? 

    This has happened to me too, accidentally "bricking" my Thingy:91, which I solved by flashing new FW to both the nRF9160 and nRF52840.

    Perhaps I can build for you and provide the .hex files for you to flash using the Programmer application. 

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