Topic: Lost the "Reset" and "Update" screen...Need Help

Hi, bought a used Chumby One to play with.  It needed updating so I followed the directions for USB updating and it hanged on the second part of the update for a long time.  I decided to reboot and redo the USB update. Unfortunately, all I get is the "Special Options" screen then it would reboot.  I do not get the screen where you can choose to "reset" or "Update."  The Chumby does boot into normal mode though.

After alot of searching and  reading, I am now currently using Zurks firmware v.23 in accessing the Chumby One.  Since it was the only way for me to be able to access the device after the failed update.  I am able to use Putty and
use the web interface to access it.

How do I force Chumby to do a factory reset or update without access to the "reset"/"update" screen?  Is there anyway for me to force update or reset the Chumby One from command line via Putty with the update file on a different USB stick? 

I am a newbie so a detailed guided explanation would help in getting my Chumby One to back to stock. 

Thanks to all that will reply.

Re: Lost the "Reset" and "Update" screen...Need Help

I don't really know about this, but I'll give you some guesses I have to what's going on.

1. By resetting during your firmware update, you may have corrupted the firmware and need to flash the MicroSD card inside of your Chumby. To do this, you will have to take apart the Chumby, flash the card in a card reader with your computer, replace the card, and put the Chumby back together. There's a download link to a Chumby One rom on this forum somewhere.

2. Your power supply may have some issues.

3. It takes a while to load the Special Options screen. You may need to have a lot of patience.

I don't really know, but these are a few hunches.

P.S: How big was the flash drive you used to update the Chumby? If it's  16GB or above, it usually won't work and just hangs the Chumby.

Re: Lost the "Reset" and "Update" screen...Need Help

nathanm has some good thoughts on the matter.

With regards to #1, I will elaborate that taking a Chumby apart sounds much more daunting than it is; I've taken most of my Chumby/Infocast devices apart at some point or other, and the way they're put together, you really just need a little confidence with a screwdriver to get things done.  The MicroSD card itself is reasonably accessible, and is in a slot similar to what many smartphones have.

Taking out the MicroSD card will enable you to directly re-flash it from your computer with the appropriate software, negating the need for the Special Options screen.  I'm not 100% certain, but performing this re-flash should also restore your Special Options functionality too.  The best part is, no USB stick is required at this point, so you can leave the zurkware on that USB stick for use if you want to continue running in offline mode (since right now all online mode offers is the Star Trek clock). By fixing your MicroSD card though, you'll be ready to go back to online mode as Duane brings things back online smile

Re: Lost the "Reset" and "Update" screen...Need Help

I'd make a bet that it doesn't have anything to do with the hardware possibilities mentioned above, but it's the zurkware itself. He made a "fork" away from the Chumby infrastructure after his v 21. Newer versions are not designed to be run off a USB stick but actually install on the device. No more simply pull out the USB and revert to Chumby. I was going to write a cautionary topic about this but guess I'm too late. I'll do one now. Of more concern is that his new versions don't support the Chumby Classic at all. I think Zurk's forum on Sourceforge explains how to get back the Chumby functionality.

5 (edited by nathanm 2013-04-04 17:57:23)

Re: Lost the "Reset" and "Update" screen...Need Help

bobsz wrote:

I'd make a bet that it doesn't have anything to do with the hardware possibilities mentioned above, but it's the zurkware itself. He made a "fork" away from the Chumby infrastructure after his v 21. Newer versions are not designed to be run off a USB stick but actually install on the device. No more simply pull out the USB and revert to Chumby. I was going to write a cautionary topic about this but guess I'm too late. I'll do one now. Of more concern is that his new versions don't support the Chumby Classic at all. I think Zurk's forum on Sourceforge explains how to get back the Chumby functionality.

The thing is, the OP got these problems before he started running Zurkware. I tried Zurkware v22, but it turned out that the "Weather editor" he was talking about is just an XML editor of the weather profile from the Chumby's IP, not an actual weather editor. However, you can revert just by updating your Chumby with update.tgz. Now, I'm back on the stub server.

Re: Lost the "Reset" and "Update" screen...Need Help

nathanm wrote:

I don't really know about this, but I'll give you some guesses I have to what's going on.

1. By resetting during your firmware update, you may have corrupted the firmware and need to flash the MicroSD card inside of your Chumby. To do this, you will have to take apart the Chumby, flash the card in a card reader with your computer, replace the card, and put the Chumby back together. There's a download link to a Chumby One rom on this forum somewhere.

2. Your power supply may have some issues.

3. It takes a while to load the Special Options screen. You may need to have a lot of patience.

I don't really know, but these are a few hunches.

P.S: How big was the flash drive you used to update the Chumby? If it's  16GB or above, it usually won't work and just hangs the Chumby.

Thanks for helping me.  I used an old 2gb usb stick that I had.  It took awhile for the Chumby One to recognized it after a couple of pluging and unpluging the stick.  Once it recognized the stick I did the update and then it hanged on part 2 of the updating process, it was stuck on that screen for a couple of hours before I dedided to reboot.

I tried looking for the Chumby One rom image but I could not locate it.  All I got was 404 error when I followed the links.  If anyone can direct me to the file I would appreciated it. Also, if I open the Chumby to reflash the firmware could I use a bigger card to replace the existing card?

Re: Lost the "Reset" and "Update" screen...Need Help

Doktor Jones wrote:

nathanm has some good thoughts on the matter.

With regards to #1, I will elaborate that taking a Chumby apart sounds much more daunting than it is; I've taken most of my Chumby/Infocast devices apart at some point or other, and the way they're put together, you really just need a little confidence with a screwdriver to get things done.  The MicroSD card itself is reasonably accessible, and is in a slot similar to what many smartphones have.

Taking out the MicroSD card will enable you to directly re-flash it from your computer with the appropriate software, negating the need for the Special Options screen.  I'm not 100% certain, but performing this re-flash should also restore your Special Options functionality too.  The best part is, no USB stick is required at this point, so you can leave the zurkware on that USB stick for use if you want to continue running in offline mode (since right now all online mode offers is the Star Trek clock). By fixing your MicroSD card though, you'll be ready to go back to online mode as Duane brings things back online smile

Thanks for replying. I was hoping the I don't have to open the Chumby One.  I'm not that good with fixing electronics stuff.  I even messed up the update process without trying to (see reply to nathanm). 

My goal is to go back to stock Chumby One so that I can eventually go back to online mode via chumby.com when the widget services goes back online.

I Like Zurks firmware but I find it difficult to use and configure if you are not familiar with the stuff.  I'm a windows/android/apple point,click,and touch type of user.   Currently, I am using the Chumby One as mostly as a clock, a radio, and weather feed.  So far that is all I've been able to figure out to use using Zurks.

Again, any help is appreicated in returning my Chumby back to stock.  I was hoping that there is an easier way to force the reset or update without the special options screen.

Re: Lost the "Reset" and "Update" screen...Need Help

bobsz wrote:

I'd make a bet that it doesn't have anything to do with the hardware possibilities mentioned above, but it's the zurkware itself. He made a "fork" away from the Chumby infrastructure after his v 21. Newer versions are not designed to be run off a USB stick but actually install on the device. No more simply pull out the USB and revert to Chumby. I was going to write a cautionary topic about this but guess I'm too late. I'll do one now. Of more concern is that his new versions don't support the Chumby Classic at all. I think Zurk's forum on Sourceforge explains how to get back the Chumby functionality.

After the hanged update, I can get to the special options screen but it never goes to the reset, update screen.  The Chumby One just reboots.  So I can't even factory reset the chumby or run update to return to stock as others have done to revert back from Zurks.  Since others have suggested opening and reflashing the card, I am looking for the Chumby One stock rom and the links I have followed are 404 errors .  Any help is appreciated and I am open to easier suggestions to getting back to stock.

9 (edited by nathanm 2013-04-05 07:10:02)

Re: Lost the "Reset" and "Update" screen...Need Help

bigred wrote:
bobsz wrote:

I'd make a bet that it doesn't have anything to do with the hardware possibilities mentioned above, but it's the zurkware itself. He made a "fork" away from the Chumby infrastructure after his v 21. Newer versions are not designed to be run off a USB stick but actually install on the device. No more simply pull out the USB and revert to Chumby. I was going to write a cautionary topic about this but guess I'm too late. I'll do one now. Of more concern is that his new versions don't support the Chumby Classic at all. I think Zurk's forum on Sourceforge explains how to get back the Chumby functionality.

After the hanged update, I can get to the special options screen but it never goes to the reset, update screen.  The Chumby One just reboots.  So I can't even factory reset the chumby or run update to return to stock as others have done to revert back from Zurks.  Since others have suggested opening and reflashing the card, I am looking for the Chumby One stock rom and the links I have followed are 404 errors .  Any help is appreciated and I am open to easier suggestions to getting back to stock.

Did you try this link: http://files.chumby.com/firmware/infoca … ng.img.zip? It seems to work.

I just want to emphasize that I don't know how to do this. I just provided one of the resources. You'll need one of the more experienced forum users to tell you what to do (I think you just wipe the MicroSD card and flash that image with WinImage to the card, though. It seems from other forum posts that using a bigger card is just a pain.

Re: Lost the "Reset" and "Update" screen...Need Help

nathanm wrote:

Did you try this link: http://files.chumby.com/firmware/infoca … ng.img.zip? It seems to work.

I just want to emphasize that I don't know how to do this. I just provided one of the resources. You'll need one of the more experienced forum users to tell you what to do (I think you just wipe the MicroSD card and flash that image with WinImage to the card, though. It seems from other forum posts that using a bigger card is just a pain.

Will this image work with the Chumby One correctly?  May be Duane can post the Chumby One rom image and instructions to reflash or if possible how to force a usb upgrade from the command line.  I really don't want to have to open my Chumby up if possible.  Again, I appreciate everyone's help.