Home Page The Club Computers News Links Glossary EYAWTK
Before Amiga Background ICS OCS ECS AGA ??? PPC
U-Boot SLB Linux Amiga OS Dual Boot Motherboards Peripherals Other
Initialisation U-Boot Select U-Boot Prefs AmigaOS Prefs Commands Variables Firmware
Upgrading Firmware from Floppy Disk Upgrading Firmware over a Network Upgrading Firmware from CDROM

Amiga One - U-Boot - Upgrading from CDROM

The following instructions apply to using the ISO/CD Edition from a CDROM :

The first step is for the file "updater.image" to be written to a CDROM as raw data, generally referred to as an ISO image. The ISO archive contains a plain bootable ISO-CDROM-Image that can be written to a CD-ROM directly (i.e. don't select "bootable CD" or similar when creating the CD – the ISO already contains all info that makes it bootable). For this reason the burner program should have a function to write a raw image. How you do this depends on the environment you want to use to prepare the disk. Any of the following can be used:

Creating a CDROM with AmigaOS 4.0
With AmigaOS 4.0, a program like FryingPan or MakeCD can be used.

Creating a CDROM with Linux
With GNU/Linux, you can use the xcdroast program.

Creating a CDROM with MS Windows
With MS Windows, any program such as Nero, Easy-CD, CD Creator, etc that writes raw images can be used.

Updating the ROM from the CDROM
Once the CDROM is prepared, boot your AmigaOne and stop the boot process at the first countdown or whatever is appropriate for the firmware version you are currently running (early firmware required pressing <ESC> twice and then selecting "Go to U-Boot shell").

The next step depends on the firmware version you are currently using.

If your current firmware is from a date prior to February 2005, boot the CD by entering:

    diskboot 500000 <ide_device>:0
Replace <ide_device> with the number that corresponds to your CD-ROM drive, i.e.

CD-Rom location Device number
Primary Master 0
Primary Slave 1
Secondary Master 2
Secondary Slave 3
Table 1 IDE device mappings

Your machine might or might not be set up for automatic booting. If the machine returns to the prompt after a second or two, you need to explicitly start the image by entering bootm at the prompt. A message about "AmigaOne Firmware Updater" should appear on the screen shortly.

If your current firmware is from after February 2005, boot the CD by entering:

    diskboot 500000 <ide_device>:0 <ide_controller>
Here, <ide_device> is again the number that corresponds to your CD-ROM drive (as described in 'Table 1 IDE device mappings' above). The <ide_controller> number specifies which controller is used for booting, i.e.

Controller ID-Number
On-Board VIA controller 0
PCI Silicon Images Parallel ATA controller 1
PCI Silicon Images Serial SATA controller 2
Table 2 IDE controller mappings

Your machine might or might not be set up for automatic booting. If the machine returns to the prompt after a second or two, you need to explicitly start the image by entering bootm at the prompt. A message about "AmigaOne Firmware Updater" should appear on the screen shortly.

Read the warning message
Once the image has booted, you will be presented with a warning message. On the first page press return to continue. On the second page, you are required to enter the letters 'o' and 'k'.

If you do so you will accept all responsibilities if the process fails!

Read the warnings above before you press 'o' and 'k'. Immediately after you pressed 'k' the re-flashing process starts. This usually only takes about 15 seconds. Please be patient and DO NOT touch the mouse or keyboard until it has completed.

You will be notified if the updater finds a problem. After the update is finished, the updater will output a few lines of information and ask you to reset the machine (it will usually reset itself after 5 seconds). You should verify the firmware date is correct after the boot by entering the 'version' command from the U-Boot prompt.

IMPORTANT: Upgrading your firmware is potentially dangerous. If something goes wrong during the update, it might leave your system unusable. Should this situation occur, you will need to remove the U-Boot ROM and return it to your dealer so that the U-Boot ROM can be re-built. If you do not feel comfortable upgrading under these circumstances, contact your dealer to arrange for the upgrade or for Amiga Auckland club members, contact a member of the Executive for assistance.

Disclaimer: Amiga Auckland have prepared the above information for the use of its members based on our experiences and as such is subject to revision at any time. Amiga Auckland cannot guarantee any of the information and cannot be held accountable for any issues that may result from using it.

Copyright © 2005 Amiga Auckland Inc. All rights reserved.
Revised: September 25, 2005.