MCUXpresso General中的主题 Re: Unable to update firmware on MCU-Link

Unable to update firmware on MCU-Link

scottm — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 05:30:10 GMT

One of my two MCU-Link (base model) boards refuses to connect to anything, so I thought I'd try re-flashing the firmware. I'm trying to follow NXP's instructions, but "linkserver probes" doesn't find either of the boards. It does find an MCU-Link Pro and LPC-Link2 just fine, so that much is working.

Both of the MCU-Link boards are recognized from within MCUXpresso. It's just the command line utility (v25.12.83) that doesn't find them.

I tried v25.6.131 and it finds both probes as long as they don't have the firmware update jumper (J3) set. Of course if I try to update the firmware it says it's not enabled. Setting the jumper while it's on doesn't do anything. Unplugging it and setting the jumper makes it show up as a composite device but LinkServer then doesn't find it. I get the same behavior with v25.9.134.

What am I doing wrong here? Do I need to go back to an older version? I can't imagine why the newest LinkServer wouldn't support the MCU-Link but does support the older LPC-Link2.

Thanks,

Scott

Re: Unable to update firmware on MCU-Link

ErichStyger — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 06:04:36 GMT

See https://mcuoneclipse.com/2024/05/11/updating-mcu-link-cmsis-dap-debug-probe-firmware-jumper-less/ section "Firmware update script".

The ISP jumper is only checked at board power-up.

I hope this helps,

Erich

Re: Unable to update firmware on MCU-Link

scottm — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:46:08 GMT

Thanks Erich! That did it. Both probes were on v0.078 so maybe they were too old for the method in the manual.

It didn't fix the misbehaving probe, but a closer look with a microscope revealed a blown 6-lead component in the lower right. It doesn't have a designator but from the XY placement file it looks like it has to be a 74LVC1T45GW so I'll pick up a spare and see if this one's salvageable. No big loss if it's dead - they're cheap.

I dug these out because I'm following along with your blog posts on remote debugging and automated testing. Thanks for that! My goal is to set up a rack with a tray for each of my active products with remote debug access and all of the instrumentation needed for routine testing and debugging. The first one is coming along well. The next one is going to require building an addressable LED data analyzer to capture statistics on timing jitter and out-of-spec bit times as well as decoded RGB data, but that's something I've been meaning to build anyway.

Thanks,

Scott

Re: Unable to update firmware on MCU-Link

ErichStyger — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 08:03:40 GMT

Hi @scottm ,

yes, if the firmware on them is very old, the new way of updating them by software won't work.

Erich