Debian Build U-Boot

From Variscite Wiki


Build U-Boot from source code

Toolchain installation for out of builds

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

Build U-Boot out of tree

Obtain sources:

$ git clone https://github.com/varigit/uboot-imx -b lf_v2024.04_6.6.52-2.2.0_var01
$ cd uboot-imx

Configure compilation environment:

$ export ARCH=arm64
$ export CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-

Cleanup everything:

$ make mrproper

Select configuration:

$ make imx8mm_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:

$ wget https://www.nxp.com/lgfiles/NMG/MAD/YOCTO/firmware-imx-8.26-d4c33ab.bin
$ chmod +x firmware-imx-8.26-d4c33ab.bin
$ ./firmware-imx-8.26-d4c33ab.bin
$ cp firmware-imx-8.26-d4c33ab/firmware/ddr/synopsys/* .

Download and build ATF:  

$ git clone https://github.com/varigit/imx-atf -b lf_v2.10_6.6.52-2.2.0_var01
$ cd imx-atf

$ unset LDFLAGS
$ make PLAT=imx8mm bl31
$ cp build/imx8mm/release/bl31.bin ..
$ cd ..

Download imx-mkimage:

$ git clone https://github.com/nxp-imx/imx-mkimage -b lf-6.6.52_2.2.0 
$ git clone https://github.com/varigit/meta-variscite-bsp-imx -b scarthgap_6.6.52-2.2.0_var01
$ git clone https://github.com/varigit/flexbuild.git -b LSDK-24.12_DEBIAN-12_LF-6.6.36_var01
$ cd imx-mkimage
$ git apply ../flexbuild/patch/imx_mkimage/0001-iMX8M-soc.mak-use-native-mkimage-from-sysroot.patch
$ git apply ../meta-variscite-bsp-imx/recipes-bsp/imx-mkimage/imx-boot/0001-iMX8M-soc-allow-dtb-override.patch
$ git apply ../meta-variscite-bsp-imx/recipes-bsp/imx-mkimage/imx-boot/0002-iMX8M-soc-change-padding-of-DDR4-and-LPDDR4-DMEM-fir.patch
$ git apply ../meta-variscite-bsp-imx/recipes-bsp/imx-mkimage/imx-boot/0001-iMX8M-soc-imx8mm-move-TEE_LOAD_ADDR-to-512mb-memory-.patch
$ git apply ../meta-variscite-bsp-imx/recipes-bsp/imx-mkimage/imx-boot/0003-iMX8M-soc-add-variscite-imx8mm-support.patch $ cd .. $ cp imx-mkimage/iMX8M/*.c imx-mkimage/iMX8M/*.sh imx-mkimage/iMX8M/soc.mak imx-mkimage/scripts/*.sh .

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/imx8mm-var-dart-dt8mcustomboard.dtb ../arch/arm/dts/imx8mm-var-som-symphony.dtb  .

Build boot image:

$ make -f soc.mak clean
$ make -f soc.mak SOC=iMX8MM SOC_DIR=imx-boot-tools dtbs="imx8mm-var-dart-dt8mcustomboard.dtb imx8mm-var-som-symphony.dtb " MKIMG=./mkimage_imx8 PAD_IMAGE=./pad_image.sh CC=gcc OUTIMG=flash.bin flash_lpddr4_ddr4_evk 

Install the built U-Boot on an SD card


$ sudo dd if=flash.bin of=/dev/sdX bs=1K seek=33 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 flash.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