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Nrf52840 dongle "does not need to be reloaded" issue when using programmer to flash

AnthonyT6

I am just getting started with the Nrf52840 dongle and trying to flash a few examples from the SDK. I was able to flash the "blinky" example just fine using the programmer application, however I was not able to do the same with the ble_blinky example. I am able to add the hex files for the code and soft device, but when I write to the dongle I receive two messages: "Does not need to be reloaded: <path for soft device>" and "Does not need to be reloaded: <path for code>". The board remains in the reset state and it does not appear as though anything has been written to the board despite the lack of a red error message being displayed. I have had another individual attempt to write to the dongle and they encountered the same issue. I am fairly new to this device and software, so I would appreciate any guidance on what I may be doing wrong in this process. Thank you for your assistance.

  • 0

    Hi,

    First of all I would like to mention that the dongle is not an ideal development platform for a couple of reasons, most importantly that it lacks an onboard debugger. Therefor I would suggest that you use a nRF52840 DK instead for development. The dongle is more suitable for sue with nRF Connect for Desktop BLE, or as a BLE sniffer. That said, when you do build and program firmware for the dongle, I recommend taking a look at the nRF52840 dongle programming tutorial.

    I am able to add the hex files for the code and soft device, but when I write to the dongle I receive two messages: "Does not need to be reloaded: <path for soft device>" and "Does not need to be reloaded: <path for code>".

    I do not recall seeing this. Can you elaborate on exactly what you programmed in what way in order to get this error, and when you saw it? Screenshots could be useful for the latter.

  • 0 in reply to Einar Thorsrud

    Hi, thank you for letting me know that the dongle might not be ideal for my application. For now, I will try to get it working since it is what I have available to me, but if things prove to be too challenging I will switch devices. I read through the programming tutorial and I seem to have followed these steps appropriately in my setup, unless there is something I am missing. I will walk through the steps that I took to arrive at the issue I am currently experiencing. The first thing I did was program the "blinky" example to the dongle, which was successful. I then attempted to program the "ble_app_blinky" example. I didn't change anything with the code when accessing it from the SDK. I used segger to build the program, then copied the path of the hex file that was generated. I also noted the path to the s140 softdevice (from components -> softdevices). From the programmer, I added these files via path. I then write to the board, which generates the messages I am referring to. The screenshot below is taken at this stage. Let me know what other information might help in this process. Thanks again.

  • 0 in reply to AnthonyT6

    Hi,

    That is odd. I attempted to follow your steps, and it works as expected on my end. Also, I am a bit curious about the graphical representation of the flash layout. Can you hoover your mouse over the various colored fields and let me know what you see for each block (for instance by screenshots). I am interested both in address ranges and file names (for the left part / file memory layout).

    Also, which version of nRF Connect for Desktop an of the Programmer app do you have? And which OS/Windows version?

  • 0 in reply to Einar Thorsrud

    Hi, I am currently using version 3.11.1 for nrf Desktop, the programmer's version is 3.0.1, and I am using windows 10 OS. Below, I have provided a handful of screenshots which may be useful. Thanks again.

  • 0 in reply to AnthonyT6

    Hi,

    All this looks good. Can you hover over the sections on the right side as well? Before that, just visually looking at it the blue section that represents the SoftDevice seems to be of same size on the right side, which is what is on the device. The application region seems larger, though.

    What was programmed before this? The layout here does not match the simple (non-BLE) peripheral blinky sample. which is much smaller and without a SoftDevice.

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