Debian Build U-Boot

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This page is using the default release RELEASE_BUSTER_V2.0_DART-MX8M.
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 imx_v2018.03_4.14.78_1.0.0_ga_var01
$ cd uboot-imx

Configure compilation environment:

$ export ARCH=arm64
$ export CROSS_COMPILE=~/var_mx8m_dart_debian/toolchain/gcc-linaro-6.3.1-2017.05-x86_64_aarch64-linux-gnu/aarch64-linux-gnu-

Cleanup everything:

$ make mrproper

Select configuration:

$ make imx8m_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 and HDMI/DP firmware:

$ git clone https://github.com/varigit/debian-var.git -b debian_buster_var01
$ cp debian-var/variscite/imx8m-var-dart/imx-boot-tools/*ddr4* .
$ cp debian-var/variscite/imx8m-var-dart/imx-boot-tools/signed_* .

Download ATF:  

$ wget https://github.com/varigit/debian-var/raw/debian_buster_var01/variscite/imx8m-var-dart/imx-boot-tools/bl31-mx8m.bin -O 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/ .

Download imx-mkimage:

$ git clone /imx-mkimage -b   
$ 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= dtbs= 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= 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 SPL /media/rootfs/opt/images/Debian
$ sudo cp u-boot.img /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