CCS/TMDSICE3359: Building bootloader

John Beard

Part Number: TMDSICE3359

Tool/software: Code Composer Studio

Hi,

I'm trying to boot a SYS/BIOS program from the SD card on the TMDSICE3359 board. I am using an MLO that allegedly worked one, but I otherwise don't know where to get a correct MLO for this board.

I have put J5 to connect pins 2/3, and the SYSBOOT resistors are set so SYSBOOT[4:0] = 11000.

I have run the Isdk spi flasher.zip tool to erase the SPI NOR flash. The GEL file DDR3 test executes with no errors.

When I reset the board, I see the following:

*** StarterWare  Boot Loader. Build - 1.0.4-NOR BOOT

Copying application image from MMCSD to RAM

Copying to RAM completed successfully

 Image Copy Successful, Executing Application..

This is a bit surprising, as there shouldn't be anything in the NOR flash to boot from.

After this line, breaking in with JTAG shows the processor hung in a trap: 0x00020080. I have used the app files from both my own apps, the demo apps and app files used as examples in other questions.

I am trying to build the bootloader from the PDK (pdk_am335x_1._0_16/packages/ti/starterware/bootloader), but there are no project files there. Rebuilding the PDK does not appear to regenerate any project files to do with the bootloader.

I do see am335x-evm bootloader binaries: e.g. pdk_am335x_1_0_16/packages/ti/starterware/binary/bootloader/bin/am335x-evm/gcc/bootloader_boot_mmcsd_a8host_debug.out

How are you supposed to build the bootloader, or should I be creating my own build system to do this? Is the existing binary bootloader for am335x-evm compatible? And is building this bootloader the correct way to proceed for SD card boot in the first place?

over 5 years ago

0 Frank Livingston over 5 years ago

TI__Mastermind 29388 points

Hi John,

PRSDK boot support is documented at the following locations:

After building, bootloader executables are located in <PDK>\packages\ti\starterware\binary\bootloader\bin

>> Is the existing binary bootloader for am335x-evm compatible?

I need to check into this.

Regards,
Frank

0 John Beard over 5 years ago in reply to Frank Livingston

Intellectual 390 points

Hi Frank,

Thanks, that's exactly what I needed. I got it working and generated an MLO file (like the _ti.bin). (Somehow one SD card didn't work when another did, so that was confusing the issue quite a bit).

The bootloader uses the Starterware board library, so it has support for all the AM43xx and AM335x devices handled therein (depending on how you configure the build). So despite the name am335x-evm, it supports the IVEv2 (as well as Beaglebones and a few others). E.g. in <PDK>/ti/starterware/board/am335x/board_am335x.c:

/** \brief Contains pointers to the board data for the different boards. */
static const boardData_t *gpBoardAm335xData [BOARD_MAX + 1U]= {
    NULL, /* BOARD_UNKNOWN */
    &gBoardAm335xGpevmData, /* BOARD_GPEVM */
    &gBoardAm335xEvmskData, /* BOARD_EVMSK */
    &gBoardAm335xBeagleboneData, /* BOARD_BEAGLEBONE */
    NULL, /* BOARD_IDKEVM */
    NULL, /* BOARD_EPOSEVM */
    &gBoardAm335xBeagleboneblackData, /* BOARD_BEAGLEBONEBLACK */
    &gBoardAm335xIceV1Data, /*BOARD_ICE ver 1*/
    &gBoardAm335xIceV2Data, /*BOARD_ICE ver 2*/
    &gBoardAm335xAMIC110Data, /* AMIC110 */
    &gBoardAm335xCustomData, /* BOARD_CUSTOM */
};

Is the correct thing to do on new boards to modify gBoardAm335xCustomData? Are you supposed to copy the board and bootloader (and other Starterware lib) code into your own build system (I don't want to modify the PDK in-place)?

0 Frank Livingston over 5 years ago in reply to John Beard

TI__Mastermind 29388 points

Hi John,

>> so it has support for all the AM43xx and AM335x devices handled therein
>> despite the name am335x-evm, it supports the IVEv2 (as well as Beaglebones and a few others).

Agreed, I confirmed this on a BBB by stepping through the UART, McSPI, MMCSD & NAND bootloader executables.

>> Is the correct thing to do on new boards to modify gBoardAm335xCustomData?

Yes, it seems that's the intent. You'll need to modify the function BOARDGetId() to return the custom board ID. Please see this post: https://e2e.ti.com/support/processors/f/791/p/896413/3314232#3314232

>> Are you supposed to copy the board and bootloader (and other Starterware lib) code into your own build system (I don't want to modify the PDK in-place)?

You could take this approach, or backup the original PDK code, modify the PDK code in place, and use the existing PDK build system.

Regards,
Frank

0 John Beard over 5 years ago in reply to Frank Livingston

Intellectual 390 points

Hi Frank,

I really appreciate the reply. I think I'll probably check in the relevant parts to the local project, as I'd like the PDK intact and in-place for other projects.

Thanks,

John

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CCS/TMDSICE3359: Building bootloader