Firmware upgrade using Linux tool, requires no hardware

[Jiigeri]

I am going to go for it, not just right now. I don't have the time to play with this until next weekend and after that it'll take just a week more to get another laptop here if something goes wrong.

[r80x]

I've made a thread on http://www.sweclockers.com (a swedish computer site) that includes a swedish translation and simplified version of this thread for swedish people.

Of course i've linked to this thread and i am giving all credit to you guys.

The thread is here for anyone who is interested.


If anyone objects or have any other critic or input please tell me.

[Falkentyne]

The command/file to edit is "sources.list" not "source.list". I listed the correct commands on the last page, I think (before this one).

[Falkentyne]

BTW I successfully backed up my V4 firmware using the desktop Radeon 290X DVI port directly, with Ubuntu. The monitor was on bus 5 (i2cdetect -5 showed some hex numbers there, all others just had --)

I was going to try flashing to V2 then back to V4 (since I know my laptop already flashed to v4 originally through VGA), just to test DVI flashing (I also wanted to see if 60hz V2 single strobe is worse than V4...as I remember V2 being worse-not talking about the ghosting but the smoothness) but changed my mind when I realized I didn't want to wait 30 minutes and then redo all of the profiles again (that 71 default contrast, man..), and take an unnecessary silly risk.

[r80x]

The command/file to edit is "sources.list" not "source.list". I listed the correct commands on the last page, I think (before this one).

thank you!

[Falkentyne]

You may also need this command.
Sometimes the USB packages won't download then the i2c commands won't work:

"sudo apt-get install libusb-dev"

(after the libpci.dev)

[Jiigeri]

You may also need this command.
Sometimes the USB packages won't download then the i2c commands won't work:

"sudo apt-get install libusb-dev"

(after the libpci.dev)

I did this just in case, but I don't think I did it for ALL attempts. I guess it does no harm to do that just to be sure, right?

[Falkentyne]

Did you do that on the laptop?
You were on the desktop before.

There is no harm at all and absolutely ZERO risk in even getting to the backup firmware stage.
I even got bored and backed up my V4 (just because "it was there") on my 2720Z using the DVI port on the r9 290x. Yes I already had the original v4 bin 832k file but now I have a 2 mb file that doesn't need to be resized

[Jiigeri]

I haven't yet picked up the laptop from my friend. I'll do that on friday I suppose. Starting off with just checking if I can actually find the monitor. If it does, I guess I'll go for the flash.

EDIT: Umm, dumb question: Do I need to keep two monitors connected to the PC/laptop I'm doing the flash from? I searched for posts about flashing and people keep mentioning standby mode that's required (at least for MSTAR ISP method). How do I need to prepare to minimize chances of bricking the monitor?

[Falkentyne]

I flashed TWICE (downgraded to V2, went back to v4) with the monitor POWERED ON and actively used as the main display, with the r9 290x video card on the main PC. Success through the DVI port. Twice.

The standby was for flashing through VGA on laptop.

BTW theres a foolproof way to update without risk of typos.

Save the step by step instructions I wrote in a windows text file.
Boot to Ubuntu
I found out that you can copy and paste the exact commands from the text file, directly into the Ubuntu command line console!
So all you have to do is copy the renamed firmware files you downloaded (from the local hard drive; Ubuntu can mount the drives) to the FLASHROM folder in the "home" directory, replace the bus number with the exact bus the monitor is on (on my 290x, it was on bus 5) and you're good to go.

There's no automated way of doing this, though, due to having to rename and copy the firmware files and having to identify what bus port it's connected to.