{"id":136,"date":"2020-02-08T03:22:46","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T03:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.rctoysky.com\/?p=136"},"modified":"2020-02-08T03:23:46","modified_gmt":"2020-02-08T03:23:46","slug":"px4bootloader-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.rctoysky.com\/?p=136","title":{"rendered":"PX4:Bootloader Update"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The PX4 bootloader<\/a> is used to load firmware for Pixhawk boards (PX4FMU, PX4IO) and PX4FLOW<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This topic explains several methods for updating the Pixhawk bootloader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>

Hardware usually comes with an appropriate bootloader version pre-installed. A case where you may need to update is newer Pixhawk boards that install FMUv2 firmware: Firmware > FMUv2 Bootloader Update<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

QGroundControl Bootloader Update<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The easiest approach is to first use QGroundControl<\/em> to install firmware with the desired\/latest bootloader. You can then initiate bootloader update on next restart by setting the parameter: SYS_BL_UPDATE<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>

This approach can only be used if SYS_BL_UPDATE<\/a> is present in firmware (currently just FMUv2 and some custom firmware).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The steps are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Insert an SD card (enables boot logging to debug any problems).<\/li>
  2. Update the Firmware<\/a> with an image containing the new\/desired bootloader.The updated bootloader might be supplied in custom firmware (i.e. from the dev team), or it or may be included in the latest master.<\/li>
  3. Wait for the vehicle to reboot.<\/li>
  4. Find and enable<\/a> the parameter SYS_BL_UPDATE<\/a>.<\/li>
  5. Reboot (disconnect\/reconnect the board). The bootloader update will only take a few seconds.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Generally at this point you may then want to update the firmware<\/a> again using the correct\/newly installed bootloader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dronecode Probe Bootloader Update<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The following steps explain how you can “manually” update the bootloader using the dronecode probe:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Get a binary containing the bootloader (either from dev team or build it yourself).<\/li>
    2. Connect the Dronecode probe to your PC via USB.<\/li>
    3. Go into the directory containing the binary and run the following command in the terminal:arm-none-eabi-gdb px4fmuv5_bl.elf\n<\/code><\/li>
    4. The gdb terminal<\/em> appears and it should display the following output:GNU gdb (GNU Tools for Arm Embedded Processors 7-2017-q4-major) 8.0.50.20171128-git\nCopyright (C) 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.\nLicense GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http:\/\/gnu.org\/licenses\/gpl.html>\nThis is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.\nThere is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Type \"show copying\"\nand \"show warranty\" for details.\nThis GDB was configured as \"--host=x86_64-linux-gnu --target=arm-none-eabi\".\nType \"show configuration\" for configuration details.\nFor bug reporting instructions, please see:\n<http:\/\/www.gnu.org\/software\/gdb\/bugs\/>.\nFind the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:\n<http:\/\/www.gnu.org\/software\/gdb\/documentation\/>.\nFor help, type \"help\".\nType \"apropos word\" to search for commands related to \"word\"...\nReading symbols from px4fmuv5_bl.elf...done.\n<\/code><\/li>
    5. Find your <dronecode-probe-id><\/code> by running an ls command in the \/dev\/serial\/by-id<\/strong> directory.<\/li>
    6. Now connect to the Dronecode probe with the following command:tar ext \/dev\/serial\/by-id\/<dronecode-probe-id>\n<\/code><\/li>
    7. Power on the Pixhawk with another USB cable and connect the Dronecode probe to the FMU-DEBUG port.To be able to connect the Dronecode probe to the FMU-DEBUG port, you may need to remove the case (e.g. on Pixhawk 4 you would do this using a T6 Torx screwdriver).<\/li>
    8. Use the following command to scan for the Pixhawk\u2019s swd and connect to it:(gdb) mon swdp_scan\n(gdb) attach 1\n<\/code><\/li>
    9. Load the binary into the Pixhawk:(gdb) load\n<\/code><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      After the bootloader has updated you can Load PX4 Firmware<\/a> using QGroundControl<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Other Boards (Non-Pixhawk)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Boards that are not part of the Pixhawk Series<\/a> will have their own mechanisms for bootloader update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      These will be documented (where relevant) with the board:<\/p>\n\n\n\n