AM335x Ethernet boot failure

Martin Tremblay

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: AM3358, UNIFLASH

Hello all,

I am trying to boot the Beaglebone black (Sitara AM3358) over Ethernet. The goal is to develop flasher files that will allow the eMMC to be loaded with production code using Uniflash.

I have followed the wiki instructions found online: processors.wiki.ti.com/.../Sitara_Linux_Program_the_eMMC_on_Beaglebone_Black

The problem observed is similar to that observed by other developers: e2e.ti.com/.../515767

To my knowledge, I did not see any solution to this problem in the e2e forum.

I have attempted to build u-boot with 2.00.00 SDK (since this is the version that has been validated in the wiki).

I skipped the instructions under "Preparing the Flasher Image" and instead followed instruction to apply the patches and build as described under "Modify U-Boot to Boot from TFTP Automatically".

After applying patches I called the following to build u-boot:

make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf- O=flasher_eth am335x_evm_tftpboot_defconfig all

The resulting u-boot-restore.img and u-boot-spl-restore.bin were moved from my Linux VM and placed in the Windows TFTP folder for accessed by CCS Uniflash (3.4.1).

When attempting to flash the Beaglebone black, I see the following from the serial console:

U-Boot SPL 2015.07-00114-gf5078ef-dirty (Nov 30 2016 - 12:46:06)

SPL: Unsupported Boot Device!

### ERROR ### Please RESET the board ###

I have updated the Sysboot pins to boot from Ethernet. This seems to be working since I see over wireshark the seemingly proper TFTP transfer of u-boot-spl-restore.bin.

It seems like things start off well, but then the SPL version is incorrect.

I would like to get some support around this.

To be clear, the steps followed when attempting to boot from Ethernet are as follows:

Prepare Target: connect Ethernet (board is unpowered), modify Sysboot pins to boot from Ethernet.
Prepare Host: place u-boot files in appropriate Uniflash TFTP folder, change local area network to use 192.168.2.1 IP address, connect Ethernet.
From Uniflash, I press the "Start Flashing" button
Apply power to target
After a few moments I see the above console output

A couple notes:

I don't need to press Beaglebone Black S2 button since the Sysboot pin config is such that it does not require this
I do NOT follow the wiki instructions on "Flash the Beaglebone black"->"Program the flash" wherein it is stated that we need to apply power and press a key to halt U-boot at prompt. Instead, I follow the instructions from Sitare Quickstart guide (processors.wiki.ti.com/.../Sitara_Uniflash_Quick_Start_Guide). My understanding is that these are 2 equivalent methods, but since my goal is to load code on production units (which do not have any u-boot in eMMC) the latter method using Uniflash seems to be the one I want to get working.

over 9 years ago

0 Biser Gatchev-XID over 9 years ago

TI__Guru**** 393215 points

The software team have been notified. They will respond here.

0 Martin Tremblay over 9 years ago in reply to Biser Gatchev-XID

Prodigy 60 points

Still looking for support around this problem.

Is this problem related to LCPD-7864 in the SDK U-boot release notes:
processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php
The link states: U-Boot: Ethernet boot fails on AM335x and AM437x

I'm wondering if it is related...

One additional piece of information, when I boot the Beaglebone Black, I see that it booting with Boot Device of 70 (0x46) which is BOOT_DEVICE_CPGMAC, which is not supported with configuration it seems.

0 Biser Gatchev-XID over 9 years ago in reply to Martin Tremblay

TI__Guru**** 393215 points

Sorry for the delay. I have escalated this.

0 Martin Tremblay over 9 years ago in reply to Biser Gatchev-XID

Prodigy 60 points

Here is another unanswered thread with a similar problem:
e2e.ti.com/.../1775751

Any chance we can get support on this problem?

0 Biser Gatchev-XID over 9 years ago in reply to Martin Tremblay

TI__Guru**** 393215 points

Sorry about this delay, but the person who can help is out of office till Dec. 19. If you don't get a reply in the period Dec. 19-21 please give me a ping so I can escalate.

0 Martin Tremblay over 9 years ago in reply to Biser Gatchev-XID

Prodigy 60 points

We look forward to a response.
Regards
-martin

0 Biser Gatchev-XID over 9 years ago in reply to Martin Tremblay

TI__Guru**** 393215 points

Thanks for the reminder. I have escalated this query.

0 RonB over 9 years ago in reply to Martin Tremblay

TI__Mastermind 30986 points

Martin,

I've been looking into this issue and have replicated your results with ethernet boot. The Uniflash documentation was validated with Network over USB and I'm sorry that this has led to some confusion. I am consulting with the team to see if this can easily be enabled, but a number of folks are out for the US holidays. I will try to get back to you as soon as I get something that seems useful.

0 Martin Tremblay over 9 years ago in reply to RonB

Prodigy 60 points

Thanks Ron, we look forward to hearing when your team gets a chance to look at this

Best
-martin

0 RonB over 9 years ago in reply to Martin Tremblay

TI__Mastermind 30986 points

Martin,

It seems that Ethernet boot on the Beaglebone Black has been broken out of the box since an old release of our SDK. It was called AMSDK8 and can still be downloaded. Normally I wouldn't encourage someone to use an older release, but for just building the flasher part of your system, this is probably the easiest way.

All you should have to do is add SPL_ETH_SUPPORT to the boards.cfg for the am335x_evm config. I just did this and my BBB booted straight from my Linux box.

I'm in the process of getting this added to our permanent test suite, but it will take some time.

This is your best option for using ethernet that I can come up with. USB or UART would be other peripheral choices that could be used to boot U-boot and flash the eMMC.

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AM335x Ethernet boot failure