[i.MX6UL] eMMC Image flash

[john2207]

Hi ,

We built i.MX6 UL Yocto BSP image by following latest release imx-5.10.9-1.0.0.xml ( kernel : 5.10.9 branch : gatesgarth ) released on Mar 31, 2021. We are able to boot from uSD in i.MX 6 UL EVK board (micro sd card) by flashing .wic image into sd card.

But we want to boot from eMMC in our own custom board and require steps for flashing image into eMMC storage. In our EVK board, eMMC storage is not available (In hardware schematics (MCIMX6UL_CM_DESIGNFILES / SPF-28617_C5.pdf) , it is mentioned that only eMMC footprint will be there in EVK board).

Please help us for flashing the image into eMMC.

[AldoG]

Hello,

If you're able to flash an SD card using UUU, and boot from it, then UUU is working fine with your uboot and kernel configuration.

Please note that in our uboot source code (uboot-imx) have this configuration already so there won't be needed to add nothing, you will find the configuration needed at UUU documentation, section Uboot config requirement and kernel config requirement available here:

https://github.com/NXPmicro/mfgtools/releases/download/uuu_1.4.72/UUU.pdf

Regarding eMMC, aside from hardware changes like in EVK, in yocto you need to make sure that it is eMMC enabled in the uboot configuration in local.conf, please check this in the i.MX Yocto Project User's Guide, section 5.5 U-Boot Configuration.

As previously said you could try with demo image for a quick test, if the custom board is the same as our EVK, and run the uuu.auto script which download eMMC uboot version and rootfs to eMMC.

Best regards,
Aldo.

[carotte]

Since you are not giving any information on your boards hardware, I'm just going to assume that the relevant parts are identical to the EVK.

You need to use UUU for flashing. 

Download UUU from GitHub and build it - if you haven't already done so.

The demo files folder  (L5.10.9_1.0.0_MX6UL7D) for the EVAL kit contains some sample uuu scripts to flash the sample images.

Put your board into serial download mode.

Run  on your host machine:

cd /path_to_L5.10.9_1.0.0_MX6ULD/

sudo /path_to_uuu/uuu uuu.auto-imx6ul14x14evk

Once you confirmed that the flash was successfully, you can customise the uuu script to accommodate your needs and your custom image.

[john2207]

Hi @carotte ,

>>Since you are not giving any information on your boards hardware, I'm just going to assume that the relevant parts are identical to the EVK.

Can you please mention what exact information you are expecting from us with respect to our own custom board ? We will try to provide that.

[carotte]

If you ask for help, you should provide the information that we need to help you.

I have no idea of the hardware configuration of your board. So I can only give you instructions based on what I know, or what I assume.

The steps I described in my previous answer will work if the schematic of your board is the same as the EVK.

[john2207]

Hi @carotte ,

Sorry. Since we can't share our custom board schematics, we will give details as below,

1. Support Boot mode (as like EVK , serial mode/Internal boot/ also supports). We have DIP switch to select internal boot or Serial download

2. Boot device as eMMC only.

3. Supports USB Type C

Please let us know if you need any other information.

Currently, we are able to built .wic image (# bitbake imx-image-multimedia) and boot from uSD card in imx6ul EVK board.

For eMMC, do we need to modify u-boot or kernel configuration/dts for building images which can flash into EMMC. We checked https://github.com/NXPmicro/mfgtools/wiki/UUU link and found

Uboot config requirement and

kernel config requirement

any other configurations needs to be done  for image building ?

[carotte]

I doubt anybody will be able to help if your questions and information remains that vague....

First you asked about flashing an image, now you want to know how to build an image that works for your board.

And still no relevant information on the board. You don’t even tell us if it has the boot config resistors and how you have set them.

Unfortunately I can’t help you. 
Best of luck 

[carotte]

Perhaps you should clarify where exactly the problem lies.

It isn't clear if you are using a custom board with eMMC or wether you want to use the EVK. If the ladder is true, you will need to populate the eMMC first.

[john2207]

Hi @carotte ,

Our custom board has supports only eMMC as boot medium. We need steps for flashing the image into eMMC.