Compute Module 4 Firmware Update

Updating the firmware on the CM4 unit can be a bit confusing so we've put together this short app note to help.

Check which version firmware you have with 

vcgencmd bootloader_version 

If the version reports any older than "2022/12/07" you will need to update it. 

There are two ways to do this, you can use the rpiboot program and a direct connection to the unit using the USB programming port, similar to how we program the CM4s eMMC flash, or you can use the OS tools once "self update" has been enabled on the unit. 

Method 1 - USB Recovery Mode

Let's cover the USB version first. For this we need to follow the same steps as with the eMMC programming, and make 100% sure the Watchdog links have been removed from the board as these will cause the unit to reboot when the timer expires and may clash with the process (which would not be good).

Assuming you have followed the steps to install rpiboot as per the Flashing the Compute Module page, navigate to same folder as the Raspberry Pi rpiboot program (on Windows this is usually C:Program Files (x86)Raspberry Pi) and rename the folder "recovery" to "recovery.old"

Download the recovery.zip file from the link below and copy this folder to the same folder as shown below, this has firmware version Wed  7 Dec 14:24:15 UTC 2022 (1670423055). 

Next we need to run the program with the syntax

rpiboot -d recovery

With Windows use the cm4-firmware-update.bat file also linked to below and copy that to the same folder to make the process easier. 

Connect up the microUSB port to the desktop USB port and run the cm4-firmware-update.bat file. This will lauch the window below and when the system says "Waiting for..." power up the CM4 Board.

Once the system has finished the update the HDMI output will go Green and the boards ACT led will flash steady and continiously to indicate it has finished.

Method 2 - OS Update Program 

Here we have created a short script which will check you can update the firmware