VL805 firmware release 0137ad - fixes for Isochronous streams

[RonR]

It appears there is a serious flaw in the vl805 upgrade process.

After following the procedure in the first post, the firmware is updated to 000137ad following the next reboot (power cycle required). rpi-eeprom-update is apparently run on each startup, detects that 000137ab is the latest version, and queues up an 'update' to to 000137ab. Following the next reboot, the firmware version is back to 000137ab.

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root@raspberrypi:~# rpi-eeprom-update
BOOTLOADER: up-to-date
CURRENT: Tue 10 Sep 10:41:50 UTC 2019 (1568112110)
 LATEST: Tue 10 Sep 10:41:50 UTC 2019 (1568112110)
VL805: up-to-date
CURRENT: 000137ab
 LATEST: 000137ab
root@raspberrypi:~# vl805 -w vl805_fw_0137ad.bin
VL805 FW version: 000137ab
VL805 EEPROM successfully reprogrammed - please reboot to activate.
root@raspberrypi:~# ls -l /boot/recovery.bin /boot/vl*
ls: cannot access '/boot/recovery.bin': No such file or directory
ls: cannot access '/boot/vl*': No such file or directory
root@raspberrypi:~# reboot

[Power cycle required to successfully boot back up]

root@raspberrypi:~# vl805
VL805 FW version: 000137ad
root@raspberrypi:~# ls -l /boot/recovery.bin /boot/vl*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 60820 Jan  9 20:32 /boot/recovery.bin
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 98712 Jan  9 20:32 /boot/vl805.bin
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root    65 Jan  9 20:32 /boot/vl805.sig
root@raspberrypi:~# reboot

root@raspberrypi:~# vl805
VL805 FW version: 000137ab
root@raspberrypi:~# ls -l /boot/recovery.bin /boot/vl*
ls: cannot access '/boot/recovery.bin': No such file or directory
ls: cannot access '/boot/vl*': No such file or directory

[jdb]

Can you update your rpi-eeprom package? A recent fix prevents downgrades.

[RonR]

Can you update your rpi-eeprom package? A recent fix prevents downgrades.

This is on a fresh install of Raspbian Lite on an SD card, updated with apt-get update/upgrade. dpkg -s reports version: 2.4-1

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root@raspberrypi:~# apt-get update
Hit:1 http://archive.raspberrypi.org/debian buster InRelease
Hit:2 http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian buster InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
root@raspberrypi:~# apt-get install rpi-eeprom
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
rpi-eeprom is already the newest version (2.4-1).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.

[RonR]

A recent fix prevents downgrades.

Copying vl805_fw_0137ad.bin to /lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader/beta and /lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader/critical (as vl805-000137ad.bin) and updating the vl805.latest file in each directory stops the unwanted downgrading on reboots.

Your recent fix to prevent downgrades isn't working.

FWIW...
hdparm reports a 30 MB/s improvement with 0137ad over 0137ab.

[timg236]

Can you update your rpi-eeprom package? A recent fix prevents downgrades.

That fix is only on Github, the Debian package has not been built yet.

[RonR]

Can you update your rpi-eeprom package? A recent fix prevents downgrades.

That fix is only on Github, the Debian package has not been built yet.

It would have been nice if jdb had said that in the first place.

I wonder how many others who installed the 0137ad discussed in this topic don't realize they've been downgraded back to 0137ab without knowing it?

[jamesh]

Can you update your rpi-eeprom package? A recent fix prevents downgrades.

That fix is only on Github, the Debian package has not been built yet.

It would have been nice if jdb had said that in the first place.

I wonder how many others who installed the 0137ad discussed in this topic don't realize they've been downgraded back to 0137ab without knowing it?

He didn't know. There's been a delay in releasing the latest apt/repo stuff due to the Xmas break, and its actually awkward to find out which changes are in and which are out.

[Chimneyfactory]

I have a USB3-to-mSATA-converter-board with an uPD720231A from Renesas Electronics (NEC). I use it with an SAMSUNG 860EVO mSATA SSD.
With the firmware release 0137ad the performance is nearly back to normal as it was with the first version (013701).
I always test the SSD performance with https://www.jamesachambers.com/raspberr ... nchmarks/ . After the update the score went up from 69xx to 93xx.
So for me, this is a very useful and great update.

Yes, I too noticed the slight drop in USB3 performance has largely been fixed.

using

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hdparm -t /dev/sda1

five times, then taking the average, I tested the speed of my USB3 SSD against the three releases of firmware version.

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00013701      367.446 MB/sec
000137ab      353.362 MB/sec
999137ad      366.552 MB/sec

So far, working well!

Ian

[timg236]

Thanks to everyone for testing this. The rpi-eeprom package now contains the 0137ad firmware in the beta release directory. Once we are happy with it we'll probably push this release to 'critical' i.e the default image.

[carldani]

It seems that the VL805 update process doesn't use flashrom even if you select USE_FLASHROM in rpi-eeprom-update.
I was unable to find any source code for the vl805 utility, so I reverse engineered the VIA VL805 update process from traces of the vl805 utility. cleverca22 was so nice and ran multiple traces and I think I got most (all but one) of the registers figured out.

There is a flashrom patch if anyone is feeling brave enough to test it. I was unable to test it as I don't own a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B.
Testers welcome!

Should I open a separare thread for this?

[trejan]

It seems that the VL805 update process doesn't use flashrom even if you select USE_FLASHROM in rpi-eeprom-update.

Yes. flashrom is only for the Pi 4 bootcode EEPROM. If you want to flash the VL805 EEPROM directly then you need to use the vl805 utility.

I think I got most (all but one) of the registers figured out.

I guess you're talking about 0x30004?

[carldani]

It seems that the VL805 update process doesn't use flashrom even if you select USE_FLASHROM in rpi-eeprom-update.

Yes. flashrom is only for the Pi 4 bootcode EEPROM. If you want to flash the VL805 EEPROM directly then you need to use the vl805 utility.

And since flashrom supports a flashing a few dozen controllers of all types (including SATA controllers, NICs, graphics cards and more), extending flashrom to support VIA VL805 as well is a natural choice. Funnily enough the flashing interface of the VIA VL805 controller is somewhat similar to the flashing interface of the VIA VT6421A SATA/PATA controller which is already supported by flashrom.

I think I got most (all but one) of the registers figured out.

I guess you're talking about 0x30004?

Yes indeed. Do you have any insight about that register?

[carldani]

And since flashrom supports a flashing a few dozen controllers of all types (including SATA controllers, NICs, graphics cards and more), extending flashrom to support VIA VL805 as well is a natural choice. Funnily enough the flashing interface of the VIA VL805 controller is somewhat similar to the flashing interface of the VIA VT6421A SATA/PATA controller which is already supported by flashrom.

I think I got most (all but one) of the registers figured out.

I guess you're talking about 0x30004?

Yes indeed. Do you have any insight about that register?

@jdb @timg236 May I ask you if you could look up the meaning of a register indirectly mapped in the PCI config space of the VIA VL805? Specifically, register 0x30004 which gets accessed early in the process of reading or writing the flash chip of the VL805. That's the final piece of information needed to finish flashrom support for the VL805.
Thanks!

[jdb]

This thread is about feedback for the firmware release, not for reverse-engineering efforts of the programming utility.

[carldani]

This thread is about feedback for the firmware release, not for reverse-engineering efforts of the programming utility.

My apologies. Shall I open a new thread for that?

[jdb]

This thread is about feedback for the firmware release, not for reverse-engineering efforts of the programming utility.

My apologies. Shall I open a new thread for that?

No. I suggest using the flashrom mailing lists.

[wildestpixel]

Having updated my eeprom and VL805 using the BETA channel I'm now on this USB firmware.

I have a new behaviour exhibiting itself with regard to the power cycling of USB on reboot.

I have a Pimoroni Keybow attached that would power cycle itself on reboot and successfully reboot itself as a result, however with this firmware on VL805 (and possibly any changes in the general eeprom ?) the USB doesn't power cycle the same on reboot - as a consequence the Keybow hangs and it has to be disconnected and reconnected to function again.

Naturally I don't want this behaviour and may this evening look at ways to programatically cycle power to the ports at boot or reboot to see if I can achieve a resolve, but wanted to highlight this here.

[BRX7]

I have updated mine ,
it is having some issues in which the sata to usb3 adaptor is dodgy/gone.
I have quirks entry in my cmdline.txt as below
storage.quirks=152d:0578:u



BCM2711 detected
BOOTLOADER: up-to-date
CURRENT: Thu 9 Jan 18:25:54 UTC 2020 (1578594354)
LATEST: Thu 9 Jan 18:25:54 UTC 2020 (1578594354)
VL805: up-to-date
CURRENT: 000137ad
LATEST: 000137ad

lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

[jdb]

Define "dodgy".

- Please post the output of dmesg and vcgencmd get_throttled
- Please post a full lsusb -v
- Which version of firmware was the last one that worked correctly?

[BRX7]

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Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               3.00
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceSubClass         0
  bDeviceProtocol         3
  bMaxPacketSize0         9
  idVendor           0x1d6b Linux Foundation
  idProduct          0x0003 3.0 root hub
  bcdDevice            4.19
  iManufacturer           3 Linux 4.19.95-v7l+ xhci-hcd
  iProduct                2 xHCI Host Controller
  iSerial                 1 0000:01:00.0
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength       0x001f
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0
    bmAttributes         0xe0
      Self Powered
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower                0mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           1
      bInterfaceClass         9 Hub
      bInterfaceSubClass      0
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 Full speed (or root) hub
      iInterface              0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0004  1x 4 bytes
        bInterval              12
        bMaxBurst               0
Hub Descriptor:
  bLength              12
  bDescriptorType      42
  nNbrPorts             4
  wHubCharacteristic 0x0009
    Per-port power switching
    Per-port overcurrent protection
  bPwrOn2PwrGood       10 * 2 milli seconds
  bHubContrCurrent      0 milli Ampere
  bHubDecLat          0.0 micro seconds
  wHubDelay             0 nano seconds
  DeviceRemovable    0x00
 Hub Port Status:
   Port 1: 0000.02a0 5Gbps power Rx.Detect
   Port 2: 0000.0263 5Gbps power suspend enable connect
   Port 3: 0000.02a0 5Gbps power Rx.Detect
   Port 4: 0000.02a0 5Gbps power Rx.Detect
Binary Object Store Descriptor:
  bLength                 5
  bDescriptorType        15
  wTotalLength       0x000f
  bNumDeviceCaps          1
  SuperSpeed USB Device Capability:
    bLength                10
    bDescriptorType        16
    bDevCapabilityType      3
    bmAttributes         0x02
      Latency Tolerance Messages (LTM) Supported
    wSpeedsSupported   0x0008
      Device can operate at SuperSpeed (5Gbps)
    bFunctionalitySupport   3
      Lowest fully-functional device speed is SuperSpeed (5Gbps)
    bU1DevExitLat           4 micro seconds
    bU2DevExitLat         231 micro seconds
can't get debug descriptor: Resource temporarily unavailable
Device Status:     0x0001
  Self Powered

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.10
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceSubClass         0
  bDeviceProtocol         1 Single TT
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x2109 VIA Labs, Inc.
  idProduct          0x3431 Hub
  bcdDevice            4.21
  iManufacturer           0
  iProduct                1 USB2.0 Hub
  iSerial                 0
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength       0x0019
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0
    bmAttributes         0xe0
      Self Powered
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower              100mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           1
      bInterfaceClass         9 Hub
      bInterfaceSubClass      0
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 Full speed (or root) hub
      iInterface              0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0001  1x 1 bytes
        bInterval              12
Hub Descriptor:
  bLength               9
  bDescriptorType      41
  nNbrPorts             4
  wHubCharacteristic 0x00e0
    Ganged power switching
    Ganged overcurrent protection
    TT think time 32 FS bits
    Port indicators
  bPwrOn2PwrGood       50 * 2 milli seconds
  bHubContrCurrent    100 milli Ampere
  DeviceRemovable    0x00
  PortPwrCtrlMask    0xff
 Hub Port Status:
   Port 1: 0000.0100 power
   Port 2: 0000.0100 power
   Port 3: 0000.0100 power
   Port 4: 0000.0100 power
Binary Object Store Descriptor:
  bLength                 5
  bDescriptorType        15
  wTotalLength       0x002a
  bNumDeviceCaps          3
  USB 2.0 Extension Device Capability:
    bLength                 7
    bDescriptorType        16
    bDevCapabilityType      2
    bmAttributes   0x00000002
      HIRD Link Power Management (LPM) Supported
  SuperSpeed USB Device Capability:
    bLength                10
    bDescriptorType        16
    bDevCapabilityType      3
    bmAttributes         0x00
    wSpeedsSupported   0x000e
      Device can operate at Full Speed (12Mbps)
      Device can operate at High Speed (480Mbps)
      Device can operate at SuperSpeed (5Gbps)
    bFunctionalitySupport   1
      Lowest fully-functional device speed is Full Speed (12Mbps)
    bU1DevExitLat           4 micro seconds
    bU2DevExitLat         231 micro seconds
  Container ID Device Capability:
    bLength                20
    bDescriptorType        16
    bDevCapabilityType      4
    bReserved               0
    ContainerID             {30eef35c-07d5-2549-b001-802d79434c30}
can't get debug descriptor: Resource temporarily unavailable
Device Status:     0x0001
  Self Powered

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceSubClass         0
  bDeviceProtocol         1 Single TT
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x1d6b Linux Foundation
  idProduct          0x0002 2.0 root hub
  bcdDevice            4.19
  iManufacturer           3 Linux 4.19.95-v7l+ xhci-hcd
  iProduct                2 xHCI Host Controller
  iSerial                 1 0000:01:00.0
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength       0x0019
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0
    bmAttributes         0xe0
      Self Powered
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower                0mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           1
      bInterfaceClass         9 Hub
      bInterfaceSubClass      0
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 Full speed (or root) hub
      iInterface              0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0004  1x 4 bytes
        bInterval              12
Hub Descriptor:
  bLength               9
  bDescriptorType      41
  nNbrPorts             1
  wHubCharacteristic 0x0009
    Per-port power switching
    Per-port overcurrent protection
    TT think time 8 FS bits
  bPwrOn2PwrGood       10 * 2 milli seconds
  bHubContrCurrent      0 milli Ampere
  DeviceRemovable    0x02
  PortPwrCtrlMask    0xff
 Hub Port Status:
   Port 1: 0000.0507 highspeed power suspend enable connect
can't get device qualifier: Resource temporarily unavailable
can't get debug descriptor: Resource temporarily unavailable
Device Status:     0x0001
  Self Powered
  

[BRX7]

throttled=0x0

Red bits in dmesg

[ 3.795307] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using brcm/brcmfmac43455-sdio for chip BCM4345/6
[ 3.808512] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware: BCM4345/6 wl0: Feb 27 2018 03:15:32 version 7.45.154 (r684107 CY) FWID 01-4fbe0b04
[ 5.291867] usb usb2-port2: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad?


[ 198.054787] usb 2-2: Device not responding to setup address.
[ 198.274639] usb 2-2: device not accepting address 9, error -71
[ 198.314801] usb usb2-port2: unable to enumerate USB device

the september 10th eeprom flash was working fine (ab)

[jdb]

Please post the full output of dmesg from a fresh power-on.

[timg236]

This thread is about feedback for the firmware release, not for reverse-engineering efforts of the programming utility.

My apologies. Shall I open a new thread for that?

No. I suggest using the flashrom mailing lists.

For reference, in the near future, rpi-eeprom will no longer use flashrom or the vl805 utility. They are only there as a staging post until the bootloader can do a self update in network or USB MSD mode.

[jdb]

Having updated my eeprom and VL805 using the BETA channel I'm now on this USB firmware.

I have a new behaviour exhibiting itself with regard to the power cycling of USB on reboot.

I have a Pimoroni Keybow attached that would power cycle itself on reboot and successfully reboot itself as a result, however with this firmware on VL805 (and possibly any changes in the general eeprom ?) the USB doesn't power cycle the same on reboot - as a consequence the Keybow hangs and it has to be disconnected and reconnected to function again.

Naturally I don't want this behaviour and may this evening look at ways to programatically cycle power to the ports at boot or reboot to see if I can achieve a resolve, but wanted to highlight this here.

What's the output of "vcgencmd bootloader_version"?

[wildestpixel]

Im not by the pi to run the command but from memory this morning it was the latest in the git repository at the time - 2020-01-09 - Git df0ff18c (BETA) RC3

I know thats been updated since with one with fixed padding - but not made its way to my pi yet