a9e791c905
As somewhat of a hack, allow flashing only the EC by deleting the `firmware.rom` file before running `flash.sh`. Signed-off-by: Tim Crawford <tcrawford@system76.com>
126 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
126 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
# Flashing firmware
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**Flashing firmware manually is *not* recommended for the normal user!**
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## Boot time
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The first boot after flashing will take a long time. This is due to coreboot
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initializing RAM modules for the first time. Once memory training is complete,
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coreboot will cache this information and subsequent boots will take
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significantly less time.
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coreboot's `cbmem` tool can be used to verify this. The call to
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`FspMemoryInit()` can report 20+ seconds on the first boot, and a few hundred
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milliseconds on subsequent boots.
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## UEFI application
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This is the default method for flashing firmware (using firmware-update). When
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used from this repo, it only works with systems running System76 open firmware.
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```
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./scripts/flash.sh <model>
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```
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By default the script will attempt to flash both the BIOS and the EC. Their
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respective file can be deleted to skip flashing them.
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If the EC is flashed, the system will immediately power off.
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## Internal programmer
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### Availability
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This method is only possible when firmware is unlocked. Firmware is unlocked by
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one of two methods:
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- The EC feature `CONFIG_SECURITY` is unset/disabled
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- The EC is unlock for a single boot (via firmware-update or ectool)
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The current state can be determined using ectool:
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```
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./ec/scripts/ectool.sh security
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```
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- `Lock`: This method can't be used
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- `Unlock`: This method can be used
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### flashrom
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```
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sudo flashrom -p internal -w build/<model>/firmware.rom
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```
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## External programmer
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Use one of these methods for first-time flashing or flashing a bricked system.
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### Identifying the BIOS chip
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The packaging and protocol can be determined by `board_info.txt` in coreboot.
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Pin 1 is sometimes marked by a small dot indent and a white paint mark. The
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silkscreen may also indicate pin 1.
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### CH341A USB programmer - slower, but easier to set up
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These can be purchased from many places for around 15 USD. Make sure that the
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one you get has a ROM clip. Here are some examples:
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- [Amazon.com, Organizer.](https://www.amazon.com/Organizer-Socket-Adpter-Programmer-CH341A/dp/B07R5LPTYM)
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- [Amazon.com, KeeYees.](https://www.amazon.com/KeeYees-SOIC8-EEPROM-CH341A-Programmer/dp/B07SHSL9X9)
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- [AliExpress.com, TZT.](https://aliexpress.com/item/32725360255.html)
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**Then you can follow these steps to flash the ROM chip:**
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1. Turn off the computer
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2. Unplug the AC adapter
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3. Remove the bottom panel
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4. Attach the clip to the SPI ROM chip
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5. Plug the CH341A into a computer with this repository built
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6. Verify that you can access the ROM chip, replacing `<model>` with your model:
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```
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./scripts/ch341a-dump.sh <model>
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```
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7. Flash the firmware you built, replacing `<model>` with your model:
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```
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./scripts/ch341a-flash.sh <model>
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```
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### SPI Pi - faster, but harder to set up
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SPI Pi is a Raspberry Pi used to flash the SPI ROM. To create a SPI Pi:
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- Get a Raspberry Pi with Ubuntu LTS
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- Hook up a SPI clip to the SPI Pi
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- The SPI Pi's SPI pinout can be found here: https://pinout.xyz/pinout/spi#
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- The pinout of a SPI rom can be found here: https://www.totalphase.com/media/wysiwyg/soic8-pinout.png
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- If you need more instructions, you should not be hooking up the SPI clip
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- Connect the SPI Pi's SPI clip to the SPI ROM, ensuring pin 1 of the clip aligns with pin 1 on the ROM
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- On the SPI Pi, run the following commands:
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```
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sudo apt install flashrom
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git clone https://github.com/system76/firmware-open.git firmware
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```
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**Then you can follow these steps to flash the ROM chip:**
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1. Turn off the computer
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2. Unplug the AC adapter
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3. Remove the bottom panel
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4. Attach the clip to the SPI ROM chip
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5. Connect to the Raspberry Pi and wait it for boot
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```
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sudo tio -b 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0
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```
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5. From the RPi session, test that the chip is detected.
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```
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cd firmware
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./scripts/spipi.sh -r backup.rom
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```
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6. From the host, flash the firmware
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```
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SPIPI=<user@spipi> ./scripts/spipi-flash.sh <model>
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```
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