Scarthgap Images Fail to Boot on Custom LS1012A Board via SD Card

[Dhanyalakshmi]

We are encountering a boot issue on our custom LS1012A-based board when using rootfs and boot-partition images generated from the Scarthgap branch, while booting from the SD card.

What Works:

• On the FRWY-LS1012A evaluation board, both Mickledore and Scarthgap branch images (rootfs & boot-partition) boot successfully from the SD card.

• On our custom board, images (rootfs & boot-partition) built from the Mickledore branch boot successfully from the SD card.

What Fails:

• On our custom board, the system fails to boot when using the Scarthgap branch images (rootfs & boot-partition) from the SD card. The kernel appears to hang shortly after starting.

Hardware Differences (Custom Board vs. FRWY-LS1012A):

Our custom board is derived from the FRWY-LS1012A with the following minor hardware changes:

• Audio input/output ports removed

• M.2 Type-E NGFF slot removed

• mikroBus Click headers removed

Other components and peripherals remain unchanged.

SDK Source:

• The Scarthgap Yocto SDK was downloaded from:
  https://github.com/nxp-qoriq/yocto-sdk/tree/scarthgap

---

Please let us know if the image build steps or SD card preparation process are needed for verification. We are happy to provide complete logs and reproduction steps.

[yipingwang]

Please download Scarthgap prebuilt Kernel image and dtb file from the following link.

https://support.nxp.com/s/case/500Tg00000KC1b9IAD/community-scarthgap-images-fail-to-boot-on-custom-...

Please refer to the following command to boot Kernel Image.

=>tftp 0xa0000000 Image

=>tftp 0xb0000000 fsl-ls1012a-frwy.dtb

=> booti 0xa0000000 - 0xb0000000

Please check whether you get the same error on your custom board.

If yes, please use mtest command to test DDR memory in u-boot.

[Dhanyalakshmi]

Thank You Yiping for the reply,

I tried with the dtb and image you have provided but SD card still did not boot properly. I have attached the logs for your reference. Please provide guidance why SDK built from scarthgap branch unable to boot from SD card. 

And how to resolve this issue.

Thank You

[yipingwang]

The system didn't stop at the same place, so I suspect there is problem with your DDR controller initialization.

What's the result to do DDR test with "mtest" command?

Did you find any error?

[Dhanyalakshmi]

Thank You Yiping for the reply,Here's the result of the command.

=> mtest
Testing 80000000 ... 9fffffff:
Pattern 0000000000000000 Writing...


it stuck here only for about 5 minutes. Is it normal?

[yipingwang]

It's abnormal, the DDR test program cannot run normally at all.

Please use QCVS DDRv tool to connect to your custom board to do optimization and validation.

[Dhanyalakshmi]

Can you guide me to perform optimization and validation using DDRv tool.

Also,I have a doubt if the same custom board able to boot SD card which has rootfs and boot-partition images built from mickledore and styhead branch then why not working for sacrthgap?

[yipingwang]

For QCVS DDRv tool usage, you could refer to the following document.

https://www.nxp.com.cn/docs/en/user-guide/QCVS_DDR_User_Guide.pdf

https://community.nxp.com/t5/Qonverge-Knowledge-Base/DDR-Controller-Configuration-on-LS2085-LS2080-B...

You could use "read from target" method to create a QCVS DDR project, then connect to your target board to do validation to get the optimized parameters.

After successful validation, please click Project->Generate Processor Expert Code to get the optimized DDR controller configuration parameters in file ddr_init1.c, and use it to modify ATF source code plat/nxp/soc-ls1012a/ls1012afrwy/ddr_init.c.