TDA4VM-Q1: How to run gpio test app on mcu2_0 core (main r5f0_0)

Hi Jason,

I see that the "TDA4-SK-RTOS" is mentioned, but is this running on the SK board or the EVM board? As a disclaimer, all of the RTOS examples were developed/tested for the EVM board and not the SK board, so we do not claim support on the SK board. As such, it will be very hard for us to root cause this issue if using the SK board, as there are many board related changes for peripherals including GPIO (for example, it could be that the GPIO used in the default test app is already claimed by a different peripheral that is necessary for boot).

If the intention here is to get started with GPIO on the SK board, then my recommendation would be to use our Linux driver and libraries that are documented here: https://software-dl.ti.com/jacinto7/esd/processor-sdk-linux-edgeai/TDA4VM/09_00_00/exports/edgeai_docs/devices/TDA4VM/linux/pi_hdr_programming.html

Otherwise, if the intention is to get started on MCU R5F programming, then the recommendation would be to use the EVM board: https://www.ti.com/tool/J721EXSOMXEVM. Although it is more expensive than the SK board (due to having more features/peripherals pinned out and also more features supported on the EVM board compared to SK board), all of the RTOS examples should be validated on the EVM board. A lot of time would most likely be saved compared to porting over the RTOS examples to the SK board.

Please let us know more about the intent behind the original question, and we would be happy to help.

Regards,

Takuma

Hi Takuma

Thanks for your suggestion and reply for my questions.

I am using ti-processor-sdk-rtos-j721e-evm-08_04_00_06 on SK-TDA4VM board for my test.

I'd like to clarify my question here:

Actually, what I want know is how to load and boot the app to mcu2_0 by linux. I just take the GPIO demo as an example, in fact, any other app which can run on mcu2_0 core are ok for me. So, I think the strategy of load and boot r5f app is the same for SK and J7 evm board.

I just plan to compile an app in pdk or even  hellworld app, and then put it into linux file system, after that boot it. But I don't know which directory I should put the app into the linux file system, is this directory : /lib/firmware/pdk-ipc?   

And once I put the app into the correct path in linux file system, then how to configure and boot the app in linux sytem or uboot ?

Thanks

Jason

Hi Jason,

To reiterate, RTOS SDK is not supported as-is on SK-TDA4VM (as noted in this FAQ: https://software-dl.ti.com/jacinto7/esd/processor-sdk-linux-edgeai/TDA4VM/09_00_00/exports/edgeai_docs/devices/TDA4VM/linux/faq.html#processor-sdk-tda4vm-vs-processor-sdk-j721e), so it is not a recommended platform to start learning R5F development on. Theoretically, it is possible to develop and run R5F applications on the SK board. However, prior knowledge working on ti-processor-sdk-rtos-j721e-evm-* with the J721E EVM will be greatly preferred, because most of the development/learning would have to come from the customer-end if wanting to develop R5F applications on the SK-TDA4VM, as support will be limited from our-end.

The best we can do is to give some suggestions referencing the PROCESSOR-SDK-LINUX-SK-TDA4VM, but research will be needed about the application, OS, and board, and you must consider things such as memory map, if certain cores/peripherals/GPIO pins that the RTOS SDK uses are not taken up by the OS, or if the board has the signals pinned out, to name a few different things.

Assuming above has been taken into consideration, the firmware for all of the remote cores are located under rootfs/lib/firmware in PSDK Linux for SK-TDA4VM (https://software-dl.ti.com/jacinto7/esd/processor-sdk-linux-edgeai/TDA4VM/09_00_00/exports/edgeai_docs/common/sdk_overview.html). As reference:

This SDK document talks about how U-Boot loads in these firmware to these remote processors: https://software-dl.ti.com/jacinto7/esd/processor-sdk-linux-jacinto7/09_00_00_08/exports/docs/linux/Foundational_Components/U-Boot/UG-RemoteProc.html

Regards,

Takuma

Hi Takuma

Thanks a lot for your answer~

I have more clear concept after your explanation. Now, I tried booting the system by "remoteproc mode". I found the linux kernel  booting the mcu2_0 firmware from the path "pdk-ipc/ipc_echo_test_mcu2_0_release_strip.xer5f" on the sd card (rootfs/lib/firmware/ directory), just as below log displayed:

"[   10.765973] remoteproc remoteproc6: Booting fw image pdk-ipc/ipc_echo_test_mcu2_0_release_strip.xer5f, size 98572"

I want to know how should I configure the path if I want to change it? I don't know what area specify the 'load path' by linux kernel.(for example: I expect linux load the "/lib/firmware/yyy/aaa_release_strip.xer5f" on mcu2_0 core)

Thank you

Best Regards

Jason

Hi Jason,

U-Boot has some default environment variables pointing to the firmware location. If you have PSDK Linux installed on your host PC, then these are set in <PSDK Linux installed directory>/board-support/u-boot-*/include/configs/j721e_evm.h, and combined with <PSDK Linux installed directory>/board-support/u-boot-*/include/environment/ti/k3_rproc.h.

Alternatively, setting the uEnv.txt file in the boot partition of the SD card should have the same effect and would be an easier method to update the environment variables: https://software-dl.ti.com/jacinto7/esd/processor-sdk-linux-jacinto7/09_00_00_08/exports/docs/linux/Foundational_Components/U-Boot/UG-General-Info.html?highlight=uenv#u-boot-environment

The last option I can come up with is to create a symbolic link similar to the solution in this thread (note: thread is for TDA4VH instead of TDA4VM, but idea is still valid): https://e2e.ti.com/support/processors-group/processors/f/processors-forum/1207209/questions-about-using-native-linux-driver-on-tda4-vh-evm/4555061?tisearch=e2e-sitesearch&keymatch=pdk-ipc%25252525252525252Fipc_echo_test_mcu2_0_release_strip.xer5f#4555061. This would be the easiest method since there is no changes to U-Boot or the U-Boot environment variables.

Regards,

Takuma