Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

[patricab]

Hi.

I'm having trouble flashing my Thingy:91 with the nRF9160DK as a debug probe.

The DK is set to 1.8V, I have a 10pin JTAG cable connected to the debug out of the DK to the Thingy.

The Thingy is set to nRF9160 and both units are powered on.

My prj.conf:

# Heap and stacks
CONFIG_HEAP_MEM_POOL_SIZE=32768
CONFIG_MAIN_STACK_SIZE=1024
CONFIG_SYSTEM_WORKQUEUE_STACK_SIZE=2048
CONFIG_HW_STACK_PROTECTION=y

# Settings - Used to store real-time device configuration to flash.
CONFIG_SETTINGS=y
CONFIG_SETTINGS_FCB=y
CONFIG_FCB=y

# Flash - Used in FOTA and Settings.
CONFIG_FLASH=y
CONFIG_FLASH_PAGE_LAYOUT=y
CONFIG_FLASH_MAP=y
CONFIG_MPU_ALLOW_FLASH_WRITE=y

# MCUBOOT
CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT=y
CONFIG_IMG_MANAGER=y
CONFIG_MCUBOOT_IMG_MANAGER=y
CONFIG_IMG_ERASE_PROGRESSIVELY=y

CONFIG_SERIAL=y
CONFIG_UART_CONSOLE=y

Some of these are copied from the "Asset Tracker v2" example.

Build and flash command:

west build -b thingy91_nrf9160ns

west flash

When I connect the Thingy to the LTE Link Monitor I see no UART connection, and it show LTE data from the last firmware that I loaded to the Thingy through the NCS programmer.

Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

[Charlie]

Hi Patricab,

I repeat your process with Asset Tracker v2 application and it works fine. Did you try the original example?

Could it be something wrong with your prj.conf file?

Best regards,

Charlie

[patricab]

Hi Charlie. Thank you for answering!

Probably. I'm using some of the same stuff from the Asset Tracker v2 prj.conf file, but I'm practically running a test program that prints Hello world to the serial terminal.

main.c:

#include <zephyr.h>
#include <sys/printk.h>

void main(void)
{
        printk("Hello World!\n");
}

CMakeLists.txt:

# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13.1)
find_package(Zephyr REQUIRED HINTS $ENV{ZEPHYR_BASE})
project(blinky)

target_sources(app PRIVATE src/main.c)

I also included the SPM child image from Asset Tracker v2, because I got some weird SPM errors when building the project.

Cheers,

Patric

[Charlie]

Hi Patric,

Please try the original Asset Tracker v2 application example first. You will see at least the following printout from the second COM port.

*** Booting Zephyr OS build v2.4.99-ncs1  ***
[00:00:00.244,689] <inf> event_manager: APP_EVT_START
[00:00:00.271,759] <inf> event_manager: DATA_EVT_CONFIG_INIT
[00:00:00.277,862] <inf> app_module: Device mode: Active
.....

Best regards

Charlie

[patricab]

Hi, 

Nope. No luck. I have nothing on the LTE Link terminal.

All the flags in the top right corner are red as well.

Very mysterious...

[Charlie]

Ok. That's strange. For the Asset Tracker v2 application example, did you see any reaction from LEDs on Thiny91? 

I observe that LED is off when the programing is undergoing. After programming, the program starts to run, LED is blinking.

[patricab]

So, I tried to flash the build/zephyr/app_signed.hex from the ATv2 to the Thingy:91 with the NCS programmer, but I got an image upload error. 

I am also running this patch (https://github.com/simensrostad/fw-nrfconnect-nrf/commit/c07fe56cf477f9a27bef22fb66c071fd10de0769) on the Asset Tracker v2, since I don't have an AWS server to connect to, and I get build errors without one.

[Charlie]

1. Make sure you are choosing nRF9160DK as programmer. It should show three COM ports on NCS programer.

2. Try to use this firmware 6646.merged.hex, even it is only built for my device, it should at least able to run at the beginning.

3. Check if "LED is off when the programing is undergoing. After programming, the program starts to run, LED is blinking."

[patricab]

Nope, no blinking

[Charlie]

Don't worry. We are getting close to solve this problem. ;-)

I want to confirm one thing to make sure the hardware does not have issue.

If you use Programming applications through an external debug probe method to program the latest original Precompiled application and modem firmware from https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-tools/Prototyping-platforms/Nordic-Thingy-91  Download, is it works as expected?

[patricab]

Tried it, no joy!

I see no lights flashing on the Thingy91, and there are no errors in the programmer log.

For reference, I was using the img_app_dfu_hex/thingy91_ltem_2021-03-04_8e8c6089.hex file

[Charlie]

You should use img_app_bl/debug/thingy91_debug_ltem_2021-03-04_8e8c6089.hex.

See explanation of different firmware usages in CONTENTS.txt.

You should see LED blink and printout from LTE monitor if programing works fine.

[patricab]

Nope, nothing.

Output from the programmer: