How to Upgrade Rockchip Firmware in Linux for RK3288, RK3328, RK3368, RK3399, etc..

I’ve been looking for ways to upgrade firmware on Rockchip RK3368 based GeekBox in a computer running Ubuntu 14.04, but while they’ve provided firmware update instructions for Windows, which remains basically the same as upgrading firmware on Rockchip RK3288, there’s no such information for Linux. However, I could remember than Radxa Rock supported upgrade_tool utility, but since the tool linked on Radxa website might be outdated, I instead searched for some RKtools repository on Geekboxzone Github account, and I was lucky enough to find one.

Here’s what I did to flash Light Biz OS to GeekBox with my Linux computer:

1. Get the tools, and make sure upgrade_tool is there.
   
   git clone https://github.com/geekboxzone/lollipop_RKTools.git cd lollipop_RKTools/linux/Linux_Upgrade_Tool unzip Linux_Upgrade_Tool_v1.23.zip cd Linux_Upgrade_Tool_v1.23/ ls -l upgrade_tool -rw-rw-r-- 1 jaufranc jaufranc 3013546 Dec 17  2014 upgrade_tool

   1 2 3 4 5 6

   git clone https://github.com/geekboxzone/lollipop_RKTools.git cd lollipop_RKTools/linux/Linux_Upgrade_Tool unzip Linux_Upgrade_Tool_v1.23.zip cd Linux_Upgrade_Tool_v1.23/ ls -l upgrade_tool -rw-rw-r-- 1 jaufranc jaufranc 3013546 Dec 17  2014 upgrade_tool

2. Download and extract the firmware, e.g. Cross_Lollipop_BizOS_V151208.7z:
   
   sudo apt-get install p7zip-full 7z x Cross_Lollipop_BizOS_V151208.7z

   1 2	sudo apt-get install p7zip-full 7z x Cross_Lollipop_BizOS_V151208.7z

3. Now connect a USB cable to the USB OTG port of your device or board. In case of GeekBox that’s the micro USB port. Now as the board is powered on, keep pressing the Update key while pressing the Reboot key for a short time, and release the Update key after a few seconds. If Android or Ubuntu boots then you have not pressed the Update key long enough.
4. Now you can use upgrade_tool to flash the image
   
   ./upgrade_tool uf Geekbox_Lollipop_BizOS_V151208/update.img

   1	./upgrade_tool uf Geekbox_Lollipop_BizOS_V151208/update.img

5. The tool should then show the progress, and complete successfully:
   
   Loading firmware... Support Type:RK330A    FW Ver:5.1.00    FW Time:2015-12-08 15:57:42 Loader ver:2.40    Loader Time:2015-11-12 16:57:57 Upgrade firmware ok.

   1 2 3 4

   Loading firmware... Support Type:RK330A    FW Ver:5.1.00    FW Time:2015-12-08 15:57:42 Loader ver:2.40    Loader Time:2015-11-12 16:57:57 Upgrade firmware ok.

   
   During the process, the board will reboot twice: once to flash the image, and once to boot your newly flashed firmware.
6. You’re done. Enjoy!

If you own an RK3368 Android TV box, instead of a development platform like GeekBox, it’s unlikely you’ll get a reset button, but you’ll probably have a Update or Recovery pinhole somewhere that you can press with a toothpick, while powering on your device, in order to enter bootloader mode.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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