Using the MinnowBoard Max Flash Utility

Using the MinnowBoard Max Flash
Utility
The flash utility is a UEFI application that can be run from the UEFI shell of the MinnowBoard Max to
program new firmware images in the flash without the need for external programming hardware
(example: DediProg SF-100). This tutorial explains how to use the MinnowBoard Max Flash Utility to
flash a new firmware image to the MinnowBoard Max.
The following is the syntax for the MinnowBoard Max Flash Utility to be used from the UEFI Shell
command line prompt.
Syntax:
Or
FirmwareUpdateX64
<firmware image> If flashing from a 64 bit firmware
FirmwareUpdateIA32 <firmware image> If flashing from a 32 bit firmware
Setting up the MinnowBoard Max Flash Utility
1.
2.
Copy the firmware image you wish to program onto the MinnowBoard Max, and the
FirmwareUpdateX64.efi and/or FirmwareUpdateIA32.efi application to a storage media device
(SD Card, USB Drive, SATA Hard Drive, etc), and place them in the same location.
Connect the storage media to the MinnowBoard Max and power on the MinnowBoard Max.
Boot the MinnowBoard Max to the UEFI Shell.
Then type at the prompt: Exit to determine the firmware currently running
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3.
To determine if the current BIOS Firmware is 32 bit or 64 bit the opening front page setup screen
should have the BIOS Version string in the 3rd line down on the top left of the screen, one of the
parameters should be either “X64” or “IA32”
64 Bit Firmware Image
32 Bit Firmware Image
Note: on BIOS versions prior to .72 this maybe “.86C” instead of “.IA32”
Select
Continue
to boot to the UEFI Shell prompt again.
4.
From the Shell prompt, navigate to your storage media (most commonly FS0) by typing FSx,
where x is replaced by the number from the file system mapping table.
5.
Type LS to view the directory tree of your storage media.
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Flash Update
6.
A) Flash Update from a X64 Firmware Image (“.X64” in the BIOS Version String)
a.

To program the firmware image to the MinnowBoard Max flash, type the following:
FirmwareUpdate64
<firmware image>
1.
2.
7.
In this example, the name of the firmware image is
MNW2CRB1_IA32_RELEASE_2014_08_13_1324.bin so the command entered is
FirmwareUpdate64 MNW2CRB1_IA32_RELEASE_2014_08_13_1324
To flash to a 64 Bit image, select the appropriate named .BIN file.
B) Flash Update from a IA32 Firmware Image (“.IA32” in the BIOS Version String)
a.

To program the firmware image to the MinnowBoard Max flash, type the following:
FirmwareUpdateIA32
<firmware image>
1.
2.
In this example, the name of the firmware image is
MNW2CRB1_X64_DEBUG_2014_08_13_1312.bin so the command entered is
FirmwareUpdateX64 MNW2CRB1_X64_DEBUG_2014_08_13_1312.bin
To flash to a 32 Bit image, select the appropriate named .BIN file.
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8.
Wait until the flash utility has finished updating the firmware image.
WARNING Do not power cycle until the FirmwareUpdate utility has finished.
a.
The FirmwareUpdate utility will print out “Update successful” and then the system will
automatically shut down after the countdown message “Shutdown system in 5 seconds … “.
b.
Power cycle your MinnowBoard Max and it will now be running the new firmware image.
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