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TMDSSK3358: SD card create issue

Part Number: TMDSSK3358

Hi,

in attempting to build the am335x-evm-linux-06.03.00.106 software stack AND reflash the sd card using ./bin/create-sdcard.sh, I've blown the card and cannot get back to anything that boots at all.

is there a default image or instructions for the shipped 3-partition layout so that I can start over with this?

steps taken

1) dd the 3 partitions off the sd card to 3 local respective images. I think now that I should have taken a monolithic approach here and copied off the entire card in one image...

2. run make all from my <sdk-install> directory. seems to have gone well, didn't get any bail-out errors.

3. follow instructions for running ./bin/create-sdcard.sh

the questions about paths to <what ever> are very unclear, as are the instructions about it for copying custom builds. I never got the script to work and finish installing u-boot/kernel & rootfs because it incessantly complains about "file not found" sorts of problems, even though my input tab-completes track right down the directory/ies I THINK it's ask for.

4. So I locally mounted the original rootfs partition image taken from the sdcard in step 1.

I ran a recursive cp with preserve-links args, from the top of that mount point over to a fresh, empty sdcard. this did not boot the starter kit.

5. Reinitialzed/blanked the sdcard, and I ran dd of the original rootfs image onto a (once again) the blank sdcard. this did not boot the starter kit either.

which brings me here. I hope someone can give me nudge in the right direction.

thanks, -pete u.

  • Peter,

    When you run the sd card script, it give the option to use the pre-built binaries. Choose these options and it will create a card with the files as shipped as long as the binaries haven't been modified on your local PC. We have some documentation that might help:

    https://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/docs/06_03_00_106/linux/Overview_Getting_Started_Guide.html#linux-sd-card-creation-guide

    Our Windows guide uses a different image (created for Windows), and might be worth trying:

    https://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/docs/06_03_00_106/linux/Overview_Getting_Started_Guide.html#linux-sd-card-creation-guide

    You can re-download the binaries if needed:

    https://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/AM335X/latest/exports/am335x-evm-linux-sdk-bin-06.03.00.106.tar.xz

    I hope this helps.

  • RonB:

    thanks for the info. Unfortunately the starter kit still does not boot from the sdcard.

    I checked the included android sdcard and that boots ok so I know the 335x main board is ok.

    I've attached a log from the create-sdcard.sh session.

    The original linux sdcard with the kit had 3 partitions: START_HERE, AM335x_SDK, and rootfs.

    create-sdcard.sh produces the minimum boot and rootfs partitions. There is no boot partition in the original.

    In the attached log, where I used am335x-evm-linux-sdk-bin-06.03.00.106.tar.xz, the create script wants to but never finds whichever u-boot it thinks it needs (u-boot*.img vs u-boot*.bin) and I have no clue as to which one or why it does this.

    The script (always for me) finishes with no files in the fresh sdcard's boot partition.

    I have included a compare of each rootfs/boot/ directory at the end of the script log. These are significantly different content.

    Questions:

    1. Is the boot partition necessary, since the original sdcard has no boot partition.

    2. Why the huge difference between the two rootfs/boot/ directory contents?

    3. All the 335x relative sdk and tarball references from the TI website contain 'evm' in the file names. The 335xEVM is a different hardware beast from the starter kit. Can the starter kit board boot up from the EVM file tree?

    please advise on all this.

    thanks! -pete u.

    create-sdcard.log
    [/home/bob/ti/sitara/ti-processor-sdk-linux-am335x-evm-06.03.00.106]
    bob@LapBuntu:> sudo ./bin/create-sdcard.sh 
    
    
    ################################################################################
    
    This script will create a bootable SD card from custom or pre-built binaries.
    
    The script must be run with root permissions and from the bin directory of
    the SDK
    
    Example:
     $ sudo ./create-sdcard.sh
    
    Formatting can be skipped if the SD card is already formatted and
    partitioned properly.
    
    ################################################################################
    
    
    Available Drives to write images to: 
    
    #  major   minor    size   name 
    1:   8        0  488386584 sda
    2: 179        0    7879680 mmcblk0
     
    Enter Device Number or n to exit: 2
     
    mmcblk0 was selected
    
    /dev/mmcblk0 is an mmcblkx device
    Unmounting the mmcblk0 drives
     unmounted /dev/mmcblk0p1
     unmounted /dev/mmcblk0p2
    Current size of mmcblk0p1 71680 bytes
    Current size of mmcblk0p2 7790592 bytes
    
    ################################################################################
    
    	Select 2 partitions if only need boot and rootfs (most users).
    	Select 3 partitions if need SDK & other content on SD card.  This is
            usually used by device manufacturers with access to partition tarballs.
    
    	****WARNING**** continuing will erase all data on mmcblk0
    
    ################################################################################
    
    Number of partitions needed [2/3] : 2
    
     
    Now partitioning mmcblk0 with 2 partitions...
     
    
    ################################################################################
    
    		Now making 2 partitions
    
    ################################################################################
    
    1024+0 records in
    1024+0 records out
    1048576 bytes (1.0 MB, 1.0 MiB) copied, 0.440373 s, 2.4 MB/s
    DISK SIZE - 8068792320 bytes
    
    ################################################################################
    
    		Partitioning Boot
    
    ################################################################################
    mkfs.fat 4.1 (2017-01-24)
    mkfs.fat: warning - lowercase labels might not work properly with DOS or Windows
    
    ################################################################################
    
    		Partitioning rootfs
    
    
    ################################################################################
    mke2fs 1.44.1 (24-Mar-2018)
    /dev/mmcblk0p2 contains a ext3 file system labelled 'rootfs'
    	last mounted on Wed Jun 10 10:28:11 2020
    Proceed anyway? (y,N) N
    
    
    
    ################################################################################
    
       Partitioning is now done
       Continue to install filesystem or select 'n' to safe exit
    
       **Warning** Continuing will erase files any files in the partitions
    
    ################################################################################
    
    
    Would you like to continue? [y/n] : y
    
     
    mkdir: cannot create directory '/home/bob/TI/sitara/ti-processor-sdk-linux-am335x-evm-06.03.00.106/tmp': File exists
     
    Mount the partitions 
    mkdir: cannot create directory 'boot': File exists
    mkdir: cannot create directory 'rootfs': File exists
     
    Emptying partitions 
     
    
    Syncing....
    
    ################################################################################
    
    	Choose file path to install from
    
    	1 ) Install pre-built images from SDK
    	2 ) Enter in custom boot and rootfs file paths
    
    ################################################################################
    
    Choose now [1/2] : 1
    
     
    Will now install from SDK pre-built images
    now installing:  ti-processor-sdk-linux-am335x-evm-06.03.00.106
    
    ################################################################################
    
       Multiple rootfs Tarballs found
    
    ################################################################################
    
    	 1:tisdk-rootfs-image-am335x-evm.tar.xz
    	 2:tisdk-docker-rootfs-image-am335x-evm.tar.xz
    
    Enter Number of rootfs Tarball: 1
     
    ################################################################################
    
    	Copying files now... will take minutes
    
    ################################################################################
    
    Copying boot partition
    
    Boot image not found
    
    
    No U-Boot file found
    
    
    Copying rootfs System partition
                                                                                                                                   
    
     
    Syncing...
     
    Un-mount the partitions 
     
    Remove created temp directories 
     
    Operation Finished
    ========================================================================================
    
    BOOT PARTITION LISTINGS
    
    original sdcard rootfs/boot/ 
    lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      82 Jul  2  2013 MLO -> MLO-am335x-evm-2013.01.01-r6+gitr1+540aa6fbb0c9274bda598f7e8819ed28259cad6b-arago1
    -rwxr-xr-x  1 root root  100549 Jun 25  2013 MLO-am335x-evm-2013.01.01-r6+gitr1+540aa6fbb0c9274bda598f7e8819ed28259cad6b-arago1
    -rwxr-xr-x  1 root root  364376 Jun 25  2013 u-boot-am335x-evm-2013.01.01-r6+gitr1+540aa6fbb0c9274bda598f7e8819ed28259cad6b-arago1.img
    lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      89 Jul  2  2013 u-boot.img -> u-boot-am335x-evm-2013.01.01-r6+gitr1+540aa6fbb0c9274bda598f7e8819ed28259cad6b-arago1.img
    lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      12 Jul  2  2013 uImage -> uImage-3.2.0
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root 3194336 Jun 25  2013 uImage-3.2.0
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root 9235897 Jun 25  2013 vmlinux-3.2.0
    
    sdcard rootfs/boot/ from am335x-evm-linux-sdk-bin-06.03.00.106.tar.xz
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    36717 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-boneblack.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    37092 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-boneblack-iot-cape.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    37192 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-boneblack-pru-adc.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    37965 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-boneblack-prusuart.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    37934 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-boneblack-wireless.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    36352 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-boneblue.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    35001 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-bone.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    35225 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-bonegreen.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    36542 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-bonegreen-wireless.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    41524 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-evm.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    40236 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-evmsk.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    37124 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-icev2.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    37166 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-icev2-prueth.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    37566 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-icev2-prueth-pps.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    39511 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-icev2-pru-excl-uio.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    34055 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-pocketbeagle.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root    37305 Apr 19 06:47 am335x-sancloud-bbe.dtb
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root 15894420 Apr 19 06:47 vmlinux-4.19.94-gbe5389fd85
    lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root       26 Apr 19 06:47 zImage -> zImage-4.19.94-gbe5389fd85
    -rw-r--r--  1 root root  4280832 Apr 19 06:47 zImage-4.19.94-gbe5389fd85
    
    
    
    

  • I have recovered the Starter Kit Linux & Matrix app functionality.

    To share, there were 2 things I discovered:

    a) a minor but important detail -- many weeks ago I installed the SDK prior to receiving the SK board. I had been building and playing around with that a few times since. So when I got to the 'make an sd card' part of the deal, things were indeed already in not so pristine condition within the SDK. For instance, the prebuilt_images/ directory was missing. Kernel, u-boot, and applications had all been rebuilt or touched in some way.

    b) by virtue of being on a mission to evaluate a few vendors, I have "other" SDKs and related tools installed on a laptop running solely Ubuntu 18.04. Over time there has been degradation of the correctness of the Ubuntu environment because of the vendor differences/variations in tools & utils I've pulled in with apt-get per instructions du joir ... by some magical and very aggravating chance today, Ubuntu finally gave up the ghost and stopped booting altogether, as in the disk was too full, leading to other reactionary bad things, on and on ...

    I reinstall Ubuntu 18.04 from scratch.

    I reinstalled the am335x_sdk for linux from scratch. no builds, nothing else. In that reinstall I find the previously missing prebuilt_images/ directory. And I used the default installation path for the SDK, whereas prior I had moved things around to "organize" the various vendor bits.

    Running the create-sdcard.sh script now works exactly as stated, it did what it should and the SK now boots up like it used to.

    This is very extreme for a general "solution," but it at least explains some things that other users might find useful down the road. 

    Regards, stay well!

    thanks, -pete u.

  • Pete,

    Thanks so much for sharing your journey. I'm sure it will help someone else along the way.

    Stay safe,

    Ron