AM62P: AM62P mcu flashing through USB

Abhijith Raj

Part Number: AM62P
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: UNIFLASH

Hi,

I am working on the AM62P R5 core and would like to know whether it is possible to flash the MCU and DM core using USB boot mode.

Currently, I am switching the device to UART boot mode and flashing it using the uart_uniflash tool.

4 months ago

0 Jomy Paul P S 3 months ago

TI__Intellectual 2160 points

Hi Abhijith Raj,

AM62 devices currently support only UART Uniflash for MCU+ SDK. Flashing utilities such as DFU Uniflash or JTAG Uniflash are not supported in MCU+ SDK.

For Linux-based flashing using USB DFU, please refer to the following documentation:

USB DFU User Guide:
https://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/AM62X/11_02_08_02/exports/docs/linux/Foundational_Components/U-Boot/UG-DFU.html
Flashing an MMC device using USB DFU:
https://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/AM62X/11_02_08_02/exports/docs/linux/Foundational_Components/U-Boot/UG-Memory-K3.html#flashing-an-mmc-device-using-usb-dfu

Additionally, we have recently added support for a tool called snagfactory in the Processor SDK. This tool also supports flashing through the USB DFU interface:

https://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/AM62X/11_02_08_02/exports/docs/linux/Foundational_Components/Tools/Flash_via_Fastboot.html

Best Regards,

JOMY

0 Abhijith Raj 3 months ago in reply to Jomy Paul P S

Intellectual 275 points

Hi Jomy Paul P S

Thanks for the clarification and the shared documentation.

I would like to confirm whether the Linux-based SDK flashing methods using USB DFU (including snagfactory/snagboot support) can also be used for flashing MCU R5 firmware/images in AM62 devices.

Currently, MCU+ SDK supports only UART Uniflash for MCU image flashing.
Is there any supported method to flash MCU R5 applications through USB DFU using:

Processor SDK Linux DFU flow, or
snagfactory / snagboot tools?

0 Jomy Paul P S 3 months ago in reply to Abhijith Raj

TI__Intellectual 2160 points

Hi Abhijith Raj,

Abhijith Raj said:
I would like to confirm whether the Linux-based SDK flashing methods using USB DFU (including snagfactory/snagboot support) can also be used for flashing MCU R5 firmware/images in AM62 devices

Currently, the only officially supported standalone method to flash MCU R5 appimage on AM62x is via UART using UniFlash

Thanks,

JOMY

0 Abhijith Raj 3 months ago in reply to Jomy Paul P S

Intellectual 275 points

Hi Jomy Paul P S ,

I had previously flashed the Hello World example to AM62P eMMC for the MCU R5 core.

Later, our team built the Android SDK and flashed the Android images on the SoC side. After power cycling the EVK, I observed that the MCU was running an IPC echo/rpmsg example instead of the previously flashed Hello World application.

Could you please clarify how the IPC echo/rpmsg firmware is getting loaded/flashed as part of the Android setup?
Is the MCU firmware bundled within the Android flashing process or loaded dynamically during boot?

0 Jomy Paul P S 3 months ago in reply to Abhijith Raj

TI__Intellectual 2160 points

Hi Abhijith Raj,

I’d like to add one more point to the question above.

Abhijith Raj said:
Is there any supported method to flash MCU R5 applications through USB DFU using:

Using Snagfactory, you can flash images to any desired memory offset in flash. Once the images are written, it becomes the bootloader’s responsibility to load and boot those images onto their respective cores.

In addition to this, you have two ways to manage firmware execution:

By combining Snagfactory (for flashing firmware at custom offsets) with the remoteproc framework, you can control firmware loading dynamically during system boot. Remoteproc allows the system (Linux/Android) to load and start the R5 firmware defined in the device tree.
Alternatively, you can implement a bootloader-based loading approach, where the bootloader (e.g., SPL/U-Boot) directly reads the R5 firmware from the flashed offset, loads it into the appropriate memory, and boots the R5 core. This gives you full control over firmware execution without relying on remoteproc.

For reference on remote core booting, you can check: https://dev.ti.com/tirex/explore/node?a=7qm9DIS__LATEST&node=A__ASTUPTn5xbFkK9F0gRlUSw__AM62P-ACADEMY__fp5YxRM__LATEST

Abhijith Raj said:
Could you please clarify how the IPC echo/rpmsg firmware is getting loaded/flashed as part of the Android setup?
Is the MCU firmware bundled within the Android flashing process or loaded dynamically during boot?

It happens because the Android SDK uses the remoteproc framework, which loads the default R5 firmware defined in the device tree (am62p-mcu-r5f0_0-fw) during boot. This might overrides any previously flashed MCU application.

Thanks,

JOMY

0 Abhijith Raj 3 months ago in reply to Jomy Paul P S

Intellectual 275 points

Hi Jomy Paul P S

Jomy Paul P S said:
By combining Snagfactory (for flashing firmware at custom offsets) with the remoteproc framework, you can control firmware loading dynamically during system boot. Remoteproc allows the system (Linux/Android) to load and start the R5 firmware defined in the device tree.

Is the MCU firmware being loaded on every boot using the remoteproc framework, or is it flashed each time into a dedicated MCU partition/storage?
Trying to understand how the MCU firmware loading mechanism works in this case.

0 Jomy Paul P S 3 months ago in reply to Abhijith Raj

TI__Intellectual 2160 points

Hi Abhijith Raj ,

Abhijith Raj said:
Is the MCU firmware being loaded on every boot using the remoteproc framework, or is it flashed each time into a dedicated MCU partition/storage?
Trying to understand how the MCU firmware loading mechanism works in this case.

I would like to understand your current setup. Are you using the SBL or SPL boot flow?

If you are using SBL, you can load the MCU R5 image using snagfactory. Only minor changes are required—specifically, you need to update the YAML file provided in the documentation.

https://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/AM62X/11_02_08_02/exports/docs/linux/Foundational_Components/Tools/Flash_via_Fastboot.html

An example configuration is shown below for reference.

boards:
  0451:6165: am62p

soc-models:

  am62p-firmware:
    tiboot3:
      path: "<path_to_linux_sdk>/board-support/built-images/tiboot3.bin"
    tispl:
      path: "<path_to_linux_sdk>/board-support/built-images/tispl.bin"
    u-boot:
      path: "<path_to_linux_sdk>/board-support/built-images/u-boot.img"


  am62p-tasks:
  - eraseblk-size: 0x40000
    fb-buffer-addr: 0x82000000
    fb-buffer-size: 0x7000000
    target-device: nor0

  - task: run
    args:
      - "oem_run:mtd list"
      - "oem_run:setenv mtdids nor0=nor0"

  - task: mtd-parts
    args:
      - name: ospi.tiboot3
        size: 0x80000
      - name: ospi.tispl
        size: 0x200000
      - name: ospi.u-boot
        size: 0x400000
      - name: ospi.rootfs
        size: 0x37c0000
        start: 0x800000

  - task: flash
    args:
      - image: "<path_to_mcu_sdk>/tools/boot/sbl_prebuilt/am62px-sk/sbl_ospi_linux_stage1.release.hs_fs.tiimage"
        part: ospi.tiboot3

      - image: "<path_to_mcu_sdk>/tools/boot/sbl_prebuilt/am62px-sk/sbl_ospi_linux_stage2.release.appimage.hs_fs"
        part: ospi.tispl

      - image: "<path_to_mcu_sdk>/examples/hello_world/am62px-sk/mcu-r5fss0-0_freertos/ti-arm-clang/hello_world.release.appimage.hs_fs"
        part: ospi.rootfs

If you are using the SPL boot flow, then the MCU R5 firmware needs to be loaded using the remoteproc mechanism.

Thanks,

JOMY PAUL

0 Abhijith Raj 3 months ago in reply to Jomy Paul P S

Intellectual 275 points

Hi Jomy Paul P S

Jomy Paul P S said:
I would like to understand your current setup. Are you using the SBL or SPL boot flow?

Our current requirement is, we need DM core, MCU R5 core and Android in A53 core.
When powering up, DM should boot, then MCU R5 should boot from EMMC, and later android should boot from EMMC.

0 Jomy Paul P S 3 months ago in reply to Abhijith Raj

TI__Intellectual 2160 points

Hi Abhijith Raj,

Abhijith Raj said:
Our current requirement is, we need DM core, MCU R5 core and Android in A53 core.
When powering up, DM should boot, then MCU R5 should boot from EMMC, and later android should boot from EMMC.

You are referring to this as the SBL boot flow.

https://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/AM62X/11_02_08_02/exports/docs/linux/Foundational_Components/Tools/Flash_via_Fastboot.html

In the eMMC yaml flash section from the above TI document you need to make these changes:

REPLACE:
tiboot3.bin → sbl_emmc_linux_stage1 (offset 0x0)
tispl.bin → sbl_emmc_linux_stage2 (DM firmware) (offset 0x80000)

ADD:
MCU-R5F app image at offset 0x800000
A53 image at offset 0x1200000

Note: DM firmware (stage2) loads MCU-R5F and A53
simultaneously — both start running at the same time
when stage2 completes loading. It is not sequential.

you can refer this Linux example

boards:
  "0451:6165": "am62p"

soc-models:
  am62p-firmware:
    tiboot3:
      path: "<path_to_linux_sdk>/board-support/built-images/tiboot3.bin"
    tispl:
      path: "<path_to_linux_sdk>/board-support/built-images/tispl.bin"
    u-boot:
      path: "<path_to_linux_sdk>/board-support/built-images/u-boot.img"

  am62p-tasks:
    - target-device: mmc0
      fb-buffer-addr: 0x82000000
      fb-buffer-size: 0x7000000

    - task: gpt
      args:
        - name: rootfs
          size: 1G

    - task: reset

    - task: flash
      args:
        - image: "<path_to_mcu_sdk>/tools/boot/sbl_prebuilt/am62px-sk/sbl_emmc_linux_stage1.release.hs_fs.tiimage"
          image-offset: 0x0
          part: "hwpart 1"

        - image: "<path_to_mcu_sdk>/tools/boot/sbl_prebuilt/am62px-sk/sbl_emmc_linux_stage2.release.appimage.hs_fs"
          image-offset: 0x80000
          part: "hwpart 1"

        - image: "<path_to_mcu_sdk>/tools/boot/linuxAppimageGen/board/am62px-sk/u-boot.img"
          image-offset: 0x280000
          part: "hwpart 1"

        - image: "<path_to_mcu_sdk>/examples/<your_mcu_app>/am62px-sk/mcu-r5fss0-0_freertos/ti-arm-clang/<your_mcu_app>.release.appimage.hs_fs"
          image-offset: 0x800000
          part: "hwpart 1"

        - image: "<path_to_mcu_sdk>/tools/boot/linuxAppimageGen/board/am62px-sk/linux.appimage.hs"
          image-offset: 0x1200000
          part: "hwpart 1"

Thanks,

JOMY

0 Abhijith Raj 3 months ago in reply to Jomy Paul P S

Intellectual 275 points

Hi Jomy Paul P S

Jomy Paul P S said:
https://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/AM62X/11_02_08_02/exports/docs/linux/Foundational_Components/Tools/Flash_via_Fastboot.html

In the eMMC yaml flash section from the above TI document you need to make these changes:

The above link is not working for me.

0 Jomy Paul P S 3 months ago in reply to Abhijith Raj

TI__Intellectual 2160 points

Hi Abhijith Raj ,

Jomy Paul P S said:
Additionally, we have recently added support for a tool called snagfactory in the Processor SDK. This tool also supports flashing through the USB DFU interface:

https://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/AM62X/11_02_08_02/exports/docs/linux/Foundational_Components/Tools/Flash_via_Fastboot.html

Both links are the same—could you please check?

Thanks,

JOMY

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AM62P: AM62P mcu flashing through USB