This guide describes how to flash an eMMC using the tool rkdeveloptool. It can be found in most Linux repositories and also runs on macOS.
For the installation of BredOS, three things are required:
rkdeveloptoolWe provide our Images as .xz compressed files. You need to extract the containing .img file before flashing!
The installation of rkdeveloptool can be done with the following steps.
sudo pacman -S rkdeveloptool-git
sudo apt install rkdeveloptool
sudo dnf install rkdeveloptool
As there is no binary package for rkdeveloptool for macOS, we need to compile it ourselves. To do that, we need to have some packages installed via Brew.
automake, autoconf, libusb, pkg-config, git and wget with the following command:brew install automake autoconf libusb pkg-config git wget
git clone https://github.com/rockchip-linux/rkdeveloptool
cd rkdeveloptool
autoreconf -i
./configure
make -j $(nproc)
make has finished without an error there is the file rkdeveloptool inside your current folder:ls | grep rkdeveloptool
rkdeveloptool
opt folder to run it from everywhere:cp rkdeveloptool /opt/homebrew/bin/
For the SBC to show up as a flashable device over USB, it needs to be set to maskrom mode. This can be achieved differently depending on the device you are using. Some SBCs have a button, while others require you to short two pins. Please refer to the documentation of your SBC manufacturer.
maskrom mode <your sbcs name here>
maskrom mode and has correctly discovered by your PC run:sudo rkdeveloptool ld
DevNo=1 Vid=0x2207,Pid=0x350b,LocationID=801 Maskrom
The Maskrom button should be held down while power is being plugged into the board.
Using USB-C to C cables, or a USB-C to A cable backwards may result to the board not being detected.
It is recommended to use a USB-C to A cable, then a USB-C Female to USB-A Male adapter or a USB-A to A cable.
Now that we are able to send commands to the device with rkdeveloptool, lets make a BredOS SBC out of it.
sudo rkdeveloptool db <path to SPI loader file here>
sudo rkdeveloptool wl 0 <path to BredOS image here>
sudo rkdeveloptool rd
After successful flashing proceed with First Setup.