[FAQ] CCS/AM5728: AM57xx: Boot modes supported

• AM57xx SoC supports a wide variety of boot modes - please refer the TRM https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/spruhz6l/spruhz6l.pdf section Table 33-9. Booting Devices Order for details.
• The following article only talks about a subset of boot modes that are popular when using u-boot/Linux on the device.
• There are multiple board variants for AM57xx and each having its own capability : 
  • AM57xx-beagle-x15 - https://www.ti.com/tool/BEAGLEBOARD-X15
  • AM571x-IDK - https://www.ti.com/tool/TMDXIDK5718
  • AM572x-IDK - https://www.ti.com/tool/TMDSIDK572
  • AM574x-IDK - https://www.ti.com/tool/TMDSIDK574
    
    
    
• Below table summarizes the boot modes supported in each of these board variants.

• The below table summarizes the boot modes enabled by default on the SDK 6.03. (NOTE: This is applicable through SDK 8.02.)

SPI Enablement in SDK 6.03:

• Complete set of commands to burn the MLO/u-boot.img to QSPI:
  

  mmc rescan
fatload mmc 0 ${loadaddr} MLO
sf probe 0
sf erase 0x00000 0x200000
sf write ${loadaddr} 0x00000 ${filesize}
fatload mmc 0 ${loadaddr} u-boot.img
sf write ${loadaddr} 0x40000 ${filesize}



• Complete boot instructions: https://software-dl.ti.com/processor-sdk-linux/esd/docs/06_03_00_106/linux/Foundational_Components_U-Boot.html?highlight=boot

Board modification details for AM571x-idk/AM572x-idk/AM574x-idk:

• Complete set of boot modes of AM57xx SoCs: Figure 1
  
  
  
  
• AM571x-IDK/AM572x-IDK/AM574x-IDK Sysboot pins layout: Figure 2
  
  
  
  
  
  • This is applicable to AM571x-IDK/AM572x-IDK/AM574x-IDK.
  • Default boot mode from the schematic above is sysboot[2:0] = 0x6.
    
    
  • To enable UART boot:
    • Set sysboot[2:0] = 0x4, UART as secondary boot.
    • Action (flip BIT1 from 1 to 0): 
      • Remove R435 and install 10-K Ohm resistor for R454 
        
        
  • To enable SATA boot:
    • Set sysboot[2:0] = 0x3, SATA as secondary boot
    • Action (flip BIT 2 from 1 to 0 and flip BIT0 from 0 to 1):
      • Remove R436 and install 10K-Ohm resistor for R455.
      • Install R434 with 18K-Ohm resistor and remove 10K-Ohm resistor for R453.
        
        
  • To enable USB DFU boot:
    • Set sysboot[2:0] = 0x4, set USB DFU as Primary boot.
    • Action (flip BIT1 from 1 to 0): 
      • Remove R435 and install 10-K Ohm resistor for R454 
        
        
  • To enable eMMC boot:
    • Set sysboot[5:0] = 0b100010, eMMC as secondary boot
    • Action (flip BIT2 from 1 to 0, flip BIT5 from 0 to 1):
      • Remove R436 and install 10K-Ohm resistor for R455
      • Install R439 with 18K-Ohm resistor and remove 10K-Ohm resistor for R458

  Summary:

  • All boot modes are validated and functional from an SoC perspective. TI undertakes this validation using internal development boards.
  • Customers can use this information to further enable the boot modes on their own. 
  • TI does not have plans to validate these boot modes on SDK 6.03 on the above listed board variants.
  • If any further validation is done, this post will be updated with relevant patches. 
  • SDK 6.03 support will be limited to the "Supported boot modes" listed in Table-2.
  • This is applicable through SDK 8.02.