How to make a full backup of a Duet 2 wifi board
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Hello,
I would like to be able to backup my entire Duet 2 wifi board, not just my config files via DWC.
Is there other things that config files and firmware binary to backup ?
If yes, what are there more ?
If no, is there a standard way to read and backup firmware binary ? Maybe with Bossa?Thank in advance
Regards. -
I just enable FTP in the config.g file and use a typical Windows based backup program that supports FTP connections, on my computer.
Frederick
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@pit34 No need for bossa to get a backup of the firmware, a copy will be on the sd card. And you can also get them from github: https://github.com/Duet3D/RepRapFirmware/releases
I just use DWC to make backups of macros and sys. For my PI on my 6HC, I also use Win32 Disk Imager to make a copy of the sd card.
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Ok, thanks.
I am on 3.2 and have found multiples .bin files on the sd-card, like the combined one, the wifi one, etc.
I remember those files need to be flash in a specific order. So I presume this is not a copy of the firmware binary.Can Bossa still be used to read et save a full firmware backup ?
Like for the PanelDue ?My goal is to compare RRF 3.4 solution with Klipper solution. As the SAM4e8e will be fully erased by Klipper firmware installer, I would like to be able to re-flash it with a third-party program, to be able to come back to RRF 3.4 easily.
Those multiple .bin files with specific flash order make me worry about how to return easily to RRF =/
Thanks for your help.
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@pit34 Bossa should read the firmware on the board, but not the wifi module.
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@pit34 said in How to make a full backup of a Duet 2 wifi board:
I would like to be able to backup my entire Duet 2 wifi board, not just my config files via DWC.
That's not possible. You can backup your SD card, that is all macros, the config.g, DWC etc., but the firmwares are different: they are installed on their respective boards: Duet, WiFi module (yes, that controller has its own firmware, too), PanelDue …
A full recovery thus requires two steps:
- re-installing the firmwares
- setting up a SD card.
One source of the firmwares is GitHub, but to avoid confusion, you can - on your computer - maintain a folder for each firmware ("binary") you download, together with the contents of the SD card at that time. Such a directory on the PC then contains a snapshot of your configuration at a given time.
The problem with the binaries is just how to install them. The way this has to be done has changed in the past and will likely become even more comfortable in the future, but if you want to try not only stable versions but also betas or nightly builds, you should keep an eye on the specific instructions at GitHub.
Anyway, as long as you can connect to the Duet via USB, you can use Bossa to re-install any binary you want. There is just one caveat: restoring a matching WiFi firmware might be tricky, as you cannot address that controller directly - instead, this process is managed by the firmware on the Duet.
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Ok. Thanks.
So as i can see, the way to do a full recovery backup from a fully fonctionnal printer is :
To backup :
- Read PannelDue firmware binary with Bossa.
- Read Duet firmware binary with Bossa or in the sd-card firmware folder.
- Copy the sdcard content.
- Put all this things in a backup folder on a safe storage, giving this a comprehensive name with firmwares version, etc.
To recover :
- Write PannelDue firmware binary with Bossa.
- Write Duet firmware binary with Bossa, using Fallback procedure #2
- Update wifi module firmware via USB and YAT, using the Duet firmware version to find the corresponding wifi module firmware. Instructions may vary, look at github release folder, but standard way is Updating Wifi firmware instructions.
I think this is the simple and more reliable way. Can you confirm this ?
For the wifi module, I think a "hard" way is possible, by reading the firmware directly on the wifi module. This is a simple Esp8266 module. Accessing Rx and Tx pins with an FTDI adapter should permit to read and write binary. This implies to solder some wire on board or use spring probes, and could be risky, but this should work.
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@pit34 Why on earth do you want to scrape the firmware from the boards with Bossa, if you can load the images as well from GitHub? Must be personal taste, eh
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I see no need to read the firmware from the hardware.
I simply keep the distributed firmware files on the SD card and can write them to the hardware at any time it might be needed.
I also have copies of the distributed firmware files for all versions that I may need to revert to. I keep these files on my computer.
Frederick
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One option that was not mentioned is the RRF rfm utility. I use it to backup sys and macros to a github repository that tracks the history of my configurations.
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@infiniteloop said in How to make a full backup of a Duet 2 wifi board:
@pit34 Why on earth do you want to scrape the firmware from the boards with Bossa, if you can load the images as well from GitHub? Must be personal taste, eh
I am a bit of a maniac. I like to backup what is directly on the board and is working. Like a "master" in cinema.
I am afraid of backuping the wrong file or something like that.
Reading directly on chip is a way for me to avoid some way of error. And to be sure to have what is working.But yeah, it may be quite strange
May be some rest of an ancient work in electronic board factory ? I'll ask my psy... -
But what is on the chip came from a file you download from the source for all duet files.
They are your "masters" - not what is on the chip.
Frederick
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Yes, you are right. I did not try to prove you are wrong.
But I have "phases" every 6/12 month in which I try to upgrade, or just tinker on my printer, just for fun. And I generally do not touch my printer between those phase, other than for printing things. So I do not have good memories on what is on my printer, how I have done this part or this part, etc. It is not well documented on my side.
So I prefer to backup what is actually working, so what is on chips, rather than what was used to make it work. It is just personal taste, not certainly logical or the best
