Variscite DART-6UL: U-boot integration succeeds with Yocto Sumo, but fails with Thud

General Discussions
,
22

I have tried building an image with your settings (except for MENDER_STORAGE_TOTAL_SIZE_MB, as my device is different). First, bitbake was complaining because it couldn’t find u-boot.imx. To overcome that, I applied your solution from this thread - a bbappend file to the u-boot recipe:

do_compile_append() {
    if [ -n "${UBOOT_CONFIG}" ]
    then
        unset i j
        for config in ${UBOOT_MACHINE}; do
            i=$(expr $i + 1);
            for type in ${UBOOT_CONFIG}; do
                j=$(expr $j + 1);
                if [ $j -eq $i ]
                then
                    dd if="${B}/${config}/SPL" of="${B}/${config}/u-boot-${type}.imx"
                    dd if="${B}/${config}/u-boot.img" of="${B}/${config}/u-boot-${type}.imx" obs=1K seek=68
                fi
            done
            unset  j
        done
        unset  i
    else
        dd if="${B}/SPL" of="${B}/u-boot.imx"
        dd if="${B}/u-boot.img" of="${B}/u-boot.imx" obs=1K seek=68
    fi

}

do_deploy_append () {
    if [ -n "${UBOOT_CONFIG}" ]
    then
        for config in ${UBOOT_MACHINE}; do
            i=$(expr $i + 1);
            for type in ${UBOOT_CONFIG}; do
                j=$(expr $j + 1);
                if [ $j -eq $i ]
                then
                    install -d ${DEPLOYDIR}
                    install -m 644 ${B}/${config}/u-boot-${type}.imx ${DEPLOYDIR}/u-boot-${type}-${PV}-${PR}.imx
                    cd ${DEPLOYDIR}
                    ln -sf u-boot-${type}-${PV}-${PR}.imx u-boot-${type}.imx
                    ln -sf u-boot-${type}-${PV}-${PR}.imx u-boot.imx
                fi
            done
            unset  j
        done
        unset  i
    else
        install -d ${DEPLOYDIR}
        install -m 644 ${B}/u-boot.imx ${DEPLOYDIR}/u-boot-${PV}-${PR}.imx
        cd ${DEPLOYDIR}
        rm -f u-boot*.imx
        ln -sf u-boot-${PV}-${PR}.imx u-boot.imx

   fi

}

After that, I could generate an image. Unfortunately, it still doesn’t boot, and gets stuck at the same point as in the previous case:

U-Boot SPL 2017.03-mx6ul+ga7869c2cde (Aug 17 2020 - 07:41:25)

Part number: VSM-6UL-706B
Assembly: AS1812142595
Date of production: 2019 Feb 18
DART-6UL configuration: eMMC WiFi
Trying to boot from MMC1
MMC Boot Device: mmc1 (eMMC)


U-Boot 2017.03-mx6ul+ga7869c2cde (Aug 17 2020 - 07:41:25 +0000)

CPU:   Freescale i.MX6ULL rev1.1 900 MHz (running at 396 MHz)
CPU:   Commercial temperature grade (0C to 95C) at 48C
Reset cause: POR
Board: Variscite DART-6UL
I2C:   ready
DRAM:  512 MiB
MMC:   FSL_SDHC: 0, FSL_SDHC: 1
*** Warning - bad CRC, using default environment

Display: VAR-WVGA-LCD (800x480)
Video: 800x480x24
Failed to mount ext2 filesystem...
** Unrecognized filesystem type **
Error: could not access storage.
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
switch to partitions #0, OK
mmc1(part 0) is current device
eMMC:  7.3 GiB
Net:   got MAC0 address from fuse: f8:dc:7a:26:f6:9c
FEC0 [PRIME], usb_ether
Error: usb_ether address not set.

Normal Boot
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
switch to partitions #0, OK
mmc1(part 0) is current device
switch to partitions #0, OK
mmc1(part 0) is current device
23

This is my custom distro.conf file. Maybe it works for you

> #@--------------------------------------------------------------------
> #@TYPE: Distribution
> #@NAME: Robust Edge Distro
> #@DESCRIPTION: The Linux Distribution for Robust Project with Mender.io
> #@MAINTAINER: Emre Karaaslan  <memrekaraaslan@gmail.com>
> #@--------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> require conf/distro/include/robust-base.inc
> include conf/machine/imx6ul-var-dart-extra.conf
> 
> DISTRO = "robust-distro"
> DISTRO_NAME = "Robust Edge Distro"
> 
> INHERIT += "mender-full"
> 
> # Systemd as a System Manager
> DISTRO_FEATURES_append = "systemd"
> VIRTUAL_RUNTIME_init_manager = "systemd"
> DISTRO_FEATURES_BACKFILL_CONSIDERED = "sysvinit"
> VIRTUAL_RUNTIME_initscripts = ""
> 
> # Build for Mender production setup (on-prem)
> #
> # https://docs.mender.io/2.2/artifacts/yocto-project/building-for-production
> #
> MENDER_SERVER_URL = "https://mender.robust.com"
> 
> # Mender storage configuration
> #
> # More details on these variables is available at
> #    https://docs.mender.io/devices/yocto-project/partition-configuration#configuring-storage
> #
> # Also, please be sure to check other config files as other
> # layers, config fragments, etc may attempt to set values
> # for specific platforms.  Using "bitbake -e <image-name>"
> # can help determine which files are setting these values
> # in a given configuration.
> 
> MENDER_STORAGE_TOTAL_SIZE_MB = "7456"
> # MENDER_BOOT_PART_SIZE_MB = "16"
> # MENDER_DATA_PART_SIZE_MB = "1024"
> MENDER_STORAGE_DEVICE = "/dev/mmcblk1"
> # MENDER_BOOT_PART = "${MENDER_STORAGE_DEVICE_BASE}1"
> # MENDER_DATA_PART = "${MENDER_STORAGE_DEVICE_BASE}4"
> # MENDER_ROOTFS_PART_A = "${MENDER_STORAGE_DEVICE_BASE}2"
> # MENDER_ROOTFS_PART_B = "${MENDER_STORAGE_DEVICE_BASE}3"
> 
> # This will make sure that our SPL + u-boot.img is embedded in the sdimg at
> # a 1kb offset.
> MENDER_IMAGE_BOOTLOADER_FILE = "u-boot-spl.img"
> MENDER_IMAGE_BOOTLOADER_BOOTSECTOR_OFFSET = "2"
> 
> # Remove the unneeded VFAT boot partition
> IMAGE_BOOT_FILES = ""
> MENDER_BOOT_PART_SIZE_MB = "0"
> 
> # Standard partition alignment from upstream wks file
> MENDER_PARTITION_ALIGNMENT = "4194304"
> 
> # Cleanup image types generated
> IMAGE_FSTYPES_remove = "tar.gz ext4 wic.gz wic.bmap multiubi mender.bmap"
> 
> 
> MENDER_FEATURES_DISABLE_append = " mender-grub mender-image-uefi"
> 
> # eMMC Settings
> MENDER_FEATURES_ENABLE_append = " mender-uboot mender-image-sd "
> MENDER_STORAGE_TOTAL_SIZE_MB_imx6ul-var-dart = "7456"
> MENDER_STORAGE_DEVICE_imx6ul-var-dart = "/dev/mmcblk1"
> 
> PREFERRED_VERSION_pn-mender = "2.%"
> PREFERRED_VERSION_pn-mender-artifact = "3.%"
> PREFERRED_VERSION_pn-mender-artifact-native = "3.%"
> 
> PREFERRED_PROVIDER_u-boot = "u-boot-variscite"
> 
> #LICENSE_FLAGS_WHITELIST = "commercial_mender-binary-delta"
> #FILESEXTRAPATHS_prepend_pn-mender-binary-delta := "/home/hie/mender-binary-delta-1.0.0/:"
24

I made a fresh start according to DART-6UL’s board integration page. I have set up an initial build environment for SD-card boot (export MEDIA="sdcard"). Then I applied dellgreen’s local.conf settings with the MENDER_STORAGE_TOTAL_SIZE fit for my eMMC, and it worked! I can boot from eMMC and update the system from the Mender backend. I guess there must have been some residual files in my previous build environment that messed up my images.

Thank you very much for your help!

1 Like
25

Hi,

Sorry, I’m confused. Are we supposed to use export MEDIA=“emmc” so that we can append the settings for emmc?

cat …/sources/meta-mender-hero-secc/templates/local-emmc.conf.append >> conf/local.conf

26

Yes, that’s the general idea. The difference between emmc and sdcard are minimal but they are important.

Drew

1 Like