Feather Sense nRF52840 UF2 image 0.9.2

[mikeysklar]

Operating System

macOS 15.x.

INFO_UF2.TXT

Of the three different bootloader update methods for the Feather Sense nRF52840 the UF2 does not work. I'm running macOS 15.5 which I reproduced from a forum users report.

The same version of bootloader 0.9.2 in ZIP format works fine via command line.

The Arduino IDE built-in bootloader in one back 0.9.1, but also works fine as an update.

The suspicious thing about the UF2 is the size. It is only 70kb. The zip blob is 190k.

What happened ?

UF2 fails to copy with error message of:

The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "update-feather_nrf52840_sense_bootloader-0.9.2_nosd.uf2" can't be read or writte" (Error Code -36)

How to reproduce ?

Double reset Feather Sense to enter bootloader mode.

Try to drag UF2 file onto it

Debug Log

No response

Screenshots

No response

[hathach]

just tested on my Linux and it works well, this is probably issue with macos. Let me pull out my old mac to test with

The same version of bootloader 0.9.2 in ZIP format works fine via command line.
The Arduino IDE built-in bootloader in one back 0.9.1, but also works fine as an update.
The suspicious thing about the UF2 is the size. It is only 70kb. The zip blob is 190k.

Zip also contains softdevice + bootloader while the update-bootloader-nosd.uf2 does not. Since bootloader can work with multiple softdevice version. That can be upgraded separatedly with uf2.

[hathach]

Update: I have tried with my intel macos 13.7.4 and it seems to work just fine. bootloader can be update back and forth from 0.9.0 to 0.9.2. Currently I don't have any better mac machine to test with. Maybe the latest macos mass storage driver has some changes. Btw, can you confirm when the issue occurs does the bootloader info is updated e.g from 0.9.1 to 0.9.2 (sometime it caches the old txt file).

PS: I aslo subcribed to forum as well in case I could help.

[fouad1233]

Hi, I am the user who reported this bug at the forum. I am not able to send code to the board at the moment. Tomorrow I will retry with Windows machine at work.

[mikeysklar]

@hathatch - agreed looks like macOS MSC related behavior on modern releases.

I'm not able to use the UF2 images with my setup as follows. Again, CLI / Arduino updates work.

+---------------------+------------------+-----------+
| Hardware            | Model/Type       | Version   |
+---------------------+------------------+-----------+
| Feather             | nRF52840 Sense   | Bootloader|
|                     |                  | 0.9.2     |
+---------------------+------------------+-----------+
| Host Computer       | MacBook Air M2   | macOS 15.6|
+---------------------+------------------+-----------+

+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| Version | UF2 Bootloader Filename                                       |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| 0.9.2   | update-feather_nrf52840_sense_bootloader-0.9.2_nosd.uf2       |
| 0.9.1   | update-feather_nrf52840_sense_bootloader-0.9.1_nosd.uf2       |
| 0.9.0   | update-feather_nrf52840_sense_bootloader-0.9.0_nosd.uf2       |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------+

same error:

The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “update-feather_nrf52840_sense_bootloader-0.9.2_nosd (1).uf2” can’t be read or written.
(Error code -36)

I will check on Ubuntu to confirm things work as expected...

[mikeysklar]

I see a work around with macOS. Passing the -X flag to cp from the command-line works. It makes some noise (but so does Ubuntu). I was able to easily move between bootloaders 0.9.0, 0.9.1, 0.9.2 with the -X. A normal cp without the flag will fail to update.

 -X    Do not copy Extended Attributes (EAs) or resource forks.

sklarm@grazie Downloads % cp -X update-feather_nrf52840_sense_bootloader-0.9.2_nosd.uf2 /Volumes/FTHRSNSBOOT/
cp: /Volumes/FTHRSNSBOOT/update-feather_nrf52840_sense_bootloader-0.9.2_nosd.uf2: fcopyfile failed: Input/output error
cp: /Volumes/FTHRSNSBOOT/update-feather_nrf52840_sense_bootloader-0.9.2_nosd.uf2: fchmod failed: No such file or directory

Sorry I didn't mean to mark this as completed. I don't have permissions to re-open.

[fouad1233]

What do you think about the problem I mentioned in the forum last, that after burning the bootloader with Arduino IDE I upload the code but never run on the board? Can you take a look at it, please @hathach.

[mikeysklar]

Confirmed that Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS (Noble Numbat) works as drag and drop with UF2 bootloader images. UF2 images are fine. The only not working scenario is dragging them with modern release of macOS 14.x / 15.x.

[hathach]

let keep this open, since it is a real issue, normally people would use default option. We can resolve this later when having chance.

 -X    Do not copy Extended Attributes (EAs) or resource forks.

[hathach]

What do you think about the problem I mentioned in the forum last, that after burning the bootloader with Arduino IDE I upload the code but never run on the board? Can you take a look at it, please @hathach.

Yeah, sure thing, please keep posting update in the forum, I have subcribed and will chime in to help as well. To be honest @mikeysklar did a great job, since I don't have the same setup (using Linux machine).

@mikeysklar can you also confirm if flashing application e.g sketch.ino.uf2 also does not work when drag and drop. or it only happens with bootloader update. If so, that could be the reason that west failed to deploy ist application on macos.

[fouad1233]

What do you think about the problem I mentioned in the forum last, that after burning the bootloader with Arduino IDE I upload the code but never run on the board? Can you take a look at it, please @hathach.

Yeah, sure thing, please keep posting update in the forum, I have subcribed and will chime in to help as well. To be honest @mikeysklar did a great job, since I don't have the same setup (using Linux machine).

@mikeysklar can you also confirm if flashing application e.g sketch.ino.uf2 also does not work when drag and drop. or it only happens with bootloader update. If so, that could be the reason that west failed to deploy ist application on macos.

Yes, big thanks to @mikeysklar, he tries his best and helps as much as he can. I hope we will be able to fix it and solve the problems

[mikeysklar]

@hathatch - I was able to upload the blink sketch we have been testing with (runs for me, but no longer for @fouad1233 .

#if defined(USE_TINYUSB)
#include <Adafruit_TinyUSB.h> // for Serial
#endif

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

// NeoPixel setup for Feather nRF52840 Sense
#define NEOPIXEL_PIN   8
#define NUM_PIXELS     1

Adafruit_NeoPixel pixel(NUM_PIXELS, NEOPIXEL_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

void setup() {
  pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);   // Initialize built-in LED
  pixel.begin();                  // Initialize NeoPixel
  pixel.setBrightness(50);        // Set LED brightness
}

void loop() {
  // === 1. Blink the built-in yellow LED ===
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);   // Turn on
  discoPixel();                      // Show disco color
  delay(500);                        // Wait 500 ms

  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);    // Turn off
  discoPixel();                      // Change disco color again
  delay(500);                        // Wait 500 ms
}

// === RGB Disco Effect ===
void discoPixel() {
  uint8_t r = random(0, 255);
  uint8_t g = random(0, 255);
  uint8_t b = random(0, 255);
  pixel.setPixelColor(0, pixel.Color(r, g, b));
  pixel.show();
}

I built the code uploaded it through the Arduino IDE. Then switched to bootloader mode on the board (double reset) and pulled off the UF2 image. I was able to successfully drag that image back to the board and see the copy complete, board reset and blink / neopixel code run correctly.

I've attached the UF2 image for @fouad1233 to try and drag-n-drop. Be sure to unzip it first then drag it on to the FTHRSNSBOOT drive.

CURRENT.UF2.zip