Is the nRF52840 Dongle firmware source code availabe?

[Andrea Verdecchia]

I have a nRF52840 Dongle. When I connected it for the first time to the Bluetooth Low Energy app of nRF Connect for Desktop, it loaded automatically the firmware. My question is simple: is this firmware source code available somewhere?

[Vidar Berg]

Hello,

Yes, the hex is available in our github repository here: https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/pc-ble-driver/blob/v4.1.4-hex/hex/sd_api_v5/connectivity_4.1.4_usb_with_s132_5.1.0.hex

Best regards,

Vidar

[Andrea Verdecchia]

Hi Vidar,

thanks for your response but I mean the source code of the firmware, not the hex. I misspoke, sorry. 

[Vidar Berg]

Hi,

The repo I linked to includes instructions on how you can build the connectivity FW from source, but note that this is an involved process in addition to the FW being based on an old SDK with a Softdevice that has not been qualified for the nrf52840. Could you say something about what you intend to acheive with this? Maybe there are better alternatives.

[Andrea Verdecchia]

Vidar Berg said:

Could you say something about what you intend to acheive with this? Maybe there are better alternatives.

I want to develop a BLE/USB dongle to interface BLE devices to a custom software on PC. I thought that, if available, the Nordic Dongle code was a good starting point. Do you have some suggestions?

Thanks.

[Vidar Berg]

It would be good for production testing,etc, but not to sell as a product. Not with the Softdevice version used with this connectivity FW, at least. This Softdevice does not have a Bluetooth listing for this device: Bluetooth QDIDs. Though you may consider using API version 6 with s140 if you are OK with working directly with the C++ library and not use the Python or JS wrappers.

Have you considered other options such as using the built-in bluetooth? Or maybe just run the Bluetooth application on the dongle itself?