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Flash OVIS Firmware

OVIS supports firmware flashing from Windows over USB or UART. Use USB for routine flashing. UART transfers the same firmware much more slowly and is intended as a fallback when USB flashing is unavailable.

warning

Flashing replaces the firmware stored on the device. Use an official firmware package that matches your hardware variant, keep the device connected to stable power, and do not close the terminal or disconnect the cable while data is being written.

Before you start​

Prepare the following:

  • A Windows computer.
  • An OVIS device and a data-capable USB cable.
  • An official firmware package matching your Standard or CVBS hardware variant.
  • usb_dl.exe for USB flashing or uart_dl.exe for UART flashing.

Download the firmware​

Download a prebuilt firmware package from OVIS SDK Releases. After extracting it, you can flash it directly using the USB or UART procedure below; compiling the SDK is not required.

Choose the package in the release's Assets that matches your hardware:

Firmware Filename PatternHardware Variant
ovis_standard_firmware_*.zipStandard
ovis_cvbs_firmware_*.zipCVBS

* represents the version in the filename. The automatically generated Source code archives are not firmware packages.

Download the flashing tools​

Download USB tool (288 KiB)

Download UART tool (524 KiB)

The commands below use PowerShell syntax. Open PowerShell in the directory that contains the selected flashing tool.

USB is the recommended method because it is substantially faster than UART.

Install the USB driver​

Install the USB download driver before flashing from a Windows computer for the first time. The following procedure uses Windows 10 as an example.

Download USB driver (571 KiB)

  1. Download and extract CviUsbDownloadInstallDriver.zip.
  2. Double-click CviUsbDownloadInstallDriver.exe.
  3. Select Next in the installation wizard until the installation completes.
  4. Return to this page and continue with the firmware directory preparation below.
note

The driver only needs to be installed once on each computer. If it is already installed, skip this section and do not run the installer again.

Prepare the firmware directory​

Place usb_dl.exe in a working directory. Create a folder named rom beside it, extract the downloaded firmware package, and copy all extracted files and directories into rom.

The resulting layout should follow this structure:

ovis-flashing-tool/
|-- usb_dl.exe
`-- rom/
    |-- <firmware files>
    `-- <firmware directories>

rom must contain the extracted firmware contents. Do not place the ZIP file itself in rom, and do not add another package-name directory between rom and the extracted contents.

Start flashing​

Run the following command from the directory that contains usb_dl.exe:

.\usb_dl.exe -c cv184x -i .\rom

After the command starts and waits for the device, trigger a device reset using either method:

  • Enter REBOOT in the serial console.
  • Disconnect and reconnect the USB cable.

The reset allows the flashing tool to detect the device and begin writing the firmware. Keep the USB connection stable until the command reports that flashing has completed. If the device does not restart automatically after a successful write, enter REBOOT in the serial console or disconnect and reconnect the USB cable once.

Method 2: UART flashing​

Use UART only when USB flashing cannot be used. Firmware transfer over UART is significantly slower.

Find the COM port​

Connect the OVIS UART interface to the computer, then open Device Manager in Windows. Expand Ports (COM & LPT) and note the COM number assigned to the device, such as COM3.

Close any serial terminal that is using the same COM port before starting the flashing tool.

Prepare the firmware directory​

Extract the downloaded firmware package and locate its rawimages directory. UART flashing uses the extracted rawimages path rather than the rom directory used by the USB procedure.

For example:

D:\firmware\rawimages

Start flashing​

Open PowerShell in the directory that contains uart_dl.exe. Replace the example firmware path and COM3 with the values on your computer:

.\uart_dl.exe -c cv184x -i "D:\firmware\rawimages" -p COM3

Keep quotation marks around a firmware path that contains spaces. After the command starts and waits for the device, enter REBOOT in the serial console or disconnect and reconnect the USB cable so the tool can establish the UART connection. Do not disconnect the UART connection or device power before the command finishes.

Troubleshooting​

USB flashing does not start​

  • Confirm that the cable supports data transfer and is connected securely.
  • Start usb_dl.exe before entering REBOOT in the serial console or reconnecting the USB cable.
  • Check that the Windows USB flashing driver supplied with the flashing tools is installed correctly.
  • Confirm that rom is beside usb_dl.exe and contains the extracted firmware contents directly.

UART cannot open the COM port​

  • Check the current port number in Device Manager; Windows may assign a different number after reconnecting the adapter.
  • Close serial terminals and other programs that may be using the COM port.
  • Confirm that the -p value exactly matches the displayed port, for example COM3.

The tool rejects the firmware directory​

Use the directory required by the selected method: rom for USB, and the extracted rawimages directory for UART. Do not mix these directory layouts or pass the firmware ZIP file directly to either command.