[Arm-netbook] U-boot and Towboot

Tue Jan 17 17:06:43 GMT 2023

"it's possible to reconfigure u-boot (etc) to have the OS on the Card's 
micro-sd."

Not sure if this helps, but I read that Towboot supports an additional 
feature:

"On boards with dedicated storage for the firmware, the/Tow-Boot/build 
should be independent from, and not care about the installed system media."

https://github.com/Tow-Boot/Tow-Boot

https://tow-boot.org/

On 1/17/2023 3:05 AM, arm-netbook-request at lists.phcomp.co.uk wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
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>     1. Re: next step is a boot image (Andreas Grapentin)
>     2. Re: next step is a boot image (Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton)
>     3. Re: next step is a boot image (Andreas Grapentin)
>     4. Re: next step is a boot image (Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton)
>     5. Re: next step is a boot image (Pablo Rath)
>     6. Re: next step is a boot image (Pablo Rath)
>     7. Re: Fwd: Where are the 93 Computer Cards ? (Pablo Rath)
>     8. Re: next step is a boot image (Andreas Grapentin)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2023 19:55:47 +0100
> From: Andreas Grapentin<andreas at grapentin.org>
> To: Eco-Conscious Computing<arm-netbook at lists.phcomp.co.uk>
> Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] next step is a boot image
> Message-ID:<ED1673BE-4B32-4CB9-B176-CD881100B059 at grapentin.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset=utf-8
>
>
>
>> On 13. Jan 2023, at 04:12, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl at lkcl.net>  wrote:
>>
>> On Thursday, January 12, 2023, Andreas Grapentin <andreas at grapentin.org  <mailto:andreas at grapentin.org>>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 12. Jan 2023, at 15:44, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl at lkcl.net>
>> wrote:
>>>> On Thursday, January 12, 2023, Andreas Grapentin<andreas at grapentin.org>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> I'm curious -- does the old parabola image no longer work??
>>>> from 2016? unfortunately the MicroSD card with the only
>>>> copy destroyed itself.
>>> I still have a copy, I think. I’ll go looking for it.
>> yes please. do you use bittorrent, can you publish a magnet link?
>> i will grab and seed it if you do?
> I’ve found the parabola image I used back in 2021, and tried to boot it on an EOMA card revision 2.7.4 and a microdesktop revision 1.7
>
> In the process of attaching peripheries, I must have blown something on the microdesktop, the power LED no longer lights up, tested multiple chargers. I’m fairly certain that the LED did light up green when I started working on the board today. Is it possible that I blew a fuse somewhere?
>
> Apart from that, I currently can’t get the system to boot. I have output from the boot loader, but it’s not much:
>
> U-Boot SPL 2017.01-2 (Jan 18 2017 - 21:30:38)
> DRAM: 2048 MiB
> CPU: 912000000Hz, AXI/AHB/APB: 3/2/2
> Trying to boot from MMC2MMC Device 1 not found
> spl: could not find mmc device. error: -19
> SPL: failed to boot from all boot devices
> ### ERROR ### Please RESET the board ###
>
> This is when I insert the sd card in the EOMA card directly. When I insert the sd card into the microdesktop, I don’t get anything. Still working on it though.
>
> I’m confident that this is salvageable, considering that I do get boot loader output through UART. I’ll keep looking into it. If you have any hints, I’d appreciate it.
>
> in the meantime, I’ll prepare a magnet link / http direct download for the image I’m using, in case it’s useful for someone else. I’ll send those links to the list ASAP.
>
> Best,
> Andreas
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2023 19:01:03 +0000
> From: Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl at lkcl.net>
> To: Eco-Conscious Computing<arm-netbook at lists.phcomp.co.uk>
> Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] next step is a boot image
> Message-ID:
> 	<CAPweEDxrHiGLFry5ex3P7DXoBDvnavfSxcCx_R7U05QTWF4PXQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> On Mon, Jan 16, 2023 at 6:56 PM Andreas Grapentin<andreas at grapentin.org>  wrote:
>
>> I’ve found the parabola image I used back in 2021, and tried to boot it on an EOMA card revision 2.7.4 and a microdesktop revision 1.7
> brilliant
>
>> In the process of attaching peripheries, I must have blown something on the microdesktop, the power LED no longer lights up, tested multiple chargers. I’m fairly certain that the LED did light up green when I started working on the board today. Is it possible that I blew a fuse somewhere?
> yes it should. no there's no fuse.  you'll need a multimeter, be *careful*.
> i suggest taking the Card out.  if it's really borked you can power it
> with a 5V USB "charger" cable (into the 2 standard USB sockets).
>
> also, check you inserted the Card correctly: not one row along or one
> pin along, and make sure no contact between the two PCBs.
>
>> Apart from that, I currently can’t get the system to boot. I have output from the boot loader, but it’s not much:
>>
>> U-Boot SPL 2017.01-2 (Jan 18 2017 - 21:30:38)
>> DRAM: 2048 MiB
>> CPU: 912000000Hz, AXI/AHB/APB: 3/2/2
>> Trying to boot from MMC2MMC Device 1 not found
>> spl: could not find mmc device. error: -19
>> SPL: failed to boot from all boot devices
>> ### ERROR ### Please RESET the board ###
> ok if you've no power on the MD then the Level Shifter IC will not
> be powered up and the MicroSD card socket obviously
> will not be recognised.
>
>> I’m confident that this is salvageable, considering that I do get boot loader output through UART. I’ll keep looking into it. If you have any hints, I’d appreciate it.
> it's possible to reconfigure u-boot (etc) to have the OS on the Card's micro-sd.
>
>> in the meantime, I’ll prepare a magnet link / http direct download for the image I’m using, in case it’s useful for someone else. I’ll send those links to the list ASAP.
> awesome.
>
> l.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2023 20:10:08 +0100
> From: Andreas Grapentin<andreas at grapentin.org>
> To: Eco-Conscious Computing<arm-netbook at lists.phcomp.co.uk>
> Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] next step is a boot image
> Message-ID:<BE68C5FA-7F51-4F90-ADF8-DB4F8456508B at grapentin.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset=utf-8
>
>
>
>> On 16. Jan 2023, at 20:01, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl at lkcl.net>  wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, Jan 16, 2023 at 6:56 PM Andreas Grapentin<andreas at grapentin.org>  wrote:
>>
>>> In the process of attaching peripheries, I must have blown something on the microdesktop, the power LED no longer lights up, tested multiple chargers. I’m fairly certain that the LED did light up green when I started working on the board today. Is it possible that I blew a fuse somewhere?
>> yes it should. no there's no fuse.  you'll need a multimeter, be *careful*.
>> i suggest taking the Card out.  if it's really borked you can power it
>> with a 5V USB "charger" cable (into the 2 standard USB sockets).
>>
>> also, check you inserted the Card correctly: not one row along or one
>> pin along, and make sure no contact between the two PCBs.
> forgot to mention, I’m using the expansion header on the micro desktop for the UART connection. Power to the EOMA card directly through the microUSB works, that’s what I’m doing right now. I haven’t tried the USB sockets on the micro desktop though, that might be worth a shot.
>
>>> I’m confident that this is salvageable, considering that I do get boot loader output through UART. I’ll keep looking into it. If you have any hints, I’d appreciate it.
>> it's possible to reconfigure u-boot (etc) to have the OS on the Card's micro-sd.
> I believe I’m using a quite old u-boot boot script. Included below. I’m not too familiar with u-boot, any tips what needs to be changed to switch the microSD slot, or maybe include a fallback option to try booting from the internal microSD if the external one is unavailable?
>
>
> if test -n ${distro_bootpart}; then setenv bootpart ${distro_bootpart}; else setenv bootpart 1; fi
> part uuid ${devtype} ${devnum}:${bootpart} uuid
>
> setenv bootargs console=${console} root=PARTUUID=${uuid} rw rootwait
>
> if load ${devtype} ${devnum}:${bootpart} ${kernel_addr_r} /boot/zImage; then
>    if load ${devtype} ${devnum}:${bootpart} ${fdt_addr_r} /boot/dtbs/${fdtfile}; then
>      if load ${devtype} ${devnum}:${bootpart} ${ramdisk_addr_r} /boot/initramfs-linux.img; then
>        bootz ${kernel_addr_r} ${ramdisk_addr_r}:${filesize} ${fdt_addr_r};
>      else
>        bootz ${kernel_addr_r} - ${fdt_addr_r};
>      fi;
>    fi;
> fi
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2023 04:29:06 +0000
> From: Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl at lkcl.net>
> To: Eco-Conscious Computing<arm-netbook at lists.phcomp.co.uk>
> Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] next step is a boot image
> Message-ID:
> 	<CAPweEDyfDVVRnqrycPhms+Q15e-dO75EmVuvNwywz-SW5gQPgQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> On Monday, January 16, 2023, Andreas Grapentin<andreas at grapentin.org>
> wrote:
>>
>>> On 16. Jan 2023, at 20:01, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton<lkcl at lkcl.net>
> wrote:
>>> On Mon, Jan 16, 2023 at 6:56 PM Andreas Grapentin<andreas at grapentin.org>
> wrote:
>>>> In the process of attaching peripheries, I must have blown something on
> the microdesktop, the power LED no longer lights up, tested multiple
> chargers. I’m fairly certain that the LED did light up green when I started
> working on the board today. Is it possible that I blew a fuse somewhere?
>>> yes it should. no there's no fuse.  you'll need a multimeter, be
> *careful*.
>>> i suggest taking the Card out.  if it's really borked you can power it
>>> with a 5V USB "charger" cable (into the 2 standard USB sockets).
>>>
>>> also, check you inserted the Card correctly: not one row along or one
>>> pin along, and make sure no contact between the two PCBs.
>> forgot to mention, I’m using the expansion header on the micro desktop
> for the UART connection.
>
> yep ido that.
>
>> Power to the EOMA card directly through the microUSB works, that’s what
> I’m doing right now.
>
> the SY6280 is *only* powered by the 5v MD Power rail.
> you *cannot* power the MD through the USB-OTG and if it
> was possible it would damage everything as the power
> drain would be exceeded.
>
> the 5v rail connects to 3.3v which then powers the
> Level Shifter and the microsd socket.
>
> you abolutely cannot expect the VREF of the Card to
> power the microsd socket.
>
>
> it is imperative that you provide independent 5v power.
>
>> I haven’t tried the USB sockets on the micro desktop though, that might
> be worth a shot.
>
> if 12v is not working it will be your only option.
>
>>> it's possible to reconfigure u-boot (etc) to have the OS on the Card's
> micro-sd.
>> I believe I’m using a quite old u-boot boot script.
> that is irrelevant.  u-boot-spl.bin is what needs compiling
> and that is done with compile options.  "make config".
>
> i think.
>
> you need to establish which phase has been achieved.
> there are MULTIPLE phases.
> EVERY ONE OF THEM needs properly configuring.
>
> l.
>
>