This guide will show you how to flash the latest Nebra firmware to your Nebra indoor/outdoor Gen 1 hotspot with onboard eMMC storage.
What you will need
- OS image file - https://hub.nebra.com
- Small Philips screwdriver (Indoor only)
- A computer with Linux/Windows/MAC OS
- A micro USB cable
Do not flash your Nebra hotspot unless instructed by a member of the Nebra support staff
Below are the instructions to follow the onboard eMMC.
Step 1 - Open Indoor hotspot
First, we need to open the indoor hotspot by removing the four screws from the bottom. Please disconnect all the power before removing the screws and opening them.
Step 2 - Locate the daughter board and change jumper settings to "download mode".
Next, we need to change the jumper to "Download mode". Please disconnect the power and ethernet cable while changing the jumper.
JP3 - JP3 Jumper should be enable by shorting
JP4 - JP4 Jumper should be on pins 2-3
Step 3 - Connect the daughterboard to the computer
Please do not power the hotspot via a DC power adaptor
Connect the micro USB cable to the daughter board and connect the other end to you computer. If you want, you can remove the daughterboard from the main baseboard. Once connected correctly, you can see the Blue LED will have a solid light after connecting the USB cable to the computer.
Step 4 - Mount the onboard eMMC on the computer
Linux, Windows and MAC OS have different procedures to mount the compute module as a storage device. We have included instructions below for all three different operating systems. Please select which one suits your needs.
Linux OS
Step 4
-1 - Install RPi USB boot by running the below commands in the terminal
sudo apt install git libusb-1.0-0-dev
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/raspberrypi/usbboot
cd usbboot
make
sudo ./rpiboot
After running the RPi USB boot program, you should see Raspberry Pi Drives are mounting and the Blue LED will turn off.
MAC OS
Step 4-1 - Download the "usbboot" software folder by clicking the below link
https://github.com/raspberrypi/usbboot/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
Step 4-2 - Open the terminal inside the "usbboot" folder
Step 4-3 - Install X code
xcode-select --install
Step 4-4 - Install libusb
brew install libusb
Step 4-5 - Install pkg-config
brew install pkg-config
Step 4-6 - Build using make
make
Step 4-7 - Run the binary
sudo ./rpiboot
Step 4-8 - After a few seconds, the compute module eMMC will pop up under MAC OS as a drive (USB mass storage device) and the Blue LED will turn off.
Windows
Step 4-1 Download and run the windows installer
Download and run the windows installer to install the drivers and boot tool.
https://github.com/raspberrypi/usbboot/raw/master/win32/rpiboot_setup.exe
Step 4-2 - Once the driver installation is complete, run the RPiBoot.exe tool that was previously installed.
Step 4-3 - After a few seconds, the compute module eMMC will pop up under Windows as a disk and the Blue LED will turn off.
Step 5
On your computer, download and install Balena Etcher from - https://www.balena.io/etcher
After successfully mounting the compute module, install galena etcher on you computer.
Once downloaded, go ahead and open up the galena etcher program.
Step 6
Click on the "Flash from File" button in Etcher and navigate to where you save the OS image file from hub.nebra.com and select it to be installed.
Please do not unzip/uncompress/modify the firmware file
In the middle of the menu in Etcher click "Select target" to select the compute module mass storage device.
Finally, click the "Flash!" button to begin flashing the OS to your compute module. (You may need to type in your system password)
Step 7 - Back to normal booting
Once flashing has completed, please please the jumper back in normal booting mode.
JP3 - JP3 Jumper should be disabled by not connecting to anything
JP4 - JP4 Jumper should be in positions 1-2
Step 8 - Flashing Completed
Connect the antenna, ethernet cable and power adaptor and wait for 5mins to complete the first boot.