README for the AmigaOne Firmware Update

January 23, 2004

IMPORTANT (read at least this!):

Upgrading your firmware is  potentially dangerous. If something fails,
the update might  leave your ROM erased or  only partially written. In
that  case there  is  a high  probability  that your  machine will  be
unusable. Some  ROM's are known  to be soft-sector  protected, meaning
that only part of the ROM can  be rewritten. There is no way to remove
this protection without an EEPROM burner.

If  you  think  this  is  too  risky for  your  taste,  don't  do  the
update. Instead, contact your dealer and ask for a trade-in option. If
you still consider doing the upgrade, please read on.


1. Introduction

This program updates the firmware  in your AmigaOne. The firmware of a
computer is the  piece of software  in a persistent storage (usually a
ROM, or  "Read Only  Memory") that gets  executed once you  switch the
computer on. The firmware is responsible for initializing the hardware
and loading  an operating system  from disk. It also  usually provides
some  sort  of  interface  for  a  user  to  specify  a  few  hardware
parameters, like for example the disk from which to boot the operating
system.

Your AmigaOne is  equipped with a flash ram,  which can be overwritten
without taking it  out of the board. The updater  program can do that,
but  there  are  a  few  risks  involved that  you  should  take  into
account. Most of all, the process  of erasing and  re-flashing takes a
few seconds,  and might fail. If  it fails, your computer  will not be
able to boot, and you will have  to remove the ROM and exchange it for
a new one, or find some means to re-flash it. 

2. Why should I update

If the introduction didn't scare you, here's some considerations as to
why  you should  or should  not  update your  firmware. Generally,  an
update  introduces  new features  (and  new  bugs).   You should  only
consider  an update  if  you think  that  you need  one  of these  new
features, or if you have a  problem with your current firmware that is
or might be fixed in the new update. 

3. How to do the update

In  order to  update your  computer's firmware,  you need  to  run the
included program "updater.image". This  is no Linux or AmigaOS binary,
but a U-Boot executable image. This  image needs to be booted from the
U-Boot  command line  in order  to  be executed.  The exact  mechanism
depends on the medium you want to boot from. 

3.1 From a floppy

Floppy booting is the easiest method.  You need a floppy drive in your
AmigaOne and  an empty  floppy. To transfer  the updater.image  to the
floppy, you need to do the following:

Under Linux: From a shell enter

dd if=updater.image of=/dev/floppy

The /dev/floppy is the special device node that represents your floppy
drive. Usually  this is  a symbolic link  to /dev/fd0.  If /dev/floppy
does not exist but /dev/fd0 does, replace /dev/floppy with /dev/fd0 in
the above command line. 

Under AmigaOS,  you can use any  program that can write  raw tracks to
floppy to write the disk.  Such programs include the TrackDOS package,
or  the FLAT file  handler. Consult  the appropriate  documentation of
these tools for more details. 

Once you  have the  updater on the  floppy, reboot your  AmigaOne, and
interrupt the  autoboot sequence if necessary. From  the U-Boot prompt
character ']', enter:

fdcboot ; bootm

After a while  a message "AmigaOne Firmware Updater"  should appear on
screen. Continue reading at 3.4. 

3.2 From a network

If you  have a  correctly configured Ethernet  network, and  have your
AmigaOne connected to the internal network connector, you can boot via
a TFTP  server. You  need to  have your network  set up  correctly for
that, and you need to have the variables "serverip" and "ipaddr" setup
correctly. From the u-boot prompt enter

setenv autostart yes
tftpboot 500000 updater.image

assuming that the updater.image is  available in the root directory of
the tftp server.  After a while a message  "AmigaOne Firmware Updater"
should appear, please continue reading at 3.4.

3.3 From a CD-ROM

If you have a CD-ROM burner, you can write the updater image to an "El
Torito" type bootable CD. If you did so, boot from the CD as you would
when  you installed  Linux  or  AmigaOS. After  a  while, the  message
"AmigaOne Firmware Updater" should appear on screen. Continue at 3.4. 

3.4 The Updater

Once you have  booted, you will be presented with  two screens full of
text (well, almost)  that you should read. The  update will start once
you enter the letters 'o' and  'k' on your keyboard. At first, it will
erase the  flashrom. Then  it will start  writing (watch  the progress
bar).  Once  the process  is  finished,  the  machine will  display  a
countdown to allow you to remove the boot media. 

After reset, the new firmware will be available. 

4. What's new in this release

The following things have been added to this firmware update:

* Finalized boota command
* Updated U-Boot from 0.1.1 to 1.0.0

This is a recommended update for everyone. 

For technical questions please write a mail to

Hans-JoergF@hyperion-entertainment.com
(English or German accepted)

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