Burn

Important

Burn is superseded by defib

This tool is no longer developed. Use defib instead — it does everything Burn does and fixes the problems people most often hit here.

Nothing to install — openipc.github.io/defib runs in Chrome, Edge or Opera. Pick your chip, download the U-Boot image, choose your serial port, go. There's a Dump Flash button for taking a backup first. (Some SoCs still need the CLI — the page tells you which.)

Or install it:

uv tool install defib     # or: pipx install defib
defib burn -c hi3516ev300 -p /dev/ttyUSB0 -t

What you get over Burn:

	Burn	defib
Supported SoCs	13	112
Protocols	Standard	Standard, V500, CV6xx
macOS	broken	fixed (ACK correction)
Flash write when vendor locked the chip	fails silently	handled (why)
Full firmware install	manual TFTP	defib install, one command
Flash backup / restore	—	yes, with CRC32 verification
Browser UI	—	yes

If flashing "succeeded" but the old bootloader is still there, that is not a Burn bug and no amount of sf lock 0 will fix it — the vendor bootloader set SR3.WPS=1 on the flash and the write was silently discarded. See #8 and #20. defib agent flash clears those lock bits properly.

The remaining open issues here are kept for their diagnostic value. Please file anything new against OpenIPC/defib.

Video Tutorials

OpenIPC BURN Utility Playlist

Archive of current bootloaders for devices

Please use only this Archive of current bootloaders for devices !!!

Features of use in MacOS

Attention ! Burn does not work reliably on macOS — the USB-serial drivers corrupt the acknowledgment byte (0x55 instead of 0xAA), see #16. This is fixed in defib, which corrects the byte automatically; there is no fix planned for Burn.

Basic usage

usage: burn [-h] -c
                   {hi3516ev200,hi3520dv100,hi3518ev200,hi3516ev100,hi3518ev201,gk7205v300,hi3516ev300,hi3520dv200,hi3516cv500,hi3556v100,hi3516cv200,hi3516cv300,gk7205v200}
                   -f FILE [-p PORT] [-b] [-d]

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -c {hi3516ev200,hi3520dv100,hi3518ev200,hi3516ev100,hi3518ev201,gk7205v300,hi3516ev300,hi3520dv200,hi3516cv500,hi3556v100,hi3516cv200,hi3516cv300,gk7205v200}, --chip {hi3516ev200,hi3520dv100,hi3518ev200,hi3516ev100,hi3518ev201,gk7205v300,hi3516ev300,hi3520dv200,hi3516cv500,hi3556v100,hi3516cv200,hi3516cv300,gk7205v200}
                        Chip model name
  -f FILE, --file FILE  U-Boot binary file to upload
  -p PORT, --port PORT  Serial port device name
  -b, --break           Send Ctrl-C just after upload
  -d, --debug           Set debug mode

If burn complains about missing python modules, you should install the list of modules by running:

pip install -r requirements.txt

HI3516CV300

Download general version of U-Boot.

./burn --chip hi3516cv300 --file=u-boot-hi3516cv300-universal.bin --break; screen -L /dev/ttyUSB0 115200

Hi3516EV300

Download general version of U-Boot.

$ ./burn --chip hi3516ev300 --file=u-boot-hi3516ev300-universal.bin --break; screen -L /dev/ttyUSB0 115200

Unlock flash on gk7205v200 and gk7205v210

$ ./burn --chip gk7205v200 --file=u-boot/gk7205v200.bin --break; screen -L /dev/ttyUSB0 115200
goke # sf probe
@do_spi_flash_probe() flash->erase_size: 65536, flash->sector_size: 0
goke # sf lock 0
unlock all block.

Unlock flash on gk7205v300

$ ./burn --chip gk7205v300 --file=u-boot/gk7205v300.bin --break; screen -L /dev/ttyUSB0 115200
goke # sf probe
@do_spi_flash_probe() flash->erase_size: 65536, flash->sector_size: 0
goke # sf lock 0
unlock all block.

Start kernel from memory

setenv ipaddr 192.168.1.1; setenv serverip 192.168.1.10; mw.b 0x42000000 ff 1000000; tftpboot 0x42000000 uImage.${soc}; bootm 0x42000000

U-Boot continuous integration

Real world example on U-Boot developing for CV300 board:

set -e

# In case of buggy USB UART adapter
sudo usbreset /dev/bus/usb/005/007

# In U-Boot directory:
make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-hisiv500-linux- -j$(nproc)
cp u-boot.bin full-boot.bin
cp reg_info_hi3516cv300.bin ./hi3516cv300.reg
make CPU=hi3516cv300 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-hisiv500-linux- mini-boot.bin

#./mkboot.sh reg_info_hi3516cv300.bin u-boot-ok.bin
cp mini-boot.bin ~/git/burn

cd ~/git/burn
# Custom script to power reset camera via network switch
./restart_eth4.sh
./burn --chip hi3516cv300 --file=mini-boot.bin
screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200