How to restore to factory nRF51 dongle firmware

[Michael M]

I can no longer use the BLESniffer software with nRF51 dongle because it won't reprogram with Ctrl-R getting an error suggesting using nRFgo Studio to reprogram it. Which I've done.

I've used nrfjprog -- recover. I've reprogrammed the soft device and application with nRFgo Studio. I can use it with nRF Connect, BLE App. Still can't use it ble-sniffer windows app. Also, no longer acts like it did when it came from factory. The blue receiving BLE light no longer flashes indicating receiving BLE.

Is there a hex file and instructions to do a complete reset to factory defaults?

I'm sorry if this was answered but I spent a lot of time reading thru the various posts and tried multiple answers with no success.

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Hi Michael,

Please have a look at the suggestions in this thread. You can find old versions of the J-Link OB IF firmware on this page. To program it, hold the IF BOOT/RESET button on the nRF51 Dongle when inserting it into the USB port, and drop the firmware onto the removable drive named BOOTLOADER.

Best regards,

Jørgen

[sonnyz]

Hi Jorgen, I have a PCA10031 dongle want to restore to factory settings. I have tried the suggestions to downgrade to jlink version 5.10n, and tried to drop different J-Link OB IF firmware versions to BOOTLOADER folder, and after that used Master Control Panel to flash the MEFW, and even tried to use nRFgo studio to flash the s130 softdevice and rng_s130_pca10031.hex, but nothing worked. What else can I do to restore the PCA10031 dongle to factory FW? Now only the green LED is lit on the dongel. Thanks!

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

I have seen this issue before, but have not found a good solution yet. What usually works for me in the end is to try different IF MCU firmwares and flash the Master Control Panel/Master Emulator Firmware multiple times, either from Master control panel menus and from nRFgo Studio. Is there anything specific that you need Master Control Panel for, that you are not able to do using nRF Connect?

[sonnyz]

Thank you Jorgen! I tried many times to rewrite the dongle, finally succeed with nRF Connect and able to read with it. Still not able to read with Master Contral Panel, but I think nRF Connect is good enough.