nordic_dfu

nordic_dfu

Fork from flutter_nordic_dfu and updated with latest dependencies, now with macOS support from version 6.0.0.

This library allows you to do a Device Firmware Update (DFU) of your nrf51 or nrf52 chip from Nordic Semiconductor. It works for Android, iOS, and MacOS.

This is the implementation of the reference "react-native-nordic-dfu"

For more info about the DFU process, see: Resources

Run example

1. Add your dfu zip file to example/assets/file.zip

2. Run example project

3. Scan device

4. Start dfu

Usage

You can pass an absolute file path or asset file to NordicDfu

Use absolute file path

await NordicDfu().startDfu(
            'EB:75:AD:E3:CA:CF', '/file/to/zip/path/file.zip'
         );
// With callback
await NordicDfu().startDfu(
      'EB:75:AD:E3:CA:CF',
      'assets/file.zip',
      fileInAsset: true,
      dfuEventHandler: DfuEventHandler(
        onProgressChanged: (
          deviceAddress,
          percent,
          speed,
          avgSpeed,
          currentPart,
          partsTotal,
        ) {
          print('deviceAddress: $deviceAddress, percent: $percent');
        },
      ),
    );

Use asset file path

/// just set [fileInAsset] true
await NordicDfu().startDfu(
            'EB:75:AD:E3:CA:CF', 'assets/file.zip',
            fileInAsset: true,
         );

Migrating to 8.0.0

Version 8.0.0 removes the API that was deprecated during 7.x. Nothing was replaced in this release, every removal has had its replacement available since the version that deprecated it.

Removed	Replacement
startDfu(androidSpecialParameter: ...) and the AndroidSpecialParameter class	startDfu(androidParameters: AndroidParameters(...))
startDfu(iosSpecialParameter: ...) and the IosSpecialParameter class	startDfu(darwinParameters: DarwinParameters(...))
The individual callback arguments on startDfu (onDeviceConnected, onDfuCompleted, onProgressChanged, and the rest)	startDfu(dfuEventHandler: DfuEventHandler(...)) with the same callback names
DfuEventHandler.onFirmwareUploading	DfuEventHandler.onDfuProcessStarted
setAddressMapping, getTranslatedAddress, removeAddressMapping, clearAddressMappings	None needed, see Address Mapping

AndroidParameters and DarwinParameters take the same arguments as the classes they replace, so migrating those is a rename.

Firmware files

The firmware you pass to startDfu is a Distribution packet, the ZIP produced by nrfutil containing a manifest.json. You can pass either an absolute path or an asset path with fileInAsset: true, and assets work the same way on Android, iOS and macOS.

The file does not need a .zip extension. Firmware downloaded to a temporary file without one, as http and dio typically produce, is accepted on every platform.

startDfu reports file problems with these error codes, before any connection is attempted:

Code	Meaning
FILE_NOT_FOUND	The path or asset does not exist. The details field carries the path that was checked.
INVALID_FIRMWARE	The file exists but is not a valid Distribution packet. The details field carries the reason from the DFU library, for example a missing manifest.json.
ABNORMAL_PARAMETER	address or filePath was missing from the call.
DFU_START_ERROR	The DFU library refused to start, for example on a malformed device address.

On Android, assets are copied into the app's cache directory before the update and the copy is deleted once the DFU finishes, fails, or is aborted.

Android permissions

From version 8.0.0 this plugin no longer declares Bluetooth permissions in its own AndroidManifest.xml, so your app decides which ones end up in the merged manifest. Add what your app actually needs to android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml:

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools">

    <!-- Required to scan for devices on API 31+. Add usesPermissionFlags="neverForLocation" when
         you can strongly assert that your app never derives physical location from scan results;
         the location permissions below are then not needed at all on API 31+. -->
    <uses-permission
        android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_SCAN"
        android:usesPermissionFlags="neverForLocation"
        tools:targetApi="s" />

    <!-- Only required if you scan on API 30 and below, where scanning implies location access. -->
    <uses-permission
        android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION"
        android:maxSdkVersion="30" />
</manifest>

Two things are still contributed for you and need no action:

• FOREGROUND_SERVICE and FOREGROUND_SERVICE_CONNECTED_DEVICE come from this plugin, because the DFU services it declares run as a foreground service unless you pass AndroidParameters(startAsForegroundService: false).
• BLUETOOTH and BLUETOOTH_ADMIN (both maxSdkVersion="30") and BLUETOOTH_CONNECT come from the Android-DFU-Library itself.

To change or drop one of the permissions supplied by the DFU library, override it with tools:node="remove" or tools:node="replace":

<uses-permission
    android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN"
    tools:node="remove" />

Upgrading from 7.x

Previously the plugin declared BLUETOOTH_SCAN, ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION and ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION (the last two via uses-permission-sdk-23, so on every API level from 23 up). If your app relies on those and does not declare them itself, add them as shown above, or scanning stops working after upgrading. Apps that were fighting the old declarations with tools:maxSdkVersion or tools:node="remove" can delete those workarounds.

Parallel DFU

Available from version 7.0.0

Concurrent DFU Processes

• DFU operations can run simultaneously on multiple devices.
• Callbacks are triggered correctly and independently for each device.

Interface change

• Updated abortDfu method to include an optional address parameter:
  • If an address is provided: The DFU process for the specified device will be aborted. (iOS only)
  • If no address is provided: All active DFU processes will be aborted.
• Added error handling for abortDfu:
  • FlutterError("INVALID_ADDRESS") is thrown if the provided address does not match any active DFU process.
  • FlutterError("NO_ACTIVE_DFU") is thrown if no address is provided and there are no active DFU processes.

iOS

• ✅ Devices update in parallel.
• ✅ Callbacks set in startDfu are called independently for each device.
• ✅ All active DFU processes can be aborted using the abortDfu method without an address.
• ✅ DFU processes can be individually aborted using the abortDfu method with an address.

Android

• ✅ Devices update in parallel (set limit of 8).
• ✅ Callbacks set in startDfu are called independently for each device.
• ✅ All active DFU processes can be aborted using the abortDfu method without an address.
• ❌ DFU processes cannot be individually aborted using the abortDfu method with an address due to current limitations in the underlying Android-DFU-Library.
• ⚠️ Devices with adjacent addresses (…:46 and …:47) should be updated one after another. A device in bootloader mode advertises with its address incremented by one, so the Android-DFU-Library cannot tell such a pair apart and may report their events against the wrong device. A warning is logged when this is detected.

Address Mapping

A device performing a buttonless update reboots into its bootloader, which commonly advertises with a different BLE address (usually the original one, last byte incremented). The plugin handles this: every event is reported with the address you passed to startDfu, on every platform, for the whole update.

setAddressMapping, getTranslatedAddress, removeAddressMapping and clearAddressMappings were deprecated in 7.2.0 and are removed in 8.0.0. Delete your calls to them, along with any bootloader scanning that existed only to feed them, no replacement is needed.

Resources

• DFU Introduction
• Secure DFU Introduction
• How to create init packet
• nRF51 Development Kit (DK) (compatible with Arduino Uno Revision 3)
• nRF52 Development Kit (DK) (compatible with Arduino Uno Revision 3)