The IGEP X-loader

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Summary

X-Loader, an initial program loader for Embedded boards based on OMAP processors.

Access to the latest version here and read the ISEE_Readme.txt for get the latest release information.

Why IGEP-Xloader

Exist some important reasons for use this bootloader on IGEP boards.

Security

This is one of the most important reasons why we develop this new IGEP X-loader. Probably you knows that in the flash devices with the normal usage get new bad memory blocks that be unusable or can damange the software that resides inside the flash (ex: upgrading the software, copy a new kernel ... ), in these cases your board cannot be usable anymore if you don't use a right nand filesystem that insure the data integrity. Using the old schema we've 4 importat partitions on flash without any protection, x-loader, u-boot, u-boot enviroment and kernel.

IGEP X-loader resolve this situation due the configuration and kernel files resides inside a jffs2 partition.

Mantenience

With the old schema exist 3 different software (x-loader, u-boot, kernel) that do exactly the same job it means reconfigure the board, it increas the complexity of mantenience for the board system and provide a major bug source due we must insure that all software must be aligned with all changes, it has a second point of view if we do the job three times the boot process be more complex and slow.

Easy to use

With this new approach use the software it's more easy, if you've the boot information stored inside a jffs2 partition you can use the linux kernel for access to it directly without use any flash tool for modify the software (ex: use nandwrite it's to risky due it cannot garanty the data integrity over the Nand Flash memory).

Upgrade faster and easy

Upgrade a new kernel it's more easy and faster, you only need copy the new kernel inside the boot partition and copy your new igep.ini inside and reboot the board with all security.

Features and Limitations

Improvements & Modifications

  • Added malloc/free functionality.
  • Added mtd framework and onenand support, removed the old onenand drivers.
  • Added fs jffs2 support using mtd & onenand support (Read Only).
  • Added crc32 and zlib.
  • Jffs2 zlib compression support (Read Only).
  • Dual boot mmc & onenand with mmc highest priority.
  • Added Linux kernel boot directly (Support for 2.6.22 and highest version kernels)
  • Linux kernel supported images: vmlinuz, bzImage and zImage.
  • Support for loading Linux Ram disk (EXPERIMENTAL)
  • Added "ini" files parser.
  • The configuration resides in a plain txt (ini format file).
  • Support Windows & Linux formating ini files.
  • boot from mmc, onenand, or mix with mmc highest priority.
  • Added codeblocks project and compilation rules.
  • Added support for vfat32 extra names.
  • Configure TPS65950 voltage to 1.35V if it's used a DM3730 processor.
  • Added new parameter MachineID in kernel tag file, with it you can
  •     - configure the kernel board ID setup
  • Added new parameter buddy for kernels 2.6.35.13-3
  • Optimize some LPDDR Memory configuration values
  • Removed some OneNand Debug information
  • Removed some FAT incorrect warnings
  • Only support gcc 4.5.2 linaro version
  • Added Support Initial Ram disk
  • Reconfigure Makefile options
  • Support Kernels 2.6.35 and 2.6.37
  • Added support for boot ARM binary files (such u-boot or QNX kernel)
  • Support for Numonyx, Micron and hynix POP Memories.
  • Memory autodetection.
  • This software only can be compiled with gcc 4.5
  • Added GPTimer functionality.

Limitations

  • The ini configuration file it's limited to max size: 16 KiB
  • Kernel Command line parameters it's limited to: 4 KiB
  • Malloc it's limited to 32 MiB.
  • jffs2 partitons with summary enabled (kernel experimental)

TODO

  • Remove compilation warnings.
  • System Rescue.

STATUS

  • Support all IGEP boards.

VERSION CHANGES

[2.1.0-1] This version only can be build with gcc linaro 4.5.2 other compilers be not supported.

[2.1.0-1] Removed some uncontrolled "printf" with incorrect information.

[2.1.0-1] Modified some code under __DEBUG__ option.

[2.1.0-1] Added Support for TPS65950-A3 initialization at 1.35V

[2.1.0-1] Added support for IGEP Module 0030

[2.1.0-1] Added support dynamic Machine ID selection (same xloader boot IGEPv2 & IGEP Module)

[2.1.0-2] ARM Compilation bug resolved

[2.1.0-3] Update SDRAM structure initialization

[2.1.0-3] Added support for Initial RAM disk

[2.1.0-3] Updated Initial RAM disk destination address

[2.2.0-1] Update Makefile structure

[2.2.0-1] Downgrade the boot processor speed

[2.3.0-1] Add NAND flash devices and Micron MT29CXGXXMAXX memories support

[2.3.0-2] Add Hynix NAND memorie and IGEP0032 support

[2.3.0-2] Added lzo compression schema.

[2.3.0-3] Add Support for execute ARM binaries [2.3.0-3] Bug Fixes related to I and D Cache

[2.4.0-1] Added Memory test feature

[2.4.0-1] Added some boot information

[2.4.0-1] New read_nand_cache function optimized for load from NAND

[2.4.0-1] BUG resolved: Refresh Setup in Micron & Hynix Memories

[2.4.0-1] BUG resolved: Reset Memory controller after initialize Malloc function

[2.4.0-1] BUG resolved: Resolve problems updating the flash content under jffs2

[2.4.0-2] Resolved Memory Autodetection

[2.4.0-2] Better hang board led control

[2.4.0-2] New read_nand_cache function optimized for load from OneNand

[2.4.0-2] Added Hw GPtimer functionality

Pre-Compiled Binaries

Release Download link Support
2.1.0-2 igep-x-loader-2.1.0-2.tar.bz2 All Boards
2.1.0-3
 igep-x-loader-2.1.0-3.tar.bz2 All Boards
2.2.0-1
 igep-x-loader-2.2.0-1.tar.bz2 All Boards

Build Procedure

Build with Ubuntu Cross Compiler gcc 4.5.2

Install the cross compiler if you not do it before.

Enviroment Ubuntu 10.10 

sudo apt-get install cpp-4.5-arm-linux-gnueabi g++-4.5-arm-linux-gnueabi

Enviroment Ubuntu 10.04 

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linaro-maintainers/toolchain
sudo apt-get install cpp-4.5-arm-linux-gnueabi g++-4.5-arm-linux-gnueabi

Setup the board settings

make igep00x0_config

Build

make

Sign the binary x-loader

You should execute contrib/signGP for sign the xloader. 

contrib/signGP x-load.bin
The signed x-loader it's named: x-load.bin.ift

Build Native

Configure the board settings

make igep00x0_config
Edit the variable CFLAGS and add the option: -fno-stack-protector
CFLAGS := $(CPPFLAGS) -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fno-stack-protector

Build

make CROSS_COMPILE=arm-none-linux-gnueabi-

Sign the binary x-loader

You should execute contrib/signGP for sign the xloader. 

contrib/signGP x-load.bin
The signed x-loader it's named: x-load.bin.ift

BOOT

The IGEP X-Loader must reside in the microSD card or in the Nand Memory.

MMC Boot

Prepare the microsd card

You can follow this howto about how prepare the microsd card or How to boot from MicroSD Card

Get a new microsd card and create two partitions, the first one must be fat16/32 and the second one can be formated in any format type supported by linux kernel.

Copy the files in the first (FAT) partition

In the first partition you must copy in this order:

  1. x-loader.bin.ift (you must rename this file to MLO before copy it) / This is a signed image using contrib/signGP tool
  2. x-loader configuration file igep.ini also you can change the configuration file name editing the file: igep00x0.h (#define IGEP_BOOT_CFG_INI_FILE "igep.ini")
  3. Your desired kernel image.

Load Order: 

  48 /* Linux Images */
  49 const char* LinuxImageNames [] = {
  50         "kparam"   /* Use kparam first */
  51         "zImage",   /* jffs2 it's case sensitive */
  52         "zimage",   /* fat name it's not case sentitive */
  53         "vmlinuz",
  54         "bzImage",
  55         "bzimage",
  56         0,
  57 };

or you can set the name for your kernel in the configuration file using the tag: kImageName

Don't use a uImage kernel format (from uboot), only standard kernel formats be supported.

kernel build command example: 

$make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabi- zImage modules

Second Partition

Copy all your rootfs in this second partition.

Also you can use the linaro 10.11 minimal image download the image and untar (as root) in your microsd card second partition.

Remember install the kernel modules in this partition.

Example: 

sudo make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabi- modules_install INSTALL_MOD_PATH=[path to your target rootfs]

Nand Boot

Nand Partitions

We've defined 3 partitions on the Nand Memory. 

MTD partitions on "omap2-onenand":
(a) 0x000000000000-0x000000080000 : "X-Loader"
(b) 0x000000080000-0x000000c80000 : "Boot"
(c) 0x000000c80000-0x000020000000 : "File System"

X-Loader Partition

  • Not fs formated (onenand raw)
  • Size: 0x80000 (512 KiB)
  • The xloader must be signed before copy it into the flash memory.

You should copy the x-loader in the firsts 4 blocks (first 512 KiB), this is not a formated partition due the ROM not permits boot from a formated partition in flash, you should use flash_eraseall and writeloader for copy x-loader in the first blocks. 

Suggested procedure:

Sign the x-loader before write it on the flash or microsd card.
Sign x-loader:
You should execute contrib/signGP for sign the xloader that resides inside the flash memory.
contrib/signGP x-load.bin
The signed x-loader it's named: x-load.bin.ift

Erase and copy the x-loader into the first flash partition (mtd0):
$nand_eraseall /dev/mtd0
$writeloader -i <x-loader.bin.ift> -o /dev/mtd0

Boot Partition

  • filesystem used jffs2 zlib/lzo compressed filesystem.
  • Suggested size: 0xC00000 (12 MiB).

X-Loader only support jffs2 partitions for boot partition.

Create the boot partition: 

Suggested procedure:

Erase all mtd1 content:
$flash_eraseall /dev/mtd1

Create your partition:
$mount -t jffs2 /dev/mtdblock1 /mnt

Next uses:

You can mount the partition over your boot directory in the rootfs 

$mount -t jffs2 /dev/mtdblock1 /boot

You can use the cp command for copy your kernel and igep.ini configuration file. 

$cp igep.ini /boot
$cp zImage /boot

Rootfs Partition

  • fs (your prefered fs supported by linux, maybe a good choice it should be ubifs)
  • Size, all or you can create more partitions if you wish ... emoticon

Boot Priority

XLoader first try load from mmc and if it fails then try from OneNand.

MLO (x-loader), igep.ini, zImage from MMC
If all it's present in the mmc it don't try to boot from Onenand.

MLO (x-loader) in MMC, igep.ini and zImage in Onenand.
If only MLO it's provided this one try to load the other information from the Onenand.

It means that XLoader always try to load the information from MMC and if it fails then try to load from OneNand.

Configuration file: igep.ini

This entry in wikipedia can help you how a ini file it's structured.

Inside the sources/scripts directory you can found a igep.ini example file.

The actual XLoader can handle two kind tags:

[kernel] Used for internal XLoader setup.

[kparams] Used for pass the linux kernel parameters.

TAG: [kernel] 

   1 [kernel]
   2 kaddress=0x80008000
   3 rdaddress=0x81600000
   4 serial.low=00000001
   5 serial.high=00000000
   6 revision=0001
   7 kImageName=zImage-test
   8 kRdImageName=rdImage-test
   9 MachineID=xxxx Where Machine ID = 2344 for IGEPv2 and ID = 2717 for IGEP Module
10 Mode=<kernel> or <binary>
Parameter Name Description Default Value Comments
kaddress Kernel copy address 0x80008000 hex memory address
rdaddress Ram Disk location address 0x81600000 hex memory address
serial.low Serial number (low part) 0 - 99999999 numeric
serial.high Serial number (high part) 0 - 99999999 numeric
revision Revision ID 0 - 9999 numeric
kImageName Kernel, binary image name N/A Kernel or binary image name
kRdImageName Ramdisk N/A Ram Disk image name
MachineID Machine ID (kernel ID) 2717 2717 (Module) | 2344 IGEPv2
Mode Boot Mode kernel kernel=linux kernel / binary=boot binary image

TAG: [kparams]

In this tag you can add all kernel parameters that you need, this is only an example: 

  10 [kparams]
  11 console=ttyS2,115200n8
  12 ;earlyprintk=serial,ttyS2,115200
  13 mem=512M
  14 boot_delay=0
  15 ;mpurate=800
  16 ;loglevel=7
  17 omapfb.mode=dvi:1024x768MR-16@60\r
  18 smsc911x.mac=0xb2,0xb0,0x14,0xb5,0xcd,0xde\r
  19 ;ubi.mtd=2
  20 ;root=ubi0:igep0020-rootfs
  21 ;rootfstype=ubifs
  22 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rw rootwait

Also remember you can comment any line using ';' or '#' characters.

FAQ

How I can boot from NFS?

Yes, you should add below parameters in the kparams tag: 

#smsc911x.mac fix your mac address
smsc911x.mac=0xb2,0xb0,0x14,0xb5,0xcd,0xde
# IP set you IP settings <local_ip>:<server_ip>:<gateway>:<network_mask>::<interface>:
ip=192.168.2.123:192.168.2.105:192.168.2.1:255.255.255.0::eth0:
# Set root as nfs
root=/dev/nfs
# Set your NFS root path as <server_ip>:<rootfs_path>
nfsroot=192.168.2.105:/srv/nfs/linaro_minimal

How I can change the assigned kernel memory?

You can use the mem kernel variable as assign your desired kernel memory as: 

[kparams]
mem=430M

How I can add more kernel variables?

You can add more variables creating a new variable - value pair under kparams tag as: 

boot_delay=0

How I can modify my MAC address?

You can assign your desired mac address using the variable smsc911x.mac as: 

smsc911x.mac=0xb2,0xb0,0x14,0xb5,0xcd,0xde

How I can boot my board using ubi root filesystem?

You should use these parameters: 

ubi.mtd=2

root=ubi0:igep0020-rootfs

rootfstype=ubifs

How I can boot my board using a RAM disk?

Use a RAMdisk it's fully supported. 

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6 Contribution & Support & Bugs Report

Contributions to this project be welcome and you can send your patches to support@iseebcn.com or you can use the igep forum for it.
You can access to IGEP-x-Loader repository using our git at git.igep.es
IGEP IRC Channel: http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=igep




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