U-boot: Write MLO, uboot, uImage, rootfs on to eMMC/mNAND of am335x EVM(J5 Echo) based custom board

Gangadhar,

Here are my steps to flash the AM335x GP EVM board's NAND with the binaries included in SDK v07.00.00.00. Please note that I use a SD card, but you can easily do the same using tftp.

U-Boot# nand erase.chip

NAND erase.chip: device 0 whole chip
Erasing at 0xffe0000 -- 100% complete.
OK
U-Boot# mmc rescan
U-Boot# fatls mmc 0
   107920   mlo
   389768   u-boot.img
       13   .ipaddr
    41564   devicetree-zimage-am335x-evm.dtb
  4117616   zimage
 32768000   arago-base-tisdk-image-am335x-evm.ubi

6 file(s), 0 dir(s)

U-Boot# fatload mmc 0 0x81000000 MLO
reading MLO
107920 bytes read in 10 ms (10.3 MiB/s)
U-Boot# cp.b 0x81000000 0x81020000 20000; cp.b 0x81000000 0x81040000 20000; cp.b 0x81000000 0x81060000 20000
U-Boot# fatload mmc 0 0x81080000 devicetree-zimage-am335x-evm.dtb
reading devicetree-zimage-am335x-evm.dtb
41564 bytes read in 8 ms (5 MiB/s)
U-Boot# fatload mmc 0 0x810c0000 u-boot.img
reading u-boot.img
389768 bytes read in 28 ms (13.3 MiB/s)
U-Boot# fatload mmc 0 0x81200000 zImage
reading zImage
4117616 bytes read in 258 ms (15.2 MiB/s)
U-Boot# fatload mmc 0 0x81a00000 arago-base-tisdk-image-am335x-evm.ubi
reading arago-base-tisdk-image-am335x-evm.ubi
32768000 bytes read in 2039 ms (15.3 MiB/s)
U-Boot# nand write 0x81000000 0x0 0x2950000

NAND write: device 0 offset 0x0, size 0x2950000
 43319296 bytes written: OK

Regarding the eMMC, the "nand" commands won't work with it. There are a set of "mmc" commands in U-Boot, but the eMMC has to be pre-formatted and I can't see how this can be achieved from U-Boot. Here are the steps I have followed to configure and flash the BeagleBoneBlack's on-board eMMC using SDK v07.00.00.00:

1. Prepare a SD card either with the create-sdcard.sh script or:
On the host PC with the SD card inserted:
1.01. sudo fdisc /dev/sdd (or /dev/mmcblk0)
1.02. o - this clears the existing partitions
1.03. p - this lists all partition tables on the card (there should be none)
1.04. n - create a new partition
1.05. p - primary partition
1.06. 1 - partition number
1.07. 2048 - default value for the first sector
1.08. +64M - last sector / partition size
1.09. t - change the partition type (select partition 1)
1.10. e - change tha partition type to "W95 FAT16 (LBA)"
1.11. a - set the bootable flag for the selected partition (1)
1.12. n - create a new partition
1.13. p - primary partition
1.14. 2 - partition number
1.15. hit Enter to choose the default (next available) value for the first sector
1.16. hit Enter to choose the default (last) value for the last sector
1.17. p - this lists all partition tables on the card (there should be two)
1.18. w - write all the above changes to disk
1.19. sudo mkfs.vfat -F 16 /dev/mmcblk0p1 (or /dev/sdd1) - format the first partition
1.20. sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/mmcblk0p2 (or /dev/sdd2) - format the second partition
1.21. copy the {MLO,u-boot.img,uEnv.txt} files to the first partition:
# mkdir boot
# sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 boot
# cp {MLO,u-boot.img,uEnv.txt} boot
# sudo umount boot
1.22. copy the root file system to the second partition:
# mkdir root
# sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p2 root
# tar -xf tisdk-rootfs-image-am335x-evm.tar.gz -C root
# sudo umount root

2. Run the BBB from the SD card (hold the USR button when powering the board up)

3. ssh into the board:
# ssh root@172.20.0.111

4. The eMMC is /dev/mmcblk1. Format it this way:
4.01. fdisk /dev/mmcblk1
4.02. o - this clears the existing partitions
4.03. p - this lists all partition tables on the card (there should be none)
4.04. n - create a new partition
4.05. p - primary partition
4.06. 1 - partition number
4.07. 2048 - default value for the first sector
4.08. +16M - last sector / partition size
4.09. t - change the partition type (select partition 1)
4.10. e - change tha partition type to "W95 FAT16 (LBA)"
4.11. a - set the bootable flag for the selected partition (1)
4.12. n - create a new partition
4.13. p - primary partition
4.14. 2 - partition number
4.15. hit Enter to choose the default (next available) value for the first sector
4.16. hit Enter to choose the default (last) value for the last sector
4.17. p - this lists all partition tables on the card (there should be two)
4.18. w - write all the above changes to disk
4.19. umount /dev/mmcblk1p1; mkfs.vfat -F 16 /dev/mmcblk1p1 - format the first partition
4.20. umount /dev/mmcblk1p2; mkfs.ext4 /dev/mmcblk1p2 - format the second partition

5. Copy the {MLO,u-boot.img,uEnv.txt} files to the first partition:
# mkdir boot
# mount /dev/mmcblk1p1 boot
# cp {MLO,u-boot.img,uEnv.txt} boot
# umount boot

6. Copy the root file system to the second partition:
# mkdir root
# mount /dev/mmcblk1p2 root
# tar -xf tisdk-rootfs-image-am335x-evm.tar.gz -C root
# umount root

7. Shutdown the BBB, remove the SD card and start it from the eMMC.

Best regards,
Miroslav