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 SPL or Secondary Program Loader is the software that loads U-Boot, which in turn loads the Linux kernel. 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.

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 onto the Star64 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 onto the.
 $ 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 <code><SPL Partition></code> is the partition name found under the "dev" column for the row "spl" from the cat printout, in this case <code>mtd0</code> and <code><U-Boot Partition></code> 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. 

===Preparing The TFTP Server===
====Linux====
First, on your computer (not the Star64) install a TFTP server and <code>wget</code> if you do not already have it.
 $ sudo apt update && sudo apt install tftpd-hpa wget
Next, check that the TFPT server is running using <code>systemctl</code>.
 $ sudo systemctl status tftpd-hpa
This should output somethng like 

 <span style="color:#16c60c">●</span> tftpd-hpa.service - LSB: HPA's tftp server
      Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/tftpd-hpa; generated)
      Active: <span style="color:#16c60c">active (running)</span> since Sat 2023-06-10 20:51:28 CDT; 17min ago
        Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
     Process: 1016 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/tftpd-hpa start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
       Tasks: 1 (limit: 2306)
      Memory: 588.0K
         CPU: 23ms
      CGroup: /system.slice/tftpd-hpa.service
             └─1023 /usr/sbin/in.tftpd --listen --user tftp --address :69 --secure /srv/tftp
 
 Jun 10 20:51:28 debian-bookworm systemd[1]: Starting tftpd-hpa.service - LSB: HPA's tftp server...
 Jun 10 20:51:28 debian-bookworm tftpd-hpa[1016]: Starting HPA's tftpd: in.tftpd.
 Jun 10 20:51:28 debian-bookworm systemd[1]: Started tftpd-hpa.service - LSB: HPA's tftp server.           

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.

Next, edit the configuration file for <code>tftpd-hpa</code>.
 $ sudo nano /etc/default/tftpd-hpa
by default it should look like:
<pre>
TFTP_USERNAME="tftp"
TFTP_DIRECTORY="/srv/tftp"
TFTP_ADDRESS=":69"
TFTP_OPTIONS="--secure"
</pre>
Change <code>TFTP_DIRECTORY="/srv/tftp"</code> to <code>TFTP_DIRECTORY="/home/user/tftp_share"</code>. The final file should look like: 
<pre>
TFTP_USERNAME="tftp"
TFTP_DIRECTORY="/home/<user>/tftp_share"
TFTP_ADDRESS=":69"
TFTP_OPTIONS="--secure"
</pre>
Where <code>user</code> is your username. 
After that, save and close the file then restart the TFTP server.
 $ sudo systemctl restart tftpd-hpa

Next in your home directory (<code>/home/user</code>) create a folder called <code>tftp_share</code>
 $ mkdir /home/user/tftp_share
In this folder, download  the <code>.bin.normal.out</code> SPL file and the <code>.img</code> U-Boot image using <code>wget</code>. 
 $ cd /home/user/tftp_share
 $ 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>

Before connecting to the Star64 and updating the firmware install minicom, virtual console software, so it will be possible to communicate with the Star64.
 $ sudo apt update && sudo apt install minicom 
Next connect the your USB to TTL UART adapter to the computer and list the connected serial devices. 
 $ dmesg | grep tty
Example output:
<pre>
to be
filled in
later 
</pre> 
Find the address of the TTL UART to USB adapter in the list (example: <code>ttyUSB0</code>) and connect to the serial device with a baud rate of 115200. 
 $ sudo minicom -D /dev/<Device Address> -b 115200
Where <code><Device Address></code> is the address found in the step above. <span class="mw-customtoggle-device-address-toggle" style="text-decoration:underline;color:#0645ad">Example</span>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-device-address-toggle">
 $ sudo minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 115200
</div>

====Windows====

First, install two pieces of software, [https://pjo2.github.io/tftpd64/ tftpd64], a TFTP server for windows, and [http://ttssh2.osdn.jp/index.html.en Tera Term], a virtual console for interacting with the Star64 in U-Boot.
Next on your desktop, create a folder called <code>tftp_share</code>
In this folder, download  the <code>.bin.normal.out</code> SPL file and the <code>.img</code> U-Boot image from [https://pine64.my-ho.st:8443/ here].

Next, load tftpd64 and configure the settings to have the "Current Directory" as the <code>tftp_share</code> folder on the desktop and "Server interfaces" is set to <code>127.0.0.1 Software Loopback Interface 1</code>. The path should look something like <code>C:\Users\${Username}\Desktop\tftp_share</code> where <code>${Username}</code> is your username on Windows. 
[[File:Star64 tftpd64 settings.png|none|500px|thumb|left]]

===Updating the SPI Flash===

Next, connect a TTL UART to USB cable to to the Star64 with the GND cable on pin 6 of the GPIO header, TXD on pin 8, and RXD on pin 10 as well as ethernet. Note that depending on your UART adapter you may have to switch TXD and RXD. Now power on the Star64 and enter U-Boot. You will need to press a key to prevent it from autobooting and instead enter the U-Boot command prompt.
Once you are in the U-Boot shell set some environment variables. 
First, set the IP address of the Star64 and connect it to the network using the <code>dhcp</code> command.
 # dhcp 

Set an environment variable of the TFTP server to make future command easier. If you don't what the IP address of your TFTP server is you can see connected devices in your router's configuration which can usually be accessed by typing in the IP address found on the router itself.
 # setenv <server IP>
Where <code>server IP</code> is the IP address of the TFTP server. <span class="mw-customtoggle-set-ip-addr-toggle" style="text-decoration:underline;color:#0645ad">Example</span>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-set-ip-addr-toggle">
 # setenv 192.168.1.199
</div>
Ping the TFTP server from the Star64 to make sure the connection works where <code><Server IP></code> refers to the IP address of your TFTP server.  Note that if you are hosting the TFTP server on Windows, you may need to configure Windows firewall to allow <code>‘File and Printer Sharing (Echo Request – ICMPv4 – In)’</code>. This is only needed to test the network connection with <code>ping</code> and not for the actual <code>tftpboot</code> command so if <code>ping</code> fails <code>tftpboot</code> may still succeed. 
 # ping <Server IP>
<span class="mw-customtoggle-ping-ip-addr-toggle" style="text-decoration:underline;color:#0645ad">Example</span> 
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-ping-ip-addr-toggle">
 # ping 192.168.1.228
</div>
The result should look something like this:
<pre>
Star64 # ping 192.168.1.199
Using ethernet@16030000 device
host 192.168.1.199 is alive
</pre>
If ping fails, please try again or please join the #star64 channel in the Pine64 IRC, Discord, or Matrix for help. 

Finally, it is time to update the xSPI flash. 

First, initialize the flash with the <code>sf probe</code> command.
 # sf probe
The output should be something like: 
<pre>
Star64 # sf probe
SF: Detected gd25lq128 with page size 256 Bytes, erase size 4 KiB, total 16 MiB
</pre>
Next copy the SPL <code>.bin.normal.out</code> file to memory address 0xa0000000 from our TFTP server.
 # tftpboot 0xa0000000 ${serverip}:[name of fishwaldo spl file]
Where ${serverip} is the environment variable we set earlier, no need to change it. 
Then use <code>sf update</code> to erase and update the SPI flash from memory. In this case we are copying from memory address 0xa0000000 which we wrote to earlier with an offset of 0x0.

 # sf update 0xa0000000 0x0 $filesize

This should produce an output like: 
<pre>
To be 
filled
in later
</pre>

Next, copy the U-Boot <code>.img</code> binary to memory address 0xa0000000 from the TFTP server. 
 # tftpboot 0xa0000000 ${serverip}:[name of fishwaldo uboot image]
Where ${serverip} is the environment variable we set earlier, no need to change it. 

Finally, write the new U-Boot binary using <code>sf update</code> from memory address 0xa0000000 with an offset of 0x100000. 
 # sf update 0xa0000000 0x100000 $filesize

This should produce an output like: 
<pre>
To be 
filled
in later
</pre>

Reboot the Star64 and the changes should have taken effect.

[[Category:STAR64]]