How to prepare single hex file for batch runs?

[Alex Ross]

I am running into the exact same issue described here:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/53693/how-to-flash-application-after-dfu-bootloader/217434#217434

Basically I'm looking to combine the Softdevice, Bootloader, and Application into a single hex file however I still go straight to DFUTarg mode like the above issue describes. 

Currently the release package builder does work after a DFU:

nrfutil pkg generate --application ..\Client_build\Client_nrf52833_xxAA_s140_7.2.0.hex --application-version 1 --hw-version 52 --sd-req 0x0100 --key-file ..\Bootloader\lpn_private_key.pem BLE_firmware.zip

However it'd be awesome to have a single file that does all of the above like I described.

From here I tried the bootloader settings fix:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/nordic/nordic-blog/b/blog/posts/common-faqs-on-dfu

nrfjprog --memwr 0x7F000 --val 1

(This is for the 833)

Still no luck as a single file.

Thanks!

[Vidar Berg]

Hello,

The common FAQ on DFU post you linked to was for our legacy DFU solution(pre-SDK v12). Hung later made a new blog post for the secure bootloader introduced in SDK 12: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/guides/short-range-guides/b/software-development-kit/posts/getting-started-with-nordics-secure-dfu-bootloader

Long story short, the new bootloader has a different settings format where it's not sufficient to just set one bit to mark the application as valid, you also have to provide checksums and version information.

Example of how you can create a bootloader settings page:

$ nrfutil settings generate --family NRF52 --application <application hex> --application-version 1 --bootloader-version 1 --bl-settings-version 2 settings.hex

The generated settings.hex file can then be merged with the Softdevice+application+bootloader to get a single hex image for production.

You may also refer to the documentation here: Generating and displaying bootloader settings

Best regards,

Vidar