[FAQ] [Alert] DM R5F can crash in certain conditions: AM62x, AM62Ax, AM62Dx, AM62Px, AM67, AM67A

Nick Saulnier

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: AM67, AM67A

Criticality
High

Hardware Devices and Revisions Affected
AM62x, AM62Ax, AM62Dx, AM62Px: SDK 10.1 and earlier
AM67, AM67A: SDK 11.0 and earlier

Description

The primary role of the Device Management (DM) R5F core is to run the DM task. Non-DM code running on the DM R5F should not interfere with the DM task. That means non-DM tasks should not crash the DM R5F core, block the DM task from running, corrupt DM memory, etc.

Under certain conditions, the ipc_rpmsg_echo_linux project will crash the DM R5F after 49 days of continuous operation. After the DM R5F crashes, device management (DM) and power management (PM) requests fail. This can render the device inoperable until a power cycle resets the DM R5F. This behavior can be fixed by updating the firmware running on the DM R5F.

Both SPL and SBL bootflows can be affected:

SPL boot
- ipc_rpmsg_echo_linux is the prebuilt DM R5F firmware binary “ipc_echo_testb_mcu1_0_release_strip.xer5f” distributed in the Linux SDK**, and at https://git.ti.com/cgit/processor-firmware/ti-linux-firmware/tree/ti-dm?h=ti-linux-firmware
SBL boot
- ipc_rpmsg_echo_linux is the default DM R5F firmware loaded in some SBL examples

3 months ago

+1 Nick Saulnier 3 months ago

TI__Guru** 100540 points

What conditions need to be true in order for the crash to occur?

A design is only affected if ALL of these conditions are true:

AM62x, AM62Ax**, AM62Dx, AM62Px, AM67, AM67A
DM R5F firmware is running the ipc_rpmsg_echo_linux project (for SPL boot, prebuilt binary “ipc_echo_testb_mcu1_0_release_strip.xer5f”**)
AM62x, AM62Ax, AM62Dx, AM62Px:
- DM R5F binary was built from MCU+ SDK 10.1 or earlier (or prebuilt binary distributed with Linux SDK 10.1 or earlier)
AM67, AM67A:
- DM R5F prebuilt binary distributed with Linux SDK 11.0 or earlier
RPMsg IPC communication is not initialized between the DM R5F and Linux
System runs continuously for 49 days without rebooting

Refer to the FAQ for more information about the cause of the crash, testing whether a design is affected, etc.

Affected designs should immediately update the DM R5F binary.

For designs that may become affected in the future, we suggest updating the DM R5F binary during the design cycle. That will prevent issues before the design becomes susceptible to a crash.

** AM62Ax is not affected if the DM R5F is running the VPAC/ISP firmware. The VPAC/ISP prebuilt firmware is renamed to "ipc_echo_testb_mcu1_0_release_strip.xer5f” in some AM62Ax SDK releases, but it is not running the IPC Echo firmware. See FAQ section “How to check what binary is running on the DM R5F?”.

+1 Nick Saulnier 3 months ago

TI__Guru** 100540 points

How to Fix

Update the firmware running on the DM R5F.

SPL bootflow

The DM R5F runtime firmware is packaged into tispl.bin.

For designs where DM R5F is running the ipc_rpmsg_echo_linux project, pick up the latest version of “ipc_echo_testb_mcu1_0_release_strip.xer5f” from https://git.ti.com/cgit/processor-firmware/ti-linux-firmware/tree/ti-dm?h=ti-linux-firmware.

For general steps to rebuild the new firmware into tispl.bin, refer to Linux SDK docs > Foundational Components > U-Boot > User's Guide > General Information. This FAQ has additional information: [FAQ] SPL Boot: How to find the DM R5F binary that is built into tispl.bin .

SBL bootflow

Some of the SBL example projects in MCU+ SDK examples/drivers/boot are affected. Refer to this FAQ for steps to check which firmware is getting loaded into the DM R5F core during SBL: [FAQ] SBL boot: How to find the DM R5F firmware that is loaded by SBL .

If the SBL project for your design is affected, either:

rebuild the SBL project with MCU+ SDK 11.0 or later (AM62x, AM62Ax, AM62Dx, AM62Px)
rebuild the SBL project, but load a different firmware into the DM R5F

+1 Nick Saulnier 3 months ago

TI__Guru** 100540 points

Please see the FAQ for additional information

[FAQ] DM R5F can crash in certain conditions: AM62x, AM62Ax, AM62Dx, AM62Px, AM67, AM67A

Processors

Processors forum

[FAQ] [Alert] DM R5F can crash in certain conditions: AM62x, AM62Ax, AM62Dx, AM62Px, AM67, AM67A