Does Nordic provide tool to check version of softdevice_s132.hex?

[snowuyl]

I found softdevice_s132.hex under nRF5_SDK_16.0.0\examples\dfu\secure_dfu_test_images\ble\nrf52832 folder. How could I check its version?

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

SDK 16 ships with S132 7.0.1, so that is what is being used. I was going to write that to verify it you can for instance take the MD5 sum (or other hash) of <SDK16>\components\softdevice\s132\hex\s132_nrf52_7.0.1_softdevice.hex and the softdevice_s132.hex from the DFU test images. However, it turns out that the sum is different, and diffing the two files the only difference is the SoftDevice ID:

The correct firmware ID for S132 7.0.1 is 0x00CB, but this modified in the file from DFU test images. The rest of the hex is the same though. So the answer is that the softdevice_s132.hex in SDK 16 is a S132 7.0.1 SoftDevice with a modified/fake ID, I suspect the reason for this is to demonstrate SoftDevice updates without having to include a different SoftDevice version in the SDKs, but in stead faking a different version by simply using an invalid ID. This makes it important to note that the files under secure_dfu_test_images are for demo purposes and should not be used in production.

[snowuyl]

Thanks for your reply! Do you suggest to use nRF5_SDK_16.0.0\components\softdevice\s132\hex for production?

[Einar Thorsrud]

Yes, that makes sense. (You can also consider using version 7.3.0 instead, which is a minor update that is drop-in/binary compatible with 7.0.1. You can download it here and refer to the release notes for details).

[snowuyl]

Thanks for your suggestion!