Help please with SP Flash Tool in Linux and terminal commands

[Ricmar]

I purchased a used Win10 laptop to use for running SP Flash Tool and SN Writer. But in Windows (grrr) files are missing when downloading the tool, so I gave up and went back to my Linux laptop (running Pop!OS, based on Ubuntu/Deb) for the SP Flash at least.

SP Flash Tool would not run. I searched (Qwant). Special instructions for Ubuntu suggested this command:

SP_Flash_Tool_v6.2228_Linux$ chmod +x SPFlashToolV6

SP Flash Tool now opens, but will not begin the download after plugging in my turned off BraX3. It either throws an unidentified error or just sits there doing nothing. More searching…a command to install this file that is left out of Linux in the latest releases and required by SP Flash, so:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install libusb-dev

Still doesn’t run. I went back to something I didn’t use because it was now opening, just not running the download and tried these:

sudo adduser username dialout
newgrp dialout
./SPFlashToolV6.sh

No Luck. Next suggestion was USB driver (the driver on MT website says “for Windows” so I didn’t do anything with it). Tried:

sudo dmesg | grep usb

Then told… look for your MediaTek device entry, and copy the idProduct string…idProduct=2046
Now in the terminal, type…

sudo gedit/etc/udev/rules.d/80-persistent-usb.rules Result: command not found

If that had succeeded, then add the following line (replacing the idProduct with yours) to the file, and save.

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ACTION==”add”, ATTR{idVendor}==”0e8d”, ATTR{idProduct}==” ***** “

??? I am not finding a tutorial to understand this. I really need help so I can hopefully proceed with flashing…Lunar, then IMEI, & last iode, per: How to manually install or update your OS on your BraX3 & How to Change the IMEI Number on Your BraX3

[xancudo]

I run Pop OS, and I’ve never had to do any of that. But I do have to run SP Flash as sudo. That was it. I’m running 22.04. I did just verify that I do have libusb-dev already installed. And I never had to edit any file to get product ID or anything. There was a file in the betas (flash.xml I think it was ) that contained the hardware or platform model.

[Ricmar]

xancudo, thanks for your reply. So, I went the “scenic route” to make it executable and give myself permission to run it
I tried again to run it (after it was shutdown overnight) today it WORKED. Is it supposed to actually boot into Lunar? All I get is the brax (grub?) screen with some tiny text I can’t possibly read. Or, should I just proceed with the writer tool?

Edit: found a thread on “Brax3 stuck in endless loop”…not good! With a magnifying glass, after pressing volume up for the menu, I can’t get it into the recovery selection.

[rik]

@Ricmar

Edit: found a thread on “Brax3 stuck in endless loop”…not good! With a magnifying glass, after pressing volume up for the menu, I can’t get it into the recovery selection.

I may have had issues with LunarOS not booting after installing using SP Flash (it would “boot loop”). I believe I did then need to use recovery to do a “factory data reset” afterward. Get that magnifying glass you will see that continually pressing Vol + will scroll the choices. Then use Vol - to actually launch the selection.

Back to your issues launching SP Flash on Linux, you do need to run it as root, so with sudo on Ubuntu bases. Starting from the terminal is advised so you can see any errors. I don’t think (??) that a lot of of your other mucking was needed (??) (usb rules etc.)

[Ricmar]

Thanks rik, ok, I ran SP Flash again after doing a fresh download of Lunar (3rd times a charm)?, got past the loop, but it wanted to factory reset and loose the user data like you said, so I did. Love Lunar home screen and the larger centered clock. I’ve been trying to get SN Writer working on Windows, it is missing a vcruntime140.dll. I’ve repaired, uninstalled, reinstalled twice, still won’t run. Any suggestions for that?

I should probably mark this thread resolved since SPFlash is now working for me on Linux.