Image Flashing

Copyright © Quectel Wireless Solutions Co., Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.

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Before flashing the Quectel Pi image, make sure the Qualcomm_USB_Driver_v1.0.10065.1 driver has been installed. If it is not installed, click here to download and install the driver.

QFIL Image Flashing (Recommended)

If QFIL flashing software has been installed on your PC, you can use it to flash the image.

Configure QFIL

Click Tools → Configuration in the menu bar, and configure the following settings in the pop-up configuration window:

1. Set Device Type to ufs.

2. Set Validation Mode to 0 - No Validation.

3. Click OK to save the configuration.

Flashing Steps

1. Select the port

• Press and hold the EMG_DOWNLOAD button on Quectel Pi, and power on Quectel Pi at the same time.

• Click SelectPort, select the 9008 port, and click OK.

1. Select the build type

• Select Flat Build in Select Build Type.

1. Select the Programmer file

• Click Browse.

• Select the prog_firehose_Qcm6490_ddr.elf file.

1. Load XML configuration files

• Click Load XML.

• Select all rawprogram*.xml and patch*.xml files.

1. Start flashing

• Click Download to start flashing.

• When Download Succeed is displayed in the Status area, flashing has succeeded.

• The system will reboot automatically.

Flash Software Using QDL

Make Sure ModemManager Is Not Running

• Prerequisite: If the current host uses a Linux distribution with systemd, some Linux distributions include the ModemManager tool, which is used to configure mobile broadband. When the device is connected in USB mode, it is recognized as a Qualcomm modem, and ModemManager may try to configure the device. This interferes with QDL flashing, so ModemManager must be disabled before connecting the device. Use the following command to disable ModemManager:

sudo systemctl stop ModemManager

Flash the Image

Enable EMG_DOWNLOAD and power on the module. The module enters QDL emergency download mode.

• Linux x64

Download QDL tool:Linux x64 download

1. Extract the QDL_Linux_x64 archive, and open a terminal window in the directory containing the firmware, rawprogram.xml, patch.xml, and the QDL binary.

2. Run the QDL executable in the QDL_Linux_x64 directory with the following command to flash the software.

./qdl --storage ufs prog_firehose_Qcm6490_ddr.elf rawprogram*.xml patch*.xml

If “partition 1 is now bootable” is displayed in the terminal window, flashing has succeeded, as shown in the following message:

After flashing succeeds, run lsusb in the terminal window to view device information, as shown below:

• Windows x64

Download QDL tool:Windows x64 download

Install Microsoft WinUSB driver

Step 1: Uninstall the existing driver

• Open Device Manager.

• If the device appears under Ports (COM & LPT), uninstall the Qualcomm USB driver.

• Important: Select Delete the driver software for this device.

Step 2: Install the WinUSB driver

• Find the device (qcm6490-idp) in Device Manager.

• Right-click it and select Update driver.

• Select Browse my computer for drivers.

• Select Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.

• Select Microsoft as the manufacturer and WinUSB Device as the model.

• When the warning prompt appears, click Yes to continue installation.

1. Extract the QDL_Win_x64 archive, and place the firmware program, rawprogram.xml, patch.xml, and other files together with the QDL executable.

2. Open a Cmd window and run the QDL executable in the QDL_Win_x64 directory with the following command.

QDL_Win_x64>QDL.exe prog_firehose_Qcm6490_ddr.elf rawprogram0.xml rawprogram1.xml rawprogram2.xml rawprogram3.xml rawprogram4.xml rawprogram5.xml patch0.xml patch1.xml patch2.xml patch3.xml patch4.xml patch5.xml

The following figure shows successful flashing:

Notes

If flashing fails, perform the following steps and retry the flashing process:

1. Power off the device.

2. Disconnect Quectel Pi.

3. Restart Quectel Pi.