BLE only DFU downloader for Windows

[Allen]

Hello,

Is there a BLE only DFU application like that available on Android? The Android application works fine. The windows version needs a serial port to perform the same function. Why?

We are using custom hardware so we don't have the special Segger serial port feature. I am using a J-Link Plus and enabled the virtual COM port in the configuration but I still don't get any ports listed in the windows NRFconnect application.

[John]

You can run nRFConnect on the PC, but you do need to have either a Nordic Dev. Board or Dongle plugged in to provide the BLE functionality to perform the DFU operation on your target board. It won't use any native BLE component built into your windows box.

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Windows did not provide any BLE API in earlier Windows versions, this was first introduced in Windows 8. To be able to support multiple platforms and support for all our features, we are providing support through our own board with a custom connectivity firmware. On Android you have had access to the BLE API for a long time, which allows us to use the BLE chip of the phone to implement these features directly.

It might be possible to write your own Windows app to do DFU directly using the Windows BLE API, but this is not something we have implemented.

I have never tried nRF Connect with an external Segger J-Link, but I don't see any reason why this should not be supported. There is some checks used for determining that a valid J-Link is used, and this might cause some issues for devices that have a different serial number than the ones used on our DKs. What version of nRF Connect are you testing this with?

Best regards,

Jørgen