Recommended hardware to flash the Pineapple MARK IV

[janekong]

I read a very very confusing conversation here: http://forums.hak5.o...flash-a-hornet/

Can you flash using USB?

Do you need an UART adapter?

Or doesn't it work. Will it really fry your device? 'Both Darren and Seb have fried either boards or the adapters while developing.'

very confusing....

Could Darren and Seb comment on the 'it will fry your device' part?

PS: What is a safe way to open the Pineapple MARK IV without damaging the case?

Edited July 20, 2013 by janekong

[Sebkinne]

Janekong,

This is an extensive howto and informative wiki article about it.

Will it fry your device? Possibly if you plug in the wrong serial adapter or hook it up wrong.

Personally, I haven't fried a device in that sense.. More by messing with bootloaders etc.

Opening the pineapple is simple. Remove the two front rubber feet and take out the screws.

Done.

[no42]

In the past I've used a Bus Pirate to flash numerous embedded devices (

Seeed Studio links:Bus Pirate v3.6 universal serial interface,Bus Pirate Cable

Like Seb wrote above, remove the rubber feet to reveal 2x screws.

Again, there are extensive notes on the wiki (http://wifipineapple.com/?flashing), and reference to a specific cable (Serial TTL) available from the hackshop.

[Mr-Protocol]

Signature has a link to the wiki. And can we avoid posting the same question in 50 (exaggeration) locations?

[janekong]

I would recommend flashing over SSH, if that is still possible however: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf8Q-COyQM8

And I prefer this tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SAnsjuJmXE (part 1) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJjkDxt7V1g (part 2), because there are more detailed.

[Drewdroid]

Midnightsnake,

I tried flashing mine with my bus pirate (3.6 running 5.9 and current bootloader) and was completely unable to actually get the 1 entered at any point to break the boot sequence. I was getting a good read of data coming through the RX but figure it was an issue on the TX side. I believe the issue is actually the voltage on the bus pirate vs the needs of the pineapple to be. I was able to get to console on other older pineapples fine with the BP though, just not the 121U.

For the sake of others, I went from Hiz< , b to set to 115200, m to choose UART, defaults for all UART options, and went into mode (1) for transparent bridge to use putty for the terminal. (pinouts differ depending on Seeed cable/Adafruit/Etc)

I actually gave up and went with a straight USB to TTL adapter using the prolific 2303HX chip. It connected right up at 115200 without a problem and dropped me straight to the prompt.

When in doubt - go with the hardware offered in the Hakshop :)

[Foxtrot]

The UART USB in the Hakshop uses the CP2102 fyi ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microshaft_Winblows_98