Flashing U-Boot onto the SPI-NOR

This guide provides detailed steps to flash U-Boot onto the SPI-NOR of the Kumquat board using the sunxi-fel tool. This process requires a host computer and the Kumquat board connected via USB.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following:

  • Host Computer Requirements:
  • A serial terminal application (e.g., Putty, Minicom).
  • sunxi-fel installed on the host system, with the necessary udev rules or run as root.

  • The new nor-flash.img file, either built yourself or downloaded from the releases page:

    Download nor-flash.img

  • Hardware Requirements:

  • A USB-C console cable.
  • A USB-C OTG cable (one cable is sufficient, but two are recommended to avoid swapping ports).

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Enter the Bootloader

  1. Connect the Kumquat board to your host computer using the USB-C console cable.
  2. Power on the Kumquat board and monitor the serial terminal.
  3. When prompted, press any key in the terminal to interrupt the boot process and enter the U-Boot bootloader.

Note: If there is no bootloader on the board, you can skip to Step 3.

Step 2: Prepare the SPI-NOR Flash for FEL Mode

  1. In the U-Boot bootloader, run the following commands to erase the boot area of the SPI-NOR flash:
sf probe
sf erase 0 0x1000
reset
  1. The system will reboot. Since the boot area is erased, the SoC will automatically enter FEL Mode.

Step 3: Flash the SPI-NOR with the New U-Boot Image

  1. Connect the Kumquat board to your host computer using the USB-OTG port.
  2. On the host computer, run the following command to flash the nor-flash.img onto the SPI-NOR:
sunxi-fel -p spiflash-write 0 nor-flash.img
  1. Once flashing is complete, reboot the Kumquat board using:
sunxi-fel wdreset

The board should now boot into the new U-Boot.

Troubleshooting

  • If sunxi-fel reports no device or no access, try running the same command again. In some cases, it may take a few attempts to successfully communicate with the device.

Notes

  • Ensure the sunxi-fel tool is correctly installed on your host system. If running without udev rules, use sudo for all commands.
  • Always verify the integrity of the nor-flash.img file before flashing.

By following these steps, you can successfully flash the U-Boot bootloader onto the SPI-NOR of the Kumquat board.