Photon 7.0 USB failure

I cannot get Photons to upgrade to 7.0 over USB. Previously, these same units did fine going to 6.3 over USB. The process I’ve tried is:
particle flash -v --usb /home/pi/Ori-RPi/system-part1-0.7.0-photon.bin
particle flash -v --usb /home/pi/Ori-RPi/system-part2-0.7.0-photon.bin
particle flash -v --usb /home/pi/Ori-RPi/photon_0.7.0_firmware_1522697103290.bin
All the files are where they say they are, all operations terminate with success, all photons power up into failsafe. These exact same commands worked fine, albeit with different 6.3 files, when we updated factory units to 6.3.

I’ve update the CLI, run under Windows and RPi Debian, I’ve tried not using DFU mode but instead tried serial, tried with and without the -v option - results are always the same they boot to failsafe. If I connect these same units to the web, they will successfully update but we need to update units that don’t have access to the web.

You most likely need to update the bootloader. Download the Photon bootloader here:

Then flash it in listening mode (blinking dark blue):

particle flash --serial bootloader-0.7.0-photon.bin

In versions prior to 0.7.0 the bootloader is embedded in the system firmware. In 0.7.0 and later, there is not enough room, so it’s a separate download, which is done by safe mode healer over-the-air usually. However, if you have a Photon that is not set up for Wi-Fi yet or otherwise unable to connect to the cloud, it won’t be able to get this update and you’ll go into safe mode instead.

Note that you must use --serial mode, not --usb mode, as the bootloader cannot be updated in DFU mode.

In your setup steps above, the bootloader should be upgraded after system-part2.

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So the order should be:

  1. bootloader
  2. part 1
  3. part 2
  4. our application
    or is bootloader somewhere else in the chain.

Hi @orimike

Yes, bootloader first when upgrading and it must be done with --serial not --usb.

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  1. part 1 (dfu)
  2. part 2 (dfu)
  3. bootloader (serial)
  4. our application (dfu)
    works
1 Like