I've been trying to get u-boot to load the Linux operating system on a custom board based on the Canyonlands evaluation board. The custom board does not have a EEPROM, so I had to modify the memory initialization section of u-boot (specifically the initdram function in 44x_spd_ddr2.c). Once modified, u-boot loaded without error.

I then wrote the kernel, filesystem, JFFS2 filesystem, and FDT images to flash memory. I then tried to boot the operating system using the command: run ramargs setip addip addtty; bootm 0xfc000000 0xfc200000 0xfc1e0000

On the evaluation board, the operating system loads without issue. On the custom board, it hangs with the last statement being: Booting using OF flat tree...

One of the main differences is the absence of the EEPROM in the custom board.

What are the contents of the EEPROM? Is the EEPROM used in booting the operating system? Is there any other way to boot the operating system (such as booting without an FDT image)?