[Hackrf-dev] Hackrf firmware upgrade issues

[Dominic Spill]

On 4 May 2016 at 20:47, Paul Michelle <adj at live.ca> wrote:
>
> Firmware version reported after DFU was 2015.07.2. Also tried it with
> version 2015.07.1 suspecting it was a corrupt firmware download.

> I also uploaded from hackrf while in DFU mode and tried to compare the file
> size; they did not match (not sure if it should have, wrote 19.8kB file and
> read 131.1kB file)

This is expected, when we write firmware we only write the binary
image, but when we read we copy the entire contents of the flash chip
because we don't know how big the existing firmware is.

You can use hexdump or xxd to take a look at the start of the 131.1kB
file to see if it looks like real firmware.  If the connection to the
flash chip is bad, then it will likely be all 00 or FF bytes.

> Clarification: in DFU mode I'm writing to flash from USB, giving me a
> recover method to use spiflash and write a ROM image to Flash; is that
> correct.

That is correct.  DFU mode loads code in to RAM and executes it.
hackrf_spiflash writes firmware to the flash chip, which requires a
reset of the HackRF.

The functions required to write firmware to flash are in the code
loaded in DFU mode.

Thanks,
  Dominic

>> From: dominicgs at gmail.com
>> Date: Wed, 4 May 2016 17:52:06 +0100
>> Subject: Re: [Hackrf-dev] Hackrf firmware upgrade issues
>> To: adj at live.ca
>> CC: hackrf-dev at greatscottgadgets.com
>
>>
>> On 2 May 2016 at 20:49, Paul Michelle <adj at live.ca> wrote:
>> >
>> > Put the unit in DFU mode and pushed “hackrf_one_usb_ram.dfu”. I was able
>> > to
>> > do a hackrf_info and the board info was displayed. LEDs 3V3 (Green), 1V8
>> > (Yellow), RF (Red), USB (Green).
>>
>> Which firmware version did hackrf_info report after you used DFU mode?
>>
>> > Proceeded to run “hackrf_spiflash –w hackrf_one_usb_rom_to_ram.bin” No
>> > issues. hackrf_info - firmware version reflected the new firmware
>> > version
>> > 2015.07.2
>>
>> If the HackRF hasn't been reset yet, this version number will be
>> coming from the DFU step above, not the version written with
>> hackrf_spiflash.
>>
>> > After the unit reset, I only get LEDs 3V3 (Green), RF (Red) and TX (DIM
>> > Red). Tried hackrf_info – no devices found.
>>
>> It sounds like your firmware isn't being written to flash correctly or
>> is being written but is not able to be read back. This could be a
>> hardware issue.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Dominic