nrfjprog verify fails with chiperase

[zilhk]

Hi,

We've been using nrfjprog with no particular issue for a while now. Usually to fully flash a chip (whether it's for a complete re-flash or for a new chip) we run those 2 steps:

nrfjprog -f nrf52 --eraseall
nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program firmware.hex --sectorerase --reset

I was looking for ways to run with just one command and started to use --chiperase.

However on every other run the command fails with a "Write verify failed". It works on the first time but running it again will trigger the error (and the firmware is not run even after a reset). After getting the error, running the command again works fine (and I can see the chip booting our firmware normally).

And this can be repeated, once it has worked, the next flash will fail, and the one after will succeed, etc.

I don't have this issue using --sectorerase but this doesn't erase the pages we use for fstorage.

Here is nrfjprog output when it fails:

nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program firmware.hex --chiperase --verify --reset --log      
Parsing image file.
Verifying programming.
ERROR: [  nRF52] - Data does not match in address range [0x00001000-0x00018fec] (Flash)
ERROR: [  nRF52] - Expected byte value 0x00 but read 0xff at address 0x000122b8.
ERROR: [  nRF52] - Flash verification failed.
ERROR: [  nRF52] - Failed while verifying file firmware.hex.
ERROR: Write verify failed.

I'm using the latest tools, running on Windows 10.

nrfjprog --version
nrfjprog version: 10.15.2 external
JLinkARM.dll version: 7.58b

Is there anything I should do to avoid getting those verify failures? Thanks!

[dejans]

Hi,

Could you provide log.log file from nrfjprog which resides in your application folder?

Best regards,
Dejan

[dejans]

Hi,

What is the actual name of the hex file you want to build - is it _build/full_firmware_factory.hex?
Could you try using "nrfjprog -f nrf52 --eraseall" and "nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program firmware.hex --reset" (without --sectorerase)? Are there any errors in that case?

Best regards,
Dejan

[dejans]

Hi,

No errors when using nrfjprog without --sectorerase?
What about hex file name?

Best regards,
Dejan

[zilhk]

Yes, tried again and had no issue without using --sectorerase

Just realized I didn't read your question properly and deleted my earlier reply, sorry.

Filename is `_build/full_firmware_factory.hex` but I've edited my post and replaced it with just firmware.hex

[dejans]

Hi,

The command "nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program _build/full_firmware_factory.hex --sectorerase --reset" works both with and without --sectorerase.
The command you were running with errors was "nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program _build/full_firmware_factory.hex --chiperase --verify --reset --log"
Is this correct?

Best regards,
Dejan

[zilhk]

Yes, exactly.
Thanks for checking this out!

[zilhk]

I've also tried with the --verify flag, it works as long as I'm not using --chiperase

nrfjprog -f nrf52 --eraseall
nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program _build/full_firmware_factory.hex --sectorerase --verify --reset

and

nrfjprog -f nrf52 --eraseall
nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program _build/full_firmware_factory.hex --verify --reset

both work fine

[dejans]

Hi,

What happens if you don't use --sectorerase  in "nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program _build/full_firmware_factory.hex --sectorerase --verify --reset". Does it work then?

Best regards,
Dejan

[zilhk]

Yes but only if  "nrfjprog -f nrf52 --eraseall" is run first

[dejans]

Hi,

What exactly is the output of  "nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program _build/full_firmware_factory.hex  --verify --reset" if you don't run "nrfjprog -f nrf52 --eraseall" beforehand?

Best regards,
Dejan

[zilhk]

Here it is.
The 0x2e000 address is the beginning of the flash area we use for fstorage. Our firmware modifies it on each boot. I suppose it fails because this area is not cleared beforehand.

 nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program _build/full_firmware_factory.hex --reset --log
--verify
Parsing image file.
Verifying programming.
ERROR: [  nRF52] - Data does not match in address range [0x0002e000-0x0002e05c] (Flash)
ERROR: [  nRF52] - Expected byte value 0x39 but read 0x10 at address 0x0002e000.
ERROR: [  nRF52] - Flash verification failed.
ERROR: [  nRF52] - Failed while verifying file _build/full_firmware_factory.hex.
ERROR: Write verify failed.

[dejans]

Hi,

If possible, could you please provide your flash (hex) file?

Best regards,
Dejan