Didj BootLoader Firmware Updating

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Revision as of 01:10, 15 July 2011 by Jrspruitt (talk | contribs) (Force Update with Custom SCSI Commands)
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This is a way to manually upgrade your firmware and bootloader.

Prerequisites

Programs Needed

Terminal program: Hyperterminal or equivalent

Hardware Needed

Files Needed

  • DIDJ-0x000E0002-000001.lfp (bootloader)
  • DIDJ-0x000E0003-000001.lfp (firmware)

Update With Console Access

Using Built in Tools

This method will use a few built in programs that come with the Didj for updating the firmware and bootloader. You will need to copy, or create a folder, and certain files in it for this to work It is easiest to extract the folder from the lfp archives and modify it as needed.

Firmware

For firmware this method will install into the opposite partitions, than the one you are on, so if you are on RFS0, the update will be installed to RFS1. And the Didj will be configured to boot from that one.

The firmware folder needs to be prefixed with "firmware-" (ex. firmware-LF_1000).

Mount your Didj and copy you're prepared folder to the /Didj/Base directory on your Didj.

After loading your folder onto the Didj, its best to run the check program, to make sure it can find it.

On Didj

# fwcheck
/Didj/Base/firmware-<your name>

This should return the path to your folder, indicating it was found.

Now you can run the actual update program:

# fwupdate /Didj/Base/firmware-LF_LF1000/ > /dev/console
Found /Didj/Base/firmware-LF_LF1000/
Package Integrity Test Passed
Installing kernel.bin in Kernel1 (mtd5)
Kernel install successful.
Installing erootfs.jffs2 in Linux_RFS1 (mtd6)
Rootfs install successful.
Switching from RFS0 to RFS1

Bootloader

The folder must be prefixed with 'bootstrap-' (ex. bootstrap-LF1000).

The only files that are needed are:

lightning-boot.bin
lightning-boot.md5

Check that the updater can find your folder.

On Didj

# blcheck
/Didj/Base/bootstrap-<your name>

Then run:

# blupdate /Didj/Base/boostrap-<your name> > /dev/console
Found /Didj/Base/bootstrap-LF_LF1000/
Package Integrity Test Passed
Installing lightning-boot.bin in LF1000_uniboot (mtd0)
Bootloader install successful.

Force Update with Custom SCSI Commands

This update can be done with out a console connection, and mimics how LFConnect handles the task. Both updates can be done at the same time. This is exactly like With Built in Tools except we trigger the Didj to run those commands for us, by giving our package a higher version number. This is nice if you do not have console access to the device.

Check out SCSI Commands for how to use SCSI Commands.

If you want to do both at the same time, load both folders into /Didj/Base then run the command to eject.

Bootloader

For bootloader create a folder in /Didj/Base called prefixed with 'bootstrap-' (ex. bootstrap-LF_LF1000)

It should have the same files as the lfp package.

Make sure meta.inf has a version number higher than Version="1.35.2.4222" or if you've changed the version number in your file system, higher than that one.

Firmware

For the firmware create a folder in /Didj/Base called firmware-LF_LF1000

It should have the same files as in LFP package DIDJ-0x000E0003-000001

Make sure meta.inf has a version number higher than Version="1.35.2.4222" or if you've changed the version number in your file system, higher than that one.

Trigger Update

Then run the SCSI Command C6 "Disconnect Ok", which will cause it to say its "Learning New Tricks" before saying its okay to disconnect your Didj.

Then turn the Didj off.

This processes causes the Didj state machine to look for a folder called firmware-LF_LF1000, if its a newer version, which is found in meta.inf and compared to /etc/version on the Didj, it will update the files with the new ones.

OpenDidjConnect

OpenDidjConnect Latest Version

For Windows

Download and extract the program, then cd to the directory you extracted it to. Plug your Didj USB in and turn it on. This works with out LFConnect being installed, so close it if it opened. Check under My Computer for which drive letter the Didj is, if LFConnect is installed or started up after plugging the Didj in, you may need to go in and assign it a drive letter Run OpenDidjConnect.exe -d <drive_letter> -c unlock you can run it with -h only for the help. On WinXP autoplay starts up, then it asks what to do, open the folder, and navigate to /Didj/Base. Place you folders in there, like in the above methods, then close out the explorer window. Now run the program again, OpenDidjConnect -d <drive_letter> -c eject if you are running batteries, run OpenDidjConnect -d <drive_letter> while the Didj is unlocked, and make sure your battery is not critically low, to prevent it dying in the middle of an update. Once you eject it, you should see the screen say, learning new tricks, before it says okay to disconnect. Unplug the usb and turn it back on to test you're work. If you get the learning new tricks screen, when ever you eject, when you haven't put a new firmware/bootloader on the usb drive, its because of version issues, so either change the version number or delete the files to prevent the constant reflashing of the new files.


For Linux

Extract the files in the archive, then open a terminal window and cd to the directory

you extracted the files to.

run gcc -o OpenDidjConnect OpenDidjConnect.c


Plug in your Didj to a usb port and turn it on. Run dmesg in a terminal, and look for the device, usually something like [25905.905635] sd 10:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0 which would make the device /dev/sg2 that will be used as the <device> in the command line options. In Ubuntu 9.10 the Didj mounts and opens a folder window of is contents, navigate to /Didj/Base. Place you firmware/lightning folders in there, like in the above methods, then close out the folder window. Now run the program again, OpenDidjConnect -d <device> -c eject if you are running batteries, run OpenDidjConnect -d <device> while the Didj is unlocked, and make sure your battery is not critically low, to prevent it dying in the middle of an update. Once you eject it, you should see the screen say, learning new tricks, before it says okay to disconnect. Unplug the usb and turn it back on to test you're work. If you get the learning new tricks screen, when ever you eject, when you haven't put a new firmware/bootloader on the usb drive, its because of version issues, so either change the version number or delete the files to prevent the constant reflashing of the new files.

Caution

It is possible to cause a major malfunction with your Didj by replacing these files. Familiarize yourself with the procedure using known-good packages first.

You should also be familiar with Didj UART Boot before using these procedures. The UART boot allows non-destructive testing of bootloaders and firmware/kernels; it also provides a recovery method in case a new bootloader or firmware/kernel written to the NAND fails.

When using SCSI commands, check that you are using the correct syntax and that you are sending them to the correct device.