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Recovery

Intro

The following documentation describes the process of recovering hardware from the brick state with RTE and Dasharo open-source firmware.

Prerequisites

  • Prepared RTE
  • SOIC-8 Pomona clip
  • 6x female-female wire cables

Connections

To prepare the stand for flashing follow the steps described below:

  1. Connect the wire cables to the Pomona clip.

  2. Connect the Pomona clip to the SPI header on RTE.

    SPI header Pomona clip
    Vcc pin 5 (Vcc)
    GND pin 4 (GND)
    CS pin 1 (CS)
    SCLK pin 7 (CLK)
    MISO pin 2 (MISO)
    MOSI pin 8 (MOSI)

  3. Completely remove the motherboard from the platform cover.

    If there is little thermal paste on the CPU, apply it before reassembling the motherboard to the platform cover.

  4. Match pin 1(CS) on the Pomona clip with the first pin of the one of flash chip, marked with a small dot engraved on the chip.

Firmware flashing

To flash firmware follow the steps described below:

  1. Login to RTE via ssh or minicom.
  2. Turn on the platform by connecting the power supply.
  3. Wait at least 5 seconds.
  4. Turn off the platform by using the power button.
  5. Wait at least 3 seconds.

  6. Set the proper state of the SPI by using the following commands on RTE:

    # set SPI Vcc to 1.8V
echo 0 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio405/value
# SPI Vcc on
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio406/value
# SPI lines ON
echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio404/value

  7. Wait at least 2 seconds.

  8. Disconnect the power supply from the platform.
  9. Wait at least 2 seconds.

  10. Flash the platform by using the following command:

    flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev1.0,spispeed=16000 -c "MX25U6435E/F" -w [path_to_binary]

    Flashing with flashrom takes about 1 minute.

  11. Change back the state of the SPI by using the following commands:

    echo 0 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio404/value
echo 0 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio406/value

  12. Reset CMOS, this can be done by two methods:

    1. Disconnect the CMOS battery, wait at least 10 seconds and connect again.

    2. Short the two pins from the CMOS header for at least 10 seconds.

  13. Turn on the platform by connecting the power supply.

The first boot of the platform after proceeding with the above procedure can take much longer than standard.