Booting DM6467T EVM from NAND with file system also in NAND (aka Spectrum Digital HD1080P EVM)

Note to self: I found http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/DM6467_EVM_Installation#Flashing_UBL_and_U-Boot_to_NAND_using_Serial_Flasher which is a start in the correct direction.

Any other folks have any advice, please?

I find myself still talking to myself.  Yet I really hope someone else will be able to help me here.  (Yeah, I know it's New Years holiday weekend still.  But as a one-man team I'm working 7 days a week.)

I'm coming around to believing the following:  All I need is a [custom?] NAND memory image with associated NAND writing program and instructions.  The NAND memory image should contain an appropriate UBL, U-Boot, and a FILE SYSTEM image (within NAND, I have no hard disk).  The FILE SYSTEM should contain some type of autorun file that's automatically run when Linux loads.  This something should lead to executing my codec, with no intervening user input since power up.

The fact that my codec is unique means the NAND image is at least partially custom, for the FILE SYSTEM portion.  The fact that my hardware has no hard disk suggests that U-Boot or whatever might be a little customized too.

Finally, within all this, I would love to have a CCS project that's ready-to-go in compiling a generic or do-nothing codec, along with instructions for how to "connect" this codec to my boot above.  Then I'll take my legacy codec source code and insert it, rebuild the codec, rebuild the NAND memory image, and write it to the EVM.  

Thusly, the EVM will then boot up and without intervening user input start showing on the video output the result of my codec action on the video input.  Yes, my codec is intended to sit in the middle of a video input/output stream.  I'm not, but imagine I'm doing chroma keying to put the weather man in front of the weather map.  (Hmmm... an existing complete chroma keying app for the DaVinci would be a good starting point for me.)

MIGHT I BE SO FORTUNATE that the right person, perhaps within TI, finds this post.  This person has already done all the NAND boot stuff, including hopefully file system, and can just plop me right into position, ready to run.  Even better, they or the next person within TI has a project shell I can use for my codec work.  After all, all that I'm really interested in is doing the codec work.

Thanks very much, with fingers crossed.

-Helmut

Edit: Oops, maybe I should have started a new thread over in the Linux forum.

Helmut,

Are you using TI DVSDK software (like UBL, U-Boot, Kernel Image,...etc).

I understand your requirement of putting UBL, U-Boot, Kernel Image and File system in the NAND and auto-run with out user intervension.

I am not an expert in this. But, I was successful in doing the similar stuff on DM6467 EVM. Attached is the Readme file that I created for this procedure. Go through it. You should do the same. You will be successful with this approach only if you are able to boot to Linux through NFS file system.

Regards, Srirami.

Thanks very much, Srirami.  This will definitely come in handy.

Please note that I've already completed the UBL, U-Boot, and Kernel steps using similar instructions.  I'm in the middle of a failed NFS step, and have the NAND FS step still to go.  Below are some comments to help others having the difficulties I had on the first three steps.

Both your attached doc and http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/DM6467_EVM_Installation#Writing_Kernel_and_Filesystem_Image_to_NAND_Flash rely on the "dhcp" command for copying the Kernel image into local memory.  This does not work for me.  Per some other FAQ dealing with a slightly different issue, there's a problem with some local area network routers.  Perhaps it's because the routers have their own tftp server.  Anyway, the "dhcp" confuses the ip addresses and makes the process not work.  Instead, you have to hand set the ip addresses and used the "tftpboot" command instead.  My own readme similar to yours appears at http://e2e.ti.com/support/embedded/f/354/p/87307/301713.aspx#301713 .  This is just for the UBL, U-Boot, and Kernel steps, however.

Right now, I'm stuck on NFS.  I'm going to bypass it and come back.  I suspect I'm having the same problem.  The dhcp stuff doesn't work on my network.  However, I haven't figured out a successful workaround yet.  Srirarmi, PLEASE look at my thread here: http://e2e.ti.com/support/embedded/f/354/p/87433/302205.aspx#302205 .  

NEXT, when it comes to the NAND FS step, your readme will be invaluable.  Thank you very much.  I'll combine its suggestions with some other links I've found (such as http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/Filesystem_in_NOR_or_NAND) as well as my developed knowledge regarding dhcp.  Hopefully I won't hit a another roadblock there.  I do have a question about your readme.  I notice /dev/mtdblock3.  Does that already exist or am I going to have to create it?  I currently find it neither on my NFS host FS nor on my hard-disk-booting EVM.  Also, I see some 27MHz references that I believe I'll have to change to 30MHz.

-Helmut

Hetmut,

You can ignore the 27MHz references  (setenv clkref 27000000) for DM6467T EVM. This is needed for DM6467, not DM6467T.

Regarding /dev/mtdblock3, by default 4 MTD partions (MTD0-3) already created in TI's DVSDK3.x. You will observe the following statments during kernel boot:

....

Creating 4 MTD partitions on "davinci_nand.0":
0x000000000000-0x000000020000 : "params"
0x000000020000-0x000000160000 : "bootloader"
0x000000160000-0x000000560000 : "kernel"
0x000000560000-0x000008000000 : "filesystem"

.......

Attached is a sample log in which you see above lines.

Regards, Srirami.