[U-Boot-Users] Newbie questions
Hi all,
I'm totally new to embedded linux/uboot, but I've been doing embedded work for going on 12 years so I'm not a total putz. We're working on early stages of design and I've been asked a couple of questions that I can't really answer. I don't need to know HOW to do these just yet (can figure that out later), I just need to know if it's possible to do. And before you ask I am RTFMing, I just don't have a lot of time to come up with answers to these questions and they're not jumping out of the FM at me. So:
1) Will u-boot support a compact flash device on the local bus of an MPC8347 (we would like to get u-boot from a small I2C EEPROM and everything else including the kernel from a large compact flash device)? 2) Is it possible to connect to u-boot's "console" from an enet port or can it only be accessed from a serial port? If it can, I presume it can then be used to load new versions of u-boot just like the serial port? (The reason for this is there may not be a serial port available in the final design for the customer to use for field upgrades and we're concerned about being able to upgrade u-boot if we need to ship a fix for it in the future.)
Thanks in advance.
Bruce Leonard Schweitzer Engineering Labs ---------------------------------- This e-mail may contain SEL confidential or legally privileged information. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of SEL. Any unauthorized disclosure, distribution or other use is prohibited. If you received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender, permanently delete it, and destroy any printed copies.
Hi Bruce
I can't answer all your questions as I too am fairly new to this, but ...
- Will u-boot support a compact flash device on the local bus of an
MPC8347 (we would like to get u-boot from a small I2C EEPROM and everything else including the kernel from a large compact flash device)?
Assuming the MPC8347 is much the same as the MPC8349E/EA, I doubt that you can use U-Boot on I2C EEPROM. The boot process of the MPC8349E is basically; read reset configuration words source (pin strapping), read reset configuration words (from local bus Flash or I2C EEPROM), boot to reset vector. The reset vector is typically an 8MB memory window on the local bus, where Flash is usually sitting with U-Boot loaded.
So 'we would like to get u-boot from a small I2C EEPROM' doesn't seem like a feasible requirement. Of course if you have a development board that does it this way, I'm happy to be corrected.
- Is it possible to connect to u-boot's "console" from an enet port or
can it only be accessed from a serial port? If it can, I presume it can then be used to load new versions of u-boot just like the serial port? (The reason for this is there may not be a serial port available in the final design for the customer to use for field upgrades and we're concerned about being able to upgrade u-boot if we need to ship a fix for it in the future.)
I can't answer the console over ethernet question.
However, I would always try to make the serial port available on the final design. Eg. take a look in the BDI2000 manual if you have one, they define a couple of pins on the COP header for use as a logic level RS232 interface.
You can always hide that serial port inside the box.
Consumer electronics such as the Linksys NSLU2 and WRT54G do things this way, i.e., logic level serial port and JTAG header somewhere inside ... nice for Linux hacks later on :)
Dave
Hi Dave,
David Hawkins dwh@ovro.caltech.edu wrote on 09/14/2006 02:17:49 PM:
Hi Bruce
I can't answer all your questions as I too am fairly new to this, but ...
- Will u-boot support a compact flash device on the local bus of an
<snip>
Assuming the MPC8347 is much the same as the MPC8349E/EA, I doubt that you can use U-Boot on I2C EEPROM. The boot process of the
<snip>
Thanks for the answers. I'm learning as fast as I can, but sometimes the HW folks want answers faster than my learning curve. And yes the 8347 is an 8349 with a few parts missing. Also thanks to everyone who provided helpfull and nice answers. It's that sort of sharing that makes this place work. As for the less than helpfull/nasty answers, well I'm just going to ignore you.
I apologize for the HTML. I though I had it turned off and if I still don't I again apologize, please let me know (as I'm sure Wolfgang will do). I don't know much about e-mail protocols, to me it's just a tool to facilitate communications, nothing more. I also apologize for the confidentality notices but there's nothing I can do about that. It's corporate policy and it's added automatically to all outgoing e-mails. If it's found to be offensive I just won't post here anymore.
Thanks again to all.
Bruce ---------------------------------- This e-mail may contain SEL confidential or legally privileged information. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of SEL. Any unauthorized disclosure, distribution or other use is prohibited. If you received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender, permanently delete it, and destroy any printed copies.
Dear Bruce,
in message OF796C83C1.CDF473D4-ON882571E9.00730FDD-882571E9.0072B15B@selinc.com you wrote:
SGkgYWxsLA0KDQpJJ20gdG90YWxseSBuZXcgdG8gZW1iZWRkZWQgbGludXgvdWJvb3QsIGJ1dCBJ J3ZlIGJlZW4gZG9pbmcgZW1iZWRkZWQgd29yayANCmZvciBnb2luZyBvbiAxMiB5ZWFycyBzbyBJ J20gbm90IGEgdG90YWwgcHV0ei4gIFdlJ3JlIHdvcmtpbmcgb24gZWFybHkgDQpzdGFnZXMgb2Yg ZGVzaWduIGFuZCBJJ3ZlIGJlZW4gYXNrZWQgYSBjb3VwbGUgb2YgcXVlc3Rpb25zIHRoYXQgSSBj YW4ndCANCnJlYWxseSBhbnN3ZXIuICBJIGRvbid0IG5lZWQgdG8ga25vdyBIT1cgdG8gZG8gdGhl c2UganVzdCB5ZXQgKGNhbiBmaWd1cmUgDQp0aGF0IG91dCBsYXRlciksIEkganVzdCBuZWVkIHRv IGtub3cgaWYgaXQncyBwb3NzaWJsZSB0byBkby4gIEFuZCBiZWZvcmUgDQp5b3UgYXNrIEkgYW0g UlRGTWluZywgSSBqdXN0IGRvbid0IGhhdmUgYSBsb3Qgb2YgdGltZSB0byBjb21lIHVwIHdpdGgg DQphbnN3ZXJzIHRvIHRoZXNlIHF1ZXN0aW9ucyBhbmQgdGhleSdyZSBub3QganVtcGluZyBvdXQg b2YgdGhlIEZNIGF0IG1lLiANClNvOg0KDQoxKSBXaWxsIHUtYm9vdCBzdXBwb3J0IGEgY29tcGFj dCBmbGFzaCBkZXZpY2Ugb24gdGhlIGxvY2FsIGJ1cyBvZiBhbiANCk1QQzgzNDcgKHdlIHdvdWxk IGxpa2UgdG8gZ2V0IHUtYm9vdCBmcm9tIGEgc21hbGwgSTJDIEVFUFJPTSBhbmQgDQpldmVyeXRo aW5nIGVsc2UgaW5jbHVkaW5nIHRoZSBrZXJuZWwgZnJvbSBhIGxhcmdlIGNvbXBhY3QgZmxhc2gg ZGV2aWNlKT8NCjIpIElzIGl0IHBvc3NpYmxlIHRvIGNvbm5lY3QgdG8gdS1ib290J3MgImNvbnNv bGUiIGZyb20gYW4gZW5ldCBwb3J0IG9yIA0KY2FuIGl0IG9ubHkgYmUgYWNjZXNzZWQgZnJvbSBh IHNlcmlhbCBwb3J0PyAgSWYgaXQgY2FuLCBJIHByZXN1bWUgaXQgY2FuIA0KdGhlbiBiZSB1c2Vk IHRvIGxvYWQgbmV3IHZlcnNpb25zIG9mIHUtYm9vdCBqdXN0IGxpa2UgdGhlIHNlcmlhbCBwb3J0 PyANCihUaGUgcmVhc29uIGZvciB0aGlzIGlzIHRoZXJlIG1heSBub3QgYmUgYSBzZXJpYWwgcG9y dCBhdmFpbGFibGUgaW4gdGhlIA0KZmluYWwgZGVzaWduIGZvciB0aGUgY3VzdG9tZXIgdG8gdXNl IGZvciBmaWVsZCB1cGdyYWRlcyBhbmQgd2UncmUgDQpjb25jZXJuZWQgYWJvdXQgYmVpbmcgYWJs ZSB0byB1cGdyYWRlIHUtYm9vdCBpZiB3ZSBuZWVkIHRvIHNoaXAgYSBmaXggZm9yIA0KaXQgaW4g dGhlIGZ1dHVyZS4pDQoNClRoYW5rcyBpbiBhZHZhbmNlLg0KDQpCcnVjZSBMZW9uYXJkDQpTY2h3 ZWl0emVyIEVuZ2luZWVyaW5nIExhYnMNCi0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0tLS0t LS0KVGhpcyBlLW1haWwgbWF5IGNvbnRhaW4gU0VMIGNvbmZpZGVudGlhbCBvciAKbGVnYWxseSBw cml2aWxlZ2VkIGluZm9ybWF0aW9uLiAgVGhlIG9waW5pb25zIApleHByZXNzZWQgYXJlIG5vdCBu ZWNlc3NhcmlseSB0aG9zZSBvZiBTRUwuICAKQW55IHVuYXV0aG9yaXplZCBkaXNjbG9zdXJlLCBk aXN0cmlidXRpb24gb3IgCm90aGVyIHVzZSBpcyBwcm9oaWJpdGVkLiAgSWYgeW91IHJlY2VpdmVk IHRoaXMgCmUtbWFpbCBpbiBlcnJvciwgcGxlYXNlIG5vdGlmeSB0aGUgc2VuZGVyLCAKcGVybWFu ZW50bHkgZGVsZXRlIGl0LCBhbmQgZGVzdHJveSBhbnkgCnByaW50ZWQgY29waWVzLiAK
First, you should learn to configura your mailer correctly.
Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
DQo8YnI+PGZvbnQgc2l6ZT0yIGZhY2U9InNhbnMtc2VyaWYiPkhpIGFsbCw8L2ZvbnQ+DQo8YnI+ DQo8YnI+PGZvbnQgc2l6ZT0yIGZhY2U9InNhbnMtc2VyaWYiPkknbSB0b3RhbGx5IG5ldyB0byBl
...
Second, HTML is considered a mortal sin on this list.
that out later), I just need to know if it's possible to do. And before you ask I am RTFMing, I just don't have a lot of time to come up with answers to these questions and they're not jumping out of the FM at me.
In such a situation you should hire an expert instead of asking for free help, and accompany this with a "pronto pronto" statement. This is impolite at least.
- Will u-boot support a compact flash device on the local bus of an
MPC8347 (we would like to get u-boot from a small I2C EEPROM and everything else including the kernel from a large compact flash device)?
U-Boot can be adapted to load data from a CF card. You cannot boot U-Boot from an I2C EEPROM.
- Is it possible to connect to u-boot's "console" from an enet port or
Yes.
can it only be accessed from a serial port? If it can, I presume it can then be used to load new versions of u-boot just like the serial port? (The reason for this is there may not be a serial port available in the final design for the customer to use for field upgrades and we're concerned about being able to upgrade u-boot if we need to ship a fix for it in the future.)
Ii is possible. But you will experience a learning curve. In the end, you will consider adding a serial port.
Best regards,
Wolfgang Denk
On Thu, 2006-09-14 at 14:07 -0700, Bruce_Leonard@selinc.com wrote:
- Will u-boot support a compact flash device on the local bus of an
MPC8347 (we would like to get u-boot from a small I2C EEPROM and everything else including the kernel from a large compact flash device)?
Compact Flash has been done by others, and in a couple of weeks I'll be able to share my experiences. I think you'll need a parallel flash chip. Although the 834x can retrieve its HRCW info from an I2C EEPROM, I don't know of any way to put the bootloader there. Not to mention that I2C EEPROMS are typically very small and slow. You can store your environment info in the I2C EEPROM, though.
- Is it possible to connect to u-boot's "console" from an enet port
or can it only be accessed from a serial port? If it can, I presume it can then be used to load new versions of u-boot just like the serial port? (The reason for this is there may not be a serial port available in the final design for the customer to use for field upgrades and we're concerned about being able to upgrade u-boot if we need to ship a fix for it in the future.)
There may be some tricks that others can share, but I'm not aware of any telnet or other network login servers that have been ported. There's no reason you couldn't upgrade U-boot through Linux (or whatever) if you use an MTD-supported parallel flash chip.
Before Wolfgang chimes in - careful with the HTML and 'Confidentiality' junk in your e-mail. You'll make few friends that way.
cheers, Ben
In message 1158269782.16415.87.camel@saruman.qstreams.net you wrote:
I don't know of any way to put the bootloader there. Not to mention that I2C EEPROMS are typically very small and slow. You can store your environment info in the I2C EEPROM, though.
But this is *strongly* discourages. If possible, put it in (NOR) flash, and consider using a redundant environment.
There may be some tricks that others can share, but I'm not aware of any telnet or other network login servers that have been ported. There's no
Then RTFM: see for example doc/README.NetConsole
Best regards,
Wolfgang Denk
On 9/15/06, Ben Warren bwarren@qstreams.com wrote:
There may be some tricks that others can share, but I'm not aware of any telnet or other network login servers that have been ported. There's no reason you couldn't upgrade U-boot through Linux (or whatever) if you use an MTD-supported parallel flash chip.
From my poking around I've generally found that while it's there and
powerful: NetConsole = "Only go there as a last resort"
I've implemented a simple system that works in linux (as above) by using the MTD 'flashcp' utilty to /dev/mtdXXX, this works very well.
<rant>
As a rule of thumb we're (more or less) designing our hardware around what U-Boot needs (Which is actually a good set of requirements) rather than trying to force U-Boot into existing shabby platforms. IMHO: If you can't do this you should probably be writing your own bootloader.
I'm also amazed at the amount people from large organisations asking the same questions that started this thread, We have U-Boot running on SEVEN different platforms here, all using different CPUs, two different architectures and different endiannesses, from the time we started to now I've asked ONE question of this list (which wasn't answered, and I figured it out anyway). how hard can it be?????????? just read the README and go look at the d**m code!!!!!!
</rant>
(sorry about the HTML)
sorry..... just one more rant.......
<rant> One other point while I'm ranting here... I don't have 12 years of embedded experience under my belt either, in comparison: I am a total putz, in fact, I only just got out of university!!!!!!! getting U-boot going (on any platform) was a cinch! </rant>
On 9/15/06, Matthew Millman inaxeon@gmail.com wrote:
On 9/15/06, Ben Warren bwarren@qstreams.com wrote:
There may be some tricks that others can share, but I'm not aware of any telnet or other network login servers that have been ported. There's no reason you couldn't upgrade U-boot through Linux (or whatever) if you use an MTD-supported parallel flash chip.
From my poking around I've generally found that while it's there and powerful: NetConsole = "Only go there as a last resort"
I've implemented a simple system that works in linux (as above) by using the MTD 'flashcp' utilty to /dev/mtdXXX, this works very well.
<rant>
As a rule of thumb we're (more or less) designing our hardware around what U-Boot needs (Which is actually a good set of requirements) rather than trying to force U-Boot into existing shabby platforms. IMHO: If you can't do this you should probably be writing your own bootloader.
I'm also amazed at the amount people from large organisations asking the same questions that started this thread, We have U-Boot running on SEVEN different platforms here, all using different CPUs, two different architectures and different endiannesses, from the time we started to now I've asked ONE question of this list (which wasn't answered, and I figured it out anyway). how hard can it be?????????? just read the README and go look at the d**m code!!!!!!
</rant>
(sorry about the HTML)
Thanks for the rants. They're very enlightening. Clearly you have a future as a diplomat.
Unfortunately, not everyone was born with your intuitive grasp of all things engineering, and many of us need a little coaching now and then. This mailing list is a tremendously helpful resource, and if nobody asked questions there would be no progress.
Please go back to your read-only cave.
--- Matthew Millman inaxeon@gmail.com wrote:
sorry..... just one more rant.......
<rant> One other point while I'm ranting here... I don't have 12 years of embedded experience under my belt either, in comparison: I am a total putz, in fact, I only just got out of university!!!!!!! getting U-boot going (on any platform) was a cinch! </rant>
Dear Matthew,
in message 11a6eb590609141534g875672ajc8adca1849a7e79@mail.gmail.com you wrote:
...
SEVEN different platforms here, all using different CPUs, two different architectures and different endiannesses, from the time we started to now I've asked ONE question of this list (which wasn't answered, and I figured it out anyway). how hard can it be??????????
It *was* answered. You asked:
From: "Matthew Millman" inaxeon@gmail.com Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 18:30:22 +1200 Subject: [U-Boot-Users] U-Boot & IPv6 ... * As crazy as this may sound... I / we need IPv6 in uboot ...
and I replied:
From: Wolfgang Denk wd@denx.de Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2006 10:18:59 +0200 Subject: Re: [U-Boot-Users] U-Boot & IPv6 ... So add it... ...
This may have been not the answer you were looking for, but I *did* answer your question.
Best regards,
Wolfgang Denk
apoligies....
with regards to that question, that was exactly the answer I was expecting, and that's exactly what I'm already doing ;)
I was referring to a previous one about data cache on mpc8260 in relation to PCI - which you did answer, but the answer was non-technical.
Matt
On 9/15/06, Wolfgang Denk wd@denx.de wrote:
Dear Matthew,
in message 11a6eb590609141534g875672ajc8adca1849a7e79@mail.gmail.com you wrote:
...
SEVEN different platforms here, all using different CPUs, two different architectures and different endiannesses, from the time we started to now I've asked ONE question of this list (which wasn't answered, and I figured it out anyway). how hard can it be??????????
It *was* answered. You asked:
From: "Matthew Millman" <inaxeon@gmail.com> Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 18:30:22 +1200 Subject: [U-Boot-Users] U-Boot & IPv6 ... * As crazy as this may sound... I / we need IPv6 in uboot ...and I replied:
From: Wolfgang Denk <wd@denx.de> Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2006 10:18:59 +0200 Subject: Re: [U-Boot-Users] U-Boot & IPv6 ... So add it... ...This may have been not the answer you were looking for, but I *did* answer your question.
Best regards,
Wolfgang Denk
-- Software Engineering: Embedded and Realtime Systems, Embedded Linux Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd@denx.de "In the long run, every program becomes rococo, and then rubble."
- Alan Perlis
participants (5)
-
Ben Warren -
Bruce_Leonard＠selinc.com -
David Hawkins -
Matthew Millman -
Wolfgang Denk