nRF5 SDK possible to OTA update to nRF Connect SDK?

[KLLiew]

Hi,

Just need a quick checking on this.

Currently we using nRF5 SDK, after production, is it possible we OTA update the firmware which using nRF Connect SDK?

This very important for us to decide our roadmap of development.

Thank you

Best Regards,

Alan

[FARLY7]

Good timing with this question. We are also interested in the same thing.

We currently have ~500 nRF52832 devices in the field running nRF5 SDK. These are typically remotely updated over UART DFU to perform firmware upgrades using nRF5 SDK.

We would like to migrate future devices to NCS (nRF Connect SDK), and ideally, update those existing devices in the field to the NCS-based application.

Is this possible using the existing nRF SDK UART DFU Bootloader?

If so, does the existing nRF bootloader and MCUBoot bootloader coexist afterwards?

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi Sean, 

 

FARLY7 said:

Is this possible using the existing nRF SDK UART DFU Bootloader?

I think it is possible, but I need time to try.  

 

FARLY7 said:

If so, does the existing nRF bootloader and MCUBoot bootloader coexist afterwards?

 No. 

-Amanda H.

[FARLY7]

Thanks for your reply, Amanda.

I am very interested to hear if this is possible using the nRF5 SDK UART DFU bootloader. I will be attempting it at some point so I would appreciate any instructions you can give similar to your post to KLLiew

I thought updating devices from nRF5 SDK to NCS over DFU would be a common request by users so perhaps it could deserve a blog post or an app note.

[FARLY7]

Hi Amanda Hsieh

I am finally working on the process for UART DFU update from nRF5 SDK -> NCS, but I am having some issues.

I am testing with Nordic example projects as much as possible to help you identify any issues

I am flashing the PCA10040 (nRF52 DK) with the 'examples/dfu/secure_bootloader/pca10040_uart_debug' application included in the latest nRF_SDK_17.0.2. This application allows me to enter UART DFU bootloader. I can test writing the included test application 'examples/dfu/secure_dfu_test_images/uart/nrf52832/blinky_mbr.zip'. This process works fine as expected (nRF5 SDK -> nRF5 SDK).

To begin testing from nRF5 SDK -> NCS:

1. I again flash the same secure_bootloader DFU example application to enter DFU mode.

2. I then follow the instructions you linked here to flash the Zephyr blinky.zip application (I also add the --key-file parameter to sign it).

west build -b nrf52dk_nrf52832 zephyr/samples/basic/blinky
nrfutil pkg generate --hw-version 52 --sd-req=0x00 --application build/zephyr/zephyr.hex --application-version 1 blinky.zip --key-file private.key
nrfutil dfu serial -pkg blinky.zip -p /dev/ttyACM0

However, after the DFU seems to complete, the application does not boot (LEDs are not blinking). You can find the device DFU logs here.

NOTE: After DFU completes the logs always seem to be cut short, this occurs even on successful update with the example application earlier.

Some questions/points:

1. Flashing the Zephyr blinky example directly works fine as you would expect.

2. I also added the small change to the nRF bootloader that mtsunstrum suggested.

3. The instructions in the link you provided are only included in the nRF52840 Dongle board page, they are not included in the nRF52 DK board page. Are these instructions not compatible with nRF52 DK?

4. As there is no private.key provided with the secure_bootloader DFU example applications I use my own dfu_public_key.c and private.key files to like the bootloader and NCS Blinky application.

5. I have tried with both `nrfutil dfu serial` and `usb-serial` parameter. There seems to be slight differences in how the DFU completes at the end, but the end result is the same (LEDs are not blinking).

[Amanda Hsieh]

Handled by https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/79571/dfu-update-from-nrf5-sdk-to-nrf-connect-sdk