nrfjprog -e does not erase nRF9160

[Jared]

I'm currently running nrfjprog version on OSX. Version info below:

nrfjprog --version
nrfjprog version: 10.9.0 
JLinkARM.dll version: 6.70b

When running a nrfjprog -e I expect that the device doesn't do anything afterwards. When monitoring the serial output I still see that the code that was last run is still running despite running nrfjprog -e. I'm using a nRF9160DK to program an external nRF9160 Feather board.

[Jeff4BLE]

Hi Jared,

It's possible that nRF Connect for Desktop is using a different j-link driver than the command-line shell. So updating the JLINK driver is my first recommendation too.

Because the nRF Connect for Desktop programs the device, it can be assumed that the device selection switch (SW5) is in the correct position. However, when using the nRF9160-DK is a good idea to use the "family" flag to ensure the program is communication to the nRF9160 and not the nrf52 For example, >nrfjprog -f NFR91 -e

Cheers,

Jeff

[Jared]

Thanks for the suggestion Jeff.

Unfortunately, even after an upgrade, it's still exhibiting the same issue:

nrfjprog --version
nrfjprog version: 10.9.0 
JLinkARM.dll version: 6.84a

My best guess it's something to do with nrfjprog not the JLink library.

Jared

[JONATHAN LL]

Hi Jared,

Do you get the same behavior if you use nrfjprog --recover ?  

Regards,
Jonathan

[Jared]

JONATHAN LL said:

Do you get the same behavior if you use nrfjprog --recover ?  

I thought it may have done it but I still have to erase using the Programmer app. Looking at the debug output, it appears to be using the same J-link library as nrfjprog.

[JONATHAN LL]

New version of nrfjprog, its now at 10.10.0, could try that.

Can you read the device memory using Programmer app before and after you have tried nrfjprog -e of --recover. Does it show if anything has changed?

nrfjprog --halt, could you try this and se if it actually halts the Feather board?

Do you have the same behavior if you test with another board? for example if you have another nrf9160DK that you can replace with your Feather board?

I will talk to my colleague about this and se if there is any known similar issues on OSX.  The behaviour seems odd. 

Regards,
Jonathan

[Daniel Veilleux]

I also see pynrfjprog 10.10.0 failing to erase all or sector erase with python 3.8. Using the recover operation or rolling pynrfjprog back to 10.5.0 are workarounds.

[JONATHAN LL]

I am able to reproduce the problem on both Windows and Linux. Where nrfjprog -e does not successfully erase when building a non-secure application.

Reverting to 10.5.0 fixed the issue with nrfjprog -e not working properly.
However the nrfjprog --recover worked on both 10.9.0 and 10.10.0.

Regards,
Jonathan