[AIOT] How to Flash Tinker Board 2 OS

UMS mode

The USB mass storage class is a USB function which can be used to export and share the storage. When the board is booted into the UMS mode, it shares the internal storage (eMMC) to the connected PC just like a hard drive connected to the PC. Then, the users can use the software such as balenaEtcher to flash the image into the internal storage (eMMC).

The UMS function is implemented in u-boot. During the u-boot boot-up stage, it will check whether the board is connected to a PC or not. If connected to a PC, the board will enter UMS mode automatically. If not, the board will follow the boot priority to continue the boot process.

1-1. Boot the board into the UMS mode from the internal storage (eMMC)

If the u-boot in the internal storage (eMMC) is still workable with the UMS function, then follow the below steps.

1. Make sure there is no SD card installed on the board.
2. Connect the board with a PC via USB Type-C and then power on the board.
3. Then, the board will boot into the UMS mode automatically.

1-2. Boot the device into the UMS from a SD card

If there is no workable u-boot in the internal storage (eMMC), in this case the board can not boot into the UMS mode from the internal storage (eMMC), you can boot the board into the UMS mode from a SD card.

1. Flash the image (with u-boot including UMS function) into a SD card.
2. Install the SD card to the board.
3. Connect the board with a PC via USB Type-C and then power on the board.
4. Then, the board will boot into the UMS mode automatically. (You may need to enable the MASKROM jumper to force the device to boot from SD, jump out the eMMC.)

1-3. Without UMS mode

Recovery from SD’s image system & without the PC mode

1. Plug the Jumper on the Maskrom mode. (force to boot from SD, jump out the eMMC)
2. Flash the Image (any can bootable) to SD card.
3. Plug the SD card to the board.
4. Booting the board. It would boot up to the RootFS.
5. use either command dd or methods to flash new image file to eMMC(mmcblk1).

You can use the software such as balenaEthcher to flash the images into the SD cards or the internal storage (eMMC) on the board when the board is booted into the UMS mode.

1. Download the software from balena.io.
2. Run balenaEtcher and select the image file.
3. Select the target.
4. Click on Flash to start flashing.

Alternatively, you can also use the command dd. Run the following command, replacing /dev/sdx with your drive, e.g. /dev/sdc. (Do not append a partition number, so do not use something like /dev/sdc1. You can use the command lsblk to find out the target. Make sure that it is not mounted.)

dd bs=4M if=/path/to/image of=/dev/sdx status=progress && sync

2-1. Booting from external Micro SD card

Requirement:

• 1x Micro SD card with at least 8GB capacity
• 1x Power supply
• 1x Monitor
• 1x Keyboard and Mouse set

Setting Up:

Insert the micro SD card into a Windows® PC.

Download the TinkerOS image from the Tinker Board website (http://tinker-board.junchengjj.com/download.html) and burn it into the micro SD card using a third-party ISO software, such as Etcher.

Insert the bootable micro SD card into your Tinker Board, then connect the power supply, keyboard, mouse, and monitor to boot up.

2-2. Booting from onboard eMMC

NOTE: Booting from the onboard eMMC is only available for models with eMMC.

Requirement:

• 1x USB cable with data transfer function (Micro USB or Type-C®, by SKU)
• 1x Power supply
• 1x Monitor
• 1x Keyboard and Mouse set

Setting Up:

1. Connect the Tinker Board to a PC using a USB cable.
2. Connect the power adapter to the Tinker Board.
3. Download the TinkerOS image from the Tinker Board website (http://tinker-board.junchengjj.com/download.html) and burn it into the Tinker Board using a third-party ISO software, such as balenaEtcher.
4. After the TinkerOS image is successfully burned, disconnect all cables from the Tinker Board.
5. Connect the power supply, keyboard, mouse, and monitor to your Tinker Board to boot up.