Crazyradio firmware upgrade

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Please note: The current implementation of the bootloader/scripts are not 100% safe. If you upgrade you firmware, make sure that the script says "Verification succeded!" before you unplug the dongle. Other wise you risk "bricking" it (and then it has to be re-programmed via SPI).

Do not do development and flash you own firmware on the dongle without having access to hardware that makes SPI programming possible. If firmware that doesn't work is flashed on the dongle you will need to re-program it using SPI

The Crazyradio contains a USB bootloader that gives the possibility to upgrade the firmware without any external hardware (see warnings above).

USB bootloader (command line instructions)

Please note that you might have to exchange python with python2 if you distro uses python3.

First Crazyradio has to be rebooted in USB bootloader mode. To do so insert the dongle in the pc, open a terminal window and run the bootloader launcher:

> cd crazyradio-firmware
> python usbtools/launchBootloader.py 
Launch bootloader .
Bootloader started

After running this tool the Crazyradio dongle should have disappeared and a new device named nRF24LU1P-F32 BOOT LDR should appear.

To flash the firmware use the nrfbootload.py script:

> cd crazyradio-firmware
> python usbtools/nrfbootload.py flash cradio-0.53.bin
Found nRF24LU1 bootloader version 18.0
Flashing:
  Flashing 5810 bytes...
Flashing done!
Verifying:
  Reading cradio-pa-0.53.bin...
  Reading 5810 bytes from the flash...
Verification succeded!

Step-by-step upgrade using the Bitcraze VM

Below is a short guide with step-by-step instructions on how to upgrade the Crazyradio with the latest firmware using the Bitcraze VM. There are two different firmwares for the Crazyradio, one for the first generation Crazyradio and one for the Crazyradio PA.

  • Start up the VM and download the latest firmware from GitHub. Place the firmware in /home/bitcraze/projects/crazyradio-firmware
  • Open up a terminal
  • Insert the Crazyradio and pass it to the VM
  • Run the following commands:
  • `> cd ~/projects/crazyradio-firmware

    python usbtools/launchBootloader.py Launch bootloader . Bootloader started `

  • Once the bootloader is started the Crazyradio dongle will dissapear ad a new device named Nordic Semiconductor nRF24LU1P-F32 BOOT LDR will appear. If you do not have a filter set up for the bootloader in the VM then script will say that it failed. This is ok. Pass the bootloader device into the VM and continue.
  • Run the following command:
  • > python usbtools/nrfbootload.py flash cradio-0.53.bin Found nRF24LU1 bootloader version 18.0 Flashing: Flashing 5810 bytes... Flashing done! Verifying: Reading cradio-pa-0.53.bin... Reading 5810 bytes from the flash... Verification succeded!
  • If you see Verification succeded then unplug the dongle and re-insert it again. If you do not see this message, but instead some error. Do NOT unplug the dongle, try to reflash the firmware instead.

Check your firmware version

Run the following command:

> lsusb -d 1915:7777 -v | grep bcdDevice

This should return the version (e.g. "0.52").