libefex

libefex is a cross-platform library for interacting with Sunxi chips in both FEL and FES modes. FEL is a low-level subroutine contained in the BootROM on Sunxi devices used for initial programming and recovery. FES mode is another BootROM subroutine used for more advanced flash operations.

Features

• Scan and connect to Sunxi devices in FEL and FES modes
• Read and write device memory
• Execute code in device memory
• Flash programming and management
• Support for multiple processor architectures (ARM32, AARCH64, RISC-V32 E907)
• C language API interface
• Python bindings - WIP
• Rust bindings

Build Guide

Prerequisites

• CMake 3.16 or higher
• C compiler (GCC, Clang, MSVC, etc.)
• Linux: libusb-1.0-0-dev package

Build Steps

# Clone the repository with submodules
git clone --recursive https://github.com/YuzukiTsuru/libefex.git
cd libefex

# Create build directory
mkdir build && cd build

# Configure the project
cmake ..

# Build the project
cmake --build .

CMake Options

Option	Default	Description
LIBEFEX_USE_SHARED_LIBUSB	ON	Build libusb as shared library (LGPL compatible)
USE_WINUSB	ON (Windows)	Enable WinUSB backend on Windows

To build with static libusb:

cmake -DLIBEFEX_USE_SHARED_LIBUSB=OFF ..

Rust Bindings

Rust bindings are available in the rust/ directory.

Build System

libefex-sys uses the following strategy to find or build libusb:

1. System libusb: First tries to find libusb via pkg-config (Linux/macOS)
2. Build from source: If not found, builds libusb from source using CMake

Platform	Library Source	Library Type
Linux	System (pkg-config) or CMake	Shared (.so)
macOS	System (pkg-config) or CMake	Shared (.dylib)
Windows	CMake	Shared (.dll)

Supported Targets

Platform	Target
Windows x86_64	x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
Windows ARM64	aarch64-pc-windows-msvc
macOS ARM64	aarch64-apple-darwin
Linux x86_64	x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
Linux ARM64	aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu

Usage

# In your Cargo.toml
[dependencies]
libefex-sys = { path = "path/to/libefex/rust/libefex-sys" }

Build

cd rust
cargo build --release

Requirements:

• CMake 3.16+
• Linux: libusb-1.0-0-dev package (recommended)
• macOS: libusb via Homebrew (optional)

License Compliance

libusb is linked as a shared library (LGPL compliant), users can replace the library.

CI Matrix

OS	Target	Tests
windows-latest	x86_64-pc-windows-msvc	✓
windows-latest	aarch64-pc-windows-msvc	✗
macos-latest	aarch64-apple-darwin	✓
ubuntu-latest	x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu	✓
ubuntu-24.04-arm	aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu	✓

License

libefex is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.

libusb is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1. See lib/libusb-cmake/libusb/COPYING for details.