Debian Build U-Boot

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This page is using the default release mx8mp-debian-bullseye-5.10.52_2.1.0-v1.1.
To view this page for a specific Variscite SoM and software release, please follow these steps:

1. Visit variwiki.com
2. Select your SoM
3. Select the software release

Build U-Boot from source code

Toolchain installation for out of builds

To install the toolchain, follow the Debian Toolchain installation guide.

Build U-Boot out of tree

Obtain sources:

$ git clone https://github.com/varigit/uboot-imx.git -b lf_v2021.04_var02
$ cd uboot-imx

Configure compilation environment:

$ export ARCH=arm64
$ export CROSS_COMPILE=~/debian_imx8mp-var-dart/toolchain/gcc-linaro-6.3.1-2017.05-x86_64_aarch64-linux-gnu/bin/aarch64-linux-gnu-

Cleanup everything:

$ make mrproper

Select configuration:

$ make imx8mp_var_dart_defconfig

Build U-Boot:

$ make -j$(nproc)

Build boot image

The final boot image contains multiple firmware files, as explained by NXP in IMX_LINUX_USERS_GUIDE.pdf (Search for "How to build imx-boot image by using imx-mkimage").

The following procedure builds the final image:

Create imx-boot-tools directory:

$ mkdir imx-boot-tools
$ cd imx-boot-tools

Download DDR firmware:

$ git clone https://github.com/varigit/debian-var.git -b debian_bullseye_var01
$ cp debian-var/variscite/imx8mp-var-dart/imx-boot-tools/*ddr4* .

Download and build ATF:  

$ cp debian-var/variscite/imx8mp-var-dart/imx-boot-tools/bl31-imx8mp.bin bl31.bin

Copy U-Boot binaries:

$ cp ../tools/mkimage mkimage_uboot
$ cp ../u-boot.bin .
$ cp ../u-boot-nodtb.bin ../spl/u-boot-spl.bin ../arch/arm/dts/imx8mp-var-dart-dt8mcustomboard.dtb ../arch/arm/dts/imx8mp-var-som-symphony.dtb .

Download imx-mkimage:

$ git clone https://github.com/nxp-imx/imx-mkimage -b lf-5.10.52_2.1.0 
$ cd imx-mkimage
$ git apply ../debian-var/variscite/imx8mp-var-dart/imx-boot-tools/imx-boot/imx-mkimage-imx8m-soc.mak-add-dart-imx8mp-support.patch
$ cd .. 
$ cp imx-mkimage/iMX8M/*.c imx-mkimage/iMX8M/*.sh imx-mkimage/iMX8M/soc.mak .

Build boot image:

$ make -f soc.mak clean
$ make -f soc.mak  SOC=iMX8MP  dtbs="imx8mp-var-dart-dt8mcustomboard.dtb  imx8mp-var-som-symphony.dtb"  MKIMG=./mkimage_imx8 PAD_IMAGE=./pad_image.sh  CC=gcc OUTIMG=imx-boot-sd.bin flash_evk 

Install the built U-Boot on an SD card

$ sudo dd if=imx-boot-sd.bin of=/dev/sdX bs=1K seek=32 conv=fsync
(Replace /dev/sdX with the correct device)

If you want to use our recovery SD card to flash the built U-Boot to NAND flash/eMMC, then copy it to the appropriate location in the SD card:

$ sudo cp imx-boot-sd.bin /media/rootfs/opt/images/Debian

And eject the SD card gracefully from host machine.

Note: If you manually upgrade an existing U-Boot, and you have an old environment saved, it is a good idea to reset your environment to the new default (see Environment handling commands)

Update your U-Boot out of Debian tree

$ cd uboot-imx
$ git pull