Tool for flashing nrf52840 SoC while doing Firmware upgrade

[Tamizh]

Hi,

I'm using nrf52840SoC(flashed with open-thread rcp firmware) on a custom IMX-ULL-6 board. Is Jlink the only way to flash the firmware into the nrf52840 SoC? 

I'm asking this because after product deployment, if I want to provide a firmware upgrade to the devices, it won't be possible to use JLink, right? 

So,

1)Is there any other way to flash the firmware into the SoC?

2) Which upgrade method do you suggest for my use case with a firmware upgrade?

[Marte Myrvold]

Hi,

You can use a bootloader to perform a device firmware update. With the OpenThread RCP application, the best option is to use serial recovery. With serial recovery, you can perform DFU at boot.
One of my colleagues has made some samples showcasing how to do this, both over UART and USB, which you can find here: https://github.com/hellesvik-nordic/samples_for_nrf_connect_sdk/tree/main/bootloader_samples/serial_recovery. This code is not thoroughly tested or qualified and should be considered provided “as-is”. Please test it with your application and let me know if you find any issues.

Best regards,

Marte

[Tamizh]

Hi Marte Myrvold ,

Sorry for the late response as I've faced a delay in receiving the custom board for checking.

While the UART serial recovery method you mentioned works flawlessly on the nrf52840dk board, I have not had the same success with my custom board using the wait method to enter recovery on each boot. Fortunately, this discussion has provided me with some useful insights.

 MCUBoot usb with openthread sample 

Could you guide me on where to make the changes referred to in that thread that supposedly worked? I couldn't locate the file.

Thanks

[Tamizh]

Hi,

No luck. Even after removing hw-flow-ctrl and pristine build still, the results are same

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

Hi,

Marte is out of the office, so I will continue helping in this case in the meantime.

Try to compare the following files between the project that works (for DK) and for your custom board:

• build/zephyr/zephyr.dts
• build/zephyr/.config

Do you see any differences that could cause the error here?
If not, upload these four files, and I can try to compare them as well.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

[Tamizh]

Hi Sigurd Hellesvik ,

Thanks for the follow-up.

Here is the attachment which includes the above-mentioned files for both nrf52840DK and the custom IMX board.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A_IEFxiJSrfn90I4QftsVaZP3MQxCOBx/view?usp=sharing

Thanks.

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

Looking at these files, nothing looks out of the ordinary.

Can you confirm that I understand the following correctly?

• Serial Recovery works on the nRF52840DK on your end
• SMP Server in the application works on your custom IMX board.
• Serial Recovery with button/pin trigger does not work on your custom IMX board
• Serial Recovery with wait trigger does not work on your custom IMX board

I realize that we should also check the configuration files for the bootloader.
Can you also upload

• build/mcuboot/zephyr/zephyr.dts
• build/mcuboot/zephyr/.config

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

[Tamizh]

Hi,

Yes, your understanding is correct.

Here are the mcuboot zephyr files

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gv9UwmmzjIF4gBnIiyq7AZkB6-9OW9fo/view?usp=sharing

Also, one more doubt. Which file to edit to make the SoC always enter recovery mode during the reset? This is to verify whether after entering into serial recovery am I able to upload the file using mcumgr or not.

Thanks.

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

Hi,

Looks like you uploaded files for the nRF52840DK for both:

Tamizh said:

Also, one more doubt. Which file to edit to make the SoC always enter recovery mode during the reset? This is to verify whether after entering into serial recovery am I able to upload the file using mcumgr or not.

The easiest way to do this is to pull the pin user for MCUboot up or down (to Voltage or ground) during boot.
To test this for the nRF52840DK, try to hold button 1 during boot.

For your device, you would have to find which pin is used for this. In the dts that would be mcuboot-button.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

[Tamizh]

Hi,

The file I attached is from different builds only(custom vs nrf). In my build, I added the boards/uart.overlay to the main image only, not to child_image(mcuboot). Is it required to add it to the child image, and if yes how to add it(folder structure)?

I attached the sample project with board overlay below 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iGJQy-kC8txqZVpYsjIseHZNaiGmiqVl/view?usp=sharing

Thanks.

[Tamizh]

Hi Sigurd Hellesvik 

I tried adding this overlay for mcuboot and it worked perfectly. Thanks for directing me toward the solution. All this time, I was missing this simple step.

Thanks,

Tamizh