View source for User:RemDogKap/SandBox/Update XSPI Flash SPL and U-Boot

{{Under construction}}
{{Warning | Attempting these instructions may permanently brick (make nonfunctional) your device. Do not attempt unless you know what you are doing.}}
{{Warning | These instructions have not been tested or verified. Use at your own risk.}}

The Star64 ships with an integrated 128 megabit (16 megabyte) xSPI NOR flash. Loaded on this flash from the factory is firmware called U-Boot and SPL but an old version designed for the StarFive VisionFive 2 SBC which may have incompatibilities with the Star64. The firmware on this flash is known as Das U-Boot, commonly just U-Boot which is an open-source primary boot loader. It performs similar functions to the BIOS on x86 platforms. The SPL or Secondary Program Loader is the software that loads U-Boot, which in turn loads the Linux kernel.

There are two main ways to update the xSPI flash. The first uses the <code>flashcp</code> command which requires the Star64 to first boot into an OS. This method may not work on older versions of [firmware, os, something else????]. The other method requires only the ability to load U-Boot and uses TFTP and the U-Boot <code>tftpboot</code> command. 

==Prerequisites==
Required:
*Star64 SBC
*Computer running Linux, MacOS, or Windows
Possibly required:
*Ability to communicate over TTL (transistor to transistor logic) UART
*Ability to network the Star64 to a computer over ethernet

==flashcp==
First, connect to your Star64 over UART or with a mouse, keyboard, and monitor. 
Next, install the <code>mtd-utils</code> package if not already installed. This package is a set of tools that allow access to raw flash storage devices such as the xSPI flash. Also install <code>wget</code> if not already installed. These instructions assume that you are using the <code>deb</code> package manager. 
 $ sudo apt update && sudo apt install mtb-utils wget

Next, using <code>wget</code> download the <code>.bin.normal.out</code> SPL file and the <code>.img</code> U-Boot image.
 $ wget <nowiki>https://pine64.my-ho.st:8443/[fishwaldo SPL file goes here]</nowiki>
 $ wget <nowiki>https://pine64.my-ho.st:8443/[fishwaldo U-Boot image goes here]</nowiki>

Next, print out the list of MTD (Memory Technology Device) raw flash devices using <code>cat</code>.
 $ cat /proc/mtd

The output should look something like this: 
<pre>
dev:    size   erasesize  name
mtd0: 00020000 00001000 "spl"
mtd1: 00300000 00001000 "uboot"
mtd2: 00100000 00001000 "data"
</pre>

Finally, write the <code>.bin.normal.out</code> SPL file and the <code>.img</code> U-Boot image. to the respective partitions using <code>flashcp</code>, a command which writes to raw flash devices with more protections than <code>dd</code>.
 $ flashcp -v [fishwaldo spl file name here].bin.normal.out /dev/${SPL Partition}
 $ flashcp -v [fishwaldo uboot img file name here].img /dev/${U-Boot Partition}
Where ${SPL Partition} is the partition name found under the "dev" column for the row "spl" from the cat printout, in this case <code>mtd0</code> and ${U-Boot Partition} is the partition name found under the "dev" column for the row "uboot" in the cat printout, in this case <code>mtd1</code>

At this point your xSPI flash has been rewritten and only a system restart is needed for the changes to take effect. 

==tftpboot==
The <code>tftpboot</code> method uses a TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol, a protocol which allows for basic file transfer functionality without authentication) server to transfer the SPL file and U-Boot image from a host computer to the Star64 running U-Boot and using the <code>tftpboot</code> command and then written to flash using the <code>sf</code> command which is a U-Boot command used to access SPI flash. 

===Linux===
First, install a TFTP server.
 $ sudo apt update && sudo apt install tftpd-hpa
Next, check that the TFPT server is running using <code>systemctl</code>.
 $ sudo systemctl status tftpd-hpa
This should output somethng like 
<pre>
to be filled 
in later
</pre>
If the service is not running, try
 $ sudo systemctl start tftpd-hpa
and check the status again. If it is still not running please join the #star64 channel in the Pine64 IRC, Discord, or Matrix.



===Windows===