NAME

flash2uart - create a file for booting a Helium system via a serial port


SYNOPSIS

flash2uart <flashfile> <outfile>


ARGUMENTS

flashfile
A bootable flash image as produced by mkflash

outfile
name of the destination file


DESCRIPTION

flash2uart turns a flash file into a format suitable for booting a Helium system via its serial port. The system must be at the

 He>

prompt, either because the serial ROM boot has been interrupted from the keyboard, or because neither the serial ROM nor the flash memory are bootable. In such a case downloading a file produced by flash2uart (e.g using the 'Send text file' option in Hyperterm, or ``cat > name-of-serial-port'' under unix ) will boot the image. This is only intended as a rescue method (for example to re-write corrupted flash memory): the process is far too slow for regular use.


LIMITATIONS

The file is sent as a series of 'w' commands over a 9600bps line. As a result, this method of booting is extrememly slow. Allow 1.5hours per megabyte of the original flash image.

If the serial ROM is absent or corrupted, the memory system will not have been configured when download begins, and this may fail if the required memory configuration is substantially different from that of a BD3000 reference board .


ALSO See

the mkhfflash manpage