MCU-PLUS-SDK-AM243X: How to change the boot section after a boot failure

Hi Oyama,

Tomoya Oyama said:

However, since Bootloader_parseMultiCoreAppImage() is usually used only once,

I don't see any issues with this method, there is no restriction in reference to calling this API only one time.

Tomoya Oyama said:

I am concerned that using it multiple times may cause problems with variable initialization, etc.

This shouldn't cause an issue if your image is failing at the authentication stage, but if you do observe any issues with this then you can try using different variable for different sections.

Best regards,

Meet.

Hi Meet,

Meet Thakar said:

you can try using different variable for different sections

What does variable refer to?

After reading an empty section filled with 0xFF,

Bootloader_parseMultiCoreAppImage() always returns an error even though the section it read was correct.

Is there a way to avoid this?

    /* From offset 0x100000, it is filled with "0xFF"*/
    uint32_t BootSelect=0;
    if(BootSelect==0){
        ((Bootloader_FlashArgs *)(cfg->args))->appImageOffset = 0x100000;
        DebugP_log("Change boot section to 0x100000\r\n");
        status = Bootloader_parseMultiCoreAppImage(bootHandle, &bootImageInfo);
        if(status != SystemP_SUCCESS){
            BootSelect = 1;
        }
    }
     /* From offset 0x200000, it is Normal image data*/
    if(BootSelect==1){
        ((Bootloader_FlashArgs *)(cfg->args))->appImageOffset = 0x200000;
        DebugP_log("Change boot section to 0x200000\r\n");
        status = Bootloader_parseMultiCoreAppImage(bootHandle, &bootImageInfo);
        if(status != SystemP_SUCCESS){
            //It will reach this section
        }
    }

Best regard

Oyama

Tomoya Oyama said:

After reading an empty section filled with 0xFF,

Bootloader_parseMultiCoreAppImage() always returns an error even though the section it read was correct.

Could you elaborate this, I wasn't completely able to understand this. What is the usecase behind reading an empty section using Bootloader_parseMultiCoreAppImage, this API is used to read the appimage, it expects the appimage in a certain format with x509 certificate in the header, if you try to read any random part of the memory then it is expected that this API gives an error.

Tomoya Oyama said:

What does variable refer to?

bootHandle:https://software-dl.ti.com/mcu-plus-sdk/esd/AM243X/11_00_00_15/exports/docs/api_guide_am243x/group__DRV__BOOTLOADER__MODULE.html#ga8c2fc1e55aeabdc0aeb19b979fa8d662

This is configured from gBootloaderConfig variable generated by syscfg.

bootImageInfo: https://software-dl.ti.com/mcu-plus-sdk/esd/AM243X/11_00_00_15/exports/docs/api_guide_am243x/structBootloader__CpuInfo.html

This data structure contains information related all CPUs, this is filled by Bootloader_parseMultiCoreAppImage.

Best Regards,

Meet.

Hi Meet,

Even if it fails to boot at offset 0x100000, I want it to boot from 0x200000.

However, if the data at offset 0x100000 is uncertified random data,

not only will it return an error, but subsequent boots from 0x200000 may also fail.

Best regard

Oyama

Hi Oyama,

Tomoya Oyama said:

not only will it return an error, but subsequent boots from 0x200000 may also fail.

Could you please explain what issue you are observing while booting form 0x200000? Is there any error message in the logs or the program is stuck somewhere? Could you share the boot logs from UART terminal.

Best regards,

Meet.

Hi Meet,

I tried it on AM243x-LP.

I added this code to sbl_ospi_am243x-lp.

            /* Initialize PRU Cores if applicable */
            Bootloader_Config *cfg = (Bootloader_Config *)bootHandle;
            bootConfig = (Bootloader_Config *)bootHandle;
            bootConfig->scratchMemPtr = gAppimage;
            if(TRUE == cfg->initICSSCores)
            {
                status = Bootloader_socEnableICSSCores(BOOTLOADER_ICSS_CORE_DEFAULT_FREQUENCY);
                DebugP_assert(status == SystemP_SUCCESS);
            }

            uint32_t ImageOffset=0;

            ImageOffset=0x200000;
            ((Bootloader_FlashArgs *)(cfg->args))->appImageOffset = ImageOffset;
            DebugP_log("Change boot section from 0x200000\r\n");
            DebugP_log("There is no data in this section\r\n");
            status = Bootloader_parseMultiCoreAppImage(bootHandle, &bootImageInfo);
            if(status==SystemP_SUCCESS){
                DebugP_log("Success boot from 0x%x\r\n",ImageOffset);
            }
            else{
                DebugP_log("False boot from 0x%x : status=0x%x\r\n",ImageOffset,status);
            }

            ImageOffset=0x80000;
            ((Bootloader_FlashArgs *)(cfg->args))->appImageOffset = ImageOffset;
            DebugP_log("Change boot section from 0x80000\r\n");
            DebugP_log("This section contains the default hs_fs applications\r\n");
            status = Bootloader_parseMultiCoreAppImage(bootHandle, &bootImageInfo);
            if(status==SystemP_SUCCESS){
                DebugP_log("Success boot from 0x%x\r\n",ImageOffset);
            }
            else{
                DebugP_log("False boot from 0x%x : status=0x%x\r\n",ImageOffset,status);
            }

            ImageOffset=0x80000;
            ((Bootloader_FlashArgs *)(cfg->args))->appImageOffset = ImageOffset;
            DebugP_log("Try again boot section from 0x80000\r\n");
            DebugP_log("This section contains the default hs_fs applications\r\n");
            status = Bootloader_parseMultiCoreAppImage(bootHandle, &bootImageInfo);
            if(status==SystemP_SUCCESS){
                DebugP_log("Success boot from 0x%x\r\n",ImageOffset);
            }
            else{
                DebugP_log("False boot from 0x%x : status=0x%x\r\n",ImageOffset,status);
            }
        

            uint32_t coreVariant = Bootloader_socGetCoreVariant();
            /*Checks the core variant(Dual/Quad) */

The boot log is as follows

DMSC Firmware Version 11.0.7--v11.00.07 (Fancy Rat)
DMSC Firmware revision 0xb
DMSC ABI revision 4.0

Change boot section from 0x200000
There is no data in this section
False boot from 0x200000 : status=0xffffffff
Change boot section from 0x80000
This section contains the default hs_fs applications
False boot from 0x80000 : status=0xffffffff
Try again boot section from 0x80000
This section contains the default hs_fs applications
Success boot from 0x80000
KPI_DATA: [BOOTLOADER_PROFILE] Boot Media       : NOR SPI FLASH
KPI_DATA: [BOOTLOADER_PROFILE] Boot Media Clock : 100.000 MHz
KPI_DATA: [BOOTLOADER_PROFILE] Boot Image Size  : 272 KB
KPI_DATA: [BOOTLOADER_PROFILE] Cores present    :
r5f0-0

Best regard

Oyama

Hi Oyama,

I see from the logs that the boot succeeds after you run the bootloader twice for the offset 0x80000, let me try to see what could be the issue here. I will try reproduce this at my end, and update you on the results.

Best regards,

Meet.