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fxload

FXLOAD(8)                  Linux Programmer's Manual                 FXLOAD(8)



NAME
       fxload - Firmware download to EZ-USB devices

SYNOPSIS
       fxload [ -v ] [ -D devpath ] [ -I hexfile ] [ -t type ] [ -c config ] [
       -s loader ]
       fxload [ -D devpath ] [ -L link ] [ -m mode ]
       fxload [ -V ]

DESCRIPTION
       fxload is a program which downloads firmware to USB  devices  based  on
       AnchorChips  EZ-USB, Cypress EZ-USB FX, or Cypress EZ-USB FX2 microcon-
       trollers.  These have 8-bit 8051 cores with special extensions for  USB
       I/O.   The  FX2 supports high speed USB 2.0 transfers (480 Mbit/sec) as
       well as full speed USB 1.1 transfers (12 Mbit/sec), while  the  earlier
       parts  supports only full speed transfers.  These controllers have sev-
       eral package options, and can be set up with external  memory  (on-chip
       memory is usually about 8K), EEPROMs, and ROMs when device costs allow.

       This uses "usbfs" (older name:   "usbdevfs")  to  access  devices,  and
       issues  vendor  specific control requests to download and reset the EZ-
       USB devices.  Normally, firmware will then "renumerate" by  disconnect-
       ing  from  USB  and then reconnecting as a new device.  It then appears
       with new device descriptors  and  functionality,  as  provided  by  the
       firmware which has been downloaded.

       To  support  some  non-firmware applications, this can also set up sym-
       bolic links for those usbfs names.  It can  also  change  their  access
       modes.  Both of these can help simplify software applications that need
       to talk to USB devices using user mode drivers, don't want to run  with
       privileges  or  to  examine  all of the existing USB devices, and which
       don't need more kernel drivers.

       See the Linux-Hotplug web site for information about how to use  fxload
       to download device firmware when hotplugging USB devices, using driver-
       specific scripts stored in the /etc/hotplug/usb directory.

FUNCTION LETTERS
       At least one of the following options must be specified.  Note that  as
       usual  with  UNIX and Linux commands, the order of command option flags
       does not matter.  You may use these in any order.

       -I hexfile
              Downloads the specified firmware file.  This  firmware  is  pro-
              vided  in standard Intel hexfile format.  (Common naming conven-
              tions include *.hex and *.ihx.)  Depending  on  the  device  and
              firmware  in use, the -s option may also be necessary to specify
              a second stage loader.  Firmware is normally downloaded  to  RAM
              and  executed,  but there is also an option for downloading into
              bootable I2C EEPROMs.

       -L link
              Creates the specified symbolic link to the  usbfs  device  path.
              This  would  typically  be  used to create a name in a directory
              that would be searched by an application.  The symlink would  be
              removed by some other component on device unplug.

       -m mode
              Changes  permissions  on  the  "usbfs" device node.  By default,
              those nodes are  only  accessible  by  privileged  users,  which
              doesn't help when the user mode device driver needs to run with-
              out  root  privileges.   Note  that  usbfs  mount  options  like
              devmode=0666 are also available.

       -V     Identifies  the version of fxload being invoked, and exits with-
              out performing other actions.

       Note that when downloading firmware that renumerates, there's no  point
       in changing the device permissions or creating a symbolic link.

OPTIONS
       By  default, fxload assumes the device uses an EZ-USB or EZ-USB FX.  It
       also assumes that the device in question has been specified by USB ker-
       nel  hotplugging  conventions, using the DEVICE environment variable to
       name a "usbfs" file that can be used to talk to the device.

       -c config
              Indicates the specified firmware should be downloaded to an  I2C
              boot  EEPROM rather than to RAM.  The parameter is the EZ-USB FX
              or FX2 configuration byte, and for AnchorChips devices the value
              should  be zero.  This requires a second stage loader that knows
              how to write to I2C EEPROMs specified using the  -s  option,  as
              well  as a device that's provided with an EEPROM large enough to
              store the boot firmware.  After downloading to a  device's  EEP-
              ROM, you should retest it starting from power off.

       -s loader
              This  identifies  the hex file holding a second stage loader (in
              the same hex file format  as  the  firmware  itself),  which  is
              loaded into internal memory.  This loader understands additional
              vendor control requests, beyond the one built  into  all  EZ-USB
              hardware,  which are needed to write external RAM or EEPROM.  As
              a last step when loading firmware,  fxload  normally  overwrites
              this second stage loader with parts of the firmware residing on-
              chip.

       -t type
              Indicates which type of microcontroller is used in  the  device;
              type  may  be one of an21 (the original AnchorChips devices), fx
              (Cypress' updated version, the EZ-USB FX), or fx2  (the  Cypress
              EZ-USB FX2, supporting high speed transfers).  Except when writ-
              ing to  EEPROM,  all  that  normally  matters  when  downloading
              firmware is whether or not the device uses an FX2.

       -v     Prints  some  diagnostics, such as download addresses and sizes,
              to standard error.  Repeat the flag  (-vv,  -vvv)  to  get  more
              diagnostics.

       -D devpath
              Specifies the "usbfs" path name for the device in question, such
              as /proc/bus/usb/004/080.  This takes precedence over any DEVICE
              environment variable that may be set.

NOTES
       This  program  implements one extension to the standard "hex file" for-
       mat.  Lines beginning with a "#" character are ignored, and may be used
       to  hold  copyright  statements and other information.  Other tools may
       not handle hexfiles using this extension.

       At this writing, "usbfs" is a kernel configuration option.  That  means
       that  device drivers relying on user mode firmware downloading may need
       to depend on that  kernel  configuration  option.   A  less  preferable
       alternative  involves compiling the firmware into the kernel and manag-
       ing downloads and renumeration there.  This is less preferable in  part
       because  much device firmware is provided with GPL-incompatible licens-
       ing, and in part because storing such firmware firmware  wastes  kernel
       memory.

       For  EZ-USB family devices, the hardware's first stage loader (support-
       ing the 0xA0 vendor request) can't write into external memory.  Config-
       urations  that  put  firmware  into  external memory thus need a second
       stage loader.  For typical "flat" memory architectures, a  loader  sup-
       porting  the  0xA3  vendor  request  is used to write into that memory.
       Similarly, a second stage loader that supports the 0xA2 vendor  request
       is  needed  when  writing boot firmware into an I2C EEPROM.  These 0xA2
       and 0xA3 vendor commands are conventions defined by  Cypress.   Devices
       that  use  bank  switching or similar mechanisms to stretch the 64KByte
       address space may need different approach to loading firmware.

       Not all devices support EEPROM  updates.   Some  EZ-USB  based  devices
       don't  have  an  I2C  EEPROM;  many such EEPROMs are too small to store
       firmware; and some firmware can't be placed in bootable I2C EEPROMs.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       DEVICE normally names a "usbfs" file that will be used to talk  to  the
              device.   This  is  provided  by the Linux kernel as part of USB
              hotplugging.

FILES
       /usr/share/usb/a3load.hex
              Second stage loader that works with AnchorChips EZ-USB,  Cypress
              EZ-USB FX, and Cypress EZ-USB FX2.  Note that this only supports
              the 0xA3 vendor command, to write  external  memory.   A  loader
              that  also  supports the 0xA2 command, to write boot EEPROMs, is
              included with Cypress developer kits.

SEE ALSO
       hotplug(8)

AUTHORS
       Linux Hotplugging Project http://linux-hotplug.sourceforge.net/



                                  April 2002                         FXLOAD(8)