Cannot find Zephyr-sdkConfig.cmake

[Jan Rychter]

I picked up a project that was last worked on several months ago, updated all the tools, and can't get past this:

[18:25] jwr-macbook-pro:/opt/nordic/ncs/v2.1.0/nrf/samples/peripheral/lpuart>west build -b nrf52840_mdk
-- west build: generating a build system
Loading Zephyr default modules (Zephyr base (cached)).
-- Application: /opt/nordic/ncs/v2.1.0/nrf/samples/peripheral/lpuart
-- Using NCS Toolchain 2.1.0 for building. (/opt/nordic/ncs/toolchains/v2.1.0/cmake)
-- Cache files will be written to: /Users/jwr/Library/Caches/zephyr
-- Zephyr version: 3.1.99 (/opt/nordic/ncs/v2.1.0/zephyr)
-- Found west (found suitable version "0.14.0", minimum required is "0.7.1")
-- Board: nrf52840_mdk
CMake Error at /opt/nordic/ncs/v2.1.0/zephyr/cmake/modules/verify-toolchain.cmake:84 (find_package):
  Could not find a package configuration file provided by "Zephyr-sdk"
  (requested version 0.13.1) with any of the following names:

    Zephyr-sdkConfig.cmake
    zephyr-sdk-config.cmake

  Add the installation prefix of "Zephyr-sdk" to CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH or set
  "Zephyr-sdk_DIR" to a directory containing one of the above files.  If
  "Zephyr-sdk" provides a separate development package or SDK, be sure it has
  been installed.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  /opt/nordic/ncs/v2.1.0/zephyr/cmake/modules/zephyr_default.cmake:121 (include)
  /opt/nordic/ncs/v2.1.0/zephyr/share/zephyr-package/cmake/ZephyrConfig.cmake:66 (include)
  /opt/nordic/ncs/v2.1.0/zephyr/share/zephyr-package/cmake/ZephyrConfig.cmake:97 (include_boilerplate)
  CMakeLists.txt:9 (find_package)


-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
FATAL ERROR: command exited with status 1: /opt/homebrew/bin/cmake -DWEST_PYTHON=/opt/homebrew/opt/[email protected]/bin/python3.10 -B/opt/nordic/ncs/v2.1.0/nrf/samples/peripheral/lpuart/build -GNinja -S/opt/nordic/ncs/v2.1.0/nrf/samples/peripheral/lpuart

I normally use my own checkout of nRF Connect SDK, but this time I even tried using the SDK installed with the toolchain (see above), same results.

I have no idea why this started happening, I never had to point to Zephyr-sdkConfig.cmake. A file with that name does exist in /opt/nordic/ncs/toolchains/v2.1.0/opt/zephyr-sdk/cmake/Zephyr-sdkConfig.cmake, but I have no idea why west is unable to find it.

I have ZEPHYR_BASE=/opt/nordic/ncs/v2.1.0/zephyr and ZEPHYR_TOOLCHAIN_VARIANT=gnuarmemb and GNUARMEMB_TOOLCHAIN_PATH=/opt/nordic/ncs/toolchains/v2.1.0.

This is on an Apple Silicon (M1) Mac under Mac OS 12.6.

Any pointers would be appreciated, as I'm completely stuck on this unexpected problem!

[Jan Rychter]

Ok, so this took a while, but I did figure this out. The short answer is that what was missing in my environment was a variable called "ZEPHYR_SDK_INSTALL_DIR" which needs to be set to "/opt/nordic/ncs/toolchains/v2.1.0/opt/zephyr-sdk".

What seems to be a clear bug in the Toolchain Manager is that this variable DOES NOT get set if the user's shell is "/bin/tcsh". I suspect it was only tested with "/bin/bash" and assumes that this is the shell that everyone uses.

I would also suggest that is is perhaps worth checking why this crucial variable isn't mentioned in the documentation much. I checked:

• Installing manually https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/gs_installing.html
• Migration notes for nRF Connect SDK v2.0.0 https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/2.1.0/nrf/migration/migration_guide_1.x_to_2.x.html
• Environment Variables https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/zephyr/develop/env_vars.html#env-vars-important
• Developing with Zephyr » Application Development  https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/zephyr/develop/application/index.html#important-build-vars

none of these contain the string "ZEPHYR_SDK_INSTALL_DIR", which I think is a problem. I am not sure how I am supposed to discover that this variable needs to be set and what it should be set to.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi Jan,

Thanks for letting me know! The toolchain manager is tested with zsh, which is the default shell in recent macOS versions, but not other shells. I have forwarded your comments about the missing documentation about ZEPHYR_SDK_INSTALL_DIR so that it can be added for a future release.