NRF52840 and Installing SoftDevice SS340-SD-v6.1.1 ANT / BLE 5

[RMall]

I'm stuck with trying to install Nordic/ANT+ SoftDevice SS340-SD-v6.1.1 on the Adafruit Itsy Bitsy NRF52840.

Within nRF Connect - Programmer, I am getting the following error: "Unsupported device. The detected device could not be recognized as neither JLink device nor Nordic USB device."

Please help. Thanks.

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

How do you connect the Adafruit ItsyBitsy NRF52840 with PC? Are you using J-link or DK? See https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-itsybitsy-nrf52840-express/faqs#faq-2860855 

Please also make sure provide 3.3V while connecting the VTRef pin on the JLink/DK. You can verify by checking J-Link Commander. 

Regards,
Amanda

[RMall]

Hi Amanda,

Thanks for the response. I am using a PC and certainly there has to be another way to accomplish the installing/flashing of a newer SoftDevice without the mentioned Segger J-Link unit or one on-board the nRF52 Dev Kit, right?

I have the existing bootloader "itsybitsy_nrf52840_express_bootloader-0.6.2_s140_6.1.1.zip" and "itsybitsy_nrf52840_express_bootloader-0.6.2_s140_6.1.1.hex" ... Isn't there a way to modify these with this newer S340 SoftDevice, like being able to point to the "ANT_s340_nrf52840_6.1.1.zip" and ANT_s340_nrf52840_6.1.1.hex" inside the bootloader? Along with renaming any instances of 's140' in the board support package "boards.txt" with 's340'?

I have found this information where this can be accomplished without J-Link or DK, with just USB-UART using adafruit-nrfutil.
- https://blogarak.wordpress.com/2020/03/29/arduino-ide-integration-for-the-nrf52840-feather-express-with-s340/ 

Can you please help me confirm that this is a workable solution?

Thanks.

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

Yes, that is the possible way to update via bootloader as that link said, but I am not familiar with the detail because the itsybitsy_nrf52840 is not developed by Nordic. You could refer to that article and seek help from the author or Arduino forum.  

-Amanda

[RMall]

Thanks Amanda!

As a secondary measure, like you mention can I use a J-Link for updating the SoftDevice by doing what I did in my shared image through nRF Connect-Programmer? Or with a J-Link device will I use another program such as the J-Link Commander you briefly alluded to for updating the SoftDevice version? As I have since found out there is a Segger J-Link edu mini that is a reasonable purchase and can be helpful for many other things.

Thanks for all of this! Would you be able to guide me toward any good reading/learning material as I continue on this journey with understanding all the possibilities of the nRF52840?

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

From https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-itsybitsy-nrf52840-express/faqs#faq-2860855, it seems it needs a J-link to program the image. Then, it could use nRF Connect-Programmer, but you have to Segger J-Link edu mini can support Adafruit ItsyBitsy NRF52840 or not. 

Not sure what you would develop on Adafruit ItsyBitsy NRF52840. Seem you are new to Adafruit ItsyBitsy NRF52840, I would suggest to start from Arduino BLE Examples. That might be easier for you. 

Regards,
Amanda