Imx6ull buildroot flash with mfgtool

[Ypi]

Hi,

I have custom imx6ull board and I need to flash nand with buildroot. I think that better is to flash device to SD card via mfgtool before try to boot to nand version.

I have two boards. One with nand and one with SD card. I started with SD card version and make buildroot with attached defconfig. It works well after burning card with command:

sudo dd if=output/images/sdcard.img of=/dev/sdb

Then I try same via usb and mfg-tool L4.9.88_2.0.0 on windows. Download works well with mfgtool2-yocto-mx-evk-sdcard-sd2.vbs settings. I tried to overwrite mfgtool files with my own files from buildroot/outputs/images and download it again, but it's not working. Boot stops to:

## Checking Image at 86800000 ...
Unknown image format!
Run fastboot ...

I tested also uuu mfgtools 3.0 from GitHub - NXPmicro/mfgtools: Freescale/NXP I.MX Chip image deploy tools. And i got error:

uuu (Universal Update Utility) for nxp imx chips -- libuuu_1.3.191-2-g884c5e9

Success 0    Failure 1                                                         

1:2      1/ 5 [Bulk(W):LIBUSB_ERROR_TIMEOUT          ] FB: ucmd setenv fastboot_

Do I need to add some packages to buildroot defconfig when use mfg-tools on windows? What kind of filetypes is needed? Do I need initramfs and how it can make in buildrood?

Or is there better tools to flash buildroot images to imx6ull?

Best regards

Janne

[Ypi]

Finally nand flash works with buildrood files and uuu-tool.

I used initramfs file from L5.4.3_1.0.0_MX6UL7D ( MCIMX6ULL-EVK|i.MX6ULL Evaluation Kit | NXP )

I used codeaurora kernel version rel_imx_5.4.3_2.0.0 and changed dts from defconfig

   imx6ull-14x14-evk -> imx6ull-14x14-evk-gpmi-weim

Then make buildroot.

I used uuu to flash nand. I made nand flash script like mfgtool ucl2.xml. Useful sites to make script are

   Sample script · NXPmicro/mfgtools Wiki · GitHub 

   migration from ucl2.xml to uuu script · NXPmicro/mfgtools Wiki · GitHub 

-Janne

[igorpadykov]

Hi Janne

files which should be programmed on media (like sd) should be put in

folder mfg tool/..Linux/OS Firmware/files.

General approach with mfg tool for new board (or processor), first

recommended to run ddr test and update Mfg Tool firmware
image with new ddr calibration coefficients found from test
i.MX 6/7 DDR Stress Test Tool  
Update coefficients in uboot/....board/freescale/mx6ullevk/imximage.cfg

imximage.cfg\mx6ullevk\freescale\board - uboot-imx - i.MX U-Boot 

and rebuild Mfg Tool firmware (files in  ../firmware folder, fsl-image-mfgtool-initramfs-imx_mfgtools.cpio.gz.u-boot).
Please also refer to p.14 i.MX_6Dual6Quad_SABRE-SD_Linux_User's_Guide.pdf - it shows
which files are used by Mfg Tool.
For rebuilding use sect.6.2 Manufacturing Tool, MFGTool attached Yocto Guide.
Use NXP Linux repository:
https://source.codeaurora.org/external/imx/linux-imx/tree

Also may be useful:

AMF-AUT-T2324 - Manufacturing Tool 

i.MX 8 Universal Update Utility (UUU) Tools and Pins Tool 

https://community.nxp.com/thread/323039 

Best regards
igor
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: If this post answers your question, please click the Correct Answer button. Thank you!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Ypi]

Hi Igor

Thank you for reply. There was lot of easy understand information.

Did I miss something because I didn't find how to make initramfs files with buildroot? Easiest way to make initramfs files could be to make command:

bitbake fsl-image-mfgtool-initramfs

,but is it working only in Yocto project?

There were couple other ways also in i.MX_6Dual6Quad_SABRE-SD_Linux_User's_Guide.pdf and https://community.nxp.com/thread/323039, but those materials are from years 2013 and 2014 so I think that there could be better solutions nowadays and I didn't tried those yet.

I found buildroot defconfig packages BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_MFGTOOLS=y and BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_INITRAMFS=y. I included those and some other packages to my defconfig, but i didn't got any initramfs files in buildroot/output/images after build. Are those packages to make initramfs files to mfgtool?

I changed my custom board files buildt by buildroot to /files folder in mfgtool and kept original imx6ull-evk files in /firmware folder. It works well in sdcard device and next step is try same to nand device.

I still want to know is there easy way to make own mfgtool initramfs files without Yocto.

Best regards

Janne

[igorpadykov]

Hi Janne

>I didn't find how to make initramfs files with buildroot

unfortunately nxp does not officially support buildroot.

For its implementation one can try extended support with

Commercial Support and Engineering Services | NXP 

Best regards
igor

[Ypi]

Hi Igor

Thank you for fast reply.

It's not nice to hear, but now I can focus on finding another solutions.

Best regards,

Janne

[Ypi]

I tested with nand device again and mfgtool shows that everything is Done, but the device is still waiting usb boot after reboot .

I used:

mfgtool L4.9.88_2.0.0

imx6ullevk_defconfig with

codeaurora kernel rel_imx_5.4.3_2.0.0

I copied buildrood make images to mfgtool /firmare and /files folder. Only initramfs is original version.

I modified uc2l.xml to new files and changed initramfs address from 0x83800000 to 0x86800000.

How I know, is there anything in nand still? Is there some way to starting nand boot manually from u-boot?

See attached files.

Best regards,

Janne

[igorpadykov]

Hi Janne

nxp does not more support mfg tool with latest kernels like L5.4.3,

suggest to try with the same kernel as name of mfgtool "L4.9.88_2.0.0"

May be useful

https://community.nxp.com/docs/DOC-236994 

 Best regards
igor

[Ypi]

UUU flash from virtual machine ubuntu works now when I enabled usb from VM settings.

But I still want to flash from windows if it's possible.