The mtd_debug write does not work in this context. The flashcp command does 
work, provides
both the erase and write functions and with the verbose option gives good 
feedback.

Signed-off-by: Stephen Graf <stephen.g...@gmail.com>
---
 doc/board/allwinner/sunxi.rst | 3 +--
 1 file changed, 1 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/board/allwinner/sunxi.rst b/doc/board/allwinner/sunxi.rst
index 797222d8d3..d0c89b956b 100644
--- a/doc/board/allwinner/sunxi.rst
+++ b/doc/board/allwinner/sunxi.rst
@@ -251,8 +251,7 @@ the SPI flash content from Linux, using the `MTD utils`_::

     # apt-get install mtd-utils
     # mtdinfo
-    # mtd_debug erase /dev/mtdX 0 0xf0000
-    # mtd_debug write /dev/mtdX 0 0xf0000 u-boot-sunxi-with-spl.bin
+    # flashcp -v u-boot-sunxi-with-spl.bin /dev/mtdX

 ``/dev/mtdX`` needs to be replaced with the respective device name, as listed
 in the output of ``mtdinfo``.
---

On 2023-11-30 4:27 p.m., Andre Przywara wrote:
Hi Stephen,

On 30/11/2023 01:13, Stephen Graf wrote:
Is the attached patch file going in the right direction?

yes, thanks, the change itself looks alright, but it needs to be:
- in a separate email, with a descriptive subject, prefixed by [PATCH]
- have the diff inline, not as an attachment (to allow easy commenting in an 
email thread)
- have a Signed-off-by: tag with your name and email address. This is to 
signify that the change is an original one made by you and you are happy to 
submit this under the (GPL) license conditions.
- an explanation *why* this change is required (mtd_debug write being not 
reliable, etc)
- sent to the U-Boot list and the maintainer (me)

Look at the U-Boot mailing list (archive) for examples.
"git format-patch" creates everything in the right format (mbox), and "git 
send-email" will send this via an SMTP server you point it to. Or you import this into your 
client.

If you could try this (with the Signed-off-by being the most important change), 
I am happy to submit this with the next push.

Thanks,
Andre


On 2023-11-29 3:57 p.m., Andre Przywara wrote:
Hi Stephen,

On 28/11/2023 20:07, Stephen Graf wrote:
Below is the console log from trying to use mtd_debug write. It returned 
immediately with a strange success message.

root@orangepizero3:~# mtd_debug write /dev/mtd0 0 0xf0000 
/home/sysadmin/u-boot-sunxi-with-spl.bin
file_to_flash: fread, size 0xf0000, n 0xf0000
fread(): Success

interesting, I was under the impression that "mtd_debug write" would be the way to write to flash. In hindsight, the 
"debug" in that name should have probably put me off. Anyway, "cat" is probably not a good choice, 
"dd" is better, but it looks like "flashcp" (also part of mtdutils) is the go-to tool, since it does the 
required erasing automatically and also reportedly does some error detection. Can you please test this?
# flashcp u-boot-sunxi-with-spl.bin /dev/mtd0
I would test this on my end ASAP as well.

Do you feel like sending a patch to the U-Boot documentation to get this 
changed then?

Thanks,
Andre

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