DFU-UTIL(1) DFU-UTIL(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

dfu-util - Device firmware update (DFU) USB programmer

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**dfu-util** **-l** \[**-v**] \[**-d** *vid:pid*\[,*vid:pid*]] \[**-p** *path*] \[**-c** *configuration*] \[**-i** *interface*] \[**-a** *alt-intf*] \[**-S** *serial*\[,*serial*]]

**dfu-util** \[**-v**] \[**-d** *vid:pid*\[,*vid:pid*]] \[**-p** *path*] \[**-c** *configuration*] \[**-i** *interface*] \[**-a** *alt-intf*] \[**-S** *serial*\[,*serial*]] \[**-t** *size*] \[**-Z** *size*] \[**-w**] \[**-s** *address*] \[**-R**] \[**-D**|**-U** *file*]

**dfu-util** \[**-hV**]

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

**dfu-util** is a program that implements the host (computer) side of the USB DFU (Universal Serial Bus Device Firmware Upgrade) protocol.

dfu-util communicates with devices that implement the device side of the USB DFU protocol, and is often used to upgrade the firmware of such devices.

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

[**-l, --list**](#l,)

List the currently attached DFU capable USB devices.

[**-d, --device** \[*Run-Time VENDOR*\]:\[*Run-Time PRODUCT*\]\[,\[*DFU Mode VENDOR*\]:\[*DFU Mode PRODUCT*\]\]](#d,)

Specify run-time and/or DFU mode vendor and/or product IDs of the DFU device to work with. **VENDOR** and **PRODUCT** are hexadecimal numbers (no prefix needed), "\*" (match any), or "-" (match nothing). By default, any DFU capable device in either run-time or DFU mode will be considered.

If you only have one standards-compliant DFU device attached to your computer, this parameter is optional. However, as soon as you have multiple DFU devices connected, dfu-util will detect this and abort, asking you to specify which device to use.

If only run-time IDs are specified (e.g. "**--device 1457:51ab**"), then in addition to the specified run-time IDs, any DFU mode devices will also be considered. This is beneficial to allow a DFU capable device to be found again after a switch to DFU mode, since the vendor and/or product ID of a device usually changes in DFU mode.

If only DFU mode IDs are specified (e.g. "**--device ,951:26**"), then all run-time devices will be ignored, making it easy to target a specific device in DFU mode.

If both run-time and DFU mode IDs are specified (e.g. "**--device** **1457:51ab,:2bc**"), then unspecified DFU mode components will use the run-time value specified.

Examples:

[**--device 1457:51ab,951:26**](#device)

Work with a device in run-time mode with vendor ID 0x1457 and product ID 0x51ab, or in DFU mode with vendor ID 0x0951 and product ID 0x0026

[**--device 1457:51ab,:2bc**](#device~2)

Work with a device in run-time mode with vendor ID 0x1457 and product ID 0x51ab, or in DFU mode with vendor ID 0x1457 and product ID 0x02bc

[**--device 1457:51ab**](#device~3)

Work with a device in run-time mode with vendor ID 0x1457 and product ID 0x51ab, or in DFU mode with any vendor and product ID

[**--device ,951:26**](#device~4)

Work with a device in DFU mode with vendor ID 0x0951 and product ID 0x0026

[**--device \*,-**](#device~5)

Work with any device in run-time mode, and ignore any device in DFU mode

[**--device ,**](#device~6)

Ignore any device in run-time mode, and Work with any device in DFU mode

[**-p, --path** BUS-PORT. ... .PORT](#p,)

Specify the path to the DFU device.

[**-c, --cfg** CONFIG-NR](#c,)

Specify the configuration of the DFU device. Note that this is only used for matching, the configuration is not set by dfu-util.

[**-i, --intf** INTF-NR](#i,)

Specify the DFU interface number.

[**-a, --alt** ALT](#a,)

Specify the altsetting of the DFU interface by name or by number.

[**-S, --serial** \[*Run-Time SERIAL*\]\[,\[*DFU Mode SERIAL*\]\]](#S,)

Specify the run-time and DFU mode serial numbers used to further restrict device matches. If multiple, identical DFU devices are simultaneously connected to a system then vendor and product ID will be insufficient for targeting a single device. In this situation, it may be possible to use this parameter to specify a serial number which also must match.

If only a single serial number is specified, then the same serial number is used in both run-time and DFU mode. An empty serial number will match any serial number in the corresponding mode.

[**-t, --transfer-size** SIZE](#t,)

Specify the number of bytes per USB transfer. The optimal value is usually determined automatically so this option is rarely useful. If you need to use this option for a device, please report it as a bug.

[**-Z, --upload-size** SIZE](#Z,)

Specify the expected upload size, in bytes. Note that the value is only used for scaling the progress bar, the actual upload size is determined by the device.

[**-U, --upload** FILE](#U,)

Read firmware from device into **FILE**.

[**-D, --download** FILE](#D,)

Write firmware from **FILE** into device. When **FILE** is -, the firmware is read from stdin.

[**-R, --reset**](#R,)

Issue USB reset signalling after upload or download has finished.

[**-e, --detach**](#e,)

Request that the device re-enumerate out of run-time mode and into DFU mode as when uploading or downloading, but exit immediately after sending the request.

[**-E, --detach-delay** SECONDS](#E,)

When uploading or downloading, wait **SECONDS** seconds for the device to re-enumerate after sending the detach request before giving up. Defaults to 5 seconds. This option has no effect with **-e**, since that causes dfu-util to immediately exit after sending the detach request.

[**-w, --wait**](#w,)

Wait until matching device appears on the USB bus.

[**-s, --dfuse-address** \[*ADDRESS*\]\[:*LENGTH*\]\[:*MODIFIERS*\]](#s,)

Specify target address for raw binary download/upload on DfuSe devices. Do **not** use this option for downloading DfuSe (.dfu) files. A length can be specified for uploads. Modifiers can be added after the address, separated by a colon, to perform special DfuSE commands such as "leave" DFU mode, "unprotect" and "mass-erase" flash memory. If the device can be expected to reset itself after the operation, "will-reset" should be added. The "force" modifier will override some sanity checks, and is also needed for the "unprotect" and "mass-erase" operations.

[**-v, --verbose**](#v,)

Print more information about dfu-util's operation. A second **-v** adds more details. A third **-v** activates verbose logging of USB requests (libusb debug output).

[**-h, --help**](#h,)

Show a help text and exit.

[**-V, --version**](#V,)

Show version information and exit.

# [EXAMPLES](#EXAMPLES)

## [Using dfu-util in the OpenMoko project](#Using_dfu-util_in_the_OpenMoko_project)

(with the Neo1973 hardware)

Flashing the rootfs:  
**$ dfu-util -a rootfs -R -D /path/to/openmoko-devel-image.jffs2**

Flashing the kernel:  
**$ dfu-util -a kernel -R -D /path/to/uImage**

Flashing the bootloader:  
**$ dfu-util -a u-boot -R -D /path/to/u-boot.bin**

Copying a kernel into RAM:  
**$ dfu-util -a 0 -R -D /path/to/uImage**

Once this has finished, the kernel will be available at the default load address of 0x32000000 in Neo1973 RAM. **Note:** You cannot transfer more than 2MB of data into RAM using this method.

## [Using dfu-util with a DfuSe device](#Using_dfu-util_with_a_DfuSe_device)

Flashing a **.dfu** (special DfuSe format) file to the device:  
**$ dfu-util -D /path/to/dfuse-image.dfu**

Reading out 1 KB of flash starting at address 0x8000000:  
**$ dfu-util -a 0 -s 0x08000000:1024 -U newfile.bin**

Flashing a binary file to address 0x8004000 of device memory and ask the device to leave DFU mode:  
**$ dfu-util -a 0 -s 0x08004000:leave -D /path/to/image.bin**

# [BUGS](#BUGS)

Please report any bugs to the dfu-util bug tracker at **http://sourceforge.net/p/dfu-util/tickets/**. Please use the *--verbose* option (repeated as necessary) to provide more information in your bug report.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

The dfu-util home page is **http://dfu-util.sourceforge.net/**

# [HISTORY](#HISTORY)

dfu-util was originally written for the OpenMoko project by Weston Schmidt <weston\_schmidt@yahoo.com> and Harald Welte <hwelte@hmw-consulting.de>. Over time, nearly complete support of DFU 1.0, DFU 1.1 and DfuSe ("1.1a") has been added.

# [LICENCE](#LICENCE)

**dfu-util** is covered by the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 2 or later.

# [COPYRIGHT](#COPYRIGHT)

This manual page was originally written by Uwe Hermann <uwe@hermann-uwe.de>, and is now part of the dfu-util project.

September 2021 dfu-util 0.11

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Document: dfu-util(1) from dfu-util 0.11-r5 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://git.code.sf.net/p/dfu-util/dfu-util