Rainbow Electronics QIL-A9260-C11 User Manual

EMBEDDED AND NETWORK COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES

GETTING STARTED

WITH THE QIL-A9260

Calao Systems

334 rue des Vingt Toises
Le MagistèreII
38950 Saint Martin Le Vinoux
France
Phone = [phone]
Fax = [phone]

E-mail = [e-mail]

= [e-mail]

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section 1...............................................................................................................................................3

1.Introduction...................................................................................................................................3

Section 2 ..............................................................................................................................................4

1.QIL-A9260 from scratch..............................................................................................................4

1.1.AT91Bootstrap......................................................................................................................4

1.2.U-Boot...................................................................................................................................5

1.3.Linux Kernel.........................................................................................................................6

Section 3...............................................................................................................................................8

1.Buildroot ......................................................................................................................................8

1.1.Buildroot installation.............................................................................................................8

1.2.How to install the Root FS on the QIL-A9260.....................................................................8

Section 4.............................................................................................................................................11

1.1.The uClibc toolchain...........................................................................................................11

1.2.«Hello world» application...................................................................................................12

1.3.Debugging an application...................................................................................................13

Section 5.............................................................................................................................................15

1.SAM-BA.....................................................................................................................................15

1.1.Introduction.........................................................................................................................15

1.1.How to use SAM-BA .........................................................................................................16

Section 6.............................................................................................................................................21

1.Errata...........................................................................................................................................21

Section 7.............................................................................................................................................22

1.Revision History.........................................................................................................................22

1.1.Revision History.................................................................................................................22

Section 8.............................................................................................................................................23

1.COPYRIGHT..............................................................................................................................23

Annexe................................................................................................................................................24

UBOOT list commands.................................................................................................................24

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SECTION 1

1. Introduction

This getting started guide is aimed at helping the reader become familiar with the QIL­A9260. First, we'll describe how to build the AT91Bootstrap loader, Uboot, and the linux
kernel from the source code. We will see how to generate the root file system from
buildroot. Then we will present you how to make and debug a software application with the
uClibc toolchain. Eventually we will show you how to use the SAM-BA utility which allow
to program the nand flash memory embedded on the QIL-A9260 module.

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SECTION 2

1. QIL-A9260 from scratch

1.1. AT91Bootstrap

The AT91Bootstrap loader is used to download the second level bootloader that is to say
UBOOT from the NAND Flash memory. When the AT91SAM9260 boots, the AT91
Bootstrap loader is copied into the 4Kbytes internal SRAM and executed by branching at
address 0x0000_0000 after remap.

Here are the steps needed to compile the AT91bootstrap loader.

● Download the source code from the calao ftp site

● cd AT91BOOTLOADER/board/qil-a9260/nandflash/

● Edit the make file to set the name of the cross compiler you are using.

set CROSS_COMPILE=arm-elf- for example

● then issue the make command

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The file generated by your cross-compiler should be less than 4096 bytes.

For more information about the AT91 Bootstrap loader see the following link:

http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/doc6277.pdf

Once the compilation ended, you should have the file named nandflash_qil-a9260.bin

1.2. U-Boot

U-Boot is downloaded from the nand flash to the last megabyte of the SDRAM by the AT91
bootstrap loader. The first level bootloader is configured to download 196Kbytes
from the nand flash (offset: 0x20000) in the SDRAM memory (offset: 0x23F00000).

Here are the steps needed to compile U-Boot.

● Download the source code from the calao ftp site.

● cd UBOOT

● make qil-a9260_config

● Edit the makefile to set the name of the cross compiler you are using.

ifeq ($(ARCH),arm)
CROSS_COMPILE = arm-linux-
endif

● issue the make command

● Once the compilation ended, you should have a binary file named u-boot.bin

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Note: We used the DENX toolchain to built u-boot.You can download this cross-compilation

toolchain from the following adress:

ftp://mirror.switch.ch/mirror/eldk/eldk/3.1.1/arm-linux-x86/iso/arm-2005-03-06.iso

1.3. Linux Kernel

The linux kernel will be setup and built in the usual way.
First we 'll configure the kernel with the default configuration files.
There are 2 configuration files for the kernel:

● qil-a9260_jffs2_defconfig

● qil-a9260_cpio_defconfig

The first configuration file allows to built a kernel which mount the root file system from the
first nand flash partition (/dev/mtd1). The second one allows to built a kernel bound to a root
file system (cpio archive).

Here are the steps needed to compile the linux kernel.

● cd LINUX_KERNEL_V2.6.21/

● make qil-a9260_jffs2_defconfig or qil-a9260_cpio_defconfig

If you want to change the linux kernel configuration issue the following command:

● make menuconfig

Once configured and saved, edit the makefile and specify the name of your cross-compiler.
Then issue the make command to built the kernel

● make uImage

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● Once the compilation ended, you should have a binary file named uImage in the

/ARCH/ARM/BOOT/ directory

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SECTION 3

1. Buildroot

Buildroot allows to generate both a cross-compilation toolchain and a jffs2 root file system
for the QIL-A9260 module.

1.1. Buildroot installation

Here are the steps needed to install a cross compiler & generate a root file system:

● Download the source code from the calao ftp site

The configuration step is very similar to the linux kernel. Indeed, if you want to custumize
buildroot issue the following command:

● make menuconfig

Once everything is configured, issue the make command

Note: You could also custumize busybox by issuing the following command:

make busybox-menuconfig

● make

Once finished, we should obtain a rootfs.arm.jffs2 which could be program in one of the
available nand flash partition.

1.2. How to install the Root FS on the QIL-A9260

The QIL-A9260 boots a linux kernel pre-installed in the nand flash memory. Here is a brief
description of the nand flash memory mapping.On the first partition, we reserved the first
16Mbytes for the linux kernels. Indeed at the 0x000A0000 offset we put a rescue linux
kernel bound to a compressed cpio rfs image and at the 0x400000 offset we put a second
linux kernel which mounts the RFS from the 2nd partition. Then we find two 120 Mbytes
partitions. We put on the first one the default jffs2 root file system and let the second one
available for the user.

Here is the list of the default partitions:

➢ 0x00000000-0x01000000 : "Uboot & Kernel"
➢ 0x01000000-0x08800000 : "Root FS"
➢ 0x08800000-0x10000000 : "FS"

Note: You can customize the nand flash memory mapping by editing the board-qil-a9260.c
located in the /arch/arm/mach-at91/ directory of the linux kernel source tree.

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/*
* NAND flash
*/

static struct mtd_partition __initdata ek_nand_partition[] = {

{

.name = "Uboot & Kernel",
.offset = 0x00000000,

.size = 16 * 1024 * 1024,
},
{

.name = "Root FS",

.offset = 0x01000000,

.size = 120 * 1024 * 1024,
},
{

.name = "FS",

.offset = 0x08800000,

.size = 120 * 1024 * 1024,
},

};

If you want to install your customized root file system quickly without destroying the
default one, you can put it on the second partition and modify the u-boot bootargs variable.

Now, let's see how we can do that !!!

First, we need to transfer the jffs2 root file system to the target.
Several possibilities are available:
By pluging a usb memory key containing the RFS on the MB-QIL-A9260 USB port or by
downloading it via tftp from a host.

Here is an example using a usb memory key

We can copy your root filesystem on a USB memory key and then mount it as it describes
below:

# mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt

#cp mnt/rootfs.arm.jffs2 /root
#umount /mnt

# ls -al
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Jan 1 00:02 .
drwxr-xr-x 16 rootroot 0 Jan 1 00:00 ..

-rw-r—r-- 1 root root 720 Jan 1 00:03 .ash_history

-rw-r—r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 6 2007 .bash_history

-rw-r—r-- 1 root root 175 Apr 6 2007 .bash_logout

-rw-r—r-- 1 root root 161 Apr 6 2007 .bash_profile

-rw-r—r-- 1 root root 1711 Apr 6 2007 .bashrc

-rw-r—r-- 1 root root 2228224 Jan 1 00:02 rootfs.arm.jffs2

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Let's erase the second partition with the following command:

# flash_eraseall -j /dev/mtd2
Erasing 128 Kibyte @ 77e0000 -- 99 % complete. Cleanmarker written at 77e0000.

Let's copy the new root file system on the second partition
# flashcp rootfs.arm.jffs2 /dev/mtd2

Now reboot the QIL-A9260 by issuing the following command
# reboot

During the reboot, press a key when you will see the uboot countdown:

Hit any key to stop autoboot: 0

Now you can modify the u-boot bootargs variable

QIL-A9260> printenv
bootdelay=3
baudrate=115200
ethaddr=00:0D:00:0D:00:AB
netmask=255.255.255.0
autostart=yes
serverip=192.168.1.15
ipaddr=192.168.1.100
bootargs=rootfstype=jffs2 root=/dev/mtdblock1
bootcmd=nboot 21000000 0 500000
stdin=serial
stdout=serial
stderr=serial

Environment size: 252/4092 bytes
QIL-A9260> setenv bootargs rootfstype=jffs2 root=/dev/mtdblock2
QIL-A9260> saveenv
Saving Environment to dataflash...
QIL-A9260>

Now you can reset the QIL-A9260 and see if the new RFS is ok !!!!!

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SECTION 4

1.1. The uClibc toolchain

Buildroot provides a cross compilation toolchain for the QIL-A9260. It is located in the
following directory /QIL-A9260_build_arm/staging_dir/bin.
If you want to use the µClibc toochain set your PATH environnement variable with the
directory below.

Note: Usually, software development is done on a host computer using a cross-compilation
toolchain. However you can choose to install the cross-compilation toolchain in the
target root file system via the buildroot configuration menu.

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