AM3358: Having TI load the Debian OS so we can eliminate the SD Card connector from our PCB design.

Hi Brent,

I am not sure I understand the question. Do you mean for TI to pre-load a specific version of software on AM335x EVM? Or do you look for instruction for flashing Debian OS to your AM335x custom board?

Hello, Bin Liu,

Thank you for the reply.  We wish to have instructions for flashing the Debian OS to our AM3358 custom board, or to have TI do this for us.  Are PCB is going to be a version similar to the BeagleBone Black development bone but without the SD Card connector. 

Thanks,

Brent

Hi Brent,

TI does not do production for customers.

What interfaces does your board can boot from?

What media does your board use to store Debian OS?

We are booting the board from the eMMC.

Hi Brent,

I guess the board finally boots from eMMC, but eMMC has to be programmed first?

What else boot interfaces are available on the board which can be used to program eMMC? such as Ethernet or USB in device mode?

Hi Bin Liu,

Yes, we wish to boot from eMMC and yes, the eMMC will need to be programmed first.  The difficultly we face is getting the OS loaded into the eMMC without an SD Card interface.

Would it be at all possible to load the OS via the JTAG connection?

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Brent 

Hi Brent,

We don't support JTAG flashing for AM335x devices.

Do you have any other interface such as CPSW Ethernet or USB (in device mode) on the board?  That can be used to download software image and flash to eMMC.

Hi Bin Liu,

We have USB and I have located instructions on ti.com on how to load the OS to the eMMC using Linux.  This appears to be the way we must proceed.  I don't have a Linux laptop at this time and will purchase one to make this work, unless you know of a way to perform this on a Windows computer.

Thanks

Hi Brent,

Is the USB design in device mode not host mode? If so, it can be used to program eMMC.

I will need to research those definitions to be able to answer your question.  I've only been using the USB to ssh and ftp to and from the board.

If you can provide the USB portion of your board schematics showing the signal connections between the AM335x USB signals to the USB connector, I can get my answer from the schematics.

I'm attempting to place the image here.  We are using USB0 which is located in the lower right of this schematic and labelled as USB PC Connector.  Our USB is using J4 on the Beaglebone Black Revision C.  Find this on Sheet 4 of 11.  Thank you.  https://github.com/beagleboard/beaglebone-black/blob/master/BBB_SCH.pdf?raw=true

Bin Liu,

Thank you very much for your help on this matter.  I will attempt this with a new BeagleBone Black and let you know how it goes.

Brent