Issues updating firmware on New Old stock Photon

Getting Started
1

I have a few sealed Photons from 2017.

I get many weird errors trying to update firmware.

I've attempted running particle doctor and it says:

! An error occurred while attempting to update the system firmware of your device:
dfu-util: Warning: Invalid DFU suffix signature
dfu-util: A valid DFU suffix will be required in a future dfu-util release
dfu-util: No DFU capable USB device available

I am only able to see the device on my computer via USB when in DFU mode.
When it is in nominal mode, particle list usb returns nothing. It also does not show up in System Information on Mac or Device Manager on Windows.

Initially I set up the device with the phone app and it looked good, connected to wifi, the cloud. But when I tried to load tinker it just hung with the spinning indicator. In the console and Web IDE, I could see it. On both app and Web IDE, I could identify the device w the LED.

CLI attempts at flashing tinker (--usb tinker) return this:

Error writing firmware: dfu-util: Warning: Invalid DFU suffix signature
dfu-util: A valid DFU suffix will be required in a future dfu-util release
dfu-util: Error during download get_status

Web IDE attempt to flash return this:

Device is likely offline, has poor RF Signal, or is running debug firmware which does not support OTA. Please rule these potential issues out and try again.

At this point, I've attempted to regenerate keys and get it back on the web, but now it just blinks blue (not breathin).

Fresh install Particle 3.7.0. Attempted Intel Mac, Win10 PC, and M1 Mac.

I'm stumped. What am I missing here?

Update: I opened another sealed Photon. Similar situation (except this one is still connected to the cloud).

2

I might be missing something here, but did you run the setup tool? If the devices were sealed there’s a good chance they’ve never been properly set up.

3

Yep. Ran the Setup tool (both the setup process in the app as well as particle setup via CLI).

They’re both attached to my Particle.io account

4

Can you please try the device restore tool on one of your devices and let me know what happens?

5

I stumbled on that in the docs this morning & tried that; unfortunately, it did not work.

The browser sees the device. I put it into the appropriate modes as requested, then it gets stuck in a loop where it says you’ll have to re-allow the browser due to security etc. I confirm, and the same confirmation request comes up again.

Sadly, same outcome for both Photons.

Thanks for helping btw!

6

Any other ideas @Colleen (or anyone else :smiley:)?

7

This thread had the same issues as you and some of the ideas there look promising. Can you run through those possible solutions and let me know the outcome?

Thanks!

8

That looks very similar, but my failure mode was slightly different (see below).

Screen Shot 2023-01-23 at 11.31.12 AM
Screen Shot 2023-01-23 at 11.31.12 AM1492×638 126 KB

sending file: photon-bootloader@1.1.0.bin
Error writing firmware: Transfer cancelled
VError: Error writing firmware: Transfer cancelled
at /Users/admin/.particle/node_modules/particle-cli/src/cmd/serial.js:443:11
at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:97:5)
at async CLI.runCommand (/Users/admin/.particle/node_modules/particle-cli/src/app/cli.js:148:4)
at async CLI.run (/Users/admin/.particle/node_modules/particle-cli/src/app/cli.js:175:11)
caused by: Error: Transfer cancelled
at ensureError (/Users/admin/.particle/node_modules/particle-cli/src/lib/utilities.js:375:11)
at /Users/admin/.particle/node_modules/particle-cli/src/cmd/serial.js:443:22
at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:97:5)
at async CLI.runCommand (/Users/admin/.particle/node_modules/particle-cli/src/app/cli.js:148:4)
at async CLI.run (/Users/admin/.particle/node_modules/particle-cli/src/app/cli.js:175:11)
admin@admins-MacBook-Air downloads % particle serial inspect
Could not get inspect device: Unexpected token m in JSON at position 0

9

@Colleen any ideas how to resolve these failures?

10

I’m not sure. @rickkas7 what do you think?

11

These are not really errors and occur all the time:

dfu-util: Warning: Invalid DFU suffix signature
dfu-util: A valid DFU suffix will be required in a future dfu-util release

This one is sometime benign, but also can occur when the flash memory on the device has failed, so it's a toss-up by itself.

dfu-util: Error during download get_status

However, given that you are in listening mode (blinking dark blue) and flashing the bootloader in --serial mode is also failing, I'm leaning toward failure of the flash memory.

The only way to know for sure is to flash it using SWD/JTAG, but that would require a Particle Debugger or ST/LINK v2, unfortunately.

12

@rickkas7 Not unfortunately, I have a Particle Debugger :slight_smile: I’ve never used it; considering the issues I’ve had, what would you like me to try?

Also of note, there are 2(!) freshly unwrapped Photons with the same symptoms. I grabbed a 3rd (previously utilized) Photon that I can flash perfectly fine.

13

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