Upgrading firmware on Windows
Preface
This article describes how to burn the firmware file on the host
computer to the flash memory of the Firefly-RK3399 development board
through Type-C数据线. When upgrading, you need to choose an
appropriate upgrade method according to the host operating system and
firmware type.
Preparatory work
Firefly-RK3399 development board
Firmware
Host computer
Type-C data cable
Firmware file
There are two types of firmware files:
A single unified firmware The unified firmware is a single file
packaged and merged by all files such as the partition table,
bootloader, uboot, kernel, system and so on. The firmware officially
released by Firefly adopts a unified firmware format. Upgrading the
unified firmware will update the data and partition table of all
partitions on the motherboard, and erase all data on the motherboard.
Multiple partition images That is, files with independent functions,
such as partition table, bootloader, and kernel, are generated during
the development phase. The independent partition image can only update
the specified partition, while keeping other partition data from being
destroyed, it will be very convenient to debug during the development
process.
Through the unified firmware unpacking / packing tool, the unified
firmware can be unpacked into multiple partition images, or
multiple partition images can be merged into a unified firmware.
Flash on windows
Tool: Androidtool_xxx (version number)
Note :
Different firmware may use different versions of tools, please
download the corresponding version according to the
Instructions for writing with USB cable (important)
.
Install RK USB drive
Download
Release_DriverAssistant.zip
, extract, and then run the DriverInstall.exe inside . In order for
all devices to use the updated driver, first select "Driver uninstall"
and then select "Driver install".
Connected devices
You can put the device into upgrade mode as follows:
The first one, device is cut off all the power sources, such as power
adapter and Dual male usb data cable connection: 1.Keep Type-A cable
connected with host PC. 2.Press and hold RECOVERY key. 3.Connect
Type-C cable to the device. 4.After around two seconds, release
RECOVERY key.
The other way: 1.Use Type-C cable to connect host and device
together. 2.Press and hold RECOVERY key. 3.Shortly press RESET key.
4.After around two seconds, release RECOVERY key.
The host should prompt for new hardware and configure the driver. Open
Device manager and you will see the new Device "Rockusb Device" appear
as shown below. If not, you need to go back to the previous step and
reinstall the driver.
Upgrade the firmware
Download
Androidtool_xxx (version number)
. AndroidTool defaults to display in Chinese. We need to change it to
English. Open "config.ini" with an text editor (like notepad). The
starting lines are:
#选择工具语言:Selected=1(Chinese);Selected=2(English)
[Language]
Kinds=2
Selected=1
LangPath=Language\
Change "Selected=1" to "Selected=2", and save. From now on,
AndroidTool will display in English.Now, run AndroidTool.exe: (Note:
If using Windows 7/8, you’ll need to right click it, select to run it
as Administrator)
Upgrade unified firmware - update.img
The steps to update the unified firmware "update.img" are as follows:
Switch to the "upgrade firmware" page.
Press the "firmware" button to open the firmware file to be upgraded.
The upgrade tool displays detailed firmware information.
Press the "upgrade" button to start the upgrade.
If the upgrade fails, you can try to erase the
Flash by pressing the erase Flash button first, and then upgrade. Be
sure to erase and upgrade according to Upgrade instructions.
Note: if the firmware loader you wrote is inconsistent with the
original one, please execute wipe Flash before upgrading the firmware.
Upgrade Partition image
Each firmware partition may be different, please note the following
two points:
When upgrading ubuntu(MBR) and Android7.1 firmware with
Androidtool_2.38, the default configuration can be used.
When upgrading ubuntu(GPT) with Androidtool_2.58, the default
configuration can be used. Please first perform the following actions
to upgrade Android8.1 firmware:
Switch to
"download image page "; Right click on the table and select "import
configuration "; Select the "rk3399-Android81.cfg".
When upgrading Android9.0 and Android10.0 firmware with
Androidtool_2.49, the default configuration can be used.
The steps to upgrade the partition image are as follows: 1. Switch to
the "download image" page. 2. Check the partition to be burned, and
select multiple. 3. Make sure the path of the image file is correct.
If necessary, click the blank table cell on the right side of the path
to select it again. 4. Click "Run" button to start the upgrade, and
the device will restart automatically after the upgrade.
FAQs
1. How to forcibly enter MaskRom mode
A1 :
If the board does not enter Loader mode, you can try to force your
way into MaskRom mode. See operation method
"How to enter MaskRom mode"
.
2. Analysis of programming failure
If Download Boot Fail occurs during the programming process, or an
error occurs during the programming process, as shown in the figure
below, it is usually caused by the poor connection of the USB cable,
the inferior cable, or the insufficient drive capability of the USB
port of the computer. Troubleshoot the computer USB port.