SATA supported on the 1043ARDB?

[pro-supportengi]

Is SATA supported on the 1043ARDB or will it be supported? 

The LS1043A SDK v0.5 RM chapter 32 Freescale Native SATA Driver User Manual indicates driver support exists for the RDB target board. Under the specifications the supported target board for native SATA includes the RDB board. 

Also under the linux-ls1043a/3.19-40/git/drivers/ata/Kconfig: tristate "Serial ATA and Prallel ATA drivers (libata)" exists to enable theSATA ata driver.  Likewise, under build_ls1043ardb_release/tmp/work/ls1043ardb-fsl-linux/linux-ls1043a/3.19-r0/git/drivers/ata/sata-fsl.c and ahci_platform.c the SATA drivers exist.  Are either of these two SATA drivers built for the 1043ARDB by the default configuration and can an external SATA be connected if onboard SATA does not exist, and can these drivers be used to access the external SATA drive?

The HW FAE in Chicago has indicated SATA does not exist on the 1043ARDB block diagram, so on board SATA hardware support does not exist for it.  So, in what sense, if any, is SATA supported for the 1043ARDB? 

If supported, how can I boot from a SATA drive on the 1043ARDB?

[petr_kramara]

Hello,

it's posible run sata at LS1043ARDB. SATA serdes is multiplexing with PCIe. You only need is simple reduction from pcie connector to sata connector. Next step is change rcw to enable SATA and switch SW3[4] to 0 (100MHz clock). I work on LS1043ARDB with SATA without problems.

[andreyromanov]

Explain please how to change RCW to enable SATA.

[r8070z · Accepted solution]

Have a great day,

The LS1043ARDB and LS1043AQDS boards have the same processor i.e. the LS1043A . The LS1043 has SATA controller which shares serdes with other high speed controllers. Board designer may implement SATA interface or not. On the LS1043ARDB board it is not implemented. It seems LS1043AQDS is not available.

[r8070z]

Have a great day,

Original LS1043ARDB did not implement SATA interface.  The SDK supports several boards including LS1043AQDS which implements SATA interface. So it includes the Freescale Native SATA Driver.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: If this post answers your question, please click the Correct Answer button. Thank you!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[pro-supportengi]

Hi Serguei, you say originally the 1043ARDB did not implement the SATA interface, does the LS1043ARDB now support SATA and does it have a SATA controller? I have attached a 1043A block diagram that shows a SATA controller.

Is this a block diagram of the LS1043AQDS, or of the LS1043 device itself?  The attached block diagram shows a SATA controller for a LS1043 device, and a custom board or the LS1043ARDB would have to be designed to include the SATA physical interface.  This means the SerDes lanes would have to be considered since this is a serial interface. Is this correct?

Going back to the original question, doing a quick search on the LS1043ARD schematic, I didn't see a SATA controller nor the physical interface in the 0.5v of the LS1043ARDB SDK hardware schematics. 

Just to clarify and to pin this down, for the shipping LS1043ARDB there is no SATA controller and no SATA physical interface?

[pro-supportengi]

Serguei, do both the LS1043ARDB and LS1043AQDS have the same processor performance and the same cores? What is the difference between the two besides SATA?

What is the part number for the LS1043AQDS and is it still being manufactured?