eMMC Boot on S32G399 VNP-RDB3 — Partition Setup and Dual-Core Boot Layout (No QSPI)

[dylee]

Hi,

I’m working on booting the S32G399 VNP-RDB3 board using only eMMC (no QSPI). I will use NXP's Flash Tool to write boot-related images.

In my setup, I need to support dual-core boot, and I have the following images:

1 .IVT (Image Vector Table)

2. FIP32 (for Cortex-A53, including U-Boot or TF-A)

3. M7_0 bootloader image (e.g., an integration-level image based on MCAL)

4. M7 application image

I noticed that the default IVT offset is 0x1000. In this case, I assume that I need to use MBR-based partitioning for Linux compatibility—but is that correct?
Also, how should the partitioning be created on eMMC, and what tool should be used to do that?

Additionally, is there a recommended memory layout or address map for placing the IVT, A53 bootloader, and M7 firmware on eMMC for dual-core boot?

If there are example flash layouts or best practices for writing to eMMC using the NXP Flash Tool—especially for dual-core (M7 + A53) boot scenarios—I’d really appreciate it.

Thank you!

[alejandro_e]

Hello @dylee,

We do not have specific documentation on how to use the eMMC as the boot source for a dual application, however, we have one that explains the general configuration for the bootloader and memory layout: AN13750. Note that instead of using QSPI and it's respective addresses you will need to consider what you have mentioned, that the boot address when using eMMC is 0x1000. You can also check the GoldVIP documentation, as it also explains the general configuration for the bootloader.

Please considere that while flashing all the images with the flash tool is possible, the Linux kernel and filesystem can take several hours since they are relatively big files. 

Let me know if you have any difficulty downloading any of the files I mentioned or if you have any other question related to this topic.

Best regards