Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

Charlie — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 12:39:51 GMT

That is good news. If you want to step further, check the cable and connection headers.

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

patricab — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 11:56:56 GMT

I tried just compiling the Asset_Tracker application from the ncs folder. Flashed the app_signed.hex to the Thingy (without the DK) and it worked, so at least I have one way to flash my programs to the Thingy.

Would really love to use the DK as well so I don't have to use MCUBOOT every time, but this works for now.

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

patricab — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 11:29:37 GMT

Your suspicion is correct.

Flashed the img_app_bl/at_client example for the 9160DK (from the zip file on the DK download page) and got a printout on the LTE monitor.

Flashed the example above and got some weird data from the monitor:

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

Charlie — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 11:03:56 GMT

Can you check my suspicion?

You can program a hello world or any other known program to nrf9160dk first and repeat the above process to program thingy91, then check if the program on nrf9160dk is been modified.

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

patricab — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:49:24 GMT

Yes, I have a USB cable connected to both the DK and the Thingy.

The number of COM ports match as well

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

Charlie — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:47:59 GMT

I suspect you are programing the nrf9160dk on nrf9160 for some reason.

Did you power your thing91 with a USB cable? You should see two devices.

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

patricab — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:26:17 GMT

Nope, nothing.

Output from the programmer:

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

Charlie — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:17:34 GMT

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.

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

patricab — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 09:49:50 GMT

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

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

Charlie — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 09:33:28 GMT

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?

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

patricab — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 09:23:46 GMT

Nope, no blinking 😞

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

Charlie — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 09:06:48 GMT

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

2. Try to use this firmware devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../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."

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

patricab — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 08:55:07 GMT

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.

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

Charlie — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 08:24:11 GMT

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.

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

patricab — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 18:35:30 GMT

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...

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

Charlie — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 17:04:07 GMT

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

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

patricab — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 16:42:20 GMT

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

RE: Unable to flash Thingy:91 through nrf9160DK

Charlie — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 14:46:15 GMT

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