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  • Case ID: 279170
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Programmer 2.0 is broken in nRF Connect for Desktop v3.8.0

Georgi Valkov

Programmer 2.0 is broken in nRF Connect for Desktop v3.8.0

Very often it does not detect connected devices, even if I disconnect and reconnect the nRF9160DK which is also used as a programmer. When I click the SELECT DEVICE button I see a link to find Nordic devices, even though I have both nRF9160dk and Thingy:91 attached over USB. Reconnecting the devices does not help. Sometimes with no devices connected, I see Unknown as a listed device. The Programmer also stops responding often on a white screen, at the same time, nRF Connect for Desktop v3.8.0 and the Toolchain Manager v0.10.0 may also freeze on a white screen. Restarting the tools sometimes helps, sometimes it doesn't and I have to do it several times, disconnecting the USB cables until it eventually works. Once a device is selected and erased, if I click the Eject button, then program the device using Segger Embedded Studio, then stop the debugging session, switch the key on the board which toggles between nRF9160 and nRF52840, then connect the Programmer again, it shows the previously selected CPU. I need to restart all tools until the correct CPU is shown. The broken behaviour is consistent between Windows 10 21H1 and macOS Big Sur 11.6.1. With the previous version of Programmer, which had the controls on the right side, I have never experienced any of these issues.

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  • 0

    Hi,

    I have reported this internally to the developers, and they are working on it.

    Best regards,

    Marte

  • 0 in reply to Marte Myrvold

    Hi,

    In the meantime, a temporary workaround is to downgrade to 3.7 and install app versions compatible with 3.7:

    1. Download the latest 3.7 version of nRF Connect for Desktop from https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Development-tools/nRF-Connect-for-desktop/Download?lang=en#infotabs (for macOS this is 3.7.2, for Windows and Linux 3.7.1).
    2. After starting nRF Connect for Desktop 3.7 a prompt will come up about the 3.8 upgrade. Click “No” on this.
    3. In the Settings, click on “Add source”, enter the URL http://developer.nordicsemi.com/.pc-tools/nrfconnect-apps/3.7-apps/apps.json and click “Add”.
    4. Back in the list of all apps, all apps should show up twice now, one with “official” below them and one with “3.7 compatible apps” below them. If you want to hide the incompatible versions, click on “Filter” and deselect “Official”.
    5. Install the apps you need in the old versions and use them.

    I will let you know when the issue is fixed, or if I have any other updates.

    Best regards,

    Marte

  • 0 in reply to Marte Myrvold

    Thanks, Marte! It is very good knowing that there is an official downgrade option, considering the quality and reliability of the nRF Connect SDK tools from Nordic has been very low with obvious bugs and issues that are easy to notice even on the first run or which break the build process completely. Hence my recommendation to Nordic: I see you have great ideas, but please make your tools reliable and stop releasing broken tools!

  • 0 in reply to Marte Myrvold

    I used a j-Trace 7 months ago. I no longer have access to any Segger hardware, apart from what comes on nRF9160DK which alone is sufficient to reproduce all issues on both Windows and Mac.

  • 0 in reply to Georgi Valkov

    Hi,

    Thank you for the feedback, I will forward it to the developers.

    Do you have any other programs using JLink devices open?

    Since you are still experiencing this issue with only the nRF9160 DK connected, your issue might be caused by something else. Our developers found that there was also an issue with enumeration timeout, but this has been very hard to reproduce as it does not happen often. They are working on solutions for this as well, and there will be a temporary fix in the next release. However, it is difficult to gather information about this when they are not able to reproduce it, so it would be very helpful to get information from customers experiencing these issues. I have some files that can be used to gather more extensive logs about this, but they are not public. If you would be willing to help and get some logs, please let me know and I can make this ticket private to share the files with you. It would be greatly appreciated!

    Best regards,

    Marte

  • 0 in reply to Marte Myrvold

    Marie, I reproduce the issue every time on two Windows 10 computers, as well as a MacBook Pro 2019 running macOS 11.6.1. I had no issues before updating. If it would help, I can offer your engineers access to my computers, and assist them to debug and fix the issue. That would be 100€/hour. Visual Studio 2019 and Xcode are available. The only related software I have installed is JLink_Windows_V756d_x86_64. I usually keep the Segger drivers updated.

    Here's my advise to your team: remember to test extensively and follow good practices. It is makes the difference between a crash or incorrect behaviour, which is 100% consistent and reproducible and points directly to the cause, and random issues which depend on users' environment.

    I can tell you from my experience that not taking time to test, often results in lost projects, and millions of lost in revenue. jk1's post is a good example.

  • 0 in reply to Georgi Valkov

    Hi,

    Our apps and other releases are all tested before they are released. However, some bugs were not discovered for this release. Our developers are doing their best to fix this, and hopefully this will not be an issue in the future.

    Georgi Valkov said:
    I reproduce the issue every time

    Could you please share what steps you are performing to reproduce this issue?

    Best regards,

    Marte

Reply Children
  • 0 in reply to Marte Myrvold
    Marte Myrvold said:
    Could you please share what steps you are performing to reproduce this issue?

    Sure:

    1. Start Programmer, and erase a CPU on nRF9160dk
    2. Disconnect Programmer
    3. Move the switch the other CPU
    4. Connect Programmer again it shows the first CPU
  • 0 in reply to Georgi Valkov

    Step by step in screenshots on a fresh Windows 11 install with JLink_Windows_V756d_x86_64

    Install nRF Connect 3.8.0, connect Thingy:91 and nRF9160dk, install and then try to open Programmer

    Restart nRF Connect 3.8.0 and open programmer, Unknown is shown, it should not be. Is this COM1? This computer has a COM port on the mainboard. If yes, it should at least indicate that this is COM1. The old version of Programmer had a much better user interface, because a toolbar on the right side is more productive, it happens to be closer to the mouse and there is a rule that a good interfaces reduces the amount you need to move the mouse to perform tasks.

    Select nRF9160 DK, the switch is in position nRF52840

    Press the Eject button, switch to nRF9160 and try to reconnect. Programmer still shows nRF52840.

    Restart Programmer, it froze on a white screen

    Restart Programmer again. It does not detect any devices

    Update to nRF Connect 3.9.0

    Then the issue where switch changes are not detected remains.

  • 0 in reply to Georgi Valkov

    Hi,

    Thank you for providing the steps, and for clarifying that you are still having these issues in nRF Connect for Desktop v3.9.0. I have reported this to our developers.

    The developers have found that the JLink version that is bundled with the latest version of nRF Command Line Tools causes errors in nRF Connect for Desktop. They are working on a fix for this as well, but a temporary workaround is to downgrade JLink to a known working version, v6.88a, from https://www.segger.com/downloads/jlink.

    Best regards,

    Marte

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