NRF Connect Programmer Failure

[KentOverton]

I've been developing in the following environment:

Windows 10

 NRF Connect for Desktop

      with few problems for the past six months.

On Friday 12/10 I was suddenly unable to debug my application - Toolchain V 1.7.0 /Seggar - would not download new code to my board.

After a little investigation I discovered that Programmer (accessed via NRF Connect for Desktop) did not recognize my custom board, nor would it recognize any of three NRF Development Kits. I have two PCA10095 and a very old PCA10001.

I uninstalled NRF Connect, NRF Command Line Tools and Segger JLink and re-installed and see the same results.

The log file from Programmer is

2021-12-13T11:53:25.533Z INFO Application data folder: C:\Users\kover\AppData\Roaming\nrfconnect\pc-nrfconnect-programmer
2021-12-13T11:53:26.903Z DEBUG iface: Ethernet
2021-12-13T11:53:26.904Z DEBUG IP4:
2021-12-13T11:53:26.905Z DEBUG IP6:
2021-12-13T11:53:26.905Z DEBUG MAC: fc:45:96:40:9d:f8
2021-12-13T11:53:26.908Z DEBUG Client Id: 7bceaabb4095f603df72b9f31da50b0996a1c324
2021-12-13T11:53:26.910Z DEBUG Google Analytics for category pc-nrfconnect-programmer has initialized
2021-12-13T11:53:27.149Z DEBUG App pc-nrfconnect-programmer v2.0.1 official
2021-12-13T11:53:27.150Z DEBUG App path: C:\Users\kover\.nrfconnect-apps\node_modules\pc-nrfconnect-programmer
2021-12-13T11:53:27.150Z DEBUG nRFConnect 3.9.1, required by the app is (^3.8.0)
2021-12-13T11:53:27.150Z DEBUG nRFConnect path: C:\Users\kover\AppData\Local\Programs\nrfconnect\resources\app.asar
2021-12-13T11:53:27.150Z DEBUG HomeDir: C:\Users\kover
2021-12-13T11:53:27.150Z DEBUG TmpDir: C:\Users\kover\AppData\Local\Temp
2021-12-13T11:53:28.310Z ERROR Error while probing devices, more details in the debug log: JLINKARM_DLL_ERROR (Origin: "Error when running nrfdl_enumerate")

The System Report from Programmer is

# nRFConnect System Report - 2021-12-13T11-56-12.270Z

- System: LENOVO 80UD
- BIOS: InsydeH2O 05.05.261TCN27WW(V2.08)
- CPU: 1 x Intel Core i3-6100U 2.3 GHz 4 cores (2 physical)
- Memory: 4 GB free of 7.9 GB total
- Filesystem: C: (NTFS) 231.8 GB 71.4% used

- OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (10.0.19042) win32 ia32

- Versions
- kernel: 10.0.19042
- git: 2.33.0.windows.2
- node: 14.16.0
- python: 3.9.9
- python3: 3.9.9

- Connected devices:

I have tried this on two different laptops and see precisely the same results.

The System report from the Second system is 

# nRFConnect System Report - 2021-12-13T11-59-28.174Z

- System:     HP HP Laptop 14-dk1xxx
- BIOS:       AMI HPQOEM - 1072009
- CPU:        1 x AMD Athlon Silver 3050U with Radeon Graphics 2.3 GHz 2 cores (2 physical)
- Memory:     785 MB free of 3.4 GB total
- Filesystem: C: (NTFS) 56.8 GB 77.1% used

- OS:         Microsoft Windows 10 Home (10.0.19042) win32 ia32

- Versions
    - kernel: 10.0.19042
    - git: 2.33.0.windows.2
    - node: 14.16.0
    - python: 
    - python3: 

- Connected devices:

[KentOverton]

Neither 7.20mor 7.58b make any difference.

I see the following four lines in the Programmer log

2021-12-14T16:32:00.158Z DEBUG iface: Ethernet
2021-12-14T16:32:00.158Z DEBUG IP4:
2021-12-14T16:32:00.158Z DEBUG IP6:
2021-12-14T16:32:00.158Z DEBUG MAC: fc:45:96:40:9d:f8

Doe this have any bearing on the problem?

[Priyanka]

Hi Martin,

We can try a few steps for troubleshooting:

1. Try to reset the DK using nrfjprog. ( nrfjprog --reset --log ) will produce a better log which can help us.

2. Try using the JLinkCommander to connect to the SoC's core. This will rule out connection issues between the onboard debugger and the SoC. For this, open JLinkCommander executable on your PC, type 'connect' and then use SWD to connect when prompted. You can use default options for all other settings. The output should be something like this: 

Kind Regards,

Priyanka

[KentOverton]

So, I'm an idiot.

On Friday I ordered two PCA10040's.

They arrived yesterday afternoon, both of them seem to work fine.

I've apparently been testing with three bricked Development Kits. One of them (a PCA10095) had to have bricked sometime between Thursday evening (while I was testing successfully testing) and Friday morning (when I first saw the failure).

I have no idea what happened in the intervening ten hours - my laptop was turned off.

In any case, I apologize sincerely and thank you for your help.

If there is some guidance to 'unbricking' a PCA10095, I'd appreciate it.

Please close this issue.

  

[Priyanka]

Hi Martin

No worries as it happens sometimes. It's always the little things!

Great that you were able to find a solution. In case of any further queries, kindly open a new ticket.

Happy holidays!! 

Regards.

Priyanka