Software information: Raspberry Pi: Firmware (Rev #11, changes)
Showing changes from revision #10 to #11:
Added | Removed | Changed
Raspberry Pi models supported
The instructions given below are suitable for earlier all versions models of the Raspberry Pi up to and including the Raspberry Pi 3 4. (all models, including Compute Module 3+).
Support for the Raspberry Pi 4 is a work in progress: seeRaspberry Pi 4 is a work in progress, see Raspberry Pi 4 port status? for more information.
Pi bootloader files
bootcode.bin – The boot loader for the CPU.
start.elf – The GPU firmware. Forms a matched pair with fixup.dat
bootcode.bin– The boot loader for the CPU.
fixup.dat – Additional code for the GPU. Forms a matched pair with start.elf
start.elf– The GPU firmware. Forms a matched pair with fixup.dat
riscos.img – The RISC OS ROM
fixup.dat– Additional code for the GPU. Forms a matched pair with start.elf
config.txt – Configuration parameters for the boot loader. See below for suggested contents.
riscos.img– The RISC OS ROM
cmdline.txt – (Optional) Additional parameters to be passed to the kernel (i.e. RISC OS). See below for possible contents.
config.txt– Configuration parameters for the boot loader. See below for suggested contents.
cmdline.txt– (Optional) Additional parameters to be passed to the kernel (i.e. RISC OS). See below for possible contents.
On the Pi 4, the following two files take the place of bootcode.bin, start.elf and fixup.dat:
start4.elf– The Pi 4 GPU firmware. Forms a matched pair with fixup4.dat
fixup4.dat– Additional code for the Pi 4 GPU. Forms a matched pair with start4.elf
Note that the Pi4 has its boot code in the onboard EEPROM so it does not need bootcode.bin.
If you install bootcode.bin, start.elf and fixup.dat alongside start4.elf and fixup4.dat, the card will boot on older models of Raspberry Pi as well as the Pi 4.
Obtaining Pi firmware
Pi 1, Pi 2, Pi 3
If you have the latest 5.27 ROM, there is a good chance that the latest Raspberry Pi firmware will work1. Visit the Raspberry Pi firmware download site on GitHub to download the latest versions of bootcode.bin, start.elf and fixup.dat.
Older releases of RISC OS cannot use the latest firmware1. Current recommendations are:
- RISC OS 5.24: Use April 2018 firmware
- RISC OS 5.25 and 5.26: Use January 2019 firmware
- RISC OS 5.27 (2019 builds): Use January 2019 firmware 1
- RISC OS 5.27 (early 2020 builds): Use February 2020 firmware
The procedure to follow is:
- Go to the appropriate firmware page on GitHub (see above).
- Click on “boot”.
- Click on “bootcode.bin”
- Click on the Download button.
- Click on your browser’s BACK button.
- Click on “start.elf”.
- Click on the Download button.
- Click on your browser’s BACK button.
- Click on “fixup.dat”
- Click on the Download button.
1 A RISC OS code change in January 2019 means that RISC OS 5.27 cannot use the firmware supplied with earlier RISC OS distributions. Likewise, a Raspberry Pi firmware change in June 2019 means that older RISC OS ROMs cannot use the latest firmware.
Pi 4
Use a recent build of RISC OS 5.27 (15 March 2020 or later) and recent firmware (February 2020 or later).
There are two firmware files to download: start4.elf and fixup4.dat.
The procedure to follow is:
- Go to the Raspberry Pi firmware download site on GitHub
- Click on “boot”.
- Click on “start4.elf”.
- Click on the Download button.
- Click on your browser’s BACK button.
- Click on “fixup4.dat”
- Click on the Download button.
Configuration files
config.txt
This is a plain text file. The contents following example should be suitable for all models of Raspberry Pi, including the Pi 4:config.txt does not change much between RISC OS releases. The following parameters should be suitable for RISC OS 5.24, 5.26 and 5.27:
[pi4] enable_gic=1 [all] fake_vsync_isr=1 framebuffer_swap=0 gpu_mem=64 init_emmc_clock=100000000 ramfsfile=CMOS ramfsaddr=0x508000 kernel=RISCOS.IMG
Parameters specific to the Pi 4 appear in the “pi4” section of the file; parameters applicable to all models of Raspberry Pi appear in the “all” section.
These parameters – and several others that may be of interest to RISC OS users – are discussed in more detail at config.txt (Raspberry Pi).
cmdline.txt
This file is optional: RISC OS will still boot if it is not present.
If you are running RISC OS 5.27 you may need to specify the following parameter to avoid a blank screen issue.
disable_gamma
Parameters must be space separated on the first line of the file, so if you wanted to specify two parameters you would do it like this:
disable_mode_changes disable_gamma
For details of the parameters available, see cmdline.txt (Raspberry Pi).
Social
and
ROOL Store
Buy RISC OS Open merchandise here, including SD cards for Raspberry Pi and more.