nRF Progammer v2.3.3

RE: nRF Progammer v2.3.3

Simonr — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 12:45:41 GMT

Hi Mohamed

The PROTECTION_STATUS_NONE should mean that the readback protection is disabled (not protected). Please double check whether you are able to get this not protected message with a board where you have enabled readback protection in the application, I don't think that should be possible.

If you do, please open the console in nRF Connect for Desktop by pressing ctrl+Shift+I and take a screenshot so we can take a look, and we'll investigate.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF Progammer v2.3.3

Learner — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 09:58:56 GMT

Hi Simon,

I only disable the readback protection when I am developing and building a debug version of the code. However, as far as I can remember, the merged.hex file I was using was from a release build as shown in the Programmer log below.

2022-04-12T15:32:01.735Z INFO Parsing HEX file: C:\Sandbox\HomeBeacon_dev_v131+location\build_nrf52833dk_nrf52833_release\zephyr\merged.hex

It could be that I had a debug version running on my board and I was updating it to a release version. If this was the case, would it explain the behaviour I have reported?

Thank you.

Kind regards

Mohamed

RE: nRF Progammer v2.3.3

Simonr — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 12:49:25 GMT

Sorry about the late reply, the Easter vacation period has left us with quite the backlog that we're now going through.

Have you perhaps disabled readback protection with the APPROTECT register in your application?

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF Progammer v2.3.3

Learner — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 15:50:05 GMT

Hi Simon,

I have had an instance today, where I was programming one of my boards, where I saw the message

2022-04-12T15:32:19.336Z INFO Readback protection status: NRFDL_PROTECTION_STATUS_NONE

when using a version of the nRF52833 that should have protection.

This is the information written of the actual casing of the chip:

N52833

QDAAB0

2118AB

I thought the B0 SoC version has the protection. Please explain what is going on here.

The Programmer log is inserted below.

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../2022_2D00_04_2D00_12T15_5F00_30_5F00_51.689Z_2D00_log.txt

Thank you.

Kind regards

Mohamed

RE: nRF Progammer v2.3.3

Simonr — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 07:44:20 GMT

Yes, I think you should see protection status ALL for the B0 revisions, and protection status NONE on the older revisions. Any future revisions should also include readback protection.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF Progammer v2.3.3

Learner — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 10:13:37 GMT

Thank you Simon.

If I understood you right you are saying with B0 revision SoCs I should see this message

2022-03-25T13:49:16.725Z INFO Readback protection status: NRFDL_PROTECTION_STATUS_ALL

and with other revisions I should see,

2022-03-25T13:49:16.725Z INFO Readback protection status: NRFDL_PROTECTION_STATUS_NONE

Please clarify.

I am not in the office today so, I will check this on Monday and get back to you.

Kind regards

Mohamed

RE: nRF Progammer v2.3.3

Simonr — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 09:34:59 GMT

Here you can see information on SoC revisions and variants. The B0 will be revision 2, so if you see these protection status messages on the B0 revisions that makes sense. If not we'll need more information to get to the bottom of this.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF Progammer v2.3.3

Learner — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 16:27:17 GMT

Hi Simon,

Thank you.

How can I check if I do have different revisions of the nRF52833 SoC.?

I have now checked some of the boards I still have access to and found these various revisions of the nRF5283 SoC:

N52833 QDAAA0 2036B0

N52833 QDAAA0 2120GL

N52833 QDAAB0 2118AB

According to the Product Specification manual the hardware version code is different.

What is the difference between hardware versions A and B ?

Which of these revisions have the security feature built-in?

Kind regards

Mohamed

RE: nRF Progammer v2.3.3

Simonr — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 12:24:49 GMT

Hi Mohamed

Are you programming multiple boards and are seeing the different "PROTECTION_STATUS" messages on different boards? If so, you might have different revisions of the nRF52833 SoCs. Some with and some without the readback protection.

Best regards,

Simon