For multicore scenario, bl2_w_dtb.s32 is flashed into QSPI FLASH, FIP image is meant to be flashed info eMMC.
1>Is it sdcard type fip image that should be flashed?
2>Where should FIP image go? RAW area or first partition of eMMC?
3>How to build such ATF images?
Hello, @wansp
Thanks for your reply.
1. Yes, the booting image struct changed a lot since BSP42, on BSP46, sorry that you may have to obey the rules that mentioned in the BSP46.0 UM for flashing the image to the QSPI/SD.
2. I have checked the code in TFA of BSP46, seems the settings you mentioned is deprecated.
BR
Chenyin
BSP46 is really brand-new.
It seems that BSP42 & BSP46 are dealing with FIP's eMMC flashing differently (RAW data access vs. by partition), which may make BSP upgrade hard.
For BSP42, I prefer make both BL2 & FIP in QSPI. Since they are similar, can the be the same copy?
Am I using the right ATF compile commands?
Is FIP_QSPI_OFFSET still valid for BSP46?
Hello, @wansp
1. For BSP before BSP43(say BSP42), the A53 bootloader(TFA/uboot) would be built to a standalone image(fip.bin, images for SD/eMMC boot), in this case, the same binary should be flashed to both SD card/emmc and QSPI for booting from M7 bootloader(multicore boot specified in AN13750).
The building command could be the same mentioned in BSP42.0 UM for SD boot building.
2. For BSP 43 and later, the A53 bootloader(TFA/uboot) would be built to generate two images(bl2 and fip), in this case, the bl2 should be flashed to the QSPI, while the fip one could be flashed to the eMMC/SD as specified by the BSP46.0 UM.
The building command could be also the same mentioned in BSP46.0 UM for SD boot building.
3. The AN13750 is based on very early version BSP, the steps/tips/descriptions for booting are still referenceable, but some details for certain version software operation may be outdated, I suggest following the corresponding BSP UM for different scenarios.
BR
Chenyin
BSP46 UM seems easier to understand.
I drew two diagrams for two scenarios:
1>BL2 in QSPI, FIP in EMMC
2>both BL2 & FIP in QSPI
Am I using the right ATF compile commands?
For both BL2 & FIP in QSPI case, does any compile option exist to declare its offset in QSPI FLASH?
Hello, @wansp
Thanks for the confirmaiton.
1. Yes
2. It is different for BSP42 and BSP46, on BSP42, there is only fip file existed, which would be flashed to /sdx; on BSP46, there would be both bl2 and fip binaries, the fip would be flashed to /sdx1.
3. For building the fip images, you may directly following the specific BSP UM to manually built, but note that for multi-core boot purpose(as AN13750 suggested), the tfa part may need to be built with the following modification:
BR
Chenyin
Two versions are in consideration: BSP42 & BSP46
It seems that they are different:
1>BSP46 user manual has this:
make CROSS_COMPILE=/path/to/your/toolchain/dir/bin/aarch64-none-linux-gnu- \
ARCH=aarch64 PLAT=
FIP_LOCATION=mmc
the FIP is flashed to partition 0 & MBR partition scheme is required.
as a common data partition, it may be influenced by operations on other partitions, which may hurt reliability.
2>in BSP42 user manual, parameter FIP_MMC_OFFSET seems for this purpose:
make CROSS_COMPILE=/path/to/your/toolchain/dir/bin/aarch64-none-linux-gnu- \
ARCH=aarch64 PLAT=
FIP_MMC_OFFSET=0x5400
since absolute offset is used, it seems to be using RAW area.
But how to flash the original image into the RAW area?
Hello, @wansp
Thanks for your post.
May I know which version BSP you are referring to ?
BR
Chenyin
BSP46 UM tells: “The accepted values for FIP_LOCATION are: mmc, qspi or memory."
If FIP_LOCATION=qspi, BL2 should know where to find FIP.
If FIP_QSPI_OFFSET is deprecated, I think BSP46 should provide similar mechanism or has some unspoken default settings.
Hello, @wansp
From my understanding, the default building commands, like:
make CROSS_COMPILE=/path/to/your/toolchain/dir/bin/aarch64-none-linux-gnu- \ ARCH=aarch64 PLAT=
could generate correct bl2 and fip images for multicore boot.
You may flash the bl2 part to the QSPI, and replace the FIP part of the default SD/mmc image with the newly generated one, then the bootloader is able to find the correct M7 application and A53 bootloader(bl2) and bring them up.
If there are still issues, feel free to share all logs for your steps and console prints, we will help to check them.
BR
Chenyin