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    PC Engines APU2 BIOS options

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    • A
      amps2volts
      last edited by

      Stupid question.  I just got a  apu2c4  and believe its running older BIOS version.  When it boots says coreboot build 20170228  SeaBIOS (version rel 1.10.0.1).
      On the PC Engines (how to page)  lists 4 BIOS versions as current now?  What version do I run?

      apu2_v4.0.7.rom.zip
      apu2_v4.5.5.rom.tar.gz
      apu2_160311.zip
      apu2_160307.zip

      From the dates seems like v4.0.7 dated newest 2/28/2017  maybe I do have latest since my version matches the date 20170228 ?  And why is v4.5.5  dated older 2/24/2017 ?  The way PC Engines does BIOS versions is very confusing.  And can't find  explanation anywhere.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • F
        fredfox_uk
        last edited by

        4.0.7 is latest. 4.5.5 is experimental.

        4.0.7 is what I'm running.

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        • A
          amps2volts
          last edited by

          Alright got it.  And coreboot build version that shown during boot goes by build date and not actual version?  So coreboot build 20170228 is version v4.0.7  ?

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          • F
            fredfox_uk
            last edited by

            I think so…... Been a while since I watched the boot sequence :) but 4.0.7 is dated 20170228 - if that makes sense ! :)

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            • A
              amps2volts
              last edited by

              Thanks for help once got installed pfSense said BIOS v4.0.7 on front page.

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              • F
                fredfox_uk
                last edited by

                You're welcome :)

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                • QinnQ
                  Qinn
                  last edited by

                  Anyone already any experience with the apu2_v4.6.0.rom.tar.gz with is the new coreboot mainstream version?

                  http://pcengines.ch/howto.htm#bios
                  https://github.com/pcengines/coreboot/blob/coreboot-4.0.x/CHANGELOG.md
                  https://coreboot.org/releases/coreboot-4.6-relnotes.txt

                  Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                  Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                  Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

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                  • J
                    JasonAU
                    last edited by

                    What process have you guys used to update the apu2c4  ?

                    I have a serial to USB adapter on the way I assume it's needed I purchased mine with pfsesne pre loaded the bios is 03/07/2016

                    Brisbane Queensland Australia

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                    • QinnQ
                      Qinn
                      last edited by

                      @JasonAU:

                      What process have you guys used to update the apu2c4  ?

                      I have a serial to USB adapter on the way I assume it's needed I purchased mine with pfsesne pre loaded the bios is 03/07/2016

                      You could look here http://forum.ipfire.org/viewtopic.php?t=16032 and you'll need the serial to usb adapter and a null modem cable

                      https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Connecting_to_the_Serial_Console
                      http://pcengines.ch/pdf/apu2.pdf

                      Good luck

                      Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                      Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                      Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • F
                        FranciscoFranco
                        last edited by

                        Well this esteemed user says that pfSense has a package that will do the update too.
                        https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=136548.msg750664#msg750664
                        Just in case you missed that post.

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                        • F
                          FranciscoFranco
                          last edited by

                          So to do this on pfSense I did the following:
                          From pfSense WebGUI>Diagnostics>Command Prompt

                          pkg install -y flashrom

                          mkdir /apu

                          Then uploaded the uncompressed rom from my laptop to pfSense

                          Upload File
                          apu2_v4.6.0.rom

                          File will end up in /tmp
                          This will be deleted on reboot so copy to /apu with Command Prompt

                          cp /tmp/apu2_v4.6.0.rom /apu/apu2_v4.6.0.rom

                          Then i disconnect APU2 from my utility room and carry to a serial console machine for the actual flash.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • F
                            FranciscoFranco
                            last edited by

                            Upon bootup on the bench I go to #8 Shell
                            From there i check to ensure rom is there.
                            ls /apu

                            Then i run the command needed to flash:

                            [2.3.4-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: flashrom --programmer internal -w /apu/apu2_v4.6.0.rom
                            flashrom v0.9.9-r1955 on FreeBSD 10.3-RELEASE-p19 (amd64)
                            flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
                            
                            Calibrating delay loop... delay loop is unreliable, trying to continue OK.
                            coreboot table found at 0x77fae000.
                            Found chipset "AMD FCH".
                            Enabling flash write... OK.
                            Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x000                     00000ff800000.
                            This coreboot image (PC Engines:PC Engines apu2) does not appear to
                            be correct for the detected mainboard (PC Engines:PCEngines apu3).
                            Aborting. You can override this with -p internal:boardmismatch=force.
                            

                            Notice this failed? This was done on an APU3 by accident. Glad they have checks!!

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                            • JailerJ
                              Jailer
                              last edited by

                              @FranciscoFranco:

                              Then i disconnect APU2 from my utility room and carry to a serial console machine for the actual flash.

                              Couldn't you just do this over SSH? And why the update? Is there something not working for you that a BIOS flash will fix?

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • F
                                FranciscoFranco
                                last edited by

                                Well it did not go as planned. I rearranged cases so my pfSense is red and APU2 now and I still had to force the update.

                                [2.3.4-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: flashrom --programmer internal -    w /apu/apu2_v4.6.0.rom
                                flashrom v0.9.9-r1955 on FreeBSD 10.3-RELEASE-p19 (amd64)
                                flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
                                
                                Calibrating delay loop... OK.
                                coreboot table found at 0x77fae000.
                                Found chipset "AMD FCH".
                                Enabling flash write... OK.
                                Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x    00000000ff800000.
                                This coreboot image (PC Engines:PC Engines apu2) does not appear to
                                be correct for the detected mainboard (PC Engines:PCEngines apu2).
                                Aborting. You can override this with -p internal:boardmismatch=force.
                                
                                

                                So it appears  the name has different spelling. So I took a gamble and forced it.

                                
                                [2.3.4-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: flashrom -p internal:boardmismatch=force -w /apu/apu2_v4.6.0.rom
                                flashrom v0.9.9-r1955 on FreeBSD 10.3-RELEASE-p19 (amd64)
                                flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
                                
                                Calibrating delay loop... delay loop is unreliable, trying to continue OK.
                                coreboot table found at 0x77fae000.
                                Found chipset "AMD FCH".
                                Enabling flash write... OK.
                                Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x    00000000ff800000.
                                This coreboot image (PC Engines:PC Engines apu2) does not appear to
                                be correct for the detected mainboard (PC Engines:PCEngines apu2).
                                Proceeding anyway because user forced us to.
                                Reading old flash chip contents... done.
                                Erasing and writing flash chip... Erase/write done.
                                Verifying flash... VERIFIED.
                                

                                Seemed to work fine. Help my breath and rebooted:

                                PC Engines apu2
                                coreboot build 07/24/2017
                                BIOS version v4.6.0
                                2032 MB DRAM
                                
                                SeaBIOS (version rel-1.10.2.1)
                                
                                Press F10 key now for boot menu
                                
                                Booting from Hard Disk...
                                
                                1  pfSense
                                2  pfSense
                                
                                F6 PXE
                                Boot:  1
                                /boot/config: -S115200 -h
                                Consoles: serial port
                                

                                Looking good. Back online with it now.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • F
                                  FranciscoFranco
                                  last edited by

                                  @Jailer:

                                  Couldn't you just do this over SSH? And why the update? Is there something not working for you that a BIOS flash will fix?

                                  I could have done it over the webGUI maybe. I figured best to do without traffic.

                                  I have a APU1 with the realteks and I want to bring it up to date. So I am doing all of them.

                                  Why does anybody use betas? Somebody has to be the guinea pig.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • J
                                    JasonAU
                                    last edited by

                                    @FranciscoFranco:

                                    Well it did not go as planned. I rearranged cases so my pfSense is red and APU2 now and I still had to force the update.

                                    [2.3.4-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: flashrom --programmer internal -    w /apu/apu2_v4.6.0.rom
                                    flashrom v0.9.9-r1955 on FreeBSD 10.3-RELEASE-p19 (amd64)
                                    flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
                                    
                                    Calibrating delay loop... OK.
                                    coreboot table found at 0x77fae000.
                                    Found chipset "AMD FCH".
                                    Enabling flash write... OK.
                                    Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x    00000000ff800000.
                                    This coreboot image (PC Engines:PC Engines apu2) does not appear to
                                    be correct for the detected mainboard (PC Engines:PCEngines apu2).
                                    Aborting. You can override this with -p internal:boardmismatch=force.
                                    
                                    

                                    So it appears  the name has different spelling. So I took a gamble and forced it.

                                    
                                    [2.3.4-RELEASE][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: flashrom -p internal:boardmismatch=force -w /apu/apu2_v4.6.0.rom
                                    flashrom v0.9.9-r1955 on FreeBSD 10.3-RELEASE-p19 (amd64)
                                    flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
                                    
                                    Calibrating delay loop... delay loop is unreliable, trying to continue OK.
                                    coreboot table found at 0x77fae000.
                                    Found chipset "AMD FCH".
                                    Enabling flash write... OK.
                                    Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.V" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x    00000000ff800000.
                                    This coreboot image (PC Engines:PC Engines apu2) does not appear to
                                    be correct for the detected mainboard (PC Engines:PCEngines apu2).
                                    Proceeding anyway because user forced us to.
                                    Reading old flash chip contents... done.
                                    Erasing and writing flash chip... Erase/write done.
                                    Verifying flash... VERIFIED.
                                    

                                    Seemed to work fine. Help my breath and rebooted:

                                    PC Engines apu2
                                    coreboot build 07/24/2017
                                    BIOS version v4.6.0
                                    2032 MB DRAM
                                    
                                    SeaBIOS (version rel-1.10.2.1)
                                    
                                    Press F10 key now for boot menu
                                    
                                    Booting from Hard Disk...
                                    
                                    1  pfSense
                                    2  pfSense
                                    
                                    F6 PXE
                                    Boot:  1
                                    /boot/config: -S115200 -h
                                    Consoles: serial port
                                    

                                    Looking good. Back online with it now.

                                    updated mine today to:

                                    Vendor: coreboot
                                    Version: v4.0.11
                                    Release Date: 07/24/2017

                                    Thanks for the advice up and running fine so far

                                    Brisbane Queensland Australia

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                                    • QinnQ
                                      Qinn
                                      last edited by

                                      @FranciscoFranco:

                                      So to do this on pfSense I did the following:
                                      From pfSense WebGUI>Diagnostics>Command Prompt

                                      pkg install -y flashrom

                                      mkdir /apu

                                      Then uploaded the uncompressed rom from my laptop to pfSense

                                      Upload File
                                      apu2_v4.6.0.rom

                                      File will end up in /tmp
                                      This will be deleted on reboot so copy to /apu with Command Prompt

                                      cp /tmp/apu2_v4.6.0.rom /apu/apu2_v4.6.0.rom

                                      Then i disconnect APU2 from my utility room and carry to a serial console machine for the actual flash.

                                      Thanks for this!! Can anyone tell me why you choose v4.6.0 instead of the 4.0.x version. I am on the apu2_v4.0.7.rom version and could use some guidance.

                                      Cheers Qinn

                                      Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                                      Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                                      Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • V
                                        VAMike
                                        last edited by

                                        @FranciscoFranco:

                                        I have a APU1 with the realteks and I want to bring it up to date.

                                        Well that one's easy: they dropped ongoing support for it and haven't issued anything beyond a couple of betas in 2014. Since neither of those betas became the production version in the past 3 years there's presumably something wrong with them.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • F
                                          FranciscoFranco
                                          last edited by

                                          @Qinn:

                                          Thanks for this!! Can anyone tell me why you choose v4.6.0 instead of the 4.0.x version. I am on the apu2_v4.0.7.rom version and could use some guidance.

                                          Cheers Qinn

                                          I chose 4.6.0 because I like living on the edge. This was just a learning experiment so I figured these Swiss people seem to have their act together and trusted them with a beta. It is their only product so I think they know whats going on.

                                          @VAMike:

                                          @FranciscoFranco:

                                          I have a APU1 with the realteks and I want to bring it up to date.

                                          Well that one's easy: they dropped ongoing support for it and haven't issued anything beyond a couple of betas in 2014. Since neither of those betas became the production version in the past 3 years there's presumably something wrong with them.

                                          I use my APU1 for GPIO and FreeBSD. I modified the case for it by adding terminal block on top to breakout the GPIO's.
                                          We all know the problems with Realtek network chips but I have found that using only re0 it is a good box for embedded tasks.
                                          Not very worthy as a router. It does make a nice dedicated Wireless Access Point with all those expansion options.

                                          I would like to buy any cheap APU1's out there. Drop me a PM if you have one to sell….

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • QinnQ
                                            Qinn
                                            last edited by

                                            Thanks for you reply and the conformation, btw see below ;)

                                            http://pcengines.info/forums/?page=post&id=D7A22025-3741-4AB7-8EAF-4D9748973722&fid=DF5ACB70-99C4-4C61-AFA6-4C0E0DB05B2A

                                            Hardeware: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz 102 GB mSATA SSD (ZFS)
                                            Firmware: Latest-stable-pfSense CE (amd64)
                                            Packages: pfBlockerNG devel-beta (beta tester) - Avahi - Notes - Ntopng - PIMD/udpbroadcastrelay - Service Watchdog - System Patches

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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