HOWTO: update/flash/re-flash Le Potato V2 firmware from another Linux computer

loverpi

This tutorial is for re-flashing Le Potato V2 SPI NOR should it be corrupted. This is not for Le Potato V1. It requires an USB Type A to Type A cable and another Linux-based host computer (another Le Potato will work). For simplicity, Debian will be assumed.

Install git, wget, Python 3, and its USB libraries on the host computer.

sudo apt-get install git wget python3 python3-usb

Clone Amlogic GXL git repo on the host computer.

git clone https://github.com/libre-computer-project/pyamlboot.git --single-branch --branch gxl

Connect a USB Type A to USB Type A cable to your computer. While holding down the u-boot button on Le Potato V2, connect the USB Type A cable from the computer to the top USB Type A port closest to the Ethernet port. Optionally connect HDMI monitor to Le Potato.
On host computer, start the flashing process.

pyamlboot/flash-firmware.sh aml-s905x-cc

If this reports an error, switch USB ports a few times and it should work. AMD machines seem to have USB controller issues and require more than one try. Check the HDMI monitor for flashing status. It should take no more than a minute. After it finishes flashing, reboot the device.

PSL

How to find if LePotato board is version V1 or V2? What is the difference between V1 and V2?

loverpi

@PSL Le Potato V2 is completely different than Le Potato V1. Le Potato V2 has not been released.

marcel

so why the heck place a howto for a "not released" board? that makes no sense at all. I just bought a 905 board, and it is still a v1?..so, how to do this on the v1 then? bought a board with emmc card, but can not do anything with it... can prepare a sd card and that works, but emmc? I do not hava a clue...

boschtracer

marcel said:

so why the heck place a howto for a "not released" board? that makes no sense at all. I just bought a 905 board, and it is still a v1?..so, how to do this on the v1 then? bought a board with emmc card, but can not do anything with it... can prepare a sd card and that works, but emmc? I do not hava a clue...

check out my post here - https://forum.armbian.com/topic/5668-le-potato-writing-armbian-to-emmc/page/5/ - this worked for me Armbian Hirsute - ymmv. 

StevySokal7

Shenzhen Libre Technology went on Kickstarter to raise funds for its Le Potato single-board PC. Thanks to the platform widely used in media players, the novelty is well suited for video playback. The Le Potato board is based on an Amlogic S905X SoC with four Cortex-A53 cores up to 1.5GHz and a Mali-450 MP GPU. Cooling of key components is entrusted to an aluminum radiator, for which contributors will have to pay a little extra. Likewise, the amount of DDR3 RAM can be 1GB or 2GB. There is no built-in flash memory; there is only a slot for an eMMC module and a microSD card slot. And here I realized there is no point in buying or flashing a new one. It is better to store your files in another, more reliable place. Personally, I use https://fastupload.io/en, where there is much less hassle.