linaro-android-tools Scripts Upgrade Android Kernel & Initrd via ADB

With Linaro 13.01 release, Linaro announced linaro-android-tools (aka Kernel Update Tools), a set of tools to improve development time for kernel developers. Today, they published a blog post explaining those scripts allow developers to update the kernel without having to take out the SD card from their development board, and instead update the firmware via ADB with a PC connected via the network or USB.

Currently there are 2 shell scripts:

• update-android.sh – To update kernel files in boot partition such as boot.tar.bz2, single files (e.g. uImage) or kernel modules.
  Usage:
  
  update-android.sh [--serial|-s serial] [--partition|-p boot-partition] <boot.tar.bz2|uImage|board.dtb|...> Update the kernel files in the boot partition of the specified android device with the specified boot.tar.bz2 file update-android.sh [--serial|-s serial] kernel-source-directory Push all the module files in the specified kernel directory into the /system/modules directory of the specified android device

  1 2 3 4 5 6

  update-android.sh [--serial|-s serial] [--partition|-p boot-partition] <boot.tar.bz2|uImage|board.dtb|...> Update the kernel files in the boot partition of the specified android device with the specified boot.tar.bz2 file update-android.sh [--serial|-s serial] kernel-source-directory Push all the module files in the specified kernel directory into the /system/modules directory of the specified android device

  
  For example:
  
  ./update-android.sh out/target/product/pandaboard/boot.tar.bz2

  1	./update-android.sh out/target/product/pandaboard/boot.tar.bz2

• update-uInitrd.sh – To update files in the initrd
  Usage:
  
  update-uInitrd.sh [--serial|-s <serial>] [--partition|-p <boot-partition>] [--target|-t <target-file>] <source-file> Update the target file in uInitrd of the specified device with the specified source file When the target file is not specified, will update the file in the root directory that has the same file name of the source file

  1 2 3 4 5

  update-uInitrd.sh [--serial|-s <serial>] [--partition|-p <boot-partition>] [--target|-t <target-file>] <source-file> Update the target file in uInitrd of the specified device with the specified source file When the target file is not specified, will update the file in the root directory that has the same file name of the source file

  
  For example:
  
  ./update-uInitrd.sh /tmp/init.rc

  1	./update-uInitrd.sh /tmp/init.rc

Those 2 scripts are available in Linaro git repository:

Currently the scripts only support Pandaboard, Origen, Versatile Express, and Versatile Express A9 boards,but they could be easily modified to support other boards supporting linaro packages.

Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress