Firmware Upgrade Using Type-C Cable

Introduction

This article describes how to burn firmware from a host computer to the LKS3588 development board’s memory using a Type-C data cable. When upgrading, it is necessary to choose the appropriate upgrade method based on the host operating system and firmware type.

Preparation Tools

  • LKS3588

  • Host computer

  • Good quality Type-C data cable

Prepare Firmware

Firmware can be obtained by compiling the SDK or downloaded from Support and downloads. There are generally two types of firmware files:

Unified Firmware

  • Unified firmware is a single file that packages all files such as partition table, bootloader, uboot, kernel, system, etc. Neardi’s officially released firmware uses the unified firmware format. Upgrading with unified firmware will update all partition data and the partition table on the motherboard and erase all data on the motherboard.

Multiple Partition Images

  • These are independent files for each function, such as partition table, bootloader, kernel, etc., generated during the development stage. Independent partition images can update a specified partition while keeping the data in other partitions intact, which is convenient for debugging during development.

With the unified firmware unpacking/packing tool, you can unpack a unified firmware into multiple partition images or combine multiple partition images into one unified firmware.

Install Burning Tool

Windows Operating System

  • Install RK USB Driver Download and unzip  Release_DriverAssistant.zip， then run the DriverInstall.exe inside. To ensure all devices use the updated driver, first select Driver Uninstall, then Driver Install.

    ../_images/usb_drv.png

Download and unzip  RKDevTool_Release_v2.91，and run RKDevTool.exeinside the  RKDevTool_Release_v2.93   directory(note, if it’s Windows 7/8, right-click and choose to run as administrator).

../_images/RKDevTool_Adb.png

Linux Operating System

No device driver installation is required under Linux.

  • Linux_Upgrade_Tool Download  Linux_Upgrade_Tool and install it into the system for easy access:

unzip Linux_Upgrade_Tool_xxxx.zip
cd Linux_UpgradeTool_xxxx
sudo mv upgrade_tool /usr/local/bin
sudo chown root:root /usr/local/bin/upgrade_tool
sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/upgrade_tool

  • Linux_adb_fastboot Download  Linux_adb_fastboot  and install it into the system for easy access:

sudo mv adb /usr/local/bin
sudo chown root:root /usr/local/bin/adb
sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/adb
sudo mv fastboot /usr/local/bin
sudo chown root:root /usr/local/bin/fastboot
sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/fastboot

Enter Upgrade Mode

There are usually two modes for firmware upgrade: Loader mode and MaskRom mode. Before burning the firmware, we need to connect the device and put the board into an upgradable mode.

Loader Mode

Entering Loader Mode via Hardware

To enter Loader upgrade mode by connecting the device and using the Update button, follow these steps:

  • Disconnect the power adapter first.

  • Connect one end of the Type-C data cable to the host and the other end to the development board.

../_images/otg.png

  • Hold down the Update (Recovery) button on the device and keep it pressed.

../_images/update.png

  • Connect the power.

  • Release the Update button after about two seconds.

Entering Loader Mode via Software

After connecting the Type-C data cable, run the following command on the serial port debugging terminal or adb shell to the board:

reboot loader

Check Loader Mode

To confirm whether the board has entered Loader mode, we can check with a tool.

Windows Operating System

The AndroidTool tool will show a prompt at the bottom saying Found one LOADER device

../_images/RKDevTool_Loader.png

If you have performed the “Enter Loader Mode” operation and still do not see the burning tool prompt LOADER, you can check if the Windows host has a prompt for new hardware and configure the driver. Open Device Manager, and you will see a new device  RockusbDevice  appear. If not, go back to the previous step and [reinstall the driver].

Linux Operating System

Running upgrade_tool will show a Loader prompt when connected to the device:

neardi@T-chip:~/$ sudo upgrade_tool
List of rockusb connected
DevNo=1 Vid=0x2207,Pid=0x330c,LocationID=106    Loader
Found 1 rockusb,Select input DevNo,Rescan press <R>,Quit press <Q>:q

MaskRom Mode

For how to enter MaskRom mode, please refer to [MaskRom Mode].

Burn Firmware

Windows Operating System

Burning Unified Firmware update.img

../_images/RKDevTool_update_img.png

The steps for burning the unified firmware update.img are as follows:

  1. Switch to the Upgrade Firmware page.

  2. Press the Firmware button to open the firmware file to be upgraded. The upgrade tool will display detailed firmware information.

  3. Press the Upgrade button to start the upgrade.

  4. If the upgrade fails, you can try pressing the Erase Flash button to erase the Flash, then upgrade again. Note: If the firmware loader version you are burning is inconsistent with the original machine, please perform Erase Flash before upgrading the firmware.

Burning Partition Images

When the burning tool prompts Found one LOADER device， pressing the Device Partition Table button on the right will display the partition address of the image, as shown in the picture below:

../_images/RKDevTool_part.png

Android Partition Table
NO LBA Size Name
01 0x00002000 0x00002000 security
02 0x00004000 0x00002000 uboot
03 0x00006000 0x00002000 trust
04 0x00008000 0x00002000 misc
05 0x0000a000 0x00002000 dtbo
06 0x0000c000 0x00000800 vbmeta
07 0x0000c800 0x00014000 boot
08 0x00020800 0x00030000 recovery
09 0x00050800 0x000c0000 backup
10 0x00110800 0x000c0000 cache
11 0x001d0800 0x00008000 metadata
12 0x001d8800 0x00000800 baseparameter
13 0x001d9000 0x00614000 super
14 0x007ed000 0x06b4efdf userdata
Ubuntu Partition Table

Source code corresponding partition table file: device/rockchip/rk3588/parameter.txt

NO LBA Size Name
01 0x00004000 0x00002000 uboot
02 0x00006000 0x00002000 misc
03 0x0000c800 0x00014000 boot
04 0x00028000 0x00040000 recovery
05 0x00068000 0x00010000 backup
06 0x00078000 0x01c00000 rootfs
07 0x01c78000 0x00040000 oem
08 0x001d8800 0x00000800 baseparameter
09 0x001d9000 0x00614000 super
10 0x01cb8000 0x06b4efdf userdata

The steps for burning partition images are as follows:

  1. Switch the burning tool to the Download Image page.

  2. Click the Device Partition Table button to refresh the partition address.

  3. Check the partitions that need to be burned; multiple selections are possible.

  4. Ensure the path of the image file is correct. If necessary, click the blank table cell next to the path to reselect.

  5. Click the Upgrade button to start the upgrade; the device will automatically restart after the upgrade is completed.

Linux Operating System

Burning Unified Firmware update.img

sudo upgrade_tool uf update.img

If the upgrade fails, you can try erasing and then upgrading again.

# To erase flash using the ef parameter, you need to specify the loader file or the corresponding update.img
sudo upgrade_tool ef update.img   #update.img :the Ubuntu firmware you need to burn
# Re-burn
sudo upgrade_tool uf update.img

Burning Partition Images

sudo upgrade_tool di -b /path/to/boot.img
sudo upgrade_tool di -r /path/to/recovery.img
sudo upgrade_tool di -m /path/to/misc.img
sudo upgrade_tool di -u /path/to/uboot.img
sudo upgrade_tool di -dtbo /path/to/dtbo.img
sudo upgrade_tool di -p paramater   #Burn parameter
sudo upgrade_tool ul bootloader.bin # Burn bootloader

If there are flash issues causing errors during the upgrade, you can try low-level formatting and erasing emmc:

sudo upgrade_tool lf update.img  # Low-level format
sudo upgrade_tool ef update.img  # Erase

Fastboot burning dynamic partitions:

adb reboot fastboot # Enter bootloader
sudo fastboot flash vendor vendor.img
sudo fastboot flash system system.img
sudo fastboot reboot # Restart after successful burning

Common Issues

How to Force Enter MaskRom Mode

If the board cannot enter Loader mode, you can try to forcibly enter MaskRom mode.

Analysis of Burning Failure

If there is a Download Boot Fail during the burning process, or if there are errors during the burning process, as shown below, it is usually due to poor USB cable connection, inferior cable material, or insufficient driving capability of the computer’s USB port. Please replace the USB cable or the computer’s USB port for troubleshooting.