Issue with JLinkARM.dll with nRF Connect for Visual Studio Code

[Chris Pearson]

On a freshly installed Windows 10 system, I've run in to a problem with the JLinkARM.dll and nRF Connect for Visual Studio Code. If I download and install the latest JLink_Windows_V756b_x86_64.exe, attempts to scan for connected boards with nRF Connect for Visual Studio Code will result in the following error in the Output Log (Extension Host):

[2021-10-24 18:04:46.849] [exthost] [error] Error: ERROR: JLinkARM DLL is invalid. Please reinstall latest JLinkARM DLL.

This appears to be the same error given when the J-Link package is not installed.

This problem can be fixed by uninstalling the J-Link package and installing the older v6.88a version that comes with nrfconnect-setup-3.7.1-ia32.exe.

My first guess is that nRF Connect for VS Code isn't looking in the right place for the newer JLinkARM.dll. A fresh install of the newer J-Link packages now goes into C:\Program Files\ by default, and not into C:\Program Files (x86)\ like the older versions did.

Updating the v6.88a install to the latest J-Link package, and keeping the install in C:\Program Files (x86)\, doesn't cause any problems and the error does not reappear.

[Marte Myrvold]

Hi,

Thank you for reporting this!

This is a bug in the current version of the VS Code extension where the extension is only looking for the JLink executable in the "Program Files (x85)" folder. Our developers are aware of this bug, and there will be a fix in the next version of the extension. In the meantime, you can fix this manually by creating a symlink between the two directories:

mklink /d "C:\Program Files (x86)\SEGGER\JLink" "C:\Program Files\SEGGER\JLink"

Best regards,

Marte

[Marte Myrvold]

Hi,

The version with this fix was released today, and it is available on the VS Code marketplace now.

Best regards,

Marte