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Firmware Update

Overview​

To update the firmware on your RockBLOCK APNT module you will need to request the latest binary file from our support team and then use your chosen serial terminal application - the instructions on this page are written using 'minicom' connected via the USB-C port.

Step 1 - enter the bootloader menu​

  • Open your serial program and then connect your RockBLOCK APNT unit.
  • It will power-on and cycle through two stages of the boot loader: BL1_1 and BL1_2
  • During the BL1_2 stage, press the 'F2' key and you should see the following menu:
d: Download and deploy receiver application
r: Reboot
h: Print command help
BL1_2>

Step 2 - send firmware file to the module​

You will now need to upload the firmware file (e.g. pnt-asic-c3.8.0.bin.enc) to the module. The following example is using YMODEM within minicom:

  • choose option 'd' to start the download process
  • select your file and upload to the unit: RBAPNT-FW-Upload

When the firmware upload has completed it will run some validation checks and store in memory, showing information such as the following:

[INF] Download and deploy BL3_3
[INF] Downloaded application type 2 for provisioning version C-1.0.0
[INF] Downloaded application version C-3.8.0
[INF] Decrypt BL3_3
[INF] BL3_3 reasonableness check
[INF] BL3_3 validation check
[INF] BL3_3 validation check success
[INF] Valid BL3_3 image. Deploying.
[INF] Erasing eMRAM
[INF] Copy BL3_3 to eMRAM
BL1_2>

Step 3 - reboot the module​

Now that the unit has uploaded the firmware, you need to reset the device for the firmware to be applied:

d: Download and deploy receiver application
r: Reboot
h: Print command help
BL1_2> r

Once the unit has rebooted and started to stream its NMEA sentences, you can validate that the firmware has be applied by looking at field 12 of the $GSSYS sentence. Example of a unit updated to version 3.8.0:

$GSSYS,3,144,144,64,0x033,0x033,0,1502840827,0,2048,C3.8.0.43144,,,*15
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