Flashing

openmoko at danwin1210.me openmoko at danwin1210.me
Mon Aug 19 20:36:26 UTC 2019


> Hello Dan,

Using a Tor-friendly email provider supposedly hosted by someone named Dan.

> Wow, I am delighted to hear that someone is still using their Openmoko
> device *and* also using its GSM phone part!

And I'm delighted you're making this all possible.

> I am guessing that you
> probably live in some world region where the local powers that be are not
> itching to shut down GSM/2G services like they are in USA...

Correct, living in a part in Europe where 2G is supported until atleast
2030 .
>  Do you
> already have an operator-issued SIM that works with the FR modem in its
> current state running moko11?
Yes I do, first I actually thought it didn't work because sometimes the SIM
moves upside where the chip doesn't align, you have to lock it properly.

> Is your FR in its current state (with
> moko11) able to connect to the local GSM network in your area and
> make/receive calls?
Yes, I received this phone with an old SHR version and everytime I
connected the SIM englightment would segvault. I flashed a newer version
via neotool (shr-2012.07/) and able to make/receive calls. but my only
issue now is that I can't install packages because there is no ipk
repository at http://build.shr-project.org/shr-2012.07/.

>I am asking because I am trying to establish a
> baseline before changing the firmware.  Or are you seeking to migrate from
> the old firmware for which there is no corresponding source to our new
> source-enabled fw because something is not working correctly in the GSM
> part of the device and you are seeking to gain the ability to debug and
> fix the problem?
I want to flash this firmware because it's the only point I bought this
phone in the first place a few months ago, to further liberate my life. I
searched for "openmoko" in the archive of my local tech forums in my
country and found about 10 active users, 9 didn't have it anymore and got
the lucky 1.

> The recommended flashing method depends on whether or not you are ever
> interested in putting on the hat of a developer.
First I want to make everything work and if something is missing after
that I'll see what I can do.

> If you are potentially
> interested in not only flashing new FreeCalypso fw versions, but also
> doing some debugging or troubleshooting of GSM functionality, then you
> need to get one of our special cables that provide access to the Calypso
> debug port on Openmoko devices; the same cables also work with Motorola
> C1xx phones.  There are many vendors
> who make such cables; the two vendors I recommend are Sysmocom and
> UberWaves:
>
>
> http://shop.sysmocom.de/products/cp2102-25
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/262274039940
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/252275767181
>
>
> However, this special cable is only needed if you are interested in
> additional activities beyond mere flashing of fw images, e.g., if you would
> like to be able to capture the debug trace from the firmware as it runs in
> normal GSM operation.  If instead you are only interested in flashing new
> fw images while firmly wearing the hat of an end user, then there are
> several procedures for flashing the Calypso modem from inside the
> FreeRunner, without using an external cable.

I remember goldelico selling GTA02 debug boards for a symbolic 1 EUR a few
months back, I didn't take one yet because I thought it wasn't working.
out of stock now.

> No matter which procedure you use, it is impossible to unrecoverably
> brick the Calypso modem in Openmoko devices.  When the Calypso chip powers
> up, it executes code from its mask ROM first (hard-cast in the silicon and
> physically unmodifiable) before jumping to the fw image in flash, and this
> boot ROM provides a time window for the boot process to be interrupted and
> diverted via either of the two UARTs, allowing recovery of any bricked
> flash.  The absolute worst thing you can do is blow away your individual
> per-unit RF calibration values, but even if you are unfortunate enough to
> suffer that fate (so far no one has ever done that on a FreeRunner,
> although one of our community members did once blow away the factory
> calibration on an FCDEV3B), even then there is a recovery option: if you
> have an Openmoko-made device that has lost its original factory RF
> calibration, you can send it to me, I will recalibrate it on my CMU200
> station (my setup is no worse than what OM's factory had) and send it back
> to you recalibrated.
That's good to know.

> Yes, this method should work indeed, but I never tried it myself, and
> AFAIK no one else in our little community has tried it either.  If you
> go this route, you won't be able to use the "super-easy" uSD card method
> unless you reverse-engineer OM's uSD card image and replace the m0 file
> (the actual Calypso fw image) with the desired version, but
> you should be able to do what the ancient wiki page describes as the manual
> method, using a FreeCalypso fw image in the m0 format.  All official
> FreeCalypso fw releases include images in both binary and m0
> formats.
>
> This flashing method uses a tool called FLUID - it was originally TI's
> official flashing tool, but Openmoko modified it to run on the FreeRunner's
> application processor - TI's original version ran only under Windows.  We
> finally got the source code for this tool only a couple of months ago
> (2019-06), and even then we only have the source
> for TI's original Windows version, not OM's modified version.  Thus for the
> first 6 years of our project (from 2013 till 2019) FLUID was a proprietary
> program without source code, and for that reason I never played with it -
> instead I wrote my own from-scratch replacement called fc-loadtool back in
> 2013, and we've been using our own tools
> ever since.  See this ML post from June for more information:
>
> https://www.freecalypso.org/pipermail/community/2019-June/000678.html

Is it possible to run fc-loadtool on SHR? because QTmoko seems to have
proprietary components according to wikipedia, and I want to stay
absoluterly clear from that.

Also having some trouble connecting via ssh since new SHR flash,
supposedly duo to new ip.

Will keep you updated in next post.





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