nRF Connect Programmer

v1.4.1
User Guide

1159720_170 / 2022-02-21
Contents
Revision history. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Installing the Programmer app. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 nRF Connect Programmer overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

4 Programming a Development Kit or the nRF51 Dongle. . . . . . . . . . . 10

5 Programming the nRF52840 Dongle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

6 Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Legal notices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

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Revision history
Date Description
2022-02-21 Removed nRF9160 DK related content. Removed content is found in Getting
started with nRF9160 DK
2021-10-26 Added SW10 information to the following:
• Programming the nRF9160 DK
• Programming applications on nRF9160 DK
• Programming the nRF9160 DK cellular modem

2021-08-12 • Updated Programming applications on nRF9160 DK

• Removed Nordic Thingy:91™ related content. Removed content is found in
Getting started with Thingy:91.
• Editorial changes

August 2020 Updated:

• Introduction on page 4
• nRF Connect Programmer overview on page 6
• Programming a Development Kit or the nRF51 Dongle on page 10
• Programming the nRF52840 Dongle on page 11
• Programming the nRF9160 DK
• Programming Nordic Thingy:91
• Troubleshooting on page 12

May 2020 Added Figure 5: Nordic Thingy:91 buttons on page 16

April 2020 • Updated Supported devices in Introduction on page 4
• Updated nRF Connect Programmer overview on page 6
• Added Programming the nRF9160 DK
• Added Programming Nordic Thingy:91 on page 15

September 2019 Updated to match nRF Connect Programmer v1.2.3:

• Added Programming the nRF9160 DK cellular modem
• Updated nRF Connect Programmer overview on page 6
• Updated Installing the Programmer app on page 5

May 2019 Updated Installing the Programmer app on page 5

February 2019 First release

Previous versions
PDF files for relevant previous versions are available here:
• nRF Connect Programmer User Guide v1.3 (corresponds to nRF Connect Programmer v1.4.1)

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1 Introduction
nRF Connect Programmer is an app available from nRF Connect for Desktop that you can use to program
firmware to Nordic devices. The application allows you to see the memory layout for both J-Link and
Nordic USB devices. It also allows you to display content for the HEX files and write it to the devices.

Supported devices
• Nordic Thingy:91
• Nordic Thingy:52
• nRF91 Series DKs
• nRF53 Series DKs
• nRF52 Series DKs and Dongle
• nRF51 Series DKs and Dongle

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2 Installing the Programmer app
The Programmer app is installed as an app for nRF Connect for Desktop.
Before you can install the Programmer app, you must download and install nRF Connect for Desktop
(version 3.2.0 or later).
To install the Programmer app:
1. Open nRF Connect for Desktop.
2. Find the Programmer app in the list of apps and click Install.
Once the app is installed, you can launch it by clicking Open.
For easy access, you can create a desktop shortcut by clicking the arrow down button and selecting Create
shortcut.
If a new version of the app becomes available, an Update button is displayed next to the Open button.
Click this button to install the latest version. To uninstall the app, click the arrow down button and select
Uninstall.

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3 nRF Connect Programmer overview
The nRF Connect Programmer main window shows the memory layout of device and file you want to work
with. It also provides you with options to program the device and inspect the whole process through the
log.
When you start the Programmer app, the following main window appears:

Figure 1: nRF Connect Programmer default view at startup

This main window is composed of the navigation bar and the smaller windows, which are described in the
following sections.

Navigation bar
In the navigation bar at the top, you can access the menu, select a device, and see the connection status
of the selected device.

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 nRF Connect Programmer overview

Click the three-dash button in the top-left corner to open the menu through which you can launch another
app, create a system report, or view information about the Programmer app.
Once you connect a device to the system, it becomes visible and available when you click on the Select
device drop-down list. You can choose a device from the list of connected devices to perform further
actions on the device such as programming.
The status indicator to the right of the Select device drop-down list shows the connection status of the
selected device. The indicator is green when the Programmer app has established a connection to the
device.

Device Memory Layout and File Memory Layout

In the Device Memory Layout window, you can see the memory sections for the device selected by using
the Select device option in the navigation bar.
The File Memory Layout window displays the memory layout for files added into the Programmer app
with the Add HEX file option. Once added, these files can be programmed onto the device.
Both windows use graphs that display the different sections in the memory with different colors.
Unknown

MBR or Application section

Bootloader section

SoftDevice section

Application section

Figure 2: Memory layout section colors

Device
When you select a device, you have the following actions available in the Device section:
• Erase all clears the written memory on the device.
• Read reads and displays the written memory in the Device Memory Layout.
• You can select the Auto read memory field to automatically read the memory layout of the device
and display it in the Device Memory Layout.
• In the Device Memory Layout, you can read the name, address range, and size of a memory section
by hovering the mouse cursor over one of the memory sections. This option is possible only after
loading a memory layout.

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 nRF Connect Programmer overview

Figure 3: Memory section details

• Additionally, after you read the memory, Save as file allows you to save the memory as a HEX file.
• Erase & write clears the written memory and programs the files added to the File Memory Layout.
• Reset resets the device.
• Write programs the files added to the File Memory Layout.

File
In the File section, you can add files to the File Memory Layout graphic, reload, and remove them.
When adding files with the Add HEX file button, you can select the files either from the drop-down list of
previous files or by browsing to the file destination.

Cellular Modem
You can use the Programmer app to update the nRF9160 modem firmware on all kits with the nRF9160
SiP. To do so, click Update modem and select the zip file that contains the new modem firmware.

Log
Each time you open the Programmer app, a new session log file is created in the Log folder at <user
folder>/AppData/Roaming/nrfconnect/pc-nrfconnect-programmer/logs. The Log

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 nRF Connect Programmer overview

window allows you to view the most important log events that are saved to these log files. The events are
tagged with a timestamp.
This window contains the following buttons in its top right corner:
• Open log file opens the detailed log file, which is useful for troubleshooting.
• Clear log erases all the information in the Log window. The contents of the log file are not affected.
• Scroll automatically toggles automatic scrolling of the Log window as new lines appear.

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 Programming a Development Kit or
4 the nRF51 Dongle
In nRF Connect Programmer, you can program nRF91, nRF52, and nRF51 development kits, nRF51 Dongle,
or a custom board with a supported chip that allows for communication with J-Link.

Note: When programming a custom board with a supported chip, make sure that the J-Link
supports the relevant Arm® CPU. For example, an nRF52 Series DK cannot be used to program a
Nordic Thingy:91 since the J-Link on an nRF52 Series DK does not support the programming of the
Arm Cortex®-M33 CPU of Nordic Thingy:91. Also, a Nordic Thingy:52™ can be programmed only via
J-Link and a 10-pin programming cable.

To program the nRF52840 Dongle, see Programming the nRF52840 Dongle on page 11. To program the
nRF9160 DK, see Programming the nRF9160 DK. To program any other development kit, the nRF51 dongle,
or a custom board, see the following procedure.
1. Open nRF Connect for Desktop and launch nRF Connect Programmer.
2. Connect a development kit to the computer with a micro-USB cable, and turn it on.
In the navigation bar, No devices available changes to Select device.
3. Click Select device and select the device from the drop-down list.
The button text changes to the SEGGER ID of the selected device, and the Device Memory Layout
section indicates that the device is connected.
4. If you have not selected the Auto read memory option under the Device menu and wish to visually see
the memory layout before you program, click Read in the menu. If you have selected it, the memory
layout will update automatically.
5. Drag and drop the HEX file into the File Memory Layout section. Alternatively, click Add HEX file on the
right pane (named as File) to add the files you want to program, by using one of the following options:
• Select the files you used recently.
• If there are no recently used files, click Browse from the drop-down list.
6. Select the firmware image file (with the extension .hex) from the file browser that opens up.
7. Click Erase & write in the Device pane to program the device.

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5 Programming the nRF52840 Dongle
Programming the nRF52840 Dongle in nRF Connect Programmer requires a different approach than
programming the nRF51 Dongle.
To program the nRF52840 Dongle:
1. Open nRF Connect for Desktop and launch nRF Connect Programmer.
2. Insert the nRF52840 Dongle into a USB port on the computer.
3. Put the dongle into bootloader mode by pressing the RESET button.

Figure 4: nRF52840 Dongle overview

Note:
• This step is not needed if the currently running application uses the DFU trigger library.
• If this is the first time the dongle is connected, a driver needed for the nRF52840 USB DFU
feature is also installed as part of this step.

The status light (LD2) will start pulsing red, which indicates that the dongle is powered up and in
bootloader mode. After a few seconds, the computer recognizes the dongle as a USB composite device.
4. In the navigation bar in the Programmer app, click Select device and select the serial number of the
dongle from the drop-down list.
5. Drag and drop the HEX file into the File Memory Layout section. Alternatively, click Add HEX file on the
right pane (named as File) to add the files you want to program, by using one of the following options:
• Select the files you used recently.
• If there are no recently used files, click Browse from the drop-down list.
6. Select the firmware image file (with the extension .hex) from the file browser that opens up.
7. Click Write to program the firmware onto the dongle.
When the writing process completes, the device resets and – unless the application uses the DFU Trigger
Library – the dongle will no longer show up in the Programmer app, as it is no longer in the bootloader
mode.

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6 Troubleshooting
For troubleshooting, nRF Connect Programmer allows you to access a more detailed log file.
To open this file, click the Open log file button in the log window.

Figure 5: Where to open the detailed log file

The Programmer app shares several of the troubleshooting issues and suggested solutions with the nRF
Connect Bluetooth® Low Energy app. Refer to the troubleshooting section in the nRF Connect Bluetooth
Low Energy user guide for the list of issues.

Programming a device
If you are unable to program a device with the Write button, verify that:
• You are trying to program a supported device.
• There are no issues with the HEX file, and the addresses mentioned within the file are correct.

Restarting the Programmer app

You can restart the Programmer app by pressing Ctrl+R in Windows and command+R in macOS. A
restart might be required in the following scenarios:
• A device is reset while it is connected to the Programmer app. In this case, you may not see all
COM ports in the drop-down list while selecting the device (e.g. nRF9160 DK) in the Programmer
app.
• Other errors.

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Legal notices
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