CSSE4011: nRF Dongle: Zephyr Board Guide

1.0 Prerequisites

Complete following OS tutes

Getting Started
First Program

1.1 Test Hardware

nRF Dongle

2.0 Tools

For flashing this board, we need to install nrfutil.

pip3 install nrfutil

nrfutil

Usage: nrfutil [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Options:
  -v, --verbose            Increase verbosity of output. Can be specified
                           more than once (up to -v -v -v -v).
  -o, --output <filename>  Log output to file
  --help                   Show this message and exit.

2.1 TTY Permissions for Flashing

TTY permissions are required to load the binary by nrfutil . An easy way to do this is to add the current user to the 'dialout' group.

sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER

You will typically need to log out and log in or reboot to see this effect.

3.0 nRF Dongle (nRF52840) - Zephyr

To build an application, from within the application directory

west build -p auto -b nrf52840dongle_nrf52840

Package the application for the bootloader using nrfutil:

nrfutil pkg generate --hw-version 52 --sd-req=0x00 \
        --application build/zephyr/zephyr.hex \
        --application-version 1 blinky.zip

Now, put the device into bootloader mode, by pressing the sideways push button (next to the white pushbutton). You should see the red led steadily blinky.

nrfutil dfu usb-serial -pkg blinky.zip -p /dev/ttyACM0

4.0 Troubleshooting

If you get a permissions error when flashing, it is likely because you did not log out/in after updating groups.

If it fails to flash, it could be because the VM does not see the DFU Bootloader. Run:

lsusb

and see if the following comes up

Bus 001 Device 009: ID 1915:521f Nordic Semiconductor ASA Open DFU Bootloader

If not, you will need to edit VM settings and passthrough this USB from the host to the VM.

Last update: 2022-02-19