Nordic Board is stuck in reset

[ZahidM]

On a MCU PCA10040 v2.0.0, I ran the command:

.\nrfjprog.exe -f NRF52 --program .\final_image.hex --verify --reset

Which subsequently caused the board to go into a reset state where the LEDs are constantly flashing.

How can I recover from this please?

z

[Elfving]

Hello Zahid,

Could you tell me a bit about final_image.hex? My first thought is that there is something wrong with it.

Best regards,

Elfving

[ZahidM]

I looked at the problem a little further and observed the following:  Using the latest SEGGER (v7.60g) and nrfjprog(10.15.1 external), I am unable to program the v2.0.0 Nordic Boards. These were put into the 'reset' state using the command discussed above.

When I remove the SEGGER probe and external supply, and then plug in a USB cable, the green light (next to the MCU) is on and the four LEDs are very faintly on but I am still unable to program the board with the SEGGER and nrfjprog.

If I use v2.1.0 Nordic boards, I have no problems and can program them via the USB cable using nrfjprog.

So the problem is that it may not be the hex file but I need some help to program the older v2.0.0 boards?

[Elfving]

Hello again,

That is odd, considering that the differences between the versions aren't that extensive. I am looking into it though. Since you are saying "boards", I assume you've tried this on multiple boards of these versions?

Is Segger or nrfjprog giving you any error? Are you able to reset the board using nrfjprog --reset? Have you tried the NCS Programmer application?

Regards,

Elfving

[ZahidM]

Hello Elfving,

Here are the results of --recover and --reset. The board are not responding at all to the nrfjprog command. Any command gives the same response.

PS C:\Program Files\Nordic Semiconductor\nrf-command-line-tools\bin> .\nrfjprog.exe --recover
ERROR: No debuggers were discovered.
NOTE: For additional output, try running again with logging enabled (--log).
NOTE: Any generated log error messages will be displayed.

PS C:\Program Files\Nordic Semiconductor\nrf-command-line-tools\bin> .\nrfjprog.exe --reset
ERROR: No debuggers were discovered.
NOTE: For additional output, try running again with logging enabled (--log).
NOTE: Any generated log error messages will be displayed.

I am also not able to run with --log as seen below:

PS C:\Program Files\Nordic Semiconductor\nrf-command-line-tools\bin> .\nrfjprog.exe --reset --log
WARNING: Logging is unavailable. nrfjprog.exe does not have write
WARNING: permission for the log file
ERROR: No debuggers were discovered.
NOTE: For additional output, try running again with logging enabled (--log).
NOTE: Any generated log error messages will be displayed.

Kind Regards,

ZahidM

[Elfving]

I see. Thanks for checking.

Did you say you've tried this on multiple version 2 boards?

Best regards,

Elfving

[ZahidM]

Hello Elfving,

I tried it on one other V2.0.0 board, with the same result,

Kind Regards,

ZahidM

[Elfving]

Hello again,

Could you try to reflash the firmware in bootloader mode?

In order to do this, first download the interface MCU firmware from here. Then enter bootloader mode on your nRF52DK by keeping the reset button pressed while powering up the DK until LED (LD5) starts to blink. Then you should see a drive in windows explorer named BOOTLOADER. Drag and drop the bin file you've downloaded into the bootloader.

Regards,

Elfving