How to flash bootloader to thingy 52?

[Gova]

I am a newbie for Nordic development boards. I recently bought a thingy 52. When I was searching for how to upload a custom firmware of my own (After disabling few BLE services), I came across this link. OTA-DFU - Generating your own packages

I have installed nrfutil and have generated Private key. But how am I supposed to flash the bootloader? I have only one thingy board in hand.

Once I have my ZIP file, I can do a OTA-DFU with my phone. But please let me know how to flash the bootloader onto the board over the air.

I would be glad if someone can help me. Thanks a ton in advance.

[Bjørn Kvaale]

Do you have an nrf52 development kit?

[Gova]

No I don't have one. I have only a thingy board.

[Bjørn Kvaale]

Unfortunately, you need a nrf51 og nrf52 DK to be able to flash a bootloader to your Thingy via the nrfGoStudio program. In nrfGoStudio, you can flash the bootloader by clicking on the "Program Bootloader" tab.

It might be possible to flash the bootloader via the nrf connect app for android and/or iOS by transferring the bootloader to your mobile phone, but I am unsure if this works. Try this first by looking at the documentation title "Upgrading with nrfConnect for Mobile". If that doesn't work, you'll unfortunately need an nrf51 or 52 DK to flash the bootloader over to the Thingy. Hope that helps!

Update: You can easily do an OTA-DFU by using the Nordic Thingy app if you are trying to update the Nordic Thingy FW for example. Sorry that I didn't think about this earlier. Connect to the Thingy, press on Device Firmware Update & go over to the Custom tab. There, you can press the "How to..." button & it will show you how to add files using itunes (if you are using iOS) or from an e-mail for example.

Update 2: If you are using custom firmware, you need to do secure DFU. You can take a look at this fantastic blog post to help you get started!

[Gova]

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes with the attached images, I think i need a nRF DK to program the bootloader.

[Daniel Wang]

I think there is already a bootloader on the Thingy by default. you dont need to flash your own bootloader. Hold the thingy button down, while powering up, and it will go int DFU mode. And you can upload your own firmware(.ZIP) OTA-DFU using Thingy app or nRF-connect app.