Flash SPI Boot Firmware

Note

This tutorial is only applicable to Radxa OS

Use the system configuration tool Rsetup to flash or erase the SPI boot firmware.

SPI Boot Firmware

The core task of the SPI boot firmware (BootROM + Bootloader) is to initialize hardware in stages (CPU → Memory → Storage) and ultimately load the operating system kernel through the storage device.

To boot the system from an NVMe SSD, you need to flash the SPI boot firmware for normal system startup.

Prerequisites

Ensure that the board can boot normally from a MicroSD card and has a working network connection. The following operations require accessing the board's system.

Update System

Use the Rsetup tool to update the system and obtain the latest SPI boot firmware.

Rsetup Usage Guide

• Select option: The corresponding option will be highlighted
• Confirm selection: Press Enter
• Cancel selection: Press ESC
• Navigate options: Use Up, Down, Left, Right arrow keys
• Multi-selection interface: Press Space to select, then Enter to confirm; a * will appear next to the selected option

1. Open the terminal and enter the command sudo rsetup to launch the Rsetup tool

radxa@cubie-a5e$

sudo rsetup

2. Navigate to System -> System Update and press Enter to confirm, then follow the Rsetup tool prompts to complete the system update.

System Update

The System Update option is used to update the system and is safer than using the apt update && apt upgrade commands.

Note: Using apt update && apt upgrade to update the system may result in incomplete updates or system abnormalities.

3. After the update is complete, reboot the system.

radxa@cubie-a5e$

sudo reboot

Flash SPI Boot Firmware

Use the Rsetup tool to update the SPI boot firmware, which will automatically flash the latest SPI boot firmware.

1. Navigate to System -> Bootloader Management and press Enter to confirm.

2. Select Update SPI Bootloader and press Enter to confirm.

3. Use the spacebar to select the SPI boot firmware option corresponding to your board (a * indicates the option is selected), then press Enter to confirm. Follow the Rsetup tool prompts to complete the SPI boot firmware update.

Note: For Radxa Cubie A5E, select the SPI firmware option `radxa-cubie-a5e`.

4. After the update is complete, reboot the system.

radxa@cubie-a5e$

sudo reboot

Erase SPI Boot Firmware (Optional)

Erasing SPI Boot Firmware

After erasing the SPI Bootloader, boot media that relies on the SPI boot firmware will not be able to boot the system (for example: some boards may not be able to boot from NVMe SSD).

Use the Rsetup tool to erase the SPI boot firmware.

1. Navigate to System -> Bootloader Management

2. Select Erase SPI Bootloader and press Enter to confirm.

3. After the erase is complete, reboot the system.

radxa@cubie-a5e$

sudo reboot