defib

Universal camera recovery tool - shocking dead devices back to life.

A modern, async Python tool for recovering bricked IP cameras via UART serial and network protocols. Supports HiSilicon, Goke, and other SoC families.

Web UI (No Install Needed)

Launch Web Recovery Tool — works directly in Chrome/Edge/Opera using the WebSerial API. Just open the page, select your chip and firmware, connect your USB-serial adapter, and go.

Installation (CLI)

uv tool install defib
# or
pipx install defib

Quick Start

# List supported chips (120+)
defib list-chips

# List available serial ports
defib ports

# Recover a device via UART
defib burn -c hi3516ev300 -f u-boot.bin -p /dev/ttyUSB0

# Interactive TUI
defib tui

# Network recovery via TFTP
defib network -f firmware.bin --nic eth0

# JSON output for AI agents / automation
defib burn -c gk7205v200 -f u-boot.bin --output json

Features

• All 3 HiSilicon/Goke UART protocols (Standard, V500, CV6xx)
• 120+ supported SoC chips
• Plugin architecture for future vendor protocols
• Multiple interfaces: CLI, TUI, Web UI, JSON for automation
• Network recovery (async TFTP server, broadcast discovery)
• UART session capture/replay (.dcap format)
• macOS serial workaround (ACK byte correction)
• Cross-platform: Linux, macOS, Windows

Testing with QEMU

Defib can be tested end-to-end against the qemu-hisilicon emulator without physical hardware. When QEMU starts without -kernel, it emulates the HiSilicon boot ROM serial protocol.

# Terminal 1: start QEMU in fastboot mode
qemu-system-arm -M hi3516ev300 -m 64M -nographic \
    -chardev socket,id=ser0,path=/tmp/qemu-hisi.sock,server=on,wait=off \
    -serial chardev:ser0

# Terminal 2: recover via socket (auto-downloads OpenIPC U-Boot)
defib burn -c hi3516ev300 -p socket:///tmp/qemu-hisi.sock

The socket:// transport prefix connects defib directly to QEMU's chardev Unix socket. All three protocol phases (DDR init, SPL, U-Boot) transfer with full CRC-16 validation. After the upload, QEMU starts the CPU and U-Boot output appears on the same connection.

Supported: all Standard protocol chips (hi3516cv300, hi3516ev200, hi3516ev300, hi3518ev300, gk7205v200, gk7205v300, etc.). V500 and CV6xx protocol emulation is not yet available in QEMU.

License

MIT