Bricked rk3588

[ourbullets]

I have a cm3588. I was playing around with trying to compile my own
u-boot for it myself and in the process I've somehow put my board into
an irrecoverable state.

Right now, the board enters MASKROM mode automatically when power is
supplied, indicating no boot signature. I can see the board on my
computer:

> # rkdeveloptool ld
> DevNo=1 Vid=0x2207,Pid=0x350b,LocationID=101 Maskrom

The behaviour I experience is the same regardless of if I manually press
the MASKROM button or if it automatically enters. The problem is I
cannot download *any* bootloader to the board. It hangs when I try.

> # md5sum MiniLoaderAll.bin
> 303b96bf3f5c9a7c887babb23053e41d MiniLoaderAll.bin
> # rkdeveloptool db ~/Downloads/MiniLoaderAll.bin
> Downloading bootloader...

^ This command never finishes

Host kernel output doesn't show anything suspicious:

> [ 2247.477948] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 12 using xhci_hcd
> [ 2247.601672] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=2207, idProduct=350b, bcdDevice= 1.00
> [ 2247.601684] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0

I've tried the following:
* Both vendor and rockchip-linux/rkbin bootloader
* 3 different computers
* Windows and Linux
* rkdeveloptool, RKDevTool, upgrade_tool
* Different power supplies

The most confusing part about this to me is I *had* been downloading the
bootloader just fine before. I'd done it many times without having any problems.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I do hope I haven't broken
anything permanently.

Thanks

[gravitychar]

The most baffling aspect about this to me is I *had* been downloading the bootloader just fine before. I had done it numerous times without experiencing any issues.

[ronaldwolfe]

It sounds like the eMMC boot area may have been corrupted, but since the board still appears in MASKROM mode, the SoC itself is likely alive. One thing I'd check is whether the eMMC is preventing the loader from being transferred. If possible, try booting with the eMMC temporarily disconnected or forced into a disabled state and see if rkdeveloptool db succeeds. If the download still hangs even in pure MASKROM mode on multiple hosts and with different loaders, it could point to a hardware issue or a damaged eMMC rather than a problem with the bootloader image itself.

[alexandergrant]

Since the board is detected in MASKROM mode but hangs when downloading the loader, I’d first suspect a problem with the loader handshake or the board’s low-level boot state rather than assuming the hardware is permanently damaged. Have you tried using a loader specifically provided for the CM3588 and checking whether the exact file is compatible with your board revision? It might also be worth checking the vendor’s recovery instructions and capturing more detailed `rkdeveloptool` output, if available. Hopefully it’s recoverable without needing to replace the board.