Rooting Revue - USB->TTL device

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grayman4hire
Android 1.0
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:19 am

Rooting Revue - USB->TTL device

Post by grayman4hire »

Hello,

I'm looking to root my new Logitech Revue and had a question on the USB->TTL device.

Will the "PL2302 RS232 TTL-USB 2.0 converter module w/4 cable" on ebay work? Its only $2 shipped. [YES IT WORKED]
Image
Image
Image

Also, it doesn't look like you even need to do any soldering since the cable should plug right into the UART1 pins, correct? [SOLDERING IS REQUIRED]

Lastly, will the newly order Revue (at the new $99 price) come with the old firmware with the UART1 port still enabled? [MY NEW REVUE FROM AMAZON WAS A VIRGIN]

Thanks
Last edited by grayman4hire on Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
micl9
Android 1.0
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 5:57 pm
GTV Device Owned: Logitech Revue
Location: US

Re: Rooting Revue - USB->TTL device

Post by micl9 »

I am not sure about the converter. But as far as the soldering - I have seen pics of UART1 with and without (in lower left) a connector.
Have not taken mine apart as I had already ripped it out of the box, installed and did the initial upgrade before goggling "REVUE ROOT" :(
Itsjusttim
Android 1.0
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 9:33 pm

Re: Rooting Revue - USB->TTL device

Post by Itsjusttim »

If this could work it would make things easier.
grayman4hire
Android 1.0
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:19 am

Re: Rooting Revue - USB->TTL device

Post by grayman4hire »

Regarding the UART pins...Got it.

The picture from the ifixit doesn't have pins.

Image
PensFan66
Android 1.0
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:50 am

Re: Rooting Revue - USB->TTL device

Post by PensFan66 »

I soldered up my UART yesterday and it did not have any pins, so I had to go direct to the board
cj_000
1.6 Donut
Posts: 121
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:13 pm

Re: Rooting Revue - USB->TTL device

Post by cj_000 »

In that picture with the pins - the pins were installed after the fact. Furthermore, that device should probably work, just make sure its 3.3v. If it doesn't work, your only out $2 - not too bad.
dcplaya
Android 1.0
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 3:25 pm

Re: Rooting Revue - USB->TTL device

Post by dcplaya »

The boxes come with no UART pins, the one you people are seeing is a custom solder job to make it easier for them
grayman4hire
Android 1.0
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:19 am

Re: Rooting Revue - USB->TTL device

Post by grayman4hire »

Good news. I successfully rooted my Revue last night using the USB->TTL mentioned in this thread.

The one I received was different from the one in the pictured in the actual auction (BTW, its now $4).

Image

I struggled with it a little bit, until I realize I had to remove the jumper (not sure why they had it there to begin with).

My soldering job, not my best work, but it worked.
Image

I used single strand wire, which acted sort of like pins, so I was able to easily "plug" it into my USB->TTL device.
Image

I used a Windows 7 laptop and wanted to provide some clarification on instructions in the wiki. My comments in brackets [] below.

Hulu worked! Note that Hulu has two level of checks - the useragent and the flash player. The modified firmware took care of the flash player. However, you still need to change the user agent in the Chrome browser first. YouTube instructions on setting the useragent

Hardware Portion
In order to complete the root you will need an un-updated box, it seems as if the first or second update to the box closed the serial access hole. If you have a "virgin" box then you are ready to proceed.
1.) Open your box, there are 4 screws (1 under each of the soft legs on the bottom of the box), the rest of the box un-clips very easily. A better explanation is available at http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Logitech ... own/3788/1
2.) After opening your box you will need to remove the led bar and look at the top front of the board. Locate the pins labeled UART1. These are the pins you will be sodering to.
3.) Solder 4 wires to your board. The appropriate pins can be view here: http://gtvhacker.com/index.php/File:XJHay.jpg . You MAY only need to solder to TX, RX, and GND.
[I solder all 4 wires so didn't test the TX/RX/GND only]

4.) Attach wires to appropriate pins on your USB->TTL device
5.) Connect to the USB->TTL device on your computer using a program like Minicom or Putty. The appropriate settings are speed is 9600 baud with 8n1, make sure flow control is set to none.
[I used Putty, changed to the appropriate COM Port that my computer automatically assigned the USB/TTL device. At this point the putty console will be blank except for a little green box/cursor]

6.) Reboot Revue into recovery mode by holding the pair button on the back of the board until the box shuts down and comes back up. Then press Alt+L (On the revue keyboard, not through the console) until "FORMATING DATA:" shows and stays, a menu should appear shortly after system is done clearing partitions. (More info: Logitech_Revue_Technical)
[Don't forget to put your Revue back together (LED bar board), otherwise ALT+L isn't going to work. Connect your Revue to your TV and power it on. The trick here is to hold down the pair button until it reboots and you see the first image from the Revue. At which point hit ALT+L, a few times until you see the little Google TV down arrow. If the "FORMATTING DATA:" and "FORMATTING CHROME" text and is blinking, you will need to try again. When you get it right the "FORMATING DATA" and "FORMATTING CHROME" will be solid (not blinking).

I found a picture of what you should be on your TV screen if you did everything right. Not my photo. Credit
Image

7.) If setup is correct so far you should be seeing logcat output through your terminal program (Putty/Minicom). Shortly after you will be presented with a # sign which is your console.
[On Putty, I had to hit the enter key before the # prompt showed]

8.) Proceed to software portion.
NOTICE: If you have not properly completed step 6 you may risk having the Revue automatically reboot while you are flashing new firmware resulting in a bricked Revue. The video output should show the recovery menu before proceeding to the software portion.
[Not sure how you would be able to flash the modified firmware if you didn't completed step 6 properly]

Software Portion
1.) Place all files in manual update on USB (preferably formatted to ext3) device keeping all the files inside of the "updatec99" folder for easiest installation.
[The "files" can be downloaded here http://www.multiupload.com/SSV46RGX44. Extract it to your USB Drive. Assuming your usb drive is E:\. You should see a E:\updateb49116 folder]

2.) Insert the USB and run the following command for an ext3 USB device "mount -rw -t ext3 /dev/sdb1 /sdcard" substitute ext3 for vfat for a fat32 device (Also remove quotes).
[Since I'm using Windows 7, my USB drive was formatted as FAT32, so my command was "mount -rw -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /sdcard"]

3.) In minicom/putty browse to the /sdcard directory with "cd /sdcard/updatec99".
[The folder depends on the firmware version, so its really "cd /sdcard/updateb49116"]

4.) Execute the update with the following command "sh manual-update.sh". If you chose a fat32 formatted usb drive you will receive "Permission denied" errors during the chmod process of the manual-update script, this is normal.
5.) If the process ends prompting "Complete" you are finished and may restart (regardless of the permission denied errors on fat32). You will then have adbd running on your Revue and can connect using "./adb connect LogitechRevue". If the process does not prompt you with "Complete" but some other error you will need to make sure you do not reboot your Revue or it may be bricked.
You are now complete and free to install applications on your box remotely through adb.
Note: when booting in normal mode, you will not see any console output. If you want a serial console again, go into recovery.
swapped
Android 1.0
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:08 am

Re: Rooting Revue - USB->TTL device

Post by swapped »

did you need a driver for this board. I'm using an xp laptop and it can't find the drivers for this.

Never mind....found driver for this here http://www.question-defense.com/wp-cont ... v10518.zip if anyone else is looking
jmpcarceles
Android 1.0
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:49 am
GTV Device Owned: Logitech Revue

Re: Rooting Revue - USB->TTL device

Post by jmpcarceles »

Hi grayman4hire,

Nice job and very useful. ;)

But, in your last post the images are removed.

Could you upload it again?

Best regards.
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