Upgrade Firmware

Getting the Latest Firmware

This manual will assist you in setting up your software development environment and upgrading your firmware/system for your development.

Download system files

If you want to install Android 11, click here image-release-mixtile_edge2-v1.0.15.img to download the full system image

If you want to install Debian 10, click here image-release-debian-20220816.img to download the full system image

Downloading to Mixtile Edge 2

Edge 2 comes with Android 11 pre-installed, and it can be updated with any custom built firmware. The system firmware may be updated via either an USB cable or a MicroSD card and system local update. Under normal circumstances, the local update method is preferable for the users. Just like Android phones, they can choose the local update package to upgrade. Users with specific requirements who need to burn the system with USB cable and SD cards should back up their data in their own method.

The A/B (Seamless) system update is used by Edge 2. Edge 2 will not brick unless the hardware is damaged.

What you need

1. A downloaded firmware
2. Firmware update tool
3. Edge 2 device
4. RK-USB driver (only for updating via USB cable with Windows)
5. MicroSD card/USB drive with more than 2GBytes capacity (only for updating via MicroSD card)

System Local Update

This method is very straightforward and simple to comprehend and it will not delete the user data. A good-quality SD card or USB disk is required. Ensure that there is no power interruption during the local update method.

(Note: This updating method is only available in Android system, not available in Debian system)

Step 1: Update preparation

• Download the local update package here: image-release-ota-mixtile_edge2-v1.0.15.zip
• Micro SD card/USB drive
• Press the power button to turn on Edge 2, and connect a HDMI monitor and a USB mouse to it.

Step 2: Update operation

• Copy the downloaded update package to the USB drive or Micro SD card.
• Insert the USB drive or Micro SD card into the USB port of the Edge 2 device.
• Using the mouse, navigate to the Settings –> System –> Advanced –> System updates page on the Android home screen.

• Click Local update to enter the page of Local update.

• Select Local installation package to enter the local installation package page.

• Browse to the correct folder containing the local update package, select the exact zip file, the following example image-release-ota-mixtile_edge2-v1.0.6.zip will be selected in this case.

• When you choose the appropriate update package, the system will display a power connection confirmation screen.

• Click Update to enter the update status page. The screenshot is as follows:

• Wait a few minutes for the update to finish. The following dialog box will appear; click the REBOOT button to restart the system. The process of updating is now complete.

Update Methods of Full System Image

Two distinct methods for updating system firmware are demonstrated step by step. To upgrade your Edge 2 system with the latest firmware, follow the procedures below.

USB cable update

Connect the Edge 2 to a PC via USB Type-C cable; the firmware update tool takes around 1 minute to burn the firmware.

MicroSD card update

Use the upgrade card making tool to make the MicroSD card into an upgrade card. Then insert the upgrade card into the motherboard, turn it on, and the system will upgrade automatically in about 5 minutes.

Important: These update methods will delete all user data. Please back up the data before performing the update.

Download full system image

If you want to install Android 11, click here image-release-mixtile_edge2-v1.0.15.img to download the full system image

If you want to install Debian 10, click here image-release-debian-20220816.img to download the full system image

Update with USB Cable

Boot modes

Edge 2 has three start modes: Normal, Loader, and Maskrom modes. Loader mode and Maskrom mode are for firmware update.

1. Normal mode
   Normal mode is the normal startup process. Each component is loaded in turn and enters the system normally.
2. Loader mode
   There are two ways to enter the Loader mode:

• Press and hold the RECOVERY button, then power on. Continue holding the RECOVERY button until the RKDevTool displays Loader mode, then release the RECOVERY button.
• After the system is running, input adb reboot loader through the serial terminal or ADB terminal.

3. Maskrom mode
   Maskrom mode can be used for updates when the bootloader or uboot is broken. To enter Maskrom mode:

• Press and hold the MASKROM button, then power on. Continue holding the MASKROM button until the RKDevTool displays Maskrom mode, then release the MASKROM button

Updating Steps in Windows System

Step 1: Download update tool on PC

• Click here RKDevTool.zip to download update tool.

Step 2: Install RK-USB driver

• Download RK DriverAssistant.zip, unzip, and run the DriverInstall.exe.

Note: To use the latest driver version, uninstall the current driver before installing the latest driver.

Step 3: Connect devices

• Connect Edge 2 USB type-C port to PC with USB cable.

Note: Edge 2 would be recognized as Rockusb Device by Windows in Loader & MaskROM mode.

Step 4: Enter Loader/MaskROM mode

• Refer to Boot mode, select and boot Edge 2 in Loader/MaskROM mode.

Step 5: Update firmware

• Open RKDevTool with administrator access
• Click Firmware to select firmware location
• Click Upgrade to update firmware to Edge 2

Updating Steps in Ubuntu System

Two upgrade tools can be used in Ubuntu, and both tools require a USB cable.

Step 1: Download upgrade tool

• Download Linux_Upgrade_Tool.zip
• Download Linux_adb_fastboot.zip

Step 2.1: Install upgrade tool

Edge 2 boots into Loader/Maskrom mode

• Install Upgrade_Tool:

unzip Linux_Upgrade_Tool_xxxx.zip
cd Linux_UpgradeTool_xxxx
sudo mv upgrade_tool /usr/local/bin
sudo chown root:root /usr/local/bin/upgrade_tool
sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/upgrade_tool

• Upgrade firmware:

Unified firmware upgrade:
sudo upgrade_tool uf update.img


Mirrored partition upgrade:
sudo upgrade_tool di -b /path/to/boot.img
sudo upgrade_tool di -r /path/to/recovery.img
sudo upgrade_tool di -m /path/to/misc.img
sudo upgrade_tool di -u /path/to/uboot.img
sudo upgrade_tool di -dtbo /path/to/dtbo.img
sudo upgrade_tool di -p paramater
sudo upgrade_tool ul bootloader.bin


If the upgrade is abnormal or fails, you can low-level format, then upgrade.
sudo upgrade_tool lf update.img # low-level format
sudo upgrade_tool ef update.img # Erase

Step 2.2: Install Fastboot

• Install Fastboot:

sudo mv adb /usr/local/bin
sudo chown root:root /usr/local/bin/adb
sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/adb

sudo mv fastboot /usr/local/bin
sudo chown root:root /usr/local/bin/fastboot
sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/fastboot

• Upgrade firmware with Fastboot:

adb reboot fastboot
sudo fastboot flash vendor vendor.img
sudo fastboot flash system system.img
sudo fastboot reboot

Updating Full System Image with MicroSD card

To upgrade using a MicroSD card, you need to use the card building tool on the PC to write to the MicroSD card uniformly. The operation can only be completed on the Windows system.

Step 1: Preparation

• Prepare a firmware to burn, please download full system image here image-release-mixtile_edge2-v1.0.15.img.
• Prepare a MicroSD card with more than 2GB capacity.

Step 2: Download MicroSD card building tool

• Download SD_Firmware_Tool.zip

Note: As Edge 2 uses A/B (Seamless) system update, SD_Firmware_Tool requires additional configuration.

• open config.ini under SD_Firmware_Tool file folder
• Modify UPGRADE_PROGRAM_PARTITION= boot_b

Step 3: Build update MicroSD card

• Open SD_Firmware_Tool.
• Follow the instruction in the below figure

Step 4: Update system

• Insert the Upgrade card into Edge 2.
• Reboot Edge 2 and wait for the upgrade to complete.