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ISOStick Stuck in Bootloader mode


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#1 JumborgAce

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Posted 10 January 2013 - 08:12 PM

I tried to do a firmware update by pressing the button. All looked good but the firmware didn't take. I tried to redo it by exiting the software, rebooting (Windows 7) and trying again by pressing the ISOStick reset button. In the firmware updater (32bit Win 7) it shows the COM port and says ISOStick but it says Unknown for the service code and pressing Get Info just locks it up. I've tried all different combinations to get it to update the firmware: different Win 7 machine, booting to Ubuntu and trying the Linux firmware updater and pressing the reset button multiple times.

 

It always finds the COM port but never the service code and I can't update it now.

 

Did I bust it? Is there a way to get it out of bootload mode? It was awesome before that.

 

Thank you.

 

JumborgAce



#2 JumborgAce

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Posted 10 January 2013 - 10:16 PM

I  tried it under XP as well with the same results. The ISOStick shows up in device manager under Ports as isostick bootloader (COM6) but in the firmware updater it will not find the service code. Is there a secret command to take it out of bootloader mode?

 

Thank you for your help.

 

JumborgAce



#3 elegantinvention

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Posted 10 January 2013 - 11:25 PM

Sorry to hear your isostick is having this problem.

 

Have you tried updating the firmware without pressing Get Info? It should still attempt to update, it may simply be a bug with the Get Info button.

Also, please be sure you are using the latest updater (r71).



#4 JumborgAce

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Posted 10 January 2013 - 11:32 PM

Yes, I did try without pressing Get Info. I am using vR71.

#5 elegantinvention

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Posted 11 January 2013 - 09:43 AM

I have a couple things you can try to help figure out what is going on.

You will need PuTTY (just putty.exe).

 

Plug in the isostick then run PuTTY. Choose Serial and enter the COM port of the isostick bootloader. Speed doesn't matter.

If everything goes according to plan, you will just get a blank PuTTY window.

 

Now paste or carefully type in "CEREAL NUMBAR?" then press Enter. It should spit out a serial number 2 characters at a time, for a total of 30 characters.

Next, do, in any order:

  • REVISHUN?
  • BOOT REVISHUN?
  • HARDWARE REVISHUN?

Assuming everything worked so far, please copy down the responses from each of these commands somewhere before proceeding to the next step, since it will flood the terminal with text as part of a stress test.

 

[If, at this point, the isostick has failed to respond to commands or is acting up at all, go ahead and close PuTTY, then power cycle it or push the button again, and then run PuTTY again with the same settings as before.]

 

Lastly, a stress test. Give it the command "PUSH BUTTON"

As the meme goes, you should receive copious amounts of "BACON!" on your screen.

This puts the isostick's processor in a high power usage state, with all peripherals enabled, sending data out over high-speed USB at maximum speed. The LED should also toggle very quickly (it may appear to be steadily on).

 

If, however, bacon is not received, then the bootloader must be corrupt. While checks are in place at every step to prevent this sort of thing (for instance, it is not possible for the updater to ever overwrite the bootloader, or the bootloader to overwrite itself), it is always possible you ended up with a faulty processor or similar.

 

Anyway, I will hold off judgement of your isostick's fate until I see the results from the above tests.  :victory:

 

Side note: the isostick bootloader's command set is affectionately referred to as the "protoLOL." Given that bootloaders must be so resilient and accordingly light on features, this was my source of amusement while writing it.



#6 JumborgAce

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Posted 11 January 2013 - 12:56 PM

I did as instructed and it worked great. There was BACON EVERYWHERE :-)

Here is the rest of the info:

 

CEREAL NUMBAR? 439647D83953343836342020FF021A
REVISHUN? DUNNO LOL
BOOT REVISHUN? 1492
HARDWARE REVISHUN?C

 

Is there a serial command to get the Service Code?

Thank you for your help. This is really a great product and I know (eventually) it will provide a lot of use to me.

 

Thank you.

 

JumborgAce



#7 elegantinvention

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Posted 11 January 2013 - 01:33 PM

Thanks :)

 

Very interesting...

The updater builds the Service Code from that information, so it should be working.

 

Just for kicks, try doing an update again...



#8 JumborgAce

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Posted 11 January 2013 - 01:42 PM

I just did. Same thing :-(

The Service Code says unknown and if I try to apply an update it looks like it might work but then it sits there for a long time (so far I stopped it after 30 minutes), although I do see the green LED flashing on the device.

When I tried the update I tried both selecting off the menu and using a local file.

 

 

I think this is just my unlucky week...

 

JumborgAce


Edited by JumborgAce, 11 January 2013 - 01:43 PM.


#9 elegantinvention

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Posted 11 January 2013 - 02:58 PM

Oh, the LED flashes? It's not supposed to do that during a firmware update. Iiiiinteresting.

 

Does it blink in a repeating pattern, or is it just random, like disk activity?



#10 JumborgAce

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Posted 11 January 2013 - 03:19 PM

It "looks" like disk activity. I still have the SD card in there.

Is there a way to update the firmware using putty and then turning bootload mode off manually?

 

Thank you

 

JumborgAce



#11 elegantinvention

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Posted 11 January 2013 - 03:50 PM

There's one more thing I'd like you to try, if you don't mind :)

Run this: http://technet.micro...s/bb896647.aspx

Plug the isostick in (unplug & plug back in if it's already plugged in), and run the updater with DebugView running. Try to update the isostick again. Save whatever DebugView captures to a log file, and then you can open that in notepad or similar and paste it here.

 

As to manually updating, it's not possible using putty, but you can do it using Tera Term: http://en.sourceforg...aterm-4.76.zip/

Fire up ttermpro.exe and paste in the command "ZOMGFIRMWARES!" then press enter. It should not respond.

Next, go to File -> Send File, make sure Binary is checked, and send it a firmware file. Here's one: http://www.isostick....-revC-r1624.bin

 

It should say KTHXBAI if the operation was successful, or ONOZ with a series of !'s and 1's if it failed. If it fails, please paste the result here, since the !'s and 1's encode an error number.

Assuming you get KTHXBAI, you can then send "PLZ2BOOT" and press enter, then close Tera Term. The isostick should restart, running the firmware you just sent it.

 

I may be heading to sleep soon, but I will check in when I wake up. I'm eager to hear how this goes, since I have never had a bootloader act up like this.



#12 JumborgAce

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Posted 12 January 2013 - 08:16 PM

Well, now I feel like a total dufus.

 

I was about to follow your procedure on a 4th XP machine and, lo and behold it just worked. The firmware updated without issue and it is ready to go. I still don't know why it flaked on the other machines but I was having that kind of a week anyway, so maybe it was just me.

 

I apologize for wasting your time but I do have to say I am VERY impressed with the level of service you are willing to provide! 

 

Thank you SO much for all your efforts.

I wish you much success in the future and I can't wait to see what other exciting gadgets come out of that idea factory of yours.

 

Thank you again and happy trails.

 

JumborgAce



#13 elegantinvention

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Posted 13 January 2013 - 01:36 AM

Not a waste of time at all! Something was clearly wrong, but I am not sure what.

Anyway, I am glad it is working now :)

 

I would like to say that, in case this happens again in the future for any reason, feel free to let me know and I will be glad to continue debugging the issue and, failing that, replace the device.

 

:cheers:



#14 pda

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Posted 13 February 2013 - 02:03 PM

Having some problem after renaming isosel.bin and unmount flash in Fedora 17.

CEREAL NUMBAR? 025397433953343836342020FF0415
REVISHUN? 1677
BOOT REVISHUN? 1492
HARDWARE REVISHUN?C

 

After manual update answer is KTHXBAI, after PLZ2BOOT answer is H. And nothing happened.

Also trying to install beta firmware (1677) via isostick updater (r71). And it does something. Isostick switched to normal mode, windows 7 is showing driver (flash, cdrom, etc) installation, but no disks was mounted. Bootloader mode again. :(



#15 elegantinvention

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Posted 14 February 2013 - 03:00 AM

@pda, please try unplugging the isostick then reseating the microSD card and plugging it back in.



#16 pda

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Posted 18 February 2013 - 04:23 PM

The problem is solved. Looks like it was a broken iso image. I was try to reproduce this situation, but can't do this.






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