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RECOVERY.md

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Firmware Recovery Guide

Recovery Using Flashing Image

If you are still able to flash firmware using USB, you can try running a system file integrity check.
This process verifies all system files and restores them if they are corrupted.

There are two versions of these images:

  • Dry Run: This is the same as the full image but does not restore anything. It only prints information about corrupted files. Additionally, you can read the log created on the USB after uninstalling.
  • Full Recovery: This contains a full system data backup and restores corrupted files from it.

Before you start, flash the debug image to collect all diagnostics needed for potential future recovery.
Choose based on your model:

Recovery images:

If recovery doesn't work, try flashing the Uninstall image, and then the Factory image.
In most cases, this should restore your printer's functionality.

Recovery using UART

If you’ve modified internal system files and something went wrong—your printer no longer responds to a USB drive (you can’t flash the Factory firmware), and it doesn’t progress past the boot screen—don’t worry. This is fixable, and it doesn’t require advanced skills. Let’s start by diagnosing the issue.

Diagnostics

To understand the problem, you’ll need a UART-USB adapter that supports 3.3V logic levels. Using a 5V adapter can damage the motherboard, so be careful. Alternatively, you can use an ESP8266/ESP32 (do not use an Arduino, as it operates at 5V and could fry the CPU). Flash the ESP with the MultiSerial example from the Arduino IDE (Examples -> Communications -> MultiSerial), but change the Serial and Serial1 Baud to 115200.

Next, connect the UART adapter to the motherboard near the processor (next to USB0).
Connect the wires as follows:

  • RX on the adapter to TX on the motherboard.
  • TX on the adapter to RX on the motherboard.
  • GND to GND.
  • Do NOT connect the power line.

image

Pic 1. Connection of the printer UART

Connect the adapter to your PC and open a terminal program (e.g., PuTTY, Arduino IDE, or PlatformIO).

At Mac/Linux you can use screeen:

screen /dev/<device> 115200

Power on the printer and observe the logs. These logs will help you determine how far the boot process goes. If the Linux kernel loads, the situation isn’t too bad, and you might be able to fix it without advanced procedures.

image

Pic 2. Connection of the adapter (Wemos D1 Mini) UART

Recovery using UBoot

If the Linux kernel loads but the system fails to boot due to your modifications, you can try rolling back those changes. Here’s how:

  1. Connect to the printer via UART as described above.
  2. Wait for the following line to appear in the logs:
Hit any key to stop autoboot

image

Pic 3. Example of UART terminal

  1. Quickly press Enter.

  2. You’ll now be in U-Boot. From here, you can redefine the kernel startup command to get a shell. Enter the following commands:

setenv init /bin/sh
boot
  1. If done correctly, you’ll get a shell after the Linux kernel loads. The filesystem will be mounted as read-only, so remount it as read-write:
mount -t proc none /proc
mount -t sysfs none /sys
mount -t devtmpfs none /dev
# Make / rw
mount -o remount,rw /
# Mount /data
fsck -y /dev/mmcblk0p7
mount /dev/mmcblk0p7 /data
  1. Now, fix whatever changes caused the issue.

Note that the system isn’t fully booted, so some features may not work.
Search online for solutions or ask for help in the Support Telegram Group.

(Optional) Check the Filesystem

fsck -f /dev/mmcblk0p6

(Optional) Mount the USB

# Step 1: Create a mount point
mkdir -p /mnt/usb

# Step 2: List and identify your USB device from the output (example: /dev/sda)
ls /dev/sd*

# Step 3: Print detailed information about the detected device (for example, /dev/sda)
fdisk -l /dev/sda

# Step 4: Mount the specific partition of your USB device (example: /dev/sda1)
# Make sure the filesystem type matches your USB's format (e.g., vfat for FAT32)
mount -t vfat -o codepage=437,iocharset=utf8 /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb

# Step 5: Verify that the USB device was mounted successfully:
ls /mnt/usb

(Optional) Run file recovery using Forge-X recovery image (assuming you have the image on the USB device)

# 1. Navigate to the USB device directory where the recovery image is stored.
cd /mnt/usb

# 2. Copy the image to a temporary folder.
# You can flash any other firmware image using this method.
# For example, here we run the Forge-X Recovery
mkdir -p /data/tmp
cp ./Adventurer5M-3.x.x-2.2.3-recovery-full.tgz /data/tmp/

# 3. Switch to the temporary folder.
cd /data/tmp

# 4. Unpack the recovery image.
# Note: Extraction may take some time depending on the size of the image.
tar -xvf Adventurer5M-3.x.x-2.2.3-recovery-full.tgz

# 5. Execute the recovery script to begin the recovery process.
# Note: Ensure the script is invoked using its full path.
/data/tmp/flashforge_init.sh

# 6. Wait for the recovery process to complete.
# The script will perform all necessary recovery operations.
  1. Once you’re done, reboot the system:
sync
reboot -f

The system should now boot normally. You can leave the UART connected if needed. If SSH isn’t working, you can log in via UART using the credentials root/root.

If this method doesn’t work, don’t lose hope. If the system partially boots, you might still be able to recover files via UART.

Recovery using FEL

If the easy method doesn’t work and the system is completely unbootable, you’ll need to restore the firmware using FEL mode. This requires a firmware dump and some additional steps.

You can download the necessary files and access the guide from this link: Firmware Recovery Files and Guide.

Steps to Restore Firmware

  1. Prepare for Recovery:

    • You’ll need to solder USB0. This is relatively simple, even for beginners (you would need JST PH2.0 5pin).
    • You don’t need to solder a button to a resistor. Instead, interrupt the boot process via UART (press Enter when prompted) to enter U-Boot.
    • Use the firmware dump and tools provided here: link.

  2. Enter FEL Mode:

    • Interrupt the boot process via UART (press Enter when prompted) to enter U-Boot
    • From U-Boot, run the following command to enter FEL mode:
    efex

  3. Follow the Guide

    • Carefully follow the instructions in the linked guide to complete the recovery process.

  4. Flash the dump:

    xfel_t113_ds extra sdmmc um3 sm0 write 0x00000000 dump.bin