Flash Ubuntu using QDL

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Download the Ubuntu image

1. Run the following script to download and assemble the flashable image folder. Pass --server or --desktop depending on the image you want:
   ./prepare_iq8275_ubuntu_flashable.sh --server
   
   ./prepare_iq8275_ubuntu_flashable.sh --desktop
   
   This generates the flashable images in iq8275_flash_prep_work/IQ8275_ubuntu_images — referred to as <path-to-image> below.
   To update to a new Canonical release, edit CANONICAL_BASE, SERVER_IMG_XZ, DESKTOP_IMG_XZ, and BOOT_FW_URL_DEFAULT in the script.
   prepare_iq8275_ubuntu_flashable.sh (full script)

   #!/usr/bin/env bash
   set -euo pipefail
   
   FLAVOR="${FLAVOR:-server}"     # server | desktop
   OUT_DIR="${OUT_DIR:-IQ8275_ubuntu_images}"
   WORK_DIR="${WORK_DIR:-$PWD/iq8275_flash_prep_work}"
   
   CANONICAL_BASE="https://people.canonical.com/~platform/images/qualcomm-iot/ubuntu-24.04/ubuntu-24.04-x08"
   SERVER_DIR="${CANONICAL_BASE}/ubuntu-server-24.04"
   DESKTOP_DIR="${CANONICAL_BASE}/ubuntu-desktop-24.04"
   
   SERVER_IMG_XZ="iot-qualcomm-dragonwing-classic-server-2404-x08-20260210.4096b.img.xz"
   DESKTOP_IMG_XZ="iot-qualcomm-dragonwing-classic-desktop-2404-x08-20260210.4096b.img.xz"
   
   BOOT_FW_URL_DEFAULT="https://artifacts.codelinaro.org/artifactory/qli-ci/flashable-binaries/ubuntu-fw/QCS8300/QLI.1.7-Ver.1.1/QLI.1.7-Ver.1.1-ubuntu-QCS8300-nhlos-bins.tar.gz"
   BOOT_FW_URL="${BOOT_FW_URL:-$BOOT_FW_URL_DEFAULT}"
   
   usage() {
     cat <<EOF
   Usage: $(basename "$0") [--server|--desktop] [--out <folder>] [--work <folder>]
   
   Examples:
     ./prepare_iq8275_ubuntu_flashable.sh --server
     ./prepare_iq8275_ubuntu_flashable.sh --desktop --out IQ8275_ubuntu_images_desktop
   
   Environment overrides:
     FLAVOR=server|desktop
     OUT_DIR=...
     WORK_DIR=...
     BOOT_FW_URL=...
   EOF
   }
   
   while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
     case "$1" in
       --server)  FLAVOR="server"; shift ;;
       --desktop) FLAVOR="desktop"; shift ;;
       --out)     OUT_DIR="$2"; shift 2 ;;
       --work)    WORK_DIR="$2"; shift 2 ;;
       -h|--help) usage; exit 0 ;;
       *) echo "Unknown option: $1"; usage; exit 1 ;;
     esac
   done
   
   need_cmd() { command -v "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "ERROR: missing '$1'"; exit 1; }; }
   need_cmd curl; need_cmd tar; need_cmd unxz; need_cmd file
   need_cmd find; need_cmd cp; need_cmd head; need_cmd ls; need_cmd mkdir; need_cmd rm
   
   download() {
     local url="$1" dst="$2"
     echo "Downloading: $url"
     curl -L --fail --retry 3 --retry-delay 2 -o "$dst" "$url"
   }
   
   mkdir -p "$WORK_DIR" "$OUT_DIR"
   cd "$WORK_DIR"
   
   if [[ "$FLAVOR" == "server" ]]; then
     BASE_DIR="$SERVER_DIR"; IMG_XZ="$SERVER_IMG_XZ"
   elif [[ "$FLAVOR" == "desktop" ]]; then
     BASE_DIR="$DESKTOP_DIR"; IMG_XZ="$DESKTOP_IMG_XZ"
   else
     echo "ERROR: FLAVOR must be 'server' or 'desktop'"; exit 1
   fi
   
   IMG_URL="${BASE_DIR}/${IMG_XZ}"
   DTB_URL="${BASE_DIR}/dtb.bin"
   RAWPROGRAM_URL="${BASE_DIR}/rawprogram0.xml"
   
   download "$IMG_URL" "$IMG_XZ"
   echo "Extracting OS image: $IMG_XZ"
   unxz -f "$IMG_XZ"
   IMG="${IMG_XZ%.xz}"
   
   download "$DTB_URL" "dtb.bin"
   download "$RAWPROGRAM_URL" "rawprogram0.xml"
   
   BOOT_FW_TAR="$(basename "$BOOT_FW_URL")"
   download "$BOOT_FW_URL" "$BOOT_FW_TAR"
   
   if file "$BOOT_FW_TAR" | grep -qi "HTML"; then
     echo "ERROR: Boot firmware download is HTML, not a tar.gz. Use the direct /artifactory/ endpoint."; exit 1
   fi
   
   if ! tar -tzf "$BOOT_FW_TAR" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     echo "ERROR: Boot firmware is not a valid gzip tarball."; exit 1
   fi
   
   BOOT_FW_EXTRACT_DIR="$WORK_DIR/boot_fw_extract"
   rm -rf "$BOOT_FW_EXTRACT_DIR"; mkdir -p "$BOOT_FW_EXTRACT_DIR"
   tar -xzf "$BOOT_FW_TAR" -C "$BOOT_FW_EXTRACT_DIR"
   
   mapfile -t TOP_LEVEL_DIRS < <(find "$BOOT_FW_EXTRACT_DIR" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d)
   TOP_DIR="${#TOP_LEVEL_DIRS[@]}" && [[ ${#TOP_LEVEL_DIRS[@]} -eq 1 ]] && TOP_DIR="${TOP_LEVEL_DIRS[0]}" || TOP_DIR="$BOOT_FW_EXTRACT_DIR"
   cp -a "$TOP_DIR"/. "$OUT_DIR"/
   cp -a "dtb.bin" "$OUT_DIR"/ && cp -a "rawprogram0.xml" "$OUT_DIR"/ && cp -a "$IMG" "$OUT_DIR"/
   
   echo "✅ Flashable folder ready: $(realpath "$OUT_DIR")"
   ls -lh "$OUT_DIR" | sed -n '1,200p'
   

​

Download QDL

1. Download the QDL tool for Linux (x64) and unzip it. The unzipped folder contains the qdl binary — referred to as <qdl_dir> below.
2. Install the required libraries (skip if already installed):
   sudo apt-get install libxml2-dev libudev-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev
   
   We recommend extracting the image folder and QDL into the same parent folder. This keeps all paths under one root.

​

Set up QDL driver

1. Check whether the rule already exists:
   ls /etc/udev/rules.d/51-qcom-usb.rules
   
2. If the file is not present, create it in one command:
   echo 'SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="05c6", ATTRS{idProduct}=="9008", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/51-qcom-usb.rules
   
   If the file already exists, verify the rule is present:
   cat /etc/udev/rules.d/51-qcom-usb.rules
   
3. Reload udev to apply the rule:
   sudo systemctl restart udev
   
   If the USB cable was already connected, disconnect and reconnect it.

​

Set up QDL path

1. Make QDL executable:
   chmod +x <qdl_dir>/qdl
   
2. Verify QDL is working:
   <qdl_dir>/qdl --help
   
   You should see the QDL usage output. If you get an error, check the path.

​

Put the device in EDL mode

1. Turn on the SW2-3 DIP switch — push it up.
2. Connect the 12 V power supply to the EVK.
3. Connect the USB Type-C cable from USB0 on the EVK to your host.
4. Toggle the power switch to turn on the device.
5. Confirm the device is in EDL mode:
   lsusb
   
   Expected output:
   Bus 002 Device 014: ID 05c6:9008 Qualcomm, Inc. Gobi Wireless Modem (QDL mode)
   
   If the device doesn’t appear, recheck SW2-3 and the USB-C cable.

​

Provision UFS

• This is a brand-new board that has never been flashed.
• You are upgrading to a new image version.
• You are switching distributions (Qualcomm Linux ↔ Ubuntu).

1. Download and unzip the provision file:
   wget https://artifacts.codelinaro.org/artifactory/codelinaro-le/Qualcomm_Linux/QCS8300/provision.zip
   unzip provision.zip
   
2. Provision UFS from the unzipped provision directory:
   cd provision
   <qdl_dir>/qdl --storage ufs prog_firehose_ddr.elf provision_1_3.xml
   
   Expected output:
   UFS provisioning succeeded
   

​

Flash CDT

1. Download and unzip the CDT file:
   wget https://artifacts.codelinaro.org/artifactory/codelinaro-le/Qualcomm_Linux/QCS8300/cdt/qcs8275-iq-8275-evk-pro-sku.zip
   unzip qcs8275-iq-8275-evk-pro-sku.zip
   
2. Flash CDT from the unzipped directory:
   <qdl_dir>/qdl prog_firehose_ddr.elf rawprogram3.xml patch3.xml
   
   Expected output:
   flashed "cdt" successfully
   13 patches applied
   

​

Flash SAIL firmware

1. Navigate to the sail_nor subfolder inside the image folder:
   cd <path-to-image>/sail_nor
   
2. Flash the SAIL firmware:
   <qdl_dir>/qdl --storage spinor prog_firehose_ddr.elf rawprogram0.xml patch0.xml
   
   Expected output:
   flashed "SAIL_HYP" successfully
   flashed "SAIL_SW1" successfully
   flashed "SAIL_HYP_BKUP" successfully
   flashed "SAIL_SW1_BKUP" successfully
   11 patches applied
   

​

Flash Ubuntu

1. Navigate to the main image folder:
   cd <path-to-image>
   
2. Flash the image:
   <qdl_dir>/qdl prog_firehose_ddr.elf rawprogram0.xml rawprogram1.xml rawprogram2.xml rawprogram3.xml rawprogram4.xml patch1.xml patch2.xml patch3.xml patch4.xml
   
   The flash is complete when the final line reads:
   partition 1 is now bootable