[BOOT] FIREFIREFIRE 1.2 - bootloader with recovery selection

nind · Mar 5, 2012

foxdog66 said:
If the bootloader is borked how are you going to run fastboot commands?

firefirefire/u-boot is only the 2nd stage bootloader, there is a 1st stage bootloader which checks if there is something special on USB (factory cable, i think UART3 should work too btw.) does some small stuff and then go into fasboot mode (if special usb cable) or load the 2nd stage bootloader (u-boot) into RAM and jump into it. So if you have the factory cable plugged in the first stage bootloader should (?!?) handle it. Ah not sure now when i write these line, thought i thought it was this way.
Note: From my understanding it should work like this, but i've not tried it so better ask someone with more knowledge.

Btw: fattire has coded a (2nd stage) bootloader CyanoBoot based on u-boot. It does the multiboot (boot from internal memory/SDCard) right (they had part of it working before). There are differences between the B&N and Amazon u-boot (the nook has also more hardware keys) but it should not be too hard to port, is interested in porting have a closer look (source is here: http://goo-inside.me/devs/fattire/cyanoboot/acclaim/ )

kinfauns · Mar 5, 2012

smirkis said:
ahh. my apologies. for what its worth, it seems you still need fastboot to get out of the usbboot? like it relys on firefirefire to get out.

Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium

Yes. Based on what pokey9000 said about setting the nvram value back, it looks like you'd need fastboot to do just that. It doesn't necessarily have to be FFF... even the stock bootloader will allow fastboot. The point of the usbboot is that you can keep your original bootloader in place and test the new bootloader without flashing it to the device. As long as you can reset the bootmode back, nothing else is changed on the device.

---------- Post added at 01:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:16 PM ----------

nind said:
firefirefire/u-boot is only the 2nd stage bootloader, there is a 1st stage bootloader which checks if there is something special on USB (factory cable, i think UART3 should work too btw.) does some small stuff and then go into fasboot mode (if special usb cable) or load the 2nd stage bootloader (u-boot) into RAM and jump into it. So if you have the factory cable plugged in the first stage bootloader should (?!?) handle it. Ah note sure now when i write these line, thought it was this way.
Note: From my understanding it should work like this, but i've not tried it so better ask someone with more knowledge.

Btw: fattire has coded a (2nd stage) bootloader CyanoBoot based on u-boot. It does the multiboot (boot from internal memory/SDCard) right (they had part of it working before). There are differences between the B&N and Amazon u-boot (the nook has also more hardware keys) but it should not be too hard to port, is interested in porting have a closer look (source is here: http://goo-inside.me/devs/fattire/cyanoboot/acclaim/ )

Yeah, I haven't got a clue which stage bootloader would handle fastboot. However, pokey9000 says in this post...

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1405052

that...

As useful as they are now, fastboot cables may not work in the future. They rely on the bootloader to work, and it's possible that a future OTA could disable fastboot.

While he doesn't specify which stage, it seems to imply that it would be u-boot.bin since that's what gets updated by Amazon in the update zip files.

Something like fattire's bootloader would be great for this device, but I don't have close to the expertise required to attempt a port. Maybe pokey9000 will be enticed by their developments to jump back into it?

jmcoffey · Mar 5, 2012

kinfauns said:
'fastboot boot u-boot.bin' does not work because the boot command for fastboot expects to see a bootable filesystem as its next argument. FWIW, I've tried this and fastboot reports that it is creating, downloading, and booting the boot image, but does nothing after that.

I know how to flash a bootloader onto my device. However, as my post indicated, I'm not confident that my build of u-boot.bin will work properly and I'm not so inclined to permanently brick my Kindle Fire trying to do this. I'm trying to find a way to test it without flashing it.

Do you have a factory cable? I would try flashing your bootloader if I was assured that the factory cable would work to fix it.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using XDA

smirkis · Mar 5, 2012

jmcoffey said:
Do you have a factory cable? I would try flashing your bootloader if I was assured that the factory cable would work to fix it.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using XDA

nothings for sure. and noone could guarantee you anything unfortunately.

I like where this is going, I was looking at cyanoboot when they released it and thought it could be useful to us.

but just for the record. when fff bootloader is flashed, it even changes the requirement of fastboot -I command via the cable which further leads me to believe the cable really does rely heavily on the u-boot.bin which is the secondary bootloader.

Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium

kinfauns · Mar 5, 2012

jmcoffey said:
Do you have a factory cable? I would try flashing your bootloader if I was assured that the factory cable would work to fix it.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using XDA

Yes, I have a factory cable and I would have flashed it already if I could assure myself of that! That wasn't meant to sound rude, but sometimes these forum discussions fail to convey the *nudge nudge* facetious quality of some responses. I know you are trying to be helpful.

OK... for a progress update. It took me a while to find a box to reappropriate, back it up, install linux, etc. etc.... but...

Code:

# ./usbboot aboot.bin ../bootloaders/myfff/u-boot.bin 
?
sending 2ndstage to target...
waiting for 2ndstage response...
sending image to target...

I have it booting through usbboot and my "custom logo" appears on screen. I originally expected it to complete booting, but it goes black after several seconds. This had me worried. After reading through a bunch more of pokey9000's posts in a few of the development threads, I now believe it's just supposed to stay in fastboot for a short time, blackout, then wait for another usbboot command... which makes sense since it's still in the 4003 bootmode.

At that point, I can give it another usbboot command and it will go through another cycle of what I pasted above. If I give it a few fastboot commands while it's in fastboot mode during the first several seconds after booting, it will stay in fastboot mode indefinitely, it seems. I've tried this with both my rebaked FFF as well as pokey9000's FFF 1.2 and the behavior is identical, with the exception of the boot logo, of course. I think it's working, but that's not to say I'm 100% confident either.

I'd love to have some kind of method to recover if it goes bad, but that doesn't seem likely...

kinfauns · Mar 6, 2012

Since the usbboot test appeared to go OK, I decided to take a deep breath and flash. Fastboot, recovery, and normal booting all work just fine.

Thanks to pokey9000 for the source code, the directions to build and the usbboot tool to test. Also a thumbs up to the members here who offered support and allowed me to bounce some thoughts/ideas around. I've included a shot of my Kindle Fire dogfooding.

dieandromeda · Mar 6, 2012

kinfauns said:
Since the usbboot test appeared to go OK, I decided to take a deep breath and flash. Fastboot, recovery, and normal booting all work just fine.

Thanks to pokey9000 for the source code, the directions to build and the usbboot tool to test. Also a thumbs up to the members here who offered support and allowed me to bounce some thoughts/ideas around. I've included a shot of my Kindle Fire dogfooding.

nice. i hope u can make a tutorial...

kinfauns · Mar 6, 2012

dieandromeda said:
nice. i hope u can make a tutorial...

I'm not sure there's much more for me to add beyond what pokey9000 has posted already.

make/convert your image
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=21262416&postcount=126

get source code and build it
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=21775177&postcount=151

test u-boot.bin with usbboot
http://xdaforums.com/show...0&postcount=74

flash by hand directions in OP
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=19837228&postcount=1

Post here if you get stuck and I'll try to help. Good luck!

_ante_ · Mar 7, 2012

kinfauns said:
I'm not sure there's much more for me to add beyond what pokey9000 has posted already.

make/convert your image
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=21262416&postcount=126

get source code and build it
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=21775177&postcount=151

test u-boot.bin with usbboot
http://xdaforums.com/show...0&postcount=74

flash by hand directions in OP
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=19837228&postcount=1

Post here if you get stuck and I'll try to help. Good luck!

Nice job :thumbup:

Sent from my Kindle Fire (CM7) using xda premium

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[BOOT] FIREFIREFIRE 1.2 - bootloader with recovery selection

nind

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kinfauns

Retired Senior Moderator and Retired DC Lead

jmcoffey

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smirkis

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kinfauns

Retired Senior Moderator and Retired DC Lead

kinfauns

Retired Senior Moderator and Retired DC Lead

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dieandromeda

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kinfauns

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_ante_

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