Part Number: TMDSIDK437X
Hello
We encountered an issue when trying to use the TMDSIDK437X Revision 1.4A with the official SDK release 11.02.05.02 (Nov 21, 2025).
I downloaded the SDK, installed it and ran the create-sdcard.sh to create an image with the tisdk-default-image-am437x-evm.rootfs.tar.xz, see attached creating_image.log:
creating_image.log
The boot partition contains the following:
ll /mnt/sd/
total 10694
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 3072 Jan 1 1970 ./
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Oct 5 12:31 ../
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 158375 Oct 13 09:26 MLO*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 75778 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-cm-t43--6.12.49+git4+1a86d36433-r0_tisdk_5.5-am437x-evm-20251115103026.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 75778 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-cm-t43-am437x-evm.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 84206 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-gp-evm--6.12.49+git4+1a86d36433-r0_tisdk_5.5-am437x-evm-20251115103026.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 84206 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-gp-evm-am437x-evm.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 85022 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-gp-evm-hdmi--6.12.49+git4+1a86d36433-r0_tisdk_5.5-am437x-evm-20251115103026.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 85022 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-gp-evm-hdmi-am437x-evm.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 78821 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-idk-evm--6.12.49+git4+1a86d36433-r0_tisdk_5.5-am437x-evm-20251115103026.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 78821 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-idk-evm-am437x-evm.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 77905 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-sbc-t43--6.12.49+git4+1a86d36433-r0_tisdk_5.5-am437x-evm-20251115103026.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 77905 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-sbc-t43-am437x-evm.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 81559 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-sk-evm--6.12.49+git4+1a86d36433-r0_tisdk_5.5-am437x-evm-20251115103026.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 81559 Oct 13 09:26 am437x-sk-evm-am437x-evm.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 83602 Oct 13 09:26 am43x-epos-evm--6.12.49+git4+1a86d36433-r0_tisdk_5.5-am437x-evm-20251115103026.dtb*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 83602 Oct 13 09:26 am43x-epos-evm-am437x-evm.dtb*
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 512 Oct 13 09:26 extlinux/
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 828572 Oct 13 09:26 u-boot.img*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 717 Oct 13 09:26 uEnv.txt*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8815104 Oct 13 09:26 zImage*
When trying to boot from the SD card now, it will hang when starting the kernel:
U-Boot SPL 2025.01-00718-ga44465cad8a3 (Nov 14 2025 - 10:48:56 +0000)
Trying to boot from MMC1
SPL: Please implement spl_start_uboot() for your board
SPL: Direct Linux boot not active!
U-Boot 2025.01-00718-ga44465cad8a3 (Nov 14 2025 - 10:48:56 +0000)
CPU : AM437X-GP rev 1.2
Model: TI AM437x Industrial Development Kit
DRAM: 1 GiB
Core: 37 devices, 18 uclasses, devicetree: separate
PMIC: TPS62362
NAND: 0 MiB
MMC: OMAP SD/MMC: 0
Loading Environment from FAT... Unable to read "uboot.env" from mmc0:1...
Net: eth2: ethernet@4a100000
Hit any key to stop autoboot: 0
=> run findfdt
=> printenv fdtfile
fdtfile=am437x-idk-evm.dtb
=> boot
switch to partitions #0, OK
mmc0 is current device
Scanning mmc 0:1...
Found /extlinux/extlinux.conf
Retrieving file: /extlinux/extlinux.conf
1: Arago
Retrieving file: /extlinux/../zImage
append: root=PARTUUID=329c02d3-02 rootwait rw console=ttyO0,115200n8,115200
Retrieving file: /extlinux/../am437x-idk-evm.dtb
Skipping fdtdir ../ for failure retrieving dts
Kernel image @ 0x82000000 [ 0x000000 - 0x868200 ]
## Flattened Device Tree blob at bdf2c550
Booting using the fdt blob at 0xbdf2c550
Working FDT set to bdf2c550
Loading Device Tree to 8ffed000, end 8ffff957 ... OK
Working FDT set to 8ffed000
Starting kernel ...
As we can see from fdtfile=am437x-idk-evm.dtb, the device tree on the SD card is named different than what UBoot is trying to load. I therefore renamed am437x-idk-evm-am437x-evm.dtb to am437x-idk-evm.dtb. The system now boots. Next I wanted to test the bridge mode according to PRU-ICSS_Ethernet.html#enabling-switch-mode. I used the following commands:
ip link set dev eth1 down
ip link set dev eth2 down
ip link add name br0 type bridge
ip link set dev eth1 master br0
ip link set dev eth2 master br0
ip link set dev br0 up
ip link set dev eth1 up
ip link set dev eth2 up
You can see the full log file of kernel boot and bridge setup in boot_and_bridge.log:
boot_and_bridge.log
So to summarize:
- Why is the device tree in the SDK default image missing? Is the devicetree I renamed the intended device tree?
- Why is the prusw firmware loaded, even though it is not included in the image?
- Can I prevent prusw loading and use prueth instead, using Linux to bridge? (without changing the kernel code?)
My goal is to run tests against the official release to see, if I can replicate an issue we are having on our own board. Therefore I'd like to avoid modifying the setup, as to not introduce possible bugs from my side.
Regards, Robin