I just remembered you talking about getting one is all. I decided to start over from scratch on my Pi 4B. And didn't install the Fan Shim software this time around. I wanted to confirm my suspicions that its not needed if your happy with the LED not doing anything. I'm sure it could be put to use separately, I just haven't bothered, I have a Blinkt on that Pi.
it will actually never be my only daily computer ,because it's Linux and i'm not really wanting to learn everything i would need to learn to use it properly ,i'll just use it for the Internet ,unless one day i wake up really smart ,and i don't see that happening it seem to be just the opposite lately ,lol
Some good info on the new eeprom update process.
Raspberry Pi 4 boot EEPROM
The Raspberry Pi 4 has an SPI-attached EEPROM (4MBits/512KB), which contains code to boot up the system and replaces bootcode.bin previously found in the boot partition of the SD card. Note that if a bootcode.bin is present in the boot partition of the SD card in a Pi 4, it is ignored.
Why use an SPI EEPROM?
Raspberry Pi 4 bootup procedure and SDRAM setup is considerably more complicated than on the previous Raspberry Pi models, so there is more risk inherent in code that's permanently incorporated in the ROM of the SoC.
USB has moved to a PCIe bus, and the Gigabit Ethernet driver is completely different to previous models, so again, having it permanently fixed into the ROM of the SoC was not feasible.
A small SPI EEPROM allows bugs to be fixed and features to be added after launch, in the field.
The local modifiable state means that OTP bootmode settings will not be required for network or USB mass storage boot on the Raspberry Pi 4. There are no user-modifiable OTP bootmode bits on Pi 4.
Network and USB boot
Support for these additional bootmodes will be added in the future via optional bootloader updates. The current schedule is to release network boot first, then USB boot.
Is the bootloader working correctly?
To check that the bootloader is working correctly, turn off the power, unplug everything from the Raspberry Pi 4, including the SD card, and then turn the power back on. If the green LED blinks with a repeating pattern then the bootloader is running correctly, and indicating that start*.elf has not been found. Any other actions imply that the bootloader is not working correctly and should be reinstalled using recovery.bin.
Recovery image
If the Raspberry Pi is not booting it's possible that the bootloader EEPROM is corrupted. This can easily be reprogrammed using the Recovery image available on the raspberrypi.org downloads page.
Updating the bootloader
We recommend setting up your Pi so that it automatically updates the bootloader: this means you will get new features and bug fixes as they are released. Bootloader updates are performed by the rpi-eeprom package, which installs a service that runs at boot-time to check for critical updates.
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install rpi-eeprom
If you wish to control when the updates are applied you can disable the systemd service from running automatically and run rpi-eeprom-update manually.
# Prevent the service from running, this can be run before the package is installed to prevent it ever running automatically.
sudo systemctl mask rpi-eeprom-update
# Enable it again
sudo systemctl unmask rpi-eeprom-update
The FREEZE_VERSION option in the EEPROM config file may be used to indicate that the EEPROM should not be updated on this board.
Write protection of EEPROM
There is no software write protection for the boot EEPROM but there will be a mechanism in Raspbian to skip any future updates to the EEPROM. However, it is possible to physically write-protect both EEPROMs via a simple resistor change on the board. Details will be published in the schematics.
EEPROM configuration options
EPROM image files contain a small user-modifiable config file, which may be modified using the rpi-eeprom-config script included in the rpi-eeprom package.
Update the EEPROM config
# Copy the EEPROM of interest from /lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader/critical/
# To extract the configuration file from an EEPROM image.
rpi-eeprom-config pieeprom.bin --out bootconf.txt
# To update the configuration file in an EEPROM image.
rpi-eeprom-config pieeprom.bin --config bootconf.txt --out pieeprom-new.bin
# To flash the new image
# -d means that the configuration in the file should be used, otherwise, rpi-eeprom-update
# will automatically migrate the current bootloader's configuration to the new image.
sudo rpi-eeprom-update -d -f ./pieeprom-new.bin
Checking if an update is available
Running the rpi-eeprom-update command with no parameters indicates whether an update is required. An update is required if the timestamp of the most recent file in the firmware directory (normally /lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader/critical) is newer than that reported
by the current bootloader.
The images under /lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader are part of the rpi-eeprom package and are only updated via apt update.
rpi-eeprom-update
Reading the current EEPROM configuration
To view the configuration file used by the bootloader at boot time
vcgencmd bootloader_config
Reading the EEPROM version
vcgencmd bootloader_version
Beta firmware
Beta firmware files will be stored in /lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader/beta/. Developers or beta-testers who are comfortable with using the rescue image to fix boot problems can track the beta firmware by editing /etc/default/rpi-eeprom-update
Change FIRMWARE_RELEASE_STATUS="critical"
to FIRMWARE_RELEASE_STATUS="beta"
Configuration options
BOOT_UART
If 1 then enable UART debug output on GPIO 14 and 15. Configure the debug terminal at 115200bps, 8 bits, no parity bits, 1 stop bit.
Default: 0
Version: All
WAKE_ON_GPIO
If 1 then 'sudo halt' will run in a lower power mode until either GPIO3 or GLOBAL_EN are shorted to ground.
Default: 0 in original version of bootloader (2019-05-10). Newer bootloaders have this set to 1.
Version: All
POWER_OFF_ON_HALT
If 1 and WAKE_ON_GPIO=0 then switch off all PMIC outputs in halt. This is lowest possible power state for halt but may cause problems with some HATs because 5V will still be on. GLOBAL_EN must be shorted to ground to boot.
Default: 0
Version: 2019-07-15
FREEZE_VERSION
If 1 then the rpi-eeprom-update will skip automatic updates on this board. The parameter is not processed by the EEPROM bootloader or recovery.bin since there is no way in software of fully write protecting the EEPROM. Custom EEPROM update scripts must also check for this flag.
Default: 0
Version: All
Release Notes - Raspberry Pi Documentation
It appears to be missing some info though? Runningwill tell you if an update is available /needed but won't actually update it? If you runCode:rpi-eeprom-updateyou'll get a list of options. The -a option did the update for me. Rebooting and checking it again showed a match for what was installed and what was current.Code:rpi-eeprom- update -h
The info of real interest is the boot config edit options. If you want that original deep sleep option its an edit away. Well an edit and few other steps to write it to your Pi's eeprom.
EDIT: I don't know why my link posted like it did? I even tried plain text but it didn't work
raspberrypi.org/documentation/hardware/raspberrypi/booteeprom.md
sounds important ,but i cant read anything that long and get something out of it ..my brain doesn't work that way ... i'll have to do it in small pieces when i have more time ,with no distractions going on around me ..
edit-using the link takes me to a page i can grasp/understand a bit better
I had to edit out the http www part of the link or it just kept showing the wall of blue text? I have no idea why?
It appears that the eeprom update process is going to be part of apt update apt upgrade. At some point, probably, maybe? Nobody from the Pi foundation likes to 100% commit to anything.Some of those edits will let you block it from updating if you like and want to keep what you have now, but still want to update Raspbian. Eventually network boot, and boot from USB will be added. I would imagine there will be an option added to set it to go right to USB and not waist time looking for a Micro SD card. Many on the Pi Forum are hoping there will be. USB Boot is one of the most asked for updates / fixes depending on how you look at it.
yeah, i did same to get to the original page ,easier to read it there for sure .. i'll wait to get it in a update or upgrade ..
I had to edit out the http www part of the link or it just kept showing the wall of blue text? I have no idea why?
It appears that the eeprom update process is going to be part of apt update apt upgrade. At some point, probably, maybe? Nobody from the Pi foundation likes to 100% commit to anything.
Just FYI, you can't brick the Pi doing this. It won't boot up if you mess it up, but its fairly easily recoverable. The recovery code is burned into the SOC. You just put an SD card in with the right files on it and its all flashed into the eeprom automatically. Then swap you normal card back in and boot up. I've done it already with one of the other eeprom updates. It was the only way to flash a new file in up until now. The recovery procedure is listed on the downloads page.
Raspberry Pi Downloads - Software for the Raspberry Pi
