When you want to save the hard drive on your PC, the backup program writes a complete image of the memory contents to a storage medium (such as another hard drive). However, the RevPiCore does not have a hard drive as storage medium. It uses an embedded multimedia card (eMMC) instead of a hard disk drive to permanently store the system software and all user files. When the contents of the eMMC are overwritten or incorrectly deleted, your RevPi Core will no longer have the system software and will not be able to boot. Preventive measures should be taken in such situations, and a complete image of the eMMC should be saved on external storage media. A feasible method is the Raspberry Pi helper programs, which you can use to save the image on your PC and then transfer it from the PC to the RevPiCore.

The RevPiCore comes with a pre-installed image. However, you can use any image of your choice.

The following example will show how to do this and how to save an old image in advance. A PC with Windows operating system is used here.

You will need:

Hardware

I. PC

II. Power supply unit

III. USB 2.0 A type plug to USB 2.0 micro B type plug cable

Software

Download the following files and programs and install them on your PC:

I. Image files (Wheezy, Jessie, Stretch)

https://revolution.kunbus.de/shop/en/software

II. RPi Boot

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/hardware/computemodule/cm-emmc-flashing.md

(Download in the Windows installer section)

III. Win32 Disk Imager

https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/

Now let’s get started.

• Connect the micro-USB port of the RevPi Core to the USB-A port on the PC.

• Open RPi Boot.

RPi Boot window

• Connect the RevPi Core to the power supply.

RPiBoot starts searching for your RevPiCore. After the search is complete, the following window will open:

RevPi Core has been recognized

Your RevPi Core has been recognized by the PC.

• Click “Continue, but do not scan”.

Next, we will save the files in the RevPi Core. You may need to use them again in some cases.

• Open Win32 Disk Imager.

The following window will appear:

Win32 Disk Imager startup window

• Click the “File” button.

• Select the folder location to save the image.

• Enter the file name at the selected location, the name must end with “.img”.

• Select your ReviPi Core from the dropdown list. Only the available drive numbers are shown here. If you are not sure which one it is, you can find it in “Computer”. You can find your RevPi Core under “Removable Storage Devices”. It will show as “boot”.

Select your RevPi Core

• Click “Read”.

You are now entering the image saving phase. This process may take a few minutes. Once the image file is successfully created, you will receive a confirmation message.

Next, we will explain how to write the image file to the RevPi Core.

Note:

The RevPiCore has a storage capacity of 4 GB.

Please ensure that the image file you are using does not exceed 4 GB.

Requirements: You have the image file on your PC. For example, it could be a backup of the RevPi Core that has already been created. Other image files can be downloaded from the links provided above.

• Open Win32 Disk Imager.

• Select your ReviPi Core from the dropdown list. Only the available drive numbers are shown here. If you are not sure which one it is, you can find it in “Computer”. You can find your RevPi Core under “Removable Storage Devices”. It will show as “boot”.

Select your RevPi Core

Note:

Check that you have indeed selected the RevPi Core.

If you mistakenly select the wrong device, you may corrupt data.

• Click the “File” button.

• Select your image file.

Select image file

• Click “Write”.

The selected image will start writing to the RevPi Core. This process may take a few minutes. Once the image file transfer is successful, you will receive a confirmation message.

After completing the operations of saving and installing the image file, please note:

When the micro-USB plug is connected to the RevPi Core, it is in flash mode and cannot reboot into run mode. You must first unplug the micro-USB cable before you can reboot the RevPi Core.