Thingy 91 Blinky Example

RE: Thingy 91 Blinky Example

Heidi — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 07:14:51 GMT

Thanks for the suggestion, I will add a bit more explanation to that page. :)

RE: Thingy 91 Blinky Example

MarekP — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 20:49:13 GMT

My apologies.
After completing two courses, I repeated the first exercise, and it worked well.

If I were to suggest just one improvement to the course material, I would recommend expanding the explanation provided on this page: https://academy.nordicsemi.com/flash-instructions-for-the-thingy91/, specifically regarding the contents of the build folder. I found it a bit confusing to understand why so many files are generated when I only need one specific file that is buried deep within the folder structure.

Although the instructions on the page — "Navigate to the build folder of your application: <application root directory>\build\<application_name>\zephyr and select the file zephyr.signed.hex." — are technically correct, it took me a while to figure out what <application_name> and <application root directory> referred to in my specific case.

That’s really the only suggestion I have — overall, the courses are very well done, and I truly enjoyed going through them.

Best regards,
Marek

RE: Thingy 91 Blinky Example

Heidi — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 11:13:03 GMT

Hi MarekP ,

[quote userid="146331" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/94227/thingy-91-blinky-example/540036"]This tutorial assumes you are using a development board like the nRF52840 DK or nRF9160 DK, which define led0 and sw0 aliases in their devicetree. However, the Thingy:91 does not define led0.[/quote]

This is not correct, the nRF Connect SDK Fundamentals course works with all of the devices listed on the front page: nRF54L15 DK, nRF7002 DK, nRF5340 DK, nRF52840 DK, nRF52833 DK, nRF52 DK, nRF9160 DK, nRF9161 DK, nRF9151 DK, Thingy:53, Thingy:91 X or Thingy:91.

Furthermore, the Thingy:91 board folder defines the led0 and sw0 aliases in the devicetree here. As you can see, alias led0 is assigned to the red LED, meaning the Blinky sample running on a Thingy:91 should cause the LED to blink red.

I just tested Lesson 1, Exercise 2 using the Thingy:91 (building for thingy91/nrf9160/ns) and it works as expected.

If this is not working for you, what nRF Connect SDK version are you using, and what error are you getting?

[quote userid="146331" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/94227/thingy-91-blinky-example/540036"]For Thingy91 use should use use the dk_buttons_and_leds.h library, which is specifically designed for the Thingy:91 and handles the LED and button.[/quote]

This is not correct either; the DK Buttons and LEDs library is not specifically designed for the Thingy:91. This library simply provides an API to easily interface with the buttons and LEDs on Nordic boards, without having to use the GPIO API directly.

Since the Blinky sample aims to show how to toggle an LED using the GPIO API directly, the DK Buttons and LEDs library is not necessary.

We strive to keep the exercises in the DevAcademy up to date, so if something is not working for you, we'd love feedback on how it is not working, what error you are seeing, what environment you are using, etc. As I said, I just tested Exercise 2 with a Thingy:91, and I'm not able to reproduce any issues.

RE: Thingy 91 Blinky Example

MarekP — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 12:56:19 GMT

This tutorial assumes you are using a development board like the nRF52840 DK or nRF9160 DK, which define led0 and sw0 aliases in their devicetree. However, the Thingy:91 does not define led0. For Thingy91 use should use use the dk_buttons_and_leds.h library, which is specifically designed for the Thingy:91 and handles the LED and button. What worked for me: Modify main.c: Add

#include <dk_buttons_and_leds.h>

change main:
int main(void)
{
int ret = dk_leds_init();
if (ret != 0) {
return ret;
}

while (1) {
ret = gpio_pin_toggle_dt(&led);
if (ret < 0) {
return 0;
}

dk_set_led_on(DK_LED1);
k_msleep(SLEEP_TIME_MS);
dk_set_led_off(DK_LED1);
k_msleep(SLEEP_TIME_MS);
}
return 0;
}

--- modify prj.conf

CONFIG_GPIO=y CONFIG_DK_LIBRARY=y CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT=y CONFIG_BUILD_OUTPUT_BIN=y CONFIG_BUILD_OUTPUT_HEX=y CONFIG_STDOUT_CONSOLE=y CONFIG_UART_CONSOLE=y -- and use build/l1_e2/zephyr/zephyr.signed.hex as the file in Programmer. Unfortunately - a lot of changes in the first tutorial.

RE: Thingy 91 Blinky Example

Gova — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:12:16 GMT

Hello Abhijith,

Thanks for sharing the information. I am also facing the same problem as Joseph. I am using VS Code and followed everything as said in https://academy.nordicsemi.com/topic/exercise-1-1/.

I am getting these warnings and errors.

Is this normal or is there a way to correct all these?

I got my hex built, and programmed too. But nothing happens in thingy board when switched ON.

Your help will be much appreciated.

RE: Thingy 91 Blinky Example

Menon — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 08:40:19 GMT

Hello,

Take a look at this old thread which explains the same thing in my response with little more description might be useful for you.

Kind Regards,

Abhijith

RE: Thingy 91 Blinky Example

AntonioB18 — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 20:53:56 GMT

Having the same problem, I updated to the latest modem fw and then the blinky led and is not blinking, I will try to deep in the problem a little more. But to be honest it is a little bit of a disappointment.

RE: Thingy 91 Blinky Example

Menon — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 08:07:22 GMT

Hello,

Really sorry I overlooked. Yes you can try the blinky sample with thingy91 but you should try with the external debugger. Or if you are trying with the nrf connect programmer app then you need to upload the app_signed.hex file in the build folder.

For obtaining the file you need to build the sample with boardname thingy91_nrf9160_ns and update with app_signed.hex. After programming, power off/on the thingy91, it should blink with red.

Kind Regards,

Abhijith

RE: Thingy 91 Blinky Example

JosephAzar — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 21:18:44 GMT

Are you sure about this? Because all the online tutorials use blinky as the first example to try on the thingy 91. Also the documentation and schematics point to gpio 29 being the red led pin which is correctly defined in the device tree and I selected the thingy 91 when creating a build configuration.

RE: Thingy 91 Blinky Example

Menon — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 12:51:28 GMT

Hello,

For thingy91 you need to use an external debugger pin for Programming an Application, see here. Or else you can use the Programmer, but you need to make the thingy91 in the bootloader mode by following this step.

And also the Blinky example does not work on Thingy91 as it requires an LED connected to the GPIO pins. You can see a supported board section in the same page.

Kind Regards,

Abhijith