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  • Author Author: fustini
  • Date Created: Date Created
  • Views 1234 views
  • Likes 1 like
  • Comments 4 comments
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Upgrade to Turbo mode without reflashing

fustini

The Raspberry Pi Foundation released a new Raspbian SD card image yesterday with some interesting new features including dynamic overclocking.  I had the July Raspbian image on an SD card which I already setup with everything I need to do a demo, so I didn't really want to have to startover with a fresh image.  Therefore, I decided to give the upgrade process a try:

 

UPDATE: If you just want overclocking and not a full update of all packages, then asb suggests just doing sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install raspberrypi* raspi-config


1) From LXTerminal, I was able to upgrade the installed software packages via:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

You'll need to be connected to the Internet and beware that the second command, upgrade, took well over a hour to complete.

 

 

2) The next step is to upgrade the firmware by using the rpi-update utility.  I didn't already have this utility, so I downloaded it via the instructions on the GitHub:

sudo wget http://goo.gl/1BOfJ -O /usr/bin/rpi-update

sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/rpi-update

It complained that git wasn't installed when I first attempted to run it, so I had to install git:

sudo apt-get install git

I was finally able to rpi-update after that which completed successfully stating that it had downloaded and installed the firmware:

sudo rpi-update

 

3) Finally I updated the raspi-config utiltiy so that I would have the new overclocking menu option.  To start the utility, type:

sudo raspi-config

Then select the Update option:

image

After the update is complete, you'll find a new menu option in raspi-config when running it again: overclocking!

image

There several different settings with the maximum called "Turbo"... which really begs for a pushbutton to be added like back in the 486 days image

image

I selected Turbo and then allowed raspi-config to reboot the system.

 

 

4) Upon the system rebooting, I verified I had an upgraded kernel:

pi@raspberrypi ~ $ uname -a

Linux raspberrypi 3.2.27+ #160 PREEMPT Mon Sep 17 23:18:42 BST 2012 armv6l GNU/Linux

I was pleseantly suprised to see it's now a Linux 3.2 kernel instead of 3.1 as it previously had been.

 

 

5) I was eager to give the overclocking a spin.  The CPU frequency is dynamically overclocked when the system activity warrants it (and internal chip temperature is low enough to be safe).  In order to tell when the overclocking was happening, I wrote quick loop in the shell to log the current CPU frequency every 5 seconds:

image

And then I played Quake for a bit.  Sure enough, this triggered the Pi to kick up to 1GHz for a period of time as my log revealed:

image

I also observed that the CPU would increase to 1GHz often when using the Midori web browser, too. 

 

NOTE: there are few other optional upgrade tasks that you can do to completely replicate the new image.  These are documented in this thread: http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=17788&p=176847

 

 

Cheers,

Drew

http://twitter.com/pdp7

  • in reply to fustini

    I was using wired ethernet but I was also using an apple keyboard that has a usb hub (nothing plugged into the keyboard) so that may be pulling more current then a straight usb keyboard. I setup the moderate speed bump and I'll run that for a couple of weeks before trying anything faster. i did notice the usb / ethernet chip getting a bit toasty (120F) so at some point I'll add a small 5v fan to keep things a bit cooler, a little moving air should help temper things.

     

    The new power supply I'm going to use is an open frame model by Condor that I picked up for $10 from a surplus house. I traced out the circuit and know which resistor I'll have to parallel to adjust the 5v output. That will have to wait because the cellar is in a shambles waiting for my new boiler installation, it's amazing how much electronic parts / equipment one collects in 33 years!

  • in reply to bobc47

    Interesting to hear your experience.  Were you just using Ethernet (and not USB wifi)?

  • I followed your suggestions and it worked for me but the pi seemed to hang after giving a "this may take a few minutes" warning, I never got any confirmation of successfully updating the firmware. After 2 hours i reset the power and checked the version and that showed I was running the latest version.

     

    I am using a usb charger that is rated at 1a and I usually get 4.87v at the test points; when I thought the pi was hung the screen was blank and the mouse and keyboard did not elicit any response from the system. i checked the voltage and it was down to 4.74v so i suspect I dipped below the drop dead violtage; my board has jumper in place of the fuses so it's one of the later ones.

     

    I had the board hang once before when doing a sudo apt-get upgrade and that may have been do tho a sag as well. I think I'll switch over to a 5v 3.5a source (soldered to the board)  that I can tweak the voltage on and set so I have 5.0v at the board so i don't have to worry about voltage dips.

  • A tip for Atrix lapdock users: I wouldn't recommend overclocking when powering the Pi from the lapdock.  I found the Pi would reset when I would start a level in Quake with Turbo mode enabled, while it would work fine with overclocking turned off.  I suspect this is because the Pi pulls more current in Turbo mode than the lapdock can provide.