Device Manager not showing nRF52840 Dongle

RE: Device Manager not showing nRF52840 Dongle

austin944 — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 17:12:24 GMT

Connecting the j-link to the SWD pins should work. You will need to provide power to the Dongle, either over USB or using the j-link connector. Once the j-link is connected to your PC, the nRF connect programmer should see it and will you be able to select the j-link in the connect programmer.

RE: Device Manager not showing nRF52840 Dongle

faskrobo — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 16:46:11 GMT

Ok that makes sense. The thing is I don't have a pin header right now, so while I'm waiting for one to arrive I'm thinking of soldering wires to the two SWD notches and connecting them to the CLK and IO pins of the J-Link as I described previously. Would that work? And would I be able to see the dongle on Segger or VS Code while it's connected to the J-Link?

RE: Device Manager not showing nRF52840 Dongle

austin944 — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 16:29:49 GMT

The nRF connect programmer supports both the DK and the Dongle. If you have kept the Reset button pressed while inserting the Dongle into the USB port and you don't see the red LED slowly flashing after releasing the button, then either the bootloader is gone from the Dongle, or the Dongle itself has some hardware problem. If the bootloader is gone, then you will need an external programmer like the j-Link.

RE: Device Manager not showing nRF52840 Dongle

faskrobo — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 15:07:41 GMT

Hi Elfving,

As I mentioned in my reply to Austin, I can't get the device to exhibit any other behavior even after pressing reset, and as I said in my post, the Programmer doesn't show the device. The problem with the Dongle Programming Tutorial is that the device doesn't show up on the Programmer or any nRF Connect apps, and they all say "Connect a Nordic Development Kit to your computer". Does the Programmer only work with the DK or is it supposed to work with the dongle as well? What is the usual procedure to flash the dongle over USB then? If the bootloader is gone, what are the possible methods to re-flash it, and does the procedure I described in my post work?

RE: Device Manager not showing nRF52840 Dongle

austin944 — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 14:14:14 GMT

You can buy this adapter to connect the Dongle to a SEGGER debugger for reprogramming the Dongle through SWD (I have one), however it would be much cheaper to buy another Dongle. They are only US$10 and are readily available.

https://www.tag-connect.com/debugger-cable-selection-installation-instructions/segger-j-link#71_121-72_146-145

RE: Device Manager not showing nRF52840 Dongle

Elfving — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:56:23 GMT

Hello,

As Austin944 mentioned, you can use sideways button to enter bootloader mode. Though as you have gotten it from someone else, it might be that they have already flashed something to it that has removed the MCUBoot partition. With the bootloader present however, it should be possible to flash it using the nRF Connect Programmer while it is in bootloader mode. Using VSC and SES doesn't work, as they would need an external programmer which the Dongle doesn't have. For those reasons the Dongle can be a bit hard to work with, so I recommend that you give this blog post on how to work with it a read.

[quote user=""]Does this mean it's in bootloader mode?[/quote]

No, in bootloader mode LD2 would slowly blink red.

It might be that you would have to re-flash it using the external debugger on another DK, with SWD. Though first of all, are you getting it to enter bootloader mode? And if so do you see it in the drop-down menu in the nRF Connect Programmer?

Regards,

Elfving

RE: Device Manager not showing nRF52840 Dongle

faskrobo — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 06:49:26 GMT

I'm afraid I already tried that and it didn't change the behavior.

RE: Device Manager not showing nRF52840 Dongle

austin944 — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 00:07:25 GMT

There are two tiny buttons on the Dongle. One is a white button facing away from the board. The other is a button next to the white button and is oriented 90 degrees from the white button. While keeping this latter button depressed, plug the dongle into the USB port. Once it is inserted, release the button. Now it is in boot loader mode.