Avalon Firmware Update Guide: Nano 3, Nano 3S, Mini 3 & Q — Every Method

Updating a Canaan AvalonMiner is a five-minute job when you match the firmware to the exact model, hold power and network steady through the entire write, and verify the miner is hashing clean before you walk away — and a bench-repair job when you don’t. This guide covers every stock update path for the home K230 line (Nano 3, Nano 3S, Mini 3, Avalon Q) and the legacy K210 industrial line (A1246–A1566), with the model-match and verify-after discipline built into each one.

Understanding Avalon firmware

Canaan splits its current range across two control platforms, and the platform — not the model name — decides how you update it.

The home line (Nano 3, Nano 3S, Mini 3, Avalon Q) runs on the Kendryte K230 system-on-chip: a dual-core RISC-V processor running Linux alongside an RT-Smart real-time image, with no FPGA. K230 units ship signed .swu firmware images verified by RSA signature, expose a web interface plus a built-in SWUpdate server, and pair with Canaan’s mobile app for one-tap updates. The legacy industrial line (A1246, A1346, A1366, A1466, A1566 in their K210 generation) runs on the bare-metal K210 RISC-V controller — FreeRTOS, no Linux, no SSH — and takes an encrypted .aup upgrade package pushed over the network by Canaan’s desktop upgrade tool.

Two things about Canaan firmware are worth crediting, because they are unusual in this industry. First, Canaan publishes firmware source — the Avalon_Nano3s network/protocol layer and its cgminer build scripts are open on GitHub, and the industrial Avalon_mm application firmware is source-available. Second, its version strings bind to a git commit (for example Avalon_Nano3s_2025012122_b377540), a materially better provenance story than most competitors offer. The one closed piece on the home line is the ASIC driver itself, which ships as an encrypted blob decrypted on-device at boot.

Know your model: which update path

A model number alone does not tell you the platform — a modern A1566HS is a K230 machine, while an older A1566-generation unit may be K210. Check the firmware version string and the update package extension (.swu/.kdimg = K230; .aup on a bare-metal unit = K210) before you pick a method.

Before you update

Avalon firmware is not interchangeable between models or hardware generations. Downloading “the latest firmware” and pushing it to the wrong board is the single most common way owners brick a unit. Sort these out first.

1. Identify the exact model and platform. Read the model and firmware version from the web UI status page or the app. K230 home units take signed .swu/.kdimg images; K210 industrial units take .aup packages. Grab the file that names your model — a signed image cannot be swapped onto a different model, and tampered or downgraded images are rejected by design.
2. Download only from Canaan. Use Canaan’s official firmware portal or support knowledge base (links at the bottom of this page). Do not flash firmware pulled from forums or chat groups.
3. Record your current pool configuration and firmware version. Note the pool URLs, worker names, work mode, and the running version string before you touch anything — an upgrade can reset settings, and you want a known-good baseline to compare against.
4. Stabilise power and network. Update over a wired connection where possible, on a circuit that will not trip and from a machine that will not sleep or drop the miner mid-write. A dropped link or a power blip during the write is what corrupts an image. Home units draw power over USB-C PD — use the supplied brick, not a random charger.
5. Have the recovery path ready. For a K230 home unit, that means K230 BurningTool and a double-male USB-A cable on hand before you start, so a failed write is a 15-minute reflash rather than a panic.

Method 1 — Avalon Remote / Avalon Family app

Best for a single home unit and the least error-prone path, because the app only offers you firmware that matches the device it is talking to.

1. Install the Avalon Remote / Avalon Family app (iOS or Android) and put your phone on the same 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network as the miner.
2. Tap + to add the device; the app discovers the miner on the LAN and shows its model and firmware version.
3. If an update is available the app flags it. Review the version, then start the update and leave the app in the foreground.
4. Do not close the app, lock the phone, or cut power until the miner reports success and comes back online.

Method 2 — Network Upgrade Tool / web UI

Best for one or a handful of units on a PC, or when you want to upload a file you have already downloaded from Canaan. The AvalonMiner serves its control panel on port 80.

1. Find the miner’s IP address from your router’s DHCP table (home units default to 192.168.168.168 in AP mode; on your LAN they take a DHCP lease).
2. Open that IP in a browser and log in. Check the model-specific notes below for the default credentials for your unit.
3. Open the Upgrade / firmware page (on newer builds it lives under the system or maintenance menu).
4. Choose the firmware file you downloaded for this exact model and click Upload.
5. Let it run. The miner writes the image and reboots on its own. Do not close the page, reload, or cut power until it reports success.

Canaan’s Windows desktop tool can also scan the LAN, list Nano 3S / Mini 3 / Q units, and push the same image to several matching units at once over the CGMiner API on port 4028 — confirm every selected unit is the same model, since one image goes to all of them.

Method 3 — USB / SWUpdate .swu (port 9090)

The K230 home line runs an embedded SWUpdate server on port 9090 that accepts a signed .swu package directly, and Canaan also supports writing a full image to a USB stick for the update. Both paths are RSA-verified — the unit rejects any .swu that is not signed by Canaan.

1. Download the correct .swu (or USB image) for your model from Canaan.
2. For the SWUpdate path, browse to http://<miner-ip>:9090 on the same network and use the upload form to select the .swu.
3. For the USB path, write the supplied image to a USB stick (Canaan documents Raspberry Pi Imager for this), insert it, and follow the unit’s prompt.
4. The unit verifies the signature, writes the image, and reboots. Do not remove the USB stick or cut power until it comes back up.

Method 4 — K230 BurningTool recovery (bricked unit)

This is the recovery path, not a routine update — use it only when a home unit will not boot or its web UI is unreachable after a failed write. It reflashes the SPI-NAND from the K230 boot ROM.

1. Download the model’s recovery image and K230BurningTool (Windows) from Canaan; install the WinUSB driver it needs.
2. Power the unit off. Hold the recessed pinhole recovery button while connecting the unit to the PC with a double-male USB-A cable (on the Nano units this uses the Wi-Fi-dongle port, so the dongle comes out first). This drops the K230 into USB recovery mode.
3. In BurningTool, select the correct recovery image for this exact model, set the medium to SPI-NAND, and start.
4. Let it complete, then reboot the unit and re-run your normal update/verify.

Method 5 — AvalonMiner Upgrade Tool (K210 industrial)

The legacy K210 industrial units (A1246, A1346, A1366, A1466, A1566 in their K210 generation) have no Linux, no SSH and no SWUpdate server. They are updated with Canaan’s AvalonMiner Upgrade Tool, which reflashes the bare-metal firmware over the network with an .aup package.

1. Download the correct .aup package for your exact model from Canaan.
2. Launch the Upgrade Tool and let it discover the miners on your subnet.
3. Select only units of the same model, point the tool at the .aup file, and start.
4. Watch the report; any units that failed are listed by IP so you can retry them individually. Keep power and network stable for the whole run.

The industrial .aup format is encrypted and integrity-checked, so a mismatched or corrupted package is refused rather than half-written — but a mid-write power loss can still leave a unit needing a network reflash, so treat the same discipline as mandatory.

Model-specific notes

Avalon Nano 3

USB-C PD powered, no LCD. Older builds carried a timezone-CGI security bug and a 24-day uptime crash — keep the Nano 3 on the current Canaan build to close both.

Avalon Nano 3S

Front-panel LCD; internal redesign over the Nano 3 with a denser 4 nm chip generation. Same USB-C PD envelope.

Avalon Mini 3

Sits between the Nano 3S and the Avalon Q in the home line. Same K230 update discipline as the Nano units.

Avalon Q

A “home-class industrial” unit — a K230 machine that shares the home line’s update methods but at ~1.7 kW. Treat its power stability requirement seriously: this is a 15 A-class load, not a USB-C heater.

Verify the update worked

A reboot is not proof of success. Confirm the miner took the new image and is hashing clean before you leave it:

• Check the reported firmware version on the status page, or query the API: echo '{"command":"version"}' | nc <miner-ip> 4028.
• Confirm all hash boards are detected and the accepted hashrate has climbed back to the model’s nominal figure. A board that dropped out after the flash points to a bad write or a pre-existing fault the reboot exposed.
• Watch temperatures and fan behaviour for the first few minutes, and check the error/reject rate is low — a healthy unit settles quickly.
• Confirm steady pool hashrate. Reapply your pool URLs and worker names if the upgrade reset them, and watch for accepted shares climbing at the pool.

Troubleshooting

• Update fails mid-flash. Do not power-cycle repeatedly. On a K230 home unit, re-run the update or use the BurningTool recovery path (Method 4); on a K210 industrial unit, re-run the AvalonMiner Upgrade Tool network reflash.
• Miner will not boot after update. For home units, enter K230 recovery (pinhole button + double-male USB-A) and reflash the correct recovery image. For industrial units, the Upgrade Tool network reflash is the recovery path — there is no SD/USB recovery on K210.
• Wrong firmware flashed. The signature/model check refuses most cross-model images before they are written, but if a unit is misbehaving, reflash the correct image for the exact model.
• Lost pool, not lost firmware. If a unit stops hashing after the reboot, check pool config and board detection before you re-flash — most “failed upgrades” are just wiped settings.
• Signature rejects your image. On a home unit that means the file is not a Canaan-signed .swu for this model, or you are trying to downgrade. Get the correct signed image from Canaan.

Can you run third-party firmware on an Avalon?

No aftermarket firmware vendor supports Canaan’s K230 home line — the Avalon Nano 3, Nano 3S, Mini 3 and Avalon Q. Braiins OS+, VNish and LuxOS are Antminer-only; Hiveon’s supported-models list reaches some legacy Avalon industrial rigs but stops at the A1246 and names no Nano, Mini or Q. So for the home units there is no aftermarket firmware to swap to — the firmware-swap playbook from the Antminer world has no equivalent there.

What is emerging instead is a small open-source and community firmware scene around the approachable K230 home platform — a Nano 3 jailbreak, a community custom firmware for the Mini 3, and a GPL-3.0 project in development. We cover that landscape honestly, with the safety and warranty caveats, in our Avalon custom firmware guide.

DCENT_OS for Canaan

DCENT_OS for Canaan is in active development — it is not something you can install today. There is no public image and no install procedure for Avalon hardware, and it does not yet mine an Avalon. What is real: DCENT’s own userspace has achieved first light on a real Avalon Nano 3, coexisting with Canaan’s stack, and the K230 flash tooling is desk-proven. Canaan’s own hashing daemon still owns the ASIC.

We are building it as the only open-source (GPL-3.0) firmware project targeting Canaan — an alternative in progress, not a finished product. Follow the roadmap, see exactly what is proven and what is next, and find out how to contribute a bench unit on our DCENT_OS for Avalon roadmap.

Frequently asked questions

How do I update my Avalon Nano 3 or Nano 3S firmware?

What is the default IP and login for an Avalon Nano miner?

Can I run Braiins OS, VNish or LuxOS on an Avalon Nano or Q?

Will updating firmware brick my Avalon miner?

Where do I download official Avalon firmware?

How do I know the update actually worked?

Firmware download links & resources

• Canaan official downloads: canaan.io/support/file_download (select your model series — “Avalon Home” for the Nano/Mini/Q line).
• Canaan support knowledge base: support.canaan.io (firmware, manuals, upgrade articles).
• Version reference, changelog and firmware security history: our Avalon firmware versions & security guide.
• AvalonMiner manuals: D-Central AvalonMiner manuals library.
• Diagnose a board that dropped out: ASIC fault finder.

Why D-Central

D-Central sells, services and repairs Canaan hardware from Montreal, and we are building DCENT_OS — the only open-source firmware project targeting the Avalon line. That gives us a reason to get the firmware facts exactly right and no reason to sell you a firmware swap that does not exist for this hardware. If an Avalon will not boot after an update or a hash board is dead, start a repair with us rather than risking further damage with another blind flash.