[clug] Flashing the Neo FreeRunner

[Bob Edwards]

On 06/04/15 18:27, Bryan Kilgallin wrote:
> I am trying do this firmware upgrade.
> http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Flashing_the_Neo_FreeRunner
>
> So I have backed up.
> http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Backup
>
> And from the following repository, I have downloaded to my PC's desktop,
> these files.
> http://downloads.openmoko.org/distro/releases/Om2008.12/
>      * Om2008.12-om-gta02.rootfs.jffs2
>      * Om2008.12-om-gta02.uImage.bin
>
> In a terminal window, "apropos dfu" shows that I have the following
> programs/commands.
>      * dfu-util (1)         - Device firmware update (DFU) USB programmer
>      * dfutool (1)          - Device Firmware Upgrade utility
>
> I have also downloaded the NeoTool bash script.
> http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/NeoTool
> As it starts "#!/bin/bash", I guess that it should go into my PC's
> "/bin" directory--although I don't see a "bash" subdirectory therein. So
> I put it on the PC's desktop.
>
> According to the dfu-util manual, I tried unsuccessfully to get
> /proc/bus/usb mounted.
> http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Manuals/Dfu-util
> First I got this error: "ls: cannot access /proc/bus/usb: No such file
> or directory".
> So as instructed, I used the command: "sudo mount -t usbfs usbfs
> /proc/bus/usb".
> But this error resulted: "mount: mount point /proc/bus/usb does not exist".
>
> I do not feel confident, and so request advice.
>

Hi Bryan,

Flashing the firmware of a Neo FreeRunner (or any other embedded device)
is a process that requires a certain degree of expertise and/or bravado.

Good on you for wanting to give it a try, but don't be surprised if the
learning curve is steeper than you might otherwise expect. I would
imagine only a small percentage of people on this mailing list would
have attempted to re-flash the firmware of an embedded device, let alone
a Neo FreeRunner.

Your 4th para re: /bin/bash indicates that you may not be familiar with
Unix Shell scripts. I suggest you look at some documentation on that
topic, such as the Bash Guide for Beginners:
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Bash-Beginners-Guide/html/index.html
(there are other, better ones, around the web).

In this case, /bin/bash is the path to the Bash executable, not where
to put your script. Your script can be almost anywhere in the
filesystem but it expects to find the Bash executable at /bin/bash
(which is the normal location in the filesystem for it to be).

As for /proc/bus/usb and versions of Ubuntu running kernels 3.x and
above (such as Ubuntu 12.04), it looks like there is a known problem.
I would look at the suggestions, eg.:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1432598
for further advice.

cheers,

Bob Edwards.