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These operations can be done through USB using MCUboot, or through an external debug probe.
When developing with your Thingy:91, it is recommended to use an external debug probe.
Note
The external debug probe must support Arm Cortex-M33, such as the nRF9160 DK.
You need a 10-pin 2x5 socket-socket 1.27 mm IDC (Serial Wire Debug (SWD)) JTAG cable to connect to the external debug probe.
Download and extract the latest application and modem firmware from the Thingy:91 Downloads page.
The downloaded ZIP archive contains the following firmware:
Application firmware
The img_app_bl folder contains full firmware images for different applications.
The guides for programming through an external debug probe in this section use the images in this folder.
Application firmware for Device Firmware Update (DFU)
The images in the img_fota_dfu_bin and img_fota_dfu_hex folders contain firmware images for DFU.
The guides for programming through USB in this section use the images in the img_fota_dfu_hex folder.
Modem firmware
The modem firmware is in a ZIP archive instead of a folder.
The archive is named mfw_nrf9160_ followed by the firmware version number.
Do not unzip this file.
The CONTENTS.txt file in the extracted folder contains the location and names of the different firmware images.
The instructions in this section show you how to program the Connectivity bridge and Asset Tracker v2 applications, as well as the modem firmware.
Connectivity bridge provides bridge functionality for the hardware, and Asset Tracker v2 simulates sensor data and transmits it to Nordic Semiconductor’s cloud solution, nRF Cloud.
The data is transmitted using either LTE-M or NB-IoT.
Asset Tracker v2 first attempts to use LTE-M, then NB-IoT.
Check with your SIM card provider for the mode they support at your location.
For the iBasis SIM card provided with the Thingy:91, see iBasis IoT network coverage.
To update the Thingy:91 through USB, the nRF9160 SiP and nRF52840 SoC bootloaders must be factory-compatible.
The bootloaders might not be factory-compatible if the nRF9160 SiP or nRF52840 SoC has been updated with an external debug probe.
To restore the bootloaders, program the nRF9160 SiP or nRF52840 SoC with factory-compatible Thingy:91 firmware files through an external debug probe.
Note
You can also use these precompiled firmware image files for restoring the firmware to its initial image.
Open the folder img_app_bl that contains the HEX files for flashing with a debugger.
See the CONTENTS.txt file for information on which file you need.
Select the Connectivity bridge firmware file.
Click Open.
Scroll down in the menu on the left to the DEVICE section and click Erase & write.
The update is completed when the animation in Programmer’s Device memory layout window ends.
In the Modem DFU window, click Write.
When the update is complete, a “Completed successfully” message appears.
Note
Before trying to update the modem again, click the Erase all button. In this case, the contents of the flash memory are deleted and the applications must be reprogrammed.
Open the folder img_fota_dfu_hex that contains the HEX files for updating over USB.
See the CONTENTS.txt file for information on which file you need.
Select the appropriate Asset Tracker v2 firmware file.
Note
If you are connecting over NB-IoT and your operator does not support extended Protocol Configuration Options (ePCO), select the file that has legacy Protocol Configuration Options (PCO) mode enabled.
Click Open.
Scroll down in the menu on the left to the DEVICE section and click Write.
Open the folder img_app_bl that contains the HEX files for updating using a debugger.
See the CONTENTS.txt file for information on which file you need.
Select the appropriate Asset Tracker v2 firmware file.
Note
If you are connecting over NB-IoT and your operator does not support extended Protocol Configuration Options (ePCO), select the file that has legacy Protocol Configuration Options (PCO) mode enabled.
Click Open.
Scroll down in the menu on the left to the DEVICE section and click Erase & write.
The update is completed when the animation in Programmer’s Device memory layout window ends.
When building firmware on the Thingy:91 board, a static partition layout matching the factory layout is used.
This ensures that programming firmware through USB works.
In this case, the MCUboot bootloader will not be updated.
So, to maintain compatibility, it is important that the image partitions do not get moved.
When programming the Thingy:91 through an external debug probe, all partitions, including MCUboot, are programmed.
This enables the possibility of using an updated bootloader or defining an application-specific partition layout.
Configure the partition layout using one of the following configuration options:
CONFIG_THINGY91_STATIC_PARTITIONS_FACTORY - This option is the default Thingy:91 partition layout used in the factory firmware.
This ensures firmware updates are compatible with Thingy:91 when programming firmware through USB.
CONFIG_THINGY91_STATIC_PARTITIONS_SECURE_BOOT - This option is similar to the factory partition layout, but also has space for the immutable bootloader and two MCUboot slots.
A debugger is needed to program Thingy:91 for the first time.
This is an experimental feature.
CONFIG_THINGY91_STATIC_PARTITIONS_LWM2M_CARRIER - This option uses a partition layout, including a storage partition needed for the LwM2M carrier library.
CONFIG_THINGY91_NO_PREDEFINED_LAYOUT - Enabling this option disables Thingy:91 pre-defined static partitions.
This allows the application to use a dynamic layout or define a custom static partition layout for the application.
A debugger is needed to program Thingy:91 for the first time.
This is an experimental feature.
