Update TinySA firmware on a Mac

  1. Install MacPorts from here. Pick your operating system from the list.
  1. Open up a terminal (I know it’s scary 😬) The terminal app can be found in Applications>Utilities>Terminal
  1. Copy/Paste this in to your terminal and press enter: sudo port install dfu-util
    1. It will ask for your password. That’s OK; this command installs the dfu utility that allows the computer to send firmware to your device.
    2. Visit this link if you want to learn more.
  1. Close the terminal that you were just in
  1. Download the firmware from the tinysa.org website. You want to download the file that ends in .bin
    1. Do you have a TinySA Ultra? Here’s the link.
    2. Do you have a standard TinySA? Here’s the link.
  1. Rename the .bin file to tinySA.bin
  1. Open up a terminal again. (remember that scary part from before?)
  1. Type dfu-util and press Enter.
  1. Does the terminal print out a bunch of text?
    1. Yes? You’re all set to continue!
    2. No? You should re-visit the dfu-util installation step above
  1. Here’s where the magic happens:
    1. Find where the .bin file was downloaded into. Most likely it was in the Downloads folder.
    2. You need to navigate the terminal to the folder where you downloaded the .bin file.
    3. The terminal opens up to your Home folder by default (the shortcut for the Home folder is ~) If that’s the case you should see something like: ”➜  ~”
    4. If you are in the Home folder, type: cd ./Downloads (and press Enter)to move the terminal into your Downloads folder. (The cd means “change directory” and the ./ means starting from the folder, i.e.: “directory”, we are currently in)
    5. If your terminal is inside the folder where the .bin file is, typing ls and pressing Enter should print out a list of the files in your Downloads folder. This can help troubleshoot.
  1. Enter DFU mode on the TinySA
    1. The standard TinySA has a menu option for this
    2. The Ultra needs to be connected to your computer, and powered on while holding the jog wheel down. The screen will go black when this occurs. That’s OK!
  1. Finally type dfu-util -a 0 -s 0x08000000:leave -D tinySA.bin and press Enter.
    1. This will load the (renamed) tinySA.bin onto the device
    2. If you have any errors, please visit this website.
Share