miniboot Upgrade

note

• This upgrade method is only applicable to non-OTA images for online miniboot updates. For OTA images, please follow the complete System OTA Upgrade process.
• The process does not go through the ota_tool state machine but directly writes via dd. A reboot is required for the upgrade to take effect.

Overview

When you need to update only the miniboot-related partitions individually without reprogramming the entire system, you can directly flash the miniboot upgrade package on the board using rdk-miniboot-update.

• Script: /usr/bin/rdk-miniboot-update (provided by the hobot-miniboot deb package)
• Upgrade package directory: /usr/lib/firmware/rdk/miniboot/stable/<release|debug>/img_packages/

This solution adopts a direct flash strategy:

• NOR: Uses a full-disk image pre-arranged in FPT order, overwriting the entire NOR at once with dd (a single call updates all miniboot-related NOR partitions, including the BAK partition and both A/B slots).
• eMMC / UFS: Flashes several AB partitions individually with dd, writing only to the current slot.

Important Feature

The process does not use the "upgrade → verify → switch slot" two-stage state machine of ota_tool and has no built-in automatic rollback. If any dd step fails or power is lost midway, the device may fail to boot.

Working Principle

Script execution order:

1. OHP Lifecycle Check: If the device has entered the OHP stage, online upgrades are rejected, and the factory tool must be used to reprogram the entire NOR.
2. Read Current AB Slot: Obtains A/B via ota_tool -g. During the eMMC stage, writes to <part>_<slot> based on the current slot.
3. Select NOR Image: Uses miniboot_flash.img (signed version) if the kernel cmdline includes hobotboot.secureboot=1; otherwise, uses miniboot_flash_nose.img.
4. NOR Full Flash: Performs a single dd (bs=2M) to /dev/block/platform/by-name/hb_vspiflash, overwriting the entire NOR. For 22MB, this takes approximately 3.5 minutes.
5. eMMC / UFS Individual Flash: Flashes the four AB partitions (acore_cfg_<slot>, bl31_<slot>, optee_<slot>, uboot_<slot>) separately with dd (bs=4M). Only writes to the current slot, does not synchronize across slots, and does not touch other AB partitions (e.g., vbmeta on RDK S600). This process does not upgrade them; for those, please follow the complete system OTA process.
6. Optional Reboot: Based on --reboot y|n or interactive input, decides whether to reboot immediately. The new miniboot will only take effect after a reboot.

Usage Instructions

Automatic Upgrade (triggered when installing hobot-miniboot via apt)

After running the following commands on the board, the hobot-miniboot deb package will automatically call rdk-miniboot-update during installation/upgrade to complete the miniboot flash:

sudo apt update
sudo apt-get install -y hobot-miniboot

In most scenarios, the above step is sufficient to complete the miniboot upgrade. If you need to switch to the debug version, skip the interactive prompts in CI/batch scripts, or manually re-flash later, call the script manually as described below.

Manual Method 1: rdk-miniboot-update Command

Parameter description:

Parameter	Values	Description
--build / --type	release / debug	Upgrade version type, can be omitted (default is release)
--reboot	y / n	Whether to reboot immediately after the upgrade, prompts interactively if omitted
--confirm	y / n	Skips the initial "WARNING" confirmation, prompts interactively if omitted

Example:

# Fully interactive: asks for confirmation first, then asks whether to reboot (default release)
rdk-miniboot-update

# Release version, skip confirmation, reboot immediately after upgrade
rdk-miniboot-update --confirm y --reboot y

# Debug version, do not reboot (preserve the scene to observe logs; reboot manually later for the upgrade to take effect)
rdk-miniboot-update --build debug --reboot n

# CI / batch script: fully non-interactive
rdk-miniboot-update --build release --confirm y --reboot y

On failure, the script exits with exit 1 and prints:

Error: N step(s) failed to flash.

Before rebooting, it is recommended to check dmesg | tail for related errors.

Manual Method 2: srpi-config Menu

Refer to the Update miniboot entry in srpi-config.

warning

srpi-config can only initiate release version upgrades. To upgrade to the debug version, you must use the rdk-miniboot-update command.

Limitations

• No automatic rollback: If any dd step fails or power is lost midway, the corrupted partition will not be restored.
• Not available in OHP stage: Devices that have entered the OHP lifecycle can only be fully programmed using the factory tool.
• Does not upgrade other eMMC AB partitions: Partitions other than acore_cfg / bl31 / optee / uboot (such as vbmeta on S600) are not touched.

Precautions

• Do not unplug the power, cut off power, reboot, or perform any other write operations on the partitions during the upgrade process — interrupting a dd full flash will directly brick the device.