Updating Ben NanoNote software

xburst-tools

install

First, download and install usbboot from the xburst-tools package: go here to download the package you need.

deb package:

$ dpkg -i xburst-tools_0.0+201002-1_i386.deb

bin tarball:

$ sudo tar jxvf xburst-tools_0.0+201002-1_i386.bin.tar.bz2 -C /

uninstall

deb package:

$  sudo aptitude remove xburst-tools 

bin tarball:

$  sudo rm -f  /usr/local/bin/usbboot
$  sudo rm -f  /usr/local/man/man1/usbboot.1.gz
$  sudo rm -rf /usr/local/etc/xburst-tools/
$  sudo rm -rf /usr/local/share/xburst-tools/

How to reflash

Get the reflash_ben.sh script and make it executable (you only need to do this once per system you want to reflash from, unless the reflash script changes) via the following commands:

$ wget http://downloads.qi-hardware.com/software/images/Ben_NanoNote_2GB_NAND/reflash_ben.sh
$ chmod +x reflash_ben.sh

DO NOT USE A USB HUB. Make sure your NanoNote is directly connected to a Linux PC

DO NOT USE LINUX VIRTUAL MACHINE running in your Windows or MacOS pc

Boot your NanoNote into USB BOOT mode. As soon as lsusb (on your Linux PC) lists a new device, run reflash_ben.sh. This will download some pre-built images and (re)flash the NanoNote.

$ sudo  ./reflash_ben.sh

Afterwards, reboot your NanoNote. First, you will see

- preinit -                                                                     
Press CTRL-C for failsafe

After a while, you will see Please press Enter to activate this console. on the console of your NanoNote.

Notes

• The usual boot time is around 10 seconds.
• You can erase the whole nand with the command:

$ sudo usbboot -c "boot;nerase 0 4096 0 0"

• You can only flash the u-boot:

$ sudo usbboot -c "boot;nprog 0 openwrt-xburst-u-boot.bin 0 0 -n"

• You can reflash just the rootfs partition with ... please fill this in, someone.
• Remember, the block size in the flash is 4 KiB (4096 bytes).
• some options about "reflash_ben.sh"

$ sudo ./reflash_ben.sh
	==> will download and reflash the lastest images from the office website, include bootloader, kernek and rootfs.
 
$ sudo ./reflash_ben.sh -k
 	==> will only download and refalsh the kernel.
 
$ sudo ./reflash_ben.sh -kr
	==> will download and refalsh the kernel and rootfs.

$ sudo ./reflash_ben.sh -l ../openwrt-xburst/bin/xburst/ -r
	==> will reflash the nanonote rootfs with ../openwrt-xburst/bin/xburst/openwrt-xburst-rootfs.ubi.

Alternative to using the reflash_ben.sh script

Situation

I had tried to use the reflash script a number of times without a lot of success. I found myself having to run "reflash_ben.sh -b" to install the boot, then "reflash_ben.sh -k" to install the kernel, separately. One day even that didn't work.

Solution

Before beginning the following steps, ensure that you've downloaded the latest files into a working directory and that you execute the commands from that directory

1. take the battery out, unplug the USB cable, keep your NanoNote totally disconnected for a minute or so