Flashing Firmware to Rockchip Devices from a Linux PC
Single board computers with Rockchip SoC featuring ARM processors are an excellent low-cost alternative to Raspberry Pi boards, offering power and flexibility for various projects. In this blog post, I will guide you through using the Rockchip Linux Upgrade Tool to flash firmware onto Rockchip devices. This proprietary tool simplifies the process and works seamlessly with Rockchip single-board computers (SBCs). This example is based on my experience with Geniatech XPI-3566-Zero. The tutorial can be adapted for flashing Android or Linux images on other Rockchip devices such as Radxa Rock, and Firefly SBCs.
Important Notes
Before diving into the steps, here are some key points to consider:
This guide is tailored for Linux users. If you are using MS Windows, consider the Rockchip firmware update tool for a more user-friendly interface and additional safety features.
If your device includes both eMMC and SPI flash memory, use the Windows firmware update tool to avoid potential bricking risks.
Always ensure your device is in recovery mode before attempting to flash firmware.
Why Use the Linux Upgrade Tool?
The Linux Upgrade Tool is a proprietary utility distributed as a binary executable, designed to flash firmware images to storage devices like SPI, eMMC, and SD cards. Although there is an open-source alternative called rkdeveloptool, it did not work out well for me so I flashed my board with Linux Upgrade Tool.
This demonstration features flashing Debian 11 onto the Geniatech XPI-3566-Zero, performed on a ThinkPad T14 running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. The steps provided can be adapted to other supported Rockchip devices.
Prerequisites
Hardware
A Rockchip-based single-board computer in recovery mode.
A computer running Linux (e.g., Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or Debian).
Software Dependencies
To install runtime dependencies on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, run:
Download the binary executable for the Linux Upgrade Tool. It is part of the Rockchip SDK as well as this GitHub repository.
Step 2: Make the Tool Executable
Grant executable permissions to the upgrade_tool binary:
chmod +x upgrade_tool
Step 3: Verify Connected Devices
To list Rockchip devices connected to your computer in recovery mode, execute:
sudo ./upgrade_tool ld
Step 4: Flash the Firmware
Use the following command to flash the firmware file (update.img) onto the connected device:
sudo ./upgrade_tool uf update.img
Conclusion
With the Rockchip Linux Upgrade Tool, you can unlock the full potential of your single-board computer by flashing custom firmware or updating to the latest versions. Please also have a look the great article at cnx-software for more details.
