Table of Contents

Flash / backup the OS

Gate

By default, each Unipi Gate device comes with a Linux Debian-based OS that contains pre-installed Node-RED software. The OS can be reflashed to install any supported software.

Flashing the OS using the service interface

To upload OS into the Unipi Gate through its service interface, you need to access the service mode first. To enable it, follow instructions in this article.

  1. Enter the device's IP address into a web browser. Upon confirmation, you will be connected to the Unipi Gate service interface
  2. In the service interface, drag and drop the archive.swu file extracted from the OS image archive into the Software update dialogue window
  3. The flashing process is indicated by rapid blinking of ACT, TX and RX diodes (demonstration here)
  4. Wait until the device finishes the process. Its progress can be monitored in a dialogue window under the Messages label
  5. Finishing the process is indicated by diodes going off and a reboot of the device

Flashing the OS using a USB flashdisk

  1. Prepare a USB flash disk in FAT32 format with a capacity of at least 2 GB
  2. Copy the content of the ZIP archive onto the flash disk
  3. Unplug the power supply from the device and insert the flash disk into the device's USB port
  4. Press and hold the SERVICE button on the device's face side
  5. Plug the power supply back. Unipi Gate will automatically start the OS flashing process indicated by rapid blinking of ACT, TX and RX diodes (demonstration here)
  6. You can now release the SERVICE button
  7. Finishing the process is indicated by diodes going off and a reboot of the device

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Note:
If the USB flash disk is not compatible, Unipi Gate will not start the OS flashing and reboots. In that case, you need to use a different flash disk or the above-mentioned flashing through the service interface.

Backup and restore the OS

Creating an OS back-up on a USB flashdisk

  1. Prepare a USB flash disk in FAT32 format with a capacity of at least 2 GB
  2. Start the device in the service mode
  3. Insert the flash disk and wait for approximately 5 seconds
  4. In the service interface, click on the Backup to USB flash button located in the Backup dialogue window
  5. Unipi Gate will start creating the OS backup - the process is indicated by rapid blinking of ACT, TX and RX diodes (demonstration here)
  6. Upon finishing the process, a “Updated successfully” prompt will be displayed in the service display and blinking of the LEDs will slow down (demonstration here)
  7. You can now reboot the device using a button on the upper right corner of the web interface
  8. For loading the backup or uploading the OS into a different device of the same product line, follow the guide below

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Note:
If the USB flash disk is not compatible, Unipi Gate will not start the backup process. In that case, you need to use a different flash disk.

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Attention:
If you are creating a backup on a device with a lower FID than the one you will flash the backup OS to (e.g. FID 1.1 → FID 2.0), always update the following packages first: g1-kernel-image, g1-u-boot, g1-altboot

Update by the following commands: 

sudo apt update
sudo apt install g1-kernel-image g1-u-boot g1-altboot

For a Debian 12 based OS you need to update these packages: unipi-kernel, unipi-u-boot, unipi-altboot 

sudo apt update
sudo apt install unipi-kernel unipi-u-boot unipi-altboot

Restore the OS from back-up on the USB flashdisk

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Attention:
After time some hardware parameters of compute module can be updated (different RAM, different eMMC). This can require firmware update of compute module for correct functionality. All devices are always shipped with up-to-date firmware for compute module.

When restoring the backup from older device, the older firmware might be incompatible with a newer compute module and the device might not run properly. It is recommended to regularly update and maintain the backup of the devices to be compatible with the newest version. The backups will then be usable for newer devices.

If a situation happens, where backup cannot be restored (the device is not starting), it is necessary to restore the backup on some other older device and update the system. Then create a backup from the newly updated system. This new backup will work on newer devices.

  1. Unplug the power supply from the device and insert the flash disk into the device's USB port
  2. Press and hold the SERVICE button on the device's face side
  3. Plug the power supply back. Unipi Gate will automatically start the OS flashing process indicated by rapid blinking of ACT, TX and RX diodes (demonstration here)
  4. You can now release the SERVICE button
  5. Finishing the process is indicated by diodes going off and a reboot of the device