Manuals/dfu-util
From Openmoko
This manual describes the usage of Dfu-util.
Contents |
Reference Documentation
To run dfu-util, you need to have /proc/bus/usb mounted and working. The terminal command "ls /proc/bus/usb" should return something similar to, "001 002 003 004 005 devices", it shouldn't be empty. If it is empty, use this command:
sudo mount -t usbfs usbfs /proc/bus/usb
You can permanently add it in your fstab so that it automatically mounts. You can use emacs to edit you fstab using the command "sudo emacs /etc/fstab -nw" in your terminal window. Add the below line to your fstab:
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs defaults
Before using dfu-util
- Read the other sections of this page first, because you will have 30 seconds to enter the flashing commands, come back here when ready.
- Do not connect the USB cable from the PC to your Neo yet (disconnect it).
- Boot your Neo into the NOR uBoot menu for flashing:
- Turn off the Neo
- Press and hold the AUX button
- Press the Power button until the boot menu comes up
- This menu is labelled *** BOOT MENU (NOR) ***
- See also Booting the Neo FreeRunner
- Stay in NOR uBoot menu, do not select or enter any item in the menu. Now you will be able to flash, make backups of your FreeRunner or query the FreeRunner with dfu-util.
- The FreeRunner only stays at the NOR boot prompt for about 30 seconds and then shuts off unless you do something.
- Connect your Neo to your computer directly (Using a hub in between could cause problems with the hub and the usb reset)
- Now you can enter the dfu-util commands on your PC as described below.
- If the Neo FreeRunner turns off before you press start flashing (screen goes black), go back to step 2. If you start flashing in time, the phone will not turn off meanwhile.
Note: Some myth existed that dfu-util is not worked with sudo. This is not true of course. It is working from both sudo and su sessions. --Gena2x 12:30, 20 July 2010 (UTC)
Command-line options
--help
dfu-util - (C) 2007 by Openmoko Inc. This program is Free Software and has ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY Usage: dfu-util [options] ... -h --help Print this help message -V --version Print the version number -l --list List the currently attached DFU capable USB devices -d --device vendor:product Specify Vendor/Product ID of DFU device -c --cfg config_nr Specify the Configuration of DFU device -i --intf intf_nr Specify the DFU Interface number -a --alt alt_nr Specify the Altseting of the DFU Interface -t --transfer-size Specify the number of bytes per USB Transfer -U --upload file Read firmware from device into <file> -D --download file Write firmware from <file> into device -R --reset Issue USB Reset signalling once we're finished
--alt
With the -a switch you specify the location on the device you want to write to or read from. However, for most cases, kernel and rootfs will be enough.
See partitions for a list. You may also use the --list switch (see below), to get an online list.
--list
Using the --list option, you can list the available DFU capable devices, their configuration, interface and altsettings. Below is an example for a current Neo1973 phone in u-boot Runtime Mode
# ./dfu-util --list dfu-util - (C) 2007 by Openmoko Inc. This program is Free Software and has ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY Found DFU Runtime: [0x1457:0x5119] devnum=0, cfg=0, intf=2, alt=0, name="USB Device Firmware Upgrade"
Below is an example for a current Neo1973 phone in u-boot DFU Mode
# ./dfu-util --list dfu-util - (C) 2007 by Openmoko Inc. This program is Free Software and has ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY Found DFU: [0x1457:0x5119] devnum=16, cfg=0, intf=0, alt=0, name="RAM 0x32000000" Found DFU: [0x1457:0x5119] devnum=16, cfg=0, intf=0, alt=1, name="u-boot" Found DFU: [0x1457:0x5119] devnum=16, cfg=0, intf=0, alt=2, name="u-boot_env" Found DFU: [0x1457:0x5119] devnum=16, cfg=0, intf=0, alt=3, name="kernel" Found DFU: [0x1457:0x5119] devnum=16, cfg=0, intf=0, alt=4, name="splash" Found DFU: [0x1457:0x5119] devnum=16, cfg=0, intf=0, alt=5, name="rootfs"
This shows you six interfaces, all in configuration 0 and interface 0, with altsetting 0...5, for RAM and each partition.
--device
You can specify the USB Vendor and Product ID of the device you want to program:
dfu-util --device 0x1457:0x5119
If you only have one standards-compliant DFU device attached to your PC, this is optional. However, as soon as you have multiple DFU devices, dfu-util will detect this and abort, asking you to specify which device it shall use.
--transfer-size
Specifies the size of each individual USB transfer. If you don't use it, the maximum possible size for your combination of host operating system and USB device is chosen (for optimal performance).
--download
download the given file into the device.
--upload
upload from the DFU device into the given file[name].
NOTE: Upload support is currently broken - #676 |
Phrasebook
There's no full-fledged manual yet. Instead, some examples:
Flashing the rootfs
dfu-util -a rootfs -R -D /path/to/openmoko-devel-image.jffs2
Flashing the rootfs can take up to 15 minutes for a ~70MB image.
Flashing the kernel
dfu-util -a kernel -R -D /path/to/uImage
Flashing the bootloader
dfu-util -a u-boot -R -D /path/to/u-boot.bin
Flashing the splash image
dfu-util -a splash -R -D /path/to/splash.gz
see also Configuring_the_boot_splash_screens
Copying a kernel into RAM
dfu-util -a 0 -R -D /path/to/uImage
Once this has finished, the kernel will be available at the default load address of 0x32000000 in Neo1973 RAM.
NOTE: You cannot transfer more than 2MB of data into RAM using this method |
Success message
If flashing was successfull the following will be shown:
status(0) = No error condition is present Done!
Troubleshooting notes
If during flashing of an image using dfu-util you're consistently getting an error -110 message, check that the size of the destination NAND partition is big enough to hold the image. For example the kernel partition is only 2 MB big by default and a kernel with debugging info compiled-in can often exceed this. It's possible to change the partition layout to enlarge a given partition and shrink other partitions but you have to remember to reflash all partitions whose start offset has changed afterwards. To adjust partitions layout use the mtdparts u-boot command.
If in turn you're facing errors in seemingly random places during the flashing of images, most likely the USB hub or cable through which your Neo1973 is connected, is of too poor quality. It is recommended that you always connect the phone directly to the host when using dfu-util.
If dfu-util reports a message like the following, before it starts flashing:Resetting USB... not at least 2 device changes found ?!? Lost device after RESET?retry the command - it should work on a second run.
If dfu-util complains about not being able to program the device while in runtime mode, do the following: while in the boot menu, remove the usb cable and insert it again. Depending on the version of uBoot it should display somewhere in the menu that it is now in DFU mode. Now dfu-util should be able to continue.
If dfu-util is too slow on Windows, that's a known bug. A suggestion is to run Linux on a virtual box. An full root image 97MB that is 776Mbit, the USB 1.1 on the Neo FreeRunner is capable of either 1.5 Mbit/s (Low-Speed) and 12 Mbit/s (Full-Speed). So flashing it should take less than 9 minutes with low speed and a bit more than a minute with full-speed. Plus transfer overhead, plus decompression on the Neo side.
Note that any error messages indicate a probable failed transfer, despite latter messages emitted about success, etc.