https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-Tools/Development-Kits/nRF9160-DK/GetStarted#infotabs Get Online Step by Step

[Burt]

The instructions are wrong -- I have verified with 3 different boards that Step 3 does not work.

Step 3 states: Click the large “+” sign on the top left to add your new “LTE” board to your account and follow the instructions to register the board and the SIM card.  

The message I receive is

There was an error adding your device. You might be trying to upgrade an older nRF91 development kit. Unless you update your device, you will have to click the "Have an old devkit without a PIN?" link below.

All 3 boards are new enough to have a PIN.

Indeed I can register the SIM card but not the LTE board.

Again, I have tried with 3 different boards, 2 of which have come directly from the factory in Norway.

I am looking for a clear, straight up answer as to why this bug is happening.

Gratefully,

Burt Silverman

[Burt]

Okay, Heidi. To tell you what happened with me: the first board I had, I struggled a bit, but eventually got it to come up on nRF Cloud. The second board was shipped to me because the first was too old (0.8.3) for GPS to work. But I got stuck with #2 -- the board connected to the nRF Cloud, but no matter what I did, I got the "There was an error adding your device..." message and the board would not show up under my account. I had all the latest firmware. Even the FAE could not fix this during an online session we had. Eventually I was able to make it work by putting on old asset_tracker firmware and go through the switches/buttons procedure. Board 3 was sent to me while I was still struggling with board 2. For board 3, I came up with this "alternate" bring up procedure, which may be awkward, but at least it worked. I jotted down the steps and will copy them here, even the one where I made a mistake, I leave it in here and point out that mistake. Oh, and note that my procedure assumes that the board is delivered to me with an old asset_tracker firmware installed.

1. Scrape hiding off eSIM PIN.

2. Add LTE device to cloud:

   a) activate SIM

   b) Try and fail to add LTE

3. Insert SIM

4. Power up board, allow device drivers to be found by Windows, start LTE Link Monitor

5. After some time, the board is ready for the buttons and switches sequence for pairing (the board comes from factory with old asset_tracker) Do that.

6. Add certificates to the board using at_client.

7. THIS IS WHERE I MADE A MISTAKE: IT IS NECESSARY TO UPGRADE THE MODEM FIRMWARE AT THIS POINT, AND I FORGOT THAT. THE BOARD WILL KEEP POWER CYCLING REGARDLESS OF WHICH ASSET_TRACKER YOU USE: OLD, NEW, ANYTHING.

8. Upgrade modem firmware like should have happened in step 7.

9. Load old asset_tracker. Maybe new one will work, but I used the old one.

10. Go to nRF Cloud and you should be able to add the device BUT you may have to reset the device before adding it. Nothing is totally clear because of the step 7 mistake I made.

I will wait a bit in case you have a reply and then I will close this ticket, or you have my permission to close it from your side.

Best Regards,

Burt

[Heidi]

Yes, I understand and I completely empathize with this experience.

Again, you are not alone in having a hard time working with nRF Cloud. We are approaching a point where all new DK's shipped out will have the app and modem firmware version necessary to add the device to nRF Cloud without performing the buttons and switches method. This is why there has not been a lot of focus on improving this experience for the user right now. 

I'm glad you were able to connect to nRF Cloud and I will close this case now. 

Best regards,

Heidi