PROCESSOR-SDK-AM57X: Flashing AM571x IDK with Uniflash failure

Hi Joe,

Joseph Ott said:

UNIflash version 8.2.0

Also, can you try erasing the flash once and see if it works as expected.

Regards,
Parth

Parth,

Following the erase inunctions found in the FAQ: https://e2e.ti.com/support/processors-group/processors/f/processors-forum/1005148/faq-processor-sdk-am57x-how-to-boot-from-qspi-flash-on-am57x

The erase completed and was successful

Retrying to flash MLO stills fails as above,

Joe

Any information on why Uniflash is failing to load the MLO file?

It looks like Uniflash is exiting early but provides no information? 

Trying to load the application Uniflash prints out "the file extension is" and then exits.

Fixing this issue with flashing the board is start to impact our development schedule. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Just getting to the point where we can use uniflash to flash the  AM571x IDK development board according to TI's posted steps would be helpful.

Joe

Hi Joe,

Can you please document the exact steps you are following to flash the qspi. Please mention the versions of the component involved (SDK, Uniflash, CCS) as well. We'll try to reproduce the issue on our end.

Regards,
Parth

Parth,

As mentioned above I am following the steps in the FAQ found here: FAQ: https://e2e.ti.com/support/processors-group/processors/f/processors-forum/1005148/faq-processor-sdk-am57x-how-to-boot-from-qspi-flash-on-am57x

The dev kit in use is the AM571x IDK

Tool versions

UNIflash version 8.2.0

AM571x SDK version 8.1

CCS 9.3

Windows development environment

Steps to flash the AM571x IDK

Open command window in C:\ti\uniflash_8.2.0

run the first command

C:\ti\uniflash_8.2.0\dslite.bat --mode load --config=C:\Users\jott\ti\CCSTargetConfigurations\Flash_XDS100.ccxml -f C:\ti\uniflash_6.4.0\processors\FlashWriter\idkAM571x\uart_idkAM571x_flash_programmer.out -n 7

This seems to run correctly and we see the 'C' printed out on COM7 using Tera Term See above for complete out put

Disconnect Tera Term

unplug and re-insert the USB connection for COM7 ( also tried without doing this)

run the second command to flash the SBL

C:\>C:\ti\uniflash_8.2.0\dslite.bat --mode processors -c COM7 -f C:\ti\processor_sdk_rtos_am57xx_08_01_00_09\pdk_am57xx_1_0_19\packages\ti\boot\sbl\binary\idkAM571x\qspi\bin\MLO -d 2 -i 1 -o 0

This command seems to exit early 

C:\>C:\ti\uniflash_8.2.0\dslite.bat --mode processors -c COM7 -f C:\ti\processor_sdk_rtos_am57xx_08_01_00_09\pdk_am57xx_1_0_19\packages\ti\boot\sbl\binary\idkAM571x\qspi\bin\MLO -d 2 -i 1 -o 0
Executing the following command:
> C:\ti\uniflash_8.2.0\processors\ProcessorSDKSerialFlash.exe -c COM7 -f C:\ti\processor_sdk_rtos_am57xx_08_01_00_09\pdk_am57xx_1_0_19\packages\ti\boot\sbl\binary\idkAM571x\qspi\bin\MLO -d 2 -i 1 -o 0

For more details and examples, please refer to the UniFlash Quick Start guide.

C:\>

Also tried to run the third command to flash the app

C:\>C:\ti\uniflash_6.4.0\dslite.bat --mode processors -c COM7 -f C:\ti\processor_sdk_rtos_am57xx_08_01_00_09\processor_sdk_rtos_am57xx_08_01_00_09\prebuilt-sdcards\idkAM571x\sd_card_files\led_TEST -d 2 -o 80000
Executing the following command:

This command also seemed to exit early

C:\>C:\ti\uniflash_6.4.0\dslite.bat --mode processors -c COM7 -f C:\ti\processor_sdk_rtos_am57xx_08_01_00_09\processor_sdk_rtos_am57xx_08_01_00_09\prebuilt-sdcards\idkAM571x\sd_card_files\led_TEST -d 2 -o 80000
Executing the following command:
> C:\ti\uniflash_6.4.0\processors\ProcessorSDKSerialFlash.exe -c COM7 -f C:\ti\processor_sdk_rtos_am57xx_08_01_00_09\processor_sdk_rtos_am57xx_08_01_00_09\prebuilt-sdcards\idkAM571x\sd_card_files\led_TEST -d 2 -o 80000

For more details and examples, please refer to the UniFlash Quick Start guide.

The file extension is

C:\>

Does this version of dslight support the verbose mode flag?

-e is for verbose mode,

Looking at the help for "dslite --mode processors" indicates -e is for erase

A verbose output would be nice.

C:\ti\uniflash_8.2.0>dslite --mode processors -h
Executing the following command:
> C:\ti\uniflash_8.2.0\processors\ProcessorSDKSerialFlash.exe -h

For more details and examples, please refer to the UniFlash Quick Start guide.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ProcessorSDKSerialFlash CLI Tool
Copyright (C) 2017-2023 Texas Instruments Incorporated - http://www.ti.com/
Version 1.8.0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Displaying Help..

Usage:
dslite.bat --mode processors -c <COM_Port> -f <File_to_be_transferred_with_full_path> -d <Device_Type> -i <Image_Type> -e <Erase_Length> -o <Offset>
-fc <Hardware_Flow_Control> -raw <Raw_Mode>

COM_Port: COM port number where processor UART console is connected

File_to_be_transferred_with_full_path: Name of the file to be flashed with full path

Device_Type:
0 - NAND
1 - SPI
2 - QSPI
3 - OSPI
4 - eMMC
5 - HyperFlash
6 - UFS
7 - Custom Flash

Image_Type:
0 - Flash
1 - MLO
2 - Uboot
3 - UImage
4 - Firmware
5 - Custom Image

Erase_Length:Flash erase length in bytes

Offset: Flash start offset for image flashing or erase

Hardware_Flow_Control:
0 - disable
1 - enable

Raw_Mode:
0 - disable
1 - enable

Note:
 - Image type parameter (-i 0) is mandatory while downloading the flash programmer
 - File Path should not be specified in case of Flash Erase

After the failed flash command, is there an errorlevel return code returned?   

e.g.  ECHO %ERRORLEVEL%    (at the command prompt after command returns)

JP,

Thanks for your suggestions.

After running the 

C:\>C:\ti\uniflash_8.2.0\dslite.bat --mode processors -c COM7 -f C:\ti\processor_sdk_rtos_am57xx_08_01_00_09\pdk_am57xx_1_0_19\packages\ti\boot\sbl\binary\idkAM571x\qspi\bin\MLO -d 2 -i 1 -o 0

command the error level returned is

ERRORLEVEL = -1073741819

which is (xFFFFFFFFC0000005)

Hopefully TI can help figure out what this means.

Joe

Helpful!   That translates to Microsoft's 0xC0000005 = STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION.

Google shows that other folks have gotten this error in conjunction with uniflash in the distant past.

I will be of limited further help - hopefully TI support can assist.

JP,

Thanks again for you suggestions. It would have been nice if there was a verbose mode.

I will dig into the STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION error.

Joe

Thank you for posting the final solution!   Good work!

JP

Thanks for your inputs, they were helpful.

Parth,

Now that we have figured out a solution I would like to look at how to deploy. Via the Uniflash GUI you can generate package. Since the AM5718 is only supported via Uniflash command line is there a way to generate a package similar to the GUI?

Joe

Hi Joe,

I have not Uniflash GUI, can you please elaborate what does these packages do and functionality do you require on command line?

Regards,
Parth

Note that CCS operations can be scripted thru Debug Server Scripting (DSS) and JavaScript.    This may not be an alternative for you.

Parth,

looking at the Uniflash Quick start guide: https://software-dl.ti.com/ccs/esd/uniflash/docs/v8_1/uniflash_quick_start_guide.html

It talks about the standalone Command line tool

"

Standalone Command line tool

Often in production line environment all you really want is a CLI tool that does one job: Flash the device with verification. This new UniFlash v4 feature is tailor made for this use case.

After you have chosen the image you would like to flash and configured the flash settings accordingly, go to the "Standalone Command line" view to choose the deployment platform for the CLI tool. Hit "Generate Package" and a zip file will be created; containing everything you need for the deployment platform to flash your target.

"

Since the AM57xx part is only support via Command line there is no "Generate Package" button to generate a zip file containing everything needed for flashing the target. I was hoping to be able to generate a zip file or similar for deploying the needed SW to flash the board.

If you can provide me with instructions on how to create or what is contained in the deployable zip file that would be helpful.

Joe

So basically all you are looking for a one step solution to flash the images to the qspi. If that's the case, you can create shell/batch script that takes in these commands and flash the images for you.

Regards,
Parth