Manually preparing OS for Config Tool or Firmware Upgrade


The easier way to run the config tool or upgrade the firmware on the RemotePi Board is to download our customized MiniBian image as described on the Config Tool and firmware upgrade support page, but if you would like to manually configure your OS, here are the instructions.

Config Tool and Firmware Upgrade on Raspberry Pi 3

The RemotePi Board communicates with the Raspberry Pi via GPIO 14/15 which on the Model B,B+ and Pi 2 is mapped to UART0. However on the Pi3 these pins are mapped to UART1 since UART0 is now used for the Bluetooth module. Therefore currently on the Raspberry Pi 3 it is necessary to (temporarily) disable Bluetooth and map UART1 back to UART0 (ttyAMA0) so the config tool / firmware tool can talk to the RemotePi Board in the same way as before.

To do this, please follow the instructions below :

  • Put your SD card containing LibreELEC, OpenElec, RasPlex, OSMC, etc. in a card reader and access it on a PC or Mac
  • go to the folder with the name 'overlays'. If there is a file with the name 'pi3-miniuart-bt-overlay.dtb' in the folder, skip the next step
  • download this file, unzip it and copy the 'pi3-miniuart-bt-overlay.dtb' file into the overlays folder
  • Edit the file config.txt located in the root of the SD card and add the following line at the end of the file, then save the file. Note : You cannot use Windows Notepad to edit the file as it uses Linux convention for new line characters, it will show without linefeeds under Windows Notepad. You can use Notepad++ or another Linux-compatible text editor.
    dtoverlay=pi3-miniuart-bt-overlay
  • Put the SD card back into the Raspberry Pi 3 and boot+
  • Log on to the Raspberry Pi using PuTTY
  • run the following command to disable the bluetooth modem, if it exists (leave out the sudo on LibreELEC, OpenElec and RasPlex)
    sudo systemctl disable hciuart
  • reboot the OS from the GUI
  • If you later, after using the config tool, want to re-enable Bluetooth, please remove the line you have added to the config.txt, reboot, and enable the bluetooth modem again by using
    sudo systemctl enable hciuart

Please follow the OS specific instructions below to run the config tool.

 

Using the configuration tool under LibreELEC, OpenElec or RasPlex

If you are using RasPlex, please disable RemotePi support first in the RasPlex menu, then reboot one time. You can enable RemotePi Board support again after using the configuration tool.

Log on to the Raspberry Pi using PuTTY (default user and password for OpenElec is root, openelec, password for LibreELEC is libreelec).

To download the configuration tool, key in :

wget http://bit.ly/mslconfigtool

After the file is downloaded, change the permission of the file to be executable :

chmod +x mslconfigtool

To start the configuration tool key in :

./mslconfigtool

Firmware upgrade under LibreELEC, OpenElec or RasPlex

The RemotePi Board needs to be put into firmware upgrade mode, disconnect the USB power cable from the RemotePi Board, then hold down the pushbutton on the RemotePi Board and reconnect power to the RemotePi Board while the button is still pressed. You will see the LED lighting orange (green and red on at the same time), this indicates that the RemotePi Board is ready to upload new firmware.

After OpenElec / LibreELEC has booted, you can proceed with the firmware upgrade :

Log on to the Raspberry Pi using PuTTY (default user and password for OpenElec is root, openelec, password for LibreELEC is libreelec).

To download this firmware upgrade application, please make sure your Raspberry Pi is connected to the Internet.

Key in (replace the filename mslfwXX with the firmware file you want to download, see list below) :

wget http://bit.ly/mslfwXX

After the file is downloaded, change the permission of the file to be executable :

chmod +x mslfwXX

Then start the firmware upgrade program :

./mslfwXX

The firmware upload utility will show the progress and after a successful firmware upgrade the LED of the RemotePi Board will light green.

Shut down the Raspberry Pi again using the LibreELEC / OpenElec menu or by using :

poweroff

After LibreELEC / OpenElec has shut down, disconnect and re-connect the USB power cable from the RemotePi Board, this completes the firmware upgrade.

 

Using the configuration tool under Raspbian, XBian, OSMC

By default for these distros, the Raspberry Pi’s UART serial port is configured to be used for console input/output. To be able to use the serial port for the configuration tool, the serial port console login needs to be disabled.
To do this log on to the Raspberry Pi using PuTTY, then edit /etc/inittab using :

sudo nano /etc/inittab

If the file exists (i.e. it is not empty), change :

#Spawn a getty on Raspberry Pi serial line
T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyAMA0 115200 vt100

To:

#Spawn a getty on Raspberry Pi serial line
#T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyAMA0 115200 vt100

(Note the new # at the beginning of the second line !) The second line may already have the # as the first character, in which case you do not need to do anything.

Press ctrl x and then Y to exit the nano editor again and save the file.

To stop messages being sent to the serial port another system file needs to be edited :

sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt

This file will look like this :

dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=ttyAMA0,115200 kgdboc=ttyAMA0,115200 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline rootwait

If there are any references to ttyAMA0, remove them, i.e. change this to :

dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline rootwait

Press ctrl x and then Y to exit the nano editor again and save the file.

Reboot the Raspberry Pi using the menu or by :

sudo reboot

The above procedure needs to be done only once, as it will permanently configure the OS not to use the UART serial port.

After booting the Raspberry Pi, you can now download and use the configuration tool :

Log on using PuTTY again, key in :

wget http://bit.ly/mslconfigtool

After the file is downloaded, change the permission of the file to be executable :

chmod +x mslconfigtool

Before using the configtool, terminate the shutdown script, key in :

sudo pkill irswitch.sh

To start the configuration tool, key in :

sudo ./mslconfigtool

If there are no options specified in the command-line the tool will show a help text with all available options. For a description of each option see below.
After using the config tool reboot one time to re-activate the shutdown script.

 

Firmware upgrade under Raspbian, XBian, OSMC

By default for these distros, the Raspberry Pi’s UART serial port is configured to be used for console input/output. To be able to use the serial port for the RemotePi Board firmware upgrade, the serial port console login needs to be disabled.
To do this log on to the Raspberry Pi using PuTTY, then edit /etc/inittab using :

sudo nano /etc/inittab

If the file is not existing (i.e. empty), no need to change anything, else change :

#Spawn a getty on Raspberry Pi serial line
T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyAMA0 115200 vt100

To:

#Spawn a getty on Raspberry Pi serial line
#T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyAMA0 115200 vt100

(Note the new # at the beginning of the second line !) The second line may already have the # as the first character, in which case you do not need to do anything.

Press ctrl x and then Y to exit the nano editor again and save the file.

To stop messages being sent to the serial port another system file needs to be edited :

sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt

This file will look like this :

dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=ttyAMA0,115200 kgdboc=ttyAMA0,115200 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline rootwait

If there are any references to ttyAMA0, remove them, i.e. change this to :

dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline rootwait

Press ctrl x and then Y to exit the nano editor again and save the file.

Shut down the Raspberry Pi using the menu or by :

sudo poweroff

The RemotePi Board now needs to be put into firmware upgrade mode, disconnect the USB power cable from the RemotePi Board, then hold down the pushbutton on the RemotePi Board and reconnect power to the RemotePi Board while the button is still pressed. You will see the LED lighting orange (green and red on at the same time), this indicates that the RemotePi Board is ready to upload new firmware.

After booting the Raspberry Pi, you can proceed with the firmware upgrade :

To download this firmware upgrade application, please make sure your Raspberry Pi is connected to the Internet.

Log on using PuTTY again,
key in (replace the filename mslfwXX with the firmware file you want to download, see list below) :

wget http://bit.ly/mslfwXX

After the file is downloaded, change the permission of the file to be executable :

chmod +x mslfwXX

The shutdown script needs to be terminated, if it is running. Key in :

sudo pkill irswitch.sh

Then start the firmware upgrade program :

sudo ./mslfwXX

The firmware upload utility will show the progress and after a successful firmware upgrade the LED of the RemotePi Board will light green.

Shut down the Raspberry Pi again :

sudo poweroff

After the OS has shut down, disconnect and re-connect the USB power cable from the RemotePi Board, this completes the firmware upgrade.

 

Follow us on Twitter to get notifications for firmware and configuration tool updates.

Please contact us, if you have any suggestions for additional configuration options in future firmware releases !

 

This page was last updated 05-Dec-2016