iMX6 SoloX Sabre SDB uSD boot problems

[CarlosFG]

I just receive a SABRE evaluation board MCIMX6SX-SDB and I could not get it boot from uSD card.

The error I get comes from u-boot, seems like it has some problem with MMC interface. Here are some responses for some mmc-related commands:

=> mmc rescan
Card did not respond to voltage select!
mmc_init: -95, time 40

=> mmc list
FSL_SDHC: 0
FSL_SDHC: 1
FSL_SDHC: 2

=> ls mmc 0:0
Card did not respond to voltage select!
mmc_init: -95, time 29
** Bad device mmc 0 **
=> ls mmc 1:0
MMC: no card present
mmc_init: -123, time 1
** Bad device mmc 1 **
=> ls mmc 2:0
MMC: no card present
mmc_init: -123, time 2
** Bad device mmc 2 **

When uboot tries to boot, the mmc boot fails and it fallback to ethernet boot:

Spoiler

U-Boot 2017.03-imx_v2017.03_4.9.88_2.0.0_ga+gb76bb1bf9f (Dec 01 2020 - 14:46:47 +0100)

CPU: Freescale i.MX6SX rev1.3 996 MHz (running at 792 MHz)
CPU: Extended Commercial temperature grade (-20C to 105C) at 39C
Reset cause: WDOG
Model: Freescale i.MX6 SoloX SDB RevB Board
Board: MX6SX SABRE SDB
DRAM: 1 GiB
PMIC: PFUZE100! DEV_ID=0x11 REV_ID=0x21
MMC: FSL_SDHC: 0, FSL_SDHC: 1, FSL_SDHC: 2
MMC: no card present
mmc_init: -123, time 2
*** Warning - MMC init failed, using default environment

Display: Hannstar-XGA (1024x768)
Video: 1024x768x18
In: serial
Out: serial
Err: serial
MMC: no card present
mmc_init: -123, time 2
Net:
Warning: ethernet@02188000 using MAC address from ROM

Warning: ethernet@021b4000 using MAC address from ROM
eth0: ethernet@02188000, eth1: ethernet@021b4000 [PRIME]
Normal Boot
Hit any key to stop autoboot: 0
MMC: no card present
mmc_init: -123, time 1
MMC: no card present
mmc_init: -123, time 2
Card did not respond to voltage select!
mmc_init: -95, time 39
Booting from net ...
ethernet@021b4000 Waiting for PHY auto negotiation to complete......... TIMEOUT !
Could not initialize PHY ethernet@021b4000
BOOTP broadcast 1
BOOTP broadcast 2
BOOTP broadcast 3
BOOTP broadcast 4

This not only happens with the uSD card which comes preburned with the evaluation kit, but also with all the Yocto images I have tried:

• rocko: https://source.codeaurora.org/external/imx/imx-manifest/tree/imx-4.9.88-2.0.0_ga.xml?h=imx-linux-roc...
• warrior: https://source.codeaurora.org/external/imx/imx-manifest/tree/imx-4.19.35-1.1.2.xml?h=imx-linux-warri...
• zeus: https://source.codeaurora.org/external/imx/imx-manifest/tree/imx-5.4.47-2.2.0.xml?h=imx-linux-zeus

I have also tried an image built with Buildroot 2020.08.2. With this image, uboot get to boot the kernel, but the kernel use to halt during its booting, waiting for rootfs partition. This not always happens, sometimes it could boot successful up to login and, apparently, it works properly.

We need use Yocto for our project, so I wonder if there is a manifest.xml version that could create a working image which I could start to work with.

Thank you,

Carlos.

[AldoG]

Hello,

I think you have overwritten the prebuilt image that comes with the kit, if you have not could you try as said in this guide?
https://www.nxp.com/document/guide/getting-started-with-i-mx-6-solox-sabre:GS-RD-IMX6SX-SABRE

Also, could you share the steps you have follow to flash the images you compiled.

Thank you,
Regards,
Aldo.

[CarlosFG]

Hello,

Thank you for your reply.

It is no possible I have been overwritten the uSD that comes with the kit, I have not even insert it in other device but the evaluation board. I have been using a different uSD card for the tests with Yocto images.

I followed the guide you mention. I insert the uSD card in the "SD4 BOOT" socket and double check the boot switches position.

For build the images I tested, I followed the guide IMXLXYOCTOUG (https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/user-guide/IMX_YOCTO_PROJECT_USERS_GUIDE.pdf) in a Ubuntu 18.04. Here is an example for build with the configuration: imx-5.4.47-2.2.0, fsl-imx-wayland and imx-image-multimedia:

sudo wget https://storage.googleapis.com/git-repo-downloads/repo -O /usr/bin/repo
sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/repo

mkdir imx-yocto-bsp
cd imx-yocto-bsp
repo init -u https://source.codeaurora.org/external/imx/imx-manifest \
          -b imx-linux-zeus \
          -m imx-5.4.47-2.2.0.xml
repo sync

EULA=1 DISTRO=fsl-imx-wayland MACHINE=imx6sxsabresd \
                 source imx-setup-release.sh -b build
bitbake imx-image-multimedia

And for write the images into a uSD card I used bzcat and dd:

bzcat "build/tmp/deploy/images/imx6sxsabresd/fsl-imx-wayland-imx6sxsabresd.wic.bz2" | sudo dd of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M conf=fsync status=progress && sync

[AldoG]

Hello,

Sorry missed your last update, regarding L5.4.47-2.2.0, as per release notes this version was only for automated test only, I'll recommend to try with prebuilt images first, you may find them here:
https://www.nxp.com/design/software/embedded-software/i-mx-software/embedded-linux-for-i-mx-applicat...

Please try with Linux 5.4.24_2.1.0 and let me know if this does work.

Regards,
Aldo.