SparkFun Edge failing on "make bootload"

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Hello everyone,

It seems like the bootloader issue is getting fewer and fewer responses, which I take as a good thing. I also just got some additional insights (thanks to people who know Linux much better than I do) about how to properly apply the driver patch.

If this is the first post that you’re reading: there have been a handful of cases where bootloading fails on Linux (specifically Arch Linux) with the cause appearing to be outdated CH340 drivers. The Patched Drivers by juliagoda are hosted on GitHub. You can follow those instructions to install the drivers, however in some cases that does not fix the problem. If this applies to you keep reading:

If installing the patched drivers (module) does not seem to work you can take these steps:

  • unplug then re-plug in your CH340C USB-Serial bridge, then use dmesg to see what has happened (we want a CH34X device to be detected, indicating the patched drivers being used, but you might see a CH341 driver being used insteead)

  • lsmod ch34* to see what modules are currently installed - verify that a CH34X module is installed, and take note if a CH341 module is installed

  • If there is a CH341 module then it may be taking priority over the patched CH34X module. Use rmmod ch341 to uninstall the broken driver

  • Try unplugging and replugging in again, along with dmesg to hopefully see that a CH34X device has been detected.

If you can get the system to identify a CH34X device then the bootload should succeed. As always keep us up to date on how this information does/does not help!