Error flashing firmware backup

[jb455]

---

Required Info
Camera Model	D400
Firmware Version	05.12.05.00
Operating System & Version	Win10
Platform	PC
SDK Version	2.36.0}

Hi, I'm trying to build firmware updating into our app. The updating itself seems fine but I thought it would be safe to take a backup before updating, just in case. The backup seems to work ok but if I try to install the backup either from the viewer or rs-fw-update.exe it fails with an error:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel RealSense SDK 2.0\tools>rs-fw-update.exe -b D:\backup.bin

backing-up device flash:
flash backup progress: 100[%]
C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel RealSense SDK 2.0\tools>rs-fw-update.exe -f D:\backup.bin

updating device:
Name: Intel RealSense D435, serial number: 818312071113, update serial number: 822213020241, firmware version: 05.12.05.00, USB type: 3.2
 11/08 17:04:24,458 ERROR [5452] (types.h:308) hr returned: HResult 0x8007001f: "A device attached to the system is not functioning."

firmware update started

RealSense error calling rs2_update_firmware_cpp(device:000001EB604B9100, fw_image:000001EB610F4060):
    Device: 822213020241 failed to download firmware
Please verify that no other librealsense application is running

I get the same if I first flash a different FW image between backup and flashing the backup (so it's not caused by trying to apply the same FW as is currently on the device).
Is this a bug, or is it expected and there's another way to revert to the backed up image?
Thanks

[MartyG-RealSense]

Hi @jb455 In the librealsense file rs_device.hpp there is a note about creating a flash backup that says:

Create backup of camera flash memory. Such backup does not constitute valid firmware image, and cannot be loaded back to the device, but it does contain all calibration and device information

https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/blob/master/include/librealsense2/hpp/rs_device.hpp#L189

There is a case that discusses downloading firmwares from an Amazon AWS S3 link, though this may not be practical if your application cannot be dependent on an internet connection:

#5114

Edit: Regarding the above link, a feature to make the firmware URL overridable to permit on-site mirroring was added in SDK version 2.34.0.

#6098

[dorodnic]

Hi @jb455
To expand on @MartyG-RealSense answer - the reason it doesn't work is because end-customer devices require any firmware file to be digitally signed by Intel before flashing. There are two reasons for the back-up:

1. Have backup of all calibration tables, in case there is some kind of bug in the future
2. Some customers may have experimental devices that do accept unsigned firmware (in case your company is in-touch with us)

This is probably not very helpful, but at least the reasons are communicated

[jb455]

Thanks for your help both.
What do you recommend our app does if flashing a new image fails for some reason? I'm concerned about potentially bricking customers' devices in case something goes wrong so I was hoping to be able to revert to a state we know works if necessary.

[MartyG-RealSense]

Maybe have a copy of an official signed firmware bin file in your project and use an adaptation of the recovery code in the rs-fw-update program to perform recovery using that bin file?

https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/blob/master/tools/fw-update/rs-fw-update.cpp#L161

[jb455]

Thanks!
One small further thing: I don't have an L515 to hand at the moment, am I safe to assume it follows the same format as D400 and shows up as "L5xx Recovery" when in recovery mode?

[MartyG-RealSense]

@jb455 I'm not currently handling L515 related questions, so I will have to defer to @dorodnic on that one. :)

[dorodnic]

Yes, L500 firmware update flow is exactly the same and uses same APIs
Note just in case: You should not rely on Camera Name string for detecting recovery device. Please take a look at rs-fw-update tool source code for reference.

[jb455]

Ok thanks, I'm now using device.Is(Extension.UpdateDevice) to determine if the device is in recovery mode, though I still need to use the name to determine which FW to flash (D400 or L500). I notice in the Viewer code that it uses RS2_CAMERA_INFO_PRODUCT_LINE for this purpose, though this isn't currently available in the C# wrapper.
Thanks for all your help both!

[rupak-d]

Got a similar message during the update process on one of our cameras:
Current Version: 5.12.6.0 FW Version mismatch. Updating camera. Device: 935523025577 failed to download firmware Please verify that no other librealsense application is running

It was trying to update to 5.12.10. Is there a reason this happens?

[MartyG-RealSense]

Hi @rupak-d As mentioned earlier in this discussion, the firmware that is being updated to should be a digitally signed driver and not a firmware backup file.

#7093 (comment)

If you are using your own firmware update script and are updating to 5.12.10.0 using a firmware file, was the file obtained from the official firmware releases page please?

https://dev.intelrealsense.com/docs/firmware-releases#section-d400-series-firmware-downloads

[rupak-d]

Yes the firmware file was obtained from the official release pages.

[MartyG-RealSense]

There was a case where this error occurred due to performing the firmware update on a virtual machine (VM). Does this possibility apply to your own situation please?

https://support.intelrealsense.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360052995513-L515-Unable-to-update-firmware

[rupak-d]

No it is on a Linux based system.

[MartyG-RealSense]

VMs can be based around Linux too, as mentioned in the link below.

https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/blob/master/doc/installation.md#linux-ubuntu-installation

You are confirming though that a Virtual Machine was definitely not being used in this particular case?

[rupak-d]

yes, there is no virtual machine involved here.

[MartyG-RealSense]

There are few programming references available for scripting firmware update into an application, as it is recommended that an official firmware update solution (the RealSense Viewer or the rs-fw-update tool) is used if possible.

If updating firmware from within your own application is essential, the link below is the main other coding reference for firmware updating that I know of other than this case here.

#4416