Intel Edison Guide: Flashing Linux Image With the New Flash Tool Lite

Hi everyone, today I'm gonna show you a different method to flash your Intel Edison. Intel has just announced Board Software Release 2.1 on mid May, which features an Onboard MCU SDK, Extended Audio Support, and a Flash Tool Lite. So, I think it's time to flash the release 2.1 image to your Edison board with Flash Tool Lite, right!

Also, a user manual of this tool is available in Intel site, but quite short and mainly for Windows users. So, I will show you how to use it on Mac and provide some more details.

Now, let's get started!

*** Download Flash Tool Lite for Mac here:

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/24910/eng/PhoneFla...

- Open FlashToolLite_5.2.1.111_mac64.pkg, and follow the install guide.

- Done! But don't open the software, we need to prepare the Intel Edison first!

*** Remove old image files in the Edison:

- Open Terminal and type these commands (hit Enter before moving to the next line)

cd /Volumes/Edison 
rm –rf * 
rm –rf \.* 

*** Download the newest Yocto Linux image, and unzip it!

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/24910/eng/edison-i...

Now, everything is ready for flashing process.

- Setup the Edison board: make sure the micro-switch is on micro-USB ports side, and unplug your Edison from computer.

- Open the Flash Tool Lite.

- Choose Browse, and select FlashEdison.json file in the unzip image folder, and Open it.

- You will notice the Log Info (On the bottom) update and say "Ready to flash!", you can also change Log Level to DEBUG or TRACE to view more processes.

***Important: The flash process only works when the Edison is booting, so:

- First, unplug the Edison

- Hit Start to flash on the software

- Then plug the board again to your Mac, the flashing process will start automatically.

Also, you can observe the flashing process in real-time by access the Edison via Serial Terminal:

screen /dev/cu.usbserial-A502LRRQ 115200

You may get errors on your first try, and it's obvious. Here is my advice:

- Try to use another USB port. I got the errors because of this problem, I think the software only recognize one USB port only (I have two ports, and only one works, the other is used as serial terminal which I have mentioned above)

I have printed screen all the processes, so take a look before starting!

Good luck!

To make sure everything is ok, you can check the version as well as the partitions on the Edison.

Wait until the Edison finish booting, then type:

root
df- h
configure_edison --version<br>

Check out my screen shot for the result! Congratulation, you have finished flashing with the new tool!

***Some info about the Flash Tool Lite:

- It's may be modified from Phone Flash Tool Lite, which is used to flash rom to Android devices.

- It uses traditional flashing method, with xFSTK and DFU stuff.

- This flashing method has some pros ans cons: it can re-partition your Edison storage following the new release, so you can get more rootfs size (from 512M to 1.4G with the latest image), but it also wipes all your data.

Tell me if you have troubles! Enjoy!