Getting Started U-boot

Document Description
Keywords U-boot, lpc2294
Abstract This document is a simple user guide for how to
use u-boot on lpc2294 mcu: setup u-boot and
toolkit; make and program the image and as well as
the usage of u-boot

Revision History
Rev/Date Description Author
0.1/20050913 initial version brooks.bai
Contents
1 Introduction.......................................................................................................3
1.1 About U-boot......................................................................................................3
1.2 About Lpc2294...................................................................................................3
1.3 U-boot For Lpc2294 ...........................................................................................3
2 Setup U-boot And Toolkits ................................................................................4
2.1 Download U-boot-1.1.3......................................................................................4
2.2 Get and Install The Toolkit .................................................................................4
2.3 Unpack U-boot Package and add the Lpc2294 patch.......................................4
3 Make The Image................................................................................................6
3.1 Prepare For Making ...........................................................................................6
3.2 Make ..................................................................................................................6
4 Program The Image ..........................................................................................7
4.1 Program To The Right Address..........................................................................7
4.2 Program Using BDI 2000...................................................................................7
4.3 Program Using U-boot Itself ..............................................................................7
5 How To Use U-boot............................................................................................8
5.1 Start Up U-boot ..................................................................................................8
5.2 Initial Steps.........................................................................................................8
5.3 Set Environment Variables ..............................................................................10
5.4 Flash Operation ...............................................................................................11
5.5 Download Image..............................................................................................14
1 Introduction

1.1 About U-boot

The \"U-Boot\" Universal Bootloader project provides firmware with full

source code under GPL. Many CPU architectures are supported:
PowerPC(MPC5xx, MPC8xx, MPC82xx, MPC7xx, MPC74xx, 4xx),
ARM(ARM7, ARM9, StrongARM, Xscale), MIPS(4Kc,5Kc), x86, ...

1.2 About Lpc2294

The 16/32-bit LPC2000 family is based on a 1.8V ARM7TDMI-S core

operating at up to 60 MHz together with a wide range of peripherals
including multiple serial interfaces, 10-bit ADC and external bus options.

LPC22xx series have configurable external memory interface with up to

four banks, each up to 16 MByte and 8/16/32 bit data width. With their 144
pin package, low power consumption, various 32-bit timers, 8-channel
10-bit ADC, PWM channels and up to 9 external interrupt pins, these
microcontrollers are particularly suitable for industrial control, medical
systems, access control and point-of-sale. Number of available GPIOs
ranges from 76 (with external memory) through 112 pins (single-chip).

For more about LPC22xx, refer to Philips website:

http://www.philipsmcu.com

1.3 U-boot For Lpc2294

Since the u-boot has supported range of cpu architectures including

ARM(ARM7, ARM9, StrongARM, Xscale) while lpc2294 is a
base-on-supported-arm7 processor, it is possible and of great benefit to
provide the u-boot firmware as the lpc2294 bootloader.
2 Setup U-boot And Toolkits

2.1 Download U-boot-1.1.3

before installation ,you have to download the newest u-boot package.

below is the link where you can find the newest version:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/u-boot
Note that, the newest version is U-Boot-1.1.3 and we are using
U-Boot-1.1.3 as the current version.

2.2 Get and Install The Toolkit

It is strongly recommended that u-boot users install the Cross

Development Tools Embedded Linux Development Kit, blow is the link
where you can find the manual of ELDK:
http://www.denx.de/twiki/bin/view/DULG/Manual

But this time, we use ARM-ELF toolchain. Because there is something

wrong compiling with arm-linux-gcc while arm-elf-gcc works perfectly. So it
is not necessary for u to download and install the ELDK .you just download
ARM-ELF toolchain which you can find at :
http://opensrc.sec.samsung.com/download/arm-elf-tools-20040427.sh

Install the toolchain. Be the root and execute the

arm-elf-tools-20040427.sh like:
[root@localhost ]# /bin/sh ~/incoming/arm-elf-tools-20040427.sh

2.3 Unpack U-boot Package and add the Lpc2294 patch

Unpack the package, and then add the lpc2294 patch(be sure the patch
file is in the src directory).
Proceed as follows:
[root@localhost src]# bunzip2 < u-boot-1.1.3.tar.bz2 | tar xf –
[root@localhost src]# cd u-boot-1.1.3
[root@localhost u-boot-1.1.3]# patch –p1 < ../u-boot-lpc2294.patch

Normally, you can see as follows:

patching file board/lpc2294/config.mk

patching file board/lpc2294/flash.c
patching file board/lpc2294/lowlevel_init.S
patching file board/lpc2294/lpc2294.c
patching file board/lpc2294/Makefile
patching file board/lpc2294/u-boot.lds
patching file cpu/arm7tdmi/config.mk
patching file cpu/arm7tdmi/cpu.c
patching file cpu/arm7tdmi/interrupts.c
patching file cpu/arm7tdmi/Makefile
patching file cpu/arm7tdmi/serial.c
patching file cpu/arm7tdmi/start.S
patching file drivers/rtl8019.c
patching file drivers/rtl8019.h
patching file include/asm-arm/arch-arm7tdmi/hardware.h
patching file include/configs/lpc2294.h
patching file Makefile
3 Make The Image

3.1 Prepare For Making

before making , make sure the environment variable

CROSS_COMPILE=arm-elf-
since the default CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-,you have to make a
change. If you have added the lpc2294 patch, you need to do nothing
because it has been changed in the Makefile. Or you can change the
variable manually:
[root@localhost ]# export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-elf-

3.2 Make

enter the u-boot-1.1.3 directory

proceed as follows:
[root@localhost u-boot-1.1.3]#make distclean
……
[root@localhost u-boot-1.1.3]#make lpc2294_config
……
[root@localhost u-boot-1.1.3]#make
……
Normally, u-boot.bin and some other images will be made in the
u-boot-1.1.3 directory.
4 Program The Image

4.1 Program To The Right Address

It is based on the configuration of your lpc2294 board. While RESET is low,

BOOT1:0 control booting and internal operation:

BOOT1:0=00 selects 8-bit memory on CS0 for boot

BOOT1:0=01 selects 16-bit memory on CS0 for boot
BOOT1:0=10 selects 32-bit memory on CS0 for boot
BOOT1:0=11 selects Internal Flash memory

This time, while resetting, BOOT1:0 selects 32-bit memory on CS0 for boot.
So program the u-boot image to the external flash with your favorite flash
writer.

4.2 Program Using BDI 2000

Since BDI 2000 supports range of flash memories, users can program
u-boot.bin to the external flash memory starting at 0x80000000 with
BDI2000

4.3 Program Using U-boot Itself

If BOOT1:0 selects 32-bit memory on CS0 for boot. Users can program
u-boot.bin to the external memory starting at 0x80000000 with u-boot itself.
For details, see section How to use u-boot.
5 How To Use U-boot

5.1 Start Up U-boot

After programming u-boot.bin to lpc2294 board correctly, You are ready to

run u-boot on your board.
Proceed as follows:
- Connect UART0 to PC com port
- connect a terminal to the board's serial console port with a baudrate of
9600 8n1n
- Power up

Normally, you can see from the serial terminal as follows:

U-Boot 1.1.3 (Sep 7 2005 - 18:28:34)

U-Boot code: 81400000 -> 81418CB8 BSS: -> 8141D26C
RAM Configuration:
Bank #0: 81000000 8 MB
Flash: 4 MB
In: serial
Out: serial
Err: serial

Hit any key to stop autoboot: 0

=>

5.2 Initial Steps

In the default configuration, U-Boot operates in an interactive mode which

provides a simple command line, this means that U-Boot shows a prompt
(default: =>) when it is ready to receive user input. You then type a
command, and press enter. U-Boot will try to run the required action(s),
and then prompt for another command.

To see a list of the available U-Boot commands, you can type help (or
simply ?). This will print a list of all commands that are available in your
current configuration.
Proceed as follows:
=> help
? - alias for 'help'
autoscr - run script from memory
base - print or set address offset
bdinfo - print Board Info structure
boot - boot default, i.e., run 'bootcmd'
bootd - boot default, i.e., run 'bootcmd'
bootelf - Boot from an ELF image in memory
bootm - boot application image from memory
bootp - boot image via network using BootP/TFTP protocol
bootvx - Boot vxWorks from an ELF image
cmp - memory compare
coninfo - print console devices and information
cp - memory copy
crc32 - checksum calculation
echo - echo args to console
erase - erase FLASH memory
flinfo - print FLASH memory information
go - start application at address 'addr'
help - print online help
iminfo - print header information for application image
imls - list all images found in flash
itest - return true/false on integer compare
loadb - load binary file over serial line (kermit mode)
loads - load S-Record file over serial line
loop - infinite loop on address range
md - memory display
mm - memory modify (auto-incrementing)
mtest - simple RAM test
mw - memory write (fill)
nfs - boot image via network using NFS protocol
nm - memory modify (constant address)
ping - send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST to network host
printenv- print environment variables
protect - enable or disable FLASH write protection
rarpboot- boot image via network using RARP/TFTP protocol
reset - Perform RESET of the CPU
run - run commands in an environment variable
saveenv - save environment variables to persistent storage
setenv - set environment variables
sleep - delay execution for some time
tftpboot- boot image via network using TFTP protocol
version - print monitor version
=>
 With the command help <command> you can get additional information
about most commands:

=> help setenv printenv

setenv name value ...
- set environment variable 'name' to 'value ...'
setenv name
- delete environment variable 'name'

printenv
- print values of all environment variables
printenv name ...
- print value of environment variable 'name'
Note these::
- For most commands, you do not need to type in the full command
name; instead it is sufficient to type a few characters. For instance,
help can be abbreviated as h.
- The behaviour of some commands depends of the configuration of
U-Boot and on the definition of some variables in your U-Boot
environment.
- All U-Boot commands expect numbers to be entered in
hexadecimal input format.
- Be careful not to use edit keys besides 'Backspace', as hidden
characters in things like environment variables can be very difficult
to find.

5.3 Set Environment Variables

First you can set and save some environment variables to config u-boot.
For instance:

=> setenv ipaddr 192.168.0.134

=> setenv ethaddr 00:50:c2:1e:af:fb
=> setenv serverip 192.168.0.10
=> saveenv
Saving Environment to Flash...
Un-Protected 1 sectors
Erasing Flash...
done
Erased 1 sectors
Writing to Flash... done
Protected 1 sectors
=>
 When resetting, u-boot will load environment variables from the saved
flash block

5.4 Flash Operation

Here we show the commands which operate the external flash memory.

The command flinfo (short: fli) can be used to get information about the
available flash memory:
=> flinfo

Bank # 1: SST SST39LF/VF160 (16 Mbit, uniform sector size)

Size: 4 MB in 32 Sectors
Sector Start Addresses:
80000000 80020000 80040000 80060000 80080000 E

800A0000 E 800C0000 E 800E0000 E 80100000 E 80120000 E

80140000 E 80160000 E 80180000 E 801A0000 E 801C0000 E

801E0000 E 80200000 E 80220000 E 80240000 E 80260000 E

80280000 E 802A0000 E 802C0000 E 802E0000 E 80300000

80320000 E 80340000 E 80360000 E 80380000 E 803A0000 E

803C0000 E 803E0000 E

Note that the “E” stands for “Erased”

The command erase is used to erase the contents of one or more sectors
of the flash memory

=> help erase

erase start end
- erase FLASH from addr 'start' to addr 'end'
erase start +len
- erase FLASH from addr 'start' to the end of sect w/addr 'start'+'len'-1
erase N:SF[-SL]
- erase sectors SF-SL in FLASH bank # N
erase bank N
- erase FLASH bank # N
erase all
 - erase all FLASH banks

the most frequent usage of this command is to pass the start and end
addresses of the area to be erased,

for instance:

=> erase 0x801e0000 0x8025ffff

done
Erased 4 sectors

Note that:
- both the start and end addresses for this command must point
exactly at the start resp. end addresses of flash sectors. Otherwise
the command will not be executed.

The command cp is used for memory copy

The cp command "knows" about flash memory areas and will automatically
invoke the necessary flash programming algorithm when the target area is
in flash memory.
For instance:

=> cp 0x81400000 0x801e0000 0x18cbc

Copy to Flash... done
=>

Note that:
- Before writing your data to one or more sectors of the flash memory,
make sure that the very area has been erased.

The command protect is used to set certain parts of the flash memory to
read-only mode or to make them writable again. Flash memory that is
"protected" (= read-only) cannot be written (with the cp command) or
erased (with the erase command). Protected areas are marked as (RO)
(for "read-only") in the output of the flinfo command. For instance:

=> help protect

protect on start end
- protect FLASH from addr 'start' to addr 'end'
protect on start +len
- protect FLASH from addr 'start' to end of sect w/addr 'start'+'len'-1
protect on N:SF[-SL]
- protect sectors SF-SL in FLASH bank # N
protect on bank N
 - protect FLASH bank # N
protect on all
- protect all FLA
protect off start end
- make FLASH from addr 'start' to addr 'end' writable
protect off start +len
- make FLASH from addr 'start' to end of sect w/addr 'start'+'len'-1 wrtable
protect off N:SF[-SL]
- make sectors SF-SL writable in FLASH bank # N
protect off bank N
- make FLASH bank # N writable
protect off all
- make all FLASH banks writable

=> protect on 0x80300000 0x8031ffff

Protected 1 sectors

=> flinfo
Bank # 1: SST SST39LF/VF160 (16 Mbit, uniform sector size)
Size: 4 MB in 32 Sectors
Sector Start Addresses:
80000000 80020000 80040000 80060000 80080000 E

800A0000 E 800C0000 E 800E0000 E 80100000 E 80120000 E

80140000 E 80160000 E 80180000 E 801A0000 E 801C0000 E

801E0000 80200000 80220000 80240000 80260000 E

80280000 E 802A0000 E 802C0000 E 802E0000 E 80300000 RO

80320000 E 80340000 E 80360000 E 80380000 E 803A0000 E

803C0000 E 803E0000 E
=>

Note that:
- In most cases U-Boot provides just a simple software-protection, i.
e. it prevents you from erasing or overwriting important stuff by
accident (like the U-Boot code itself or U-Boot's environment
variables), but it cannot prevent you from circumventing these
restrictions - a nasty user who is loading and running his own flash
driver code cannot and will not be stopped by this mechanism. Also,
in most cases this protection is only effective while running U-Boot
5.5 Download Image

Here we show how to download image via network using TFTP protocol

Before you type the tftp command, make sure that the tftp server has been
started and the root directory which contains the image you want to
download has been defined.

After setting up the tftp server, you are ready to download image.
First, use the ping command to check out the network:

=> ping 192.168.0.1

host 192.168.0.1 is alive
=>

Then, download image using tftpboot command:

=> tftp 0x81008000 linux.bin

TFTP from server 192.168.0.10; our IP address is 192.168.0.134
Filename 'linux.bin'.
Load address: 0x81008000
Loading:
#################################################################

#################################################################

#################################################################

#####################
done
Bytes transferred = 1104332 (10d9cc hex)

=> tftp 0x81200000 romfs.img

TFTP from server 192.168.0.10; our IP address is 192.168.0.134
Filename 'romfs.img'.
Load address: 0x81200000
Loading:
#################################################################

#################################################################
#################################################################

##################################
done
Bytes transferred = 1167360 (11d000 hex)

After downloading the image ,you can jump to kernel using go command,
or write it to the flash memory using cp command:

=> go 0x81008000
Linux version 2.6.5-ucLPC ([email protected])
…………………………………………………………………..