-----Original Message----- From: Timur Tabi [mailto:timur@freescale.com] Sent: den 21 september 2012 15:29 To: Robert Thorhuus Cc: Kumar Gala; u-boot@lists.denx.de Subject: Re: [U-Boot] arch/powerpc/lib/board.c:get_effective_memsize() for 4GB+ systems
Robert Thorhuus wrote:
No I will not be using much memory at all for
functionality. But the
memory needs to be tested. What is your proposal for that then?
We have that already. Look at CONFIG_SYS_POST_MEMORY. It uses sliding 2GB TLBs to test all of DDR.
Ok. I'll look at that. Thanks.
And I see U-Boot as the first software place for test and
debug. Maybe I want to read out RAM contents?
It's a boot loader, not a testing platform.
Sorry. But this is were I disagree with you. Of course its prime function is to boot an operating system. And usually in a desktop environment that is what you need. But if you have newly developed hardware it is very seldom everything works all the time. There are a lot of debugging hardware sessions before you have stable hardware. So in embedded systems I would say U-Boot can very well be a primary choice of testing platform in the beginning of a development. Mainly because sucessfully booting U-Boot demands less of the hardware than sucessfully boot an OS. Say you have a NOR and 1 MB L3 cache but no DDR3, U-Boot is set, OS not.
And what test platform would you suggest? And what if your extended testing needs to be a viable option at every boot and that you have boot time requirements?
If you have suggestions I will be happy because I'd like to move my testing from U-Boot for several reasons but currently the restraints are tough.
BR