Pi-top[4] Firmware update

[Tom-B]

I got a prompt that a pi-top[4] firmware update was available, so I clicked “Update Now”, but no further indication to show that a firmware update was in progress.

1. How can you check firmware?
2. How does one now if the firmware update is occurring at all if there’s no indication on-screen or on the pi-top[4]?

It’s kinda mysterious to click that you would like the firmware update but have no clear way of knowing what’s going on. Typically, if one would stop a firmware update mid-process, it could cause issues with hardware. It would be better to have a progress bar or indication in some way that a firmware update in actually taking place.

No place in the Knowledge base have I been able to find information on how to check firmware on a pi-top[4].

[nannerbm60]

Hi @Tom-B - I’ve just been down this road with the same lack of response and “fixed it” - following the bootloader and firmware updates in …

[Guide] pi-top USB boot Install (RPi4)

These are the steps to getting pi-topOS to USB boot on the Raspberry Pi 4. This can take some time due to the lack of up to date pi-top image. We can only hope for one to be released and save all these steps and time What You Need Hardware 1x pi-top[4] or Raspberry Pi 4 1x Micro SD card 1x External Hard Drive/SSD in a compatible enclosure/adapter Software pi-topOS ISO dated 2020-12-22 Raspberry Pi Imager (works on Windows Mac and Linux) For known compatible SSD enclosures/adapters you c…

[Tom-B]

@nannerbm60 – Thank you. However, this seems like a lot of information for updating the firmware in the pi-top[4]. Does it just mean that the EEPROM needs an update (I did one update when I first go the DIY Pi-top[4] and added my own RPi-4.

This is just a lot of information when I was just wondering why when I click “Update Now” for the firmware update and nothing else happens.

Anyway, thanks again. Not sure I follow how one applies to the other.

[nannerbm60]

@Tom-B - My experience (of the firmware not updating on mouse click) was fixed by updating the bootloader (which is the same first steps as the USB post.)

I suggest: In terminal enter vcgencmd bootloader_version and if the date is Sept 3rd 2020 then you are on the latest version of everything …

and my “update firmware” now works on mouse click after updating the bootloader etc

[Tom-B]

Gotcha. Thank you for the clarification. Makes sense now.

My bootloader is already dated Sept 3, 2020, but I then tried updating the firmware again for giggles and this time it worked just fine. Not sure why it failed the previous several times I tried. ¯\ _ (ツ) _ /¯