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author Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
date Tue, 22 Jun 2021 02:28:18 +0000
parents a7496a1e0df7
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b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
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1 Our Calypso device flash programming tool fc-loadtool can be used in several
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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2 different paradigms; this article is an attempt to clarify the many available
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
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3 modes of usage. You should also read the companion article Binary-file-formats
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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4 for further background.
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5
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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6 Flashing firmware release images
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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7 ================================
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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8
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9 In conventional forward engineering environments where you develop or maintain
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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10 firmware for hardware made by your own company (meaning no reverse eng, no
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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11 "illicit" aftermarket tinkering on hw made by some other company aeons ago),
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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12 you have a firmware build system that produces fw build images (some of which
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13 may subsequently be blessed as releases), and you have a tool that flashes
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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14 these fw build images into your hardware, operating as efficiently as possible,
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15 automated as much as possible, requiring minimal user action for the boring
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16 repetitive task of flashing a new fw image every time you build one. And if
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17 you become lucky enough to produce your hardware in volume, the same objectives
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18 of maximal efficiency and automation carry over into the production line
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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19 environment as well.
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20
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21 In TI's environment the standardized format for firmware build images which are
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Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
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22 then flashable into hardware targets was a variant of Motorola SREC written in
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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23 *.m0 files, a variant which we have named moko-style m0 after its most famous
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24 user. The special quirk of this particular SREC variant is its peculiar byte
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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25 order. TI's firmware build system produces a *.m0 S-record image as its final
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26 build product, and TI's official Calypso flash programming tool (FLUID) takes
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27 these *.m0 files as its input.
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28
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29 Since the beginning of FreeCalypso we have had two ways of flashing TI-built
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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30 firmware images into suitable targets (initially OM GTA02 modem, then many
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31 others including our own FCDEV3B):
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32
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33 1) Our fc-loadtool has had a flash program-m0 command from the beginning,
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34 programming device flash with bits from an m0 file directly and natively.
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35 However, prior to fc-host-tools-r12 this command was poorly supported: it
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36 ran significantly slower than flash program-bin, had poorer progress
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37 indication and did not perform CRC-32 verification at the end, which is an
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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38 important integrity check. Also this original flash program-m0 command (as
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39 opposed to flash e-program-m0 added in fc-host-tools-r13) does not include a
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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40 built-in erase step, thus prior to fc-host-tools-r13 the user had to have
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41 outside knowledge of how many sectors to erase first with a separate flash
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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42 erase command.
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43
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44 The new flash e-program-m0 command added in fc-host-tools-r13 is m0 image
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45 flashing finally done right. It reads in the specified S-record image in
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46 moko-style m0 format, builds a map of potentially discontiguous flash
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47 regions into which the image deposits bits, erases the set of flash sectors
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48 which need to be erased before programming these regions, then programs the
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49 new image bits into flash, exactly like TI's own FLUID.
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50
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51 2) The alternative way is to first convert the *.m0 S-record image produced by
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52 TI's hex470 post-linker tool into straight binary (*.bin) with a FreeCalypso
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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53 tool called mokosrec2bin, then program the binary fw image into flash with
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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54 fc-loadtool command flash program-bin. This method is the one we've been
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
Mychaela Falconia <falcon@freecalypso.org>
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55 using since 2017, and our FC Magnetite firmware build system is now set up
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56 to produce not only fwimage.m0, but also fwimage.bin (it runs mokosrec2bin),
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57 and it also generates an fc-loadtool command script (a text file named
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58 flash-script) with two commands in it: a flash erase command with a
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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59 calculated sector address range and a flash program-bin command to program
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60 the accompanying fwimage.bin image.
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61
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62 As of fc-host-tools-r13 both methods work equally well: if you have an official
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63 FreeCalypso firmware release (containing fwimage.m0, fwimage.bin and
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64 flash-script files) which you need to flash into a device such as our own
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65 FCDEV3B or OM GTA02 (but *not* Mot C1xx!), you can execute either
b6b8307d195b doc: new articles Binary-file-formats and Flash-programming
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66 'exec flash-script' or 'flash e-program-m0 fwimage.m0' at the loadtool> prompt,
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67 and both ways will produce exactly the same result with equal performance and
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68 reliability. And if you need a more special operation such as erasing the
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69 entire flash (factory production lines) or erasing and reprogramming only a
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70 certain part of the normally affected sector range, that's what custom command
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71 scripting ability is for.
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72
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73 For the sake of symmetry, we also have a flash e-program-bin command that is a
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74 binary image format counterpart to flash e-program-m0: it first erases the
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75 sectors into which new bits will be programmed, then programs the new bits.
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76 Thus a third equally good way to flash a new FreeCalypso fw release into a
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77 target such as FCDEV3B or GTA02 is to execute
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78 'flash e-program-bin 0 fwimage.bin' - but don't *ever* do it on a Mot C1xx
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79 phone!
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80
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81 Discontiguous m0 fw images with large gaps
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82 ==========================================
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83
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84 One sometimes-advantage of S-record-based formats over straight binary is that
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85 they can have discontiguous filled regions with gaps in between them; all m0 fw
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86 images produced by TI's TCS211 build system have some gaps in them. In our
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87 current FC Magnetite firmwares these gaps have been reduced to less than 16384
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88 bytes in total, reducing the wasted disk space and image transfer time to
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89 sufficiently insignificant if these m0 images are converted to straight binary
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90 with mokosrec2bin and then flashed as binary as we've been doing. For
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91 comparison, in Openmoko's classic mokoN firmwares (almost TI's original version
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92 of the memory map) the first flash sector of 65536 bytes had only 5072 bytes of
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93 image payload programmed into it, thus indirect programming via mokosrec2bin
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94 followed by flash program-bin meant sending just over 60k filler 0xFF bytes to
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95 be flashed - becomes noticeable at 115200 baud.
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96
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97 But these gaps were even bigger in TI's classic firmwares (and many vendor
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98 firmwares) built for 8 MiB or 16 MiB flash chips with TI's classic memory map.
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99 They have two code regions: one region is exactly 4 MiB in size but is placed
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100 not quite at the beginning, thus spilling past the chip midpoint, and the other
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101 region starts where the first 4 MiB region ends, going to the end of the flash
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102 chip or to the beginning of the area reserved for FFS. The way TI's linker
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103 works results in the first of these two program regions being not quite full
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104 before bits start getting thrown into the second one, thus the resulting m0
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105 image can easily have a gap of a megabyte or more between the two regions.
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106 TI's own FLUID handles such discontiguous images with no sweat, but our
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107 fc-loadtool has gained matching capability only as of fc-host-tools-r13 with
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108 our new e-program-m0 command. And yes, it is smart enough to avoid needlessly
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109 erasing sectors in the big gap, just like FLUID.
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110
676
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111 Flash backup and restore
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112 ========================
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114 A completely different paradigm takes place on alien targets such as Motorola
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115 C1xx and Pirelli DP-L10, made by alien manufacturers, meaning not FreeCalypso,
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116 not Openmoko and not TI. The most important flash operation on these alien
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117 targets is making a flash dump; these dumps can then be used for forensics,
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118 reverse engineering, or simply as a backup. When we subsequently write to
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119 flash on these alien targets (after having saved a backup first), we are not
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120 flashing an m0 fw image or a binary image made from one with mokosrec2bin,
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121 instead the most common operations are:
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122
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123 * Flashing a backup image back into the same device it was originally made
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124 from (flash restore);
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125
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126 * Changing a device from one firmware version to a different one by programming
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127 its flash with firmware bits that were originally read out from some fw-donor
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128 unit;
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129
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130 * Surgical manipulations such as erasing FFS sectors or rewriting one specific
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131 part of the flash based on reverse-engineered understanding of its structure.
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132
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133 This different paradigm leads to a different mode of usage for fc-loadtool:
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134 instead of needing a maximally-automated operation that flashes a firmware
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135 release image with as little user thought involvement as possible, our flash
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136 manipulations need to be of a more manual peek-n-poke manner. We provide a
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137 flash dump2bin command for making and saving flash dumps first and foremost,
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138 allowing any part of the flash to be dumped and saved selectively if desired,
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139 including the second flash bank on the Pirelli DP-L10 and likewise on our own
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140 FCDEV3B. When it comes to flash write operations, we provide a manual flash
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141 erase command that allows (and requires) the operator to specify exactly which
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142 sector range should be erased and a manual flash program-bin command that
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143 allows any range of 16-bit words to be programmed at any flash address, with
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144 the bits to be programmed coming from a binary file, either the whole file or
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145 any specified subrange.
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146
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147 These manual flash erase and flash program-bin commands give full control to
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148 the operator, allowing every possible flash manipulation which the hardware
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149 itself allows, at the expense of requiring the operator to think about which
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150 flash addresses, offsets and lengths need to be operated on, and either enter
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151 long commands manually or write a command script.
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152
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153 Given our historical origins (long before we got to the point of producing our
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154 own hardware, we started out by exploring the forbidden GSM realm of devices
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155 made by alien manufacturers who were hostile to our cause), our original flash
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156 manipulation support in fc-loadtool had been centered around the manual
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157 peek-n-poke paradigm, with elementary flash erase and flash program-bin commands
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158 as our main staple, and no thought had been given originally to producing
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159 functionality that would work like FLUID or like our current flash e-program-m0
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160 and e-program-bin commands. But all actively maintained software evolves, and
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161 as our FreeCalypso family of projects has matured over the years, we now offer
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162 richer functionality covering a wider range of use cases.
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163
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164 Binary vs. S-records
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165 ====================
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166
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167 (Please read the companion article Binary-file-formats for background, then
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168 come back here.)
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169
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170 If you are exploring and manipulating the flash content of a GSM device in an
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171 aftermarket fashion, as opposed to flashing your own fw builds into your own hw
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172 design produced by your own company like Openmoko did in the late 2000s and
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173 like we do currently at FreeCalypso HQ, then binary is the generally preferred
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174 format: you make dumps with flash dump2bin, and when you selectively program
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175 these images back into devices, you use flash program-bin with the right offsets
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176 and length, along with appropriate flash erase commands.
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177
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178 We also have flash dump2srec and flash program-srec commands in fc-loadtool,
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179 they were implemented back in the founding stage of FreeCalypso in 2013 for the
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180 sake of completeness and symmetry (it seemed right to support both binary and
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181 S-record formats), but they never got any practical use: if you are making a
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182 flash dump, you would normally want to examine it afterward, and any such
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183 examination almost always needs a straight binary image, not S-records.
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184 Furthermore, our flash program-bin command allows you to selectively program
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185 just a particular portion of a binary image file into flash, at any arbitrary
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186 flash address, but we don't have the same flexibility with flash program-srec -
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187 the latter command is really just a sibling of program-m0 with the opposite
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188 byte order.
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189
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190 Thus the short summary is as follows:
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191
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192 * If you are flashing an official firmware release image into your device, you
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193 need to use flash e-program-bin or flash e-program-m0 depending on whether
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194 the image is provided in *.bin or *.m0 format, or alternatively our older
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195 flash program-bin or flash program-m0 commands preceded by a separate flash
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196 erase command with the right sector range, possibly packaged in a supplied
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197 fc-loadtool command script.
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198
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199 * If you are restoring a flash dump made with flash dump2bin or performing
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200 aftermarket flash manipulations on Mot C1xx or Pirelli DP-L10 phones or other
682
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201 such alien devices, you need to use binary-format-based flash manipulation
676
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202 commands; the specific commands will depend on exactly what you are seeking
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203 to do.
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204
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205 * flash program-srec and e-program-srec commands do not currently have a valid
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206 use case.
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207
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208 Special considerations for Compal phones
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209 ========================================
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210
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211 Motorola C1xx and Sony Ericsson J100 phones made by Compal have brickable flash:
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212 the right kind of flash-resident bootloader must always be present at the
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213 beginning of the flash, or else the phone is unrecoverably bricked. We have
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214 special support in fc-loadtool for minimizing the bricking vulnerability window
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215 when operating on these phones, but this special support requires user
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216 cooperation, meaning that you must limit your flash manipulations on these
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217 phones to a narrower subset:
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218
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219 * flash program-m0, program-srec, e-program-m0 and e-program-srec commands are
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220 not appropriate for these brickable phones - do not use any of these commands
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221 on these targets.
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222
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223 * Flash sector 0 must be manipulated only with the special
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224 flash erase-program-boot command, not any of the regular erase or program
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225 commands.
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226
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227 * Regular flash erase, flash program-bin and flash e-program-bin commands can
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228 and should be used for the rest of the flash starting at offset 0x10000 - but
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229 you still need to understand what you are doing.