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rcar_flash

About

rcar_flash is a simple command line tool to automate writing IPLs (firmware) to Renesas RCAR-based boards. It provides configurations for many different boards and it is relatively easy to add support for a new board. It is capable of controlling CPLD and uploading serial download module (Flash Writer) to a board, which provides hassle-free way to update bootloaders on your setup.

It works by interacting with MiniMonitor/FlashWriter software running on the board via serial console. If you are tired of typing xls2 commands into MiniMonitor again and again, this tool is for you.

Quickstart

Initial setup

You need to perform a number of steps to make rcar_flash work on your machine. Basically, you need to clone the repository somewhere on your PC:

# git clone https://github.com/xen-troops/rcar_flash.git

And install two packages: pyserial and pyftdi. This depends on your Linux distribution, but for Ubuntu the following command should install pyserial:

# sudo apt install python3-serial

As for pyftdi it is a little more trickier, so please check the pyftdi manual: https://eblot.github.io/pyftdi/installation.html. pyftdi required only if you are planning to use CPLD control functionality, but we are strongly suggest to install it.

Depending on your Linux configuration, you might need to run rcar_flash as root to access your serial console device.

Flashing your board

Choose your config

Use

# ./rcar_flash.py list-boards

to see list of all currently supported boards. Choose the most appropriate for you. If you are working with Starter Kit (ulcb) or Spider (s4) boards, you are in luck, because you can use CPLD to automatically switch the board to a serial download mode.

Fully automated flashing with CPLD support

The next command will try to flash all known loaders located at <path-to-loader-files> for board <board-name>.

# ./rcar_flash.py flash -b <board-name> -c -f -p <path-to-loader-files> all

It will try to determine your board USB interface automatically, but it might fail if there are multiple compatible USB devices connected to your PC. In this case you need to pass serial number for correct USB manually:

# ./rcar_flash.py flash -b <board-name> -c <serial-no> -f -p <path-to-loader-files> all

Flashing the board that is in MiniMonitor mode

If rcar_flash does not support CPLD control for your board or you don't want to use it, you can place board into MiniMonitor mode (not to be confused with serial download mode) manually (check manual for your board, for example https://elinux.org/R-Car/Boards/H3SK#Flashing_firmware) and then flash all loaders to your board:

# ./rcar_flash.py flash -b <board-name> -s /dev/ttyUSB0 -p <path-to-loader-files> all

Replace /dev/ttyUSB0 with the correct USB serial port name. In this mode rcar_flash will start writing bootloaders right away.

Flashing the board that is in serial download mode

If rcar_flash does not support CPLD control for your board or you don't want to use it, you can place board in serial download mode (not to be confused with MiniMonitor mode) manually (check manual for your board, for example https://elinux.org/R-Car/Boards/H3SK#Flashing_firmware) and then flash all loaders to your board:

# ./rcar_flash.py flash -b <board-name> -s /dev/ttyUSB0 -f -p <path-to-loader-files> all

Replace /dev/ttyUSB0 with the correct USB serial port name. In this mode, rcar_flash will send Flash Writer prior to writing any bootloaders.

Flashing only some bootloaders

Replace all keyword from previous sections with list of loaders you wish to flash. For example, instead of all write bl31 u-boot tee to flash only BL31, U-Boot and OP-TEE. You can get list of loaders available for your board with the following command:

# ./rcar_flash list-loaders -b <board-name>

Reference manual

Select configuration file

By default rcar_flash reads all required data from shipped rcar_flash.yaml file. But you may provide your own file, using the option --conf:

# ./rcar_flash.py --conf my_config.yaml

list-boards sub-command

This command is used to list all supported boards. It has no additional parameters. Example:

# ./rcar_flash list-boards
Board Name          Default flash loader file
e3_2x512            AArch64_Gen3_E3_Scif_MiniMon_develop_Ebisu_V0.02.mot
e3_4x512            AArch64_Gen3_E3-4D_Scif_MiniMon_V5.03A.mot
h3_2x2              AArch64_Gen3_H3_M3_Scif_MiniMon_V3.03.mot
h3_4x1              AArch64_Gen3_H3_M3_Scif_MiniMon_V3.03.mot
h3_4x2              AArch64_Gen3_H3_M3_Scif_MiniMon_V3.03.mot
h3ulcb              AArch32_Flash_writer_SCIF_DUMMY_CERT_E6300400_ULCB.mot
h3ulcb_4x2          AArch32_Flash_writer_SCIF_DUMMY_CERT_E6300400_ULCB.mot
m3                  AArch64_Gen3_H3_M3_Scif_MiniMon_V5.11.mot
m3_2x4              AArch64_Gen3_H3_M3_Scif_MiniMon_V5.11.mot
m3n                 AArch64_Gen3_Scif_MiniMon_Develop_M3N_V0.03.mot
m3ulcb              AArch32_Flash_writer_SCIF_DUMMY_CERT_E6300400_ULCB.mot
s4                  ICUMX_Flash_writer_SCIF_DUMMY_CERT_EB203000_S4.mot
v4h                 ICUMX_Flash_writer_SCIF_DUMMY_CERT_EB203000_V4H.mot

list-loaders sub-command

This command is used to list all known bootloaders for a given board. It has one mandatory argument:

  • -b/--board BOARD - provide name of board, for which you want to list bootloaders.

Example:

#  ./rcar_flash.py list-loaders -b s4
[INFO] Reading config for board s4
Loader                       Flash address       Default file                             Flash target
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
bl31                         0x7000              bl31-spider.srec                         s4_emmc
tee                          0x7400              tee-spider.srec                          s4_emmc
u-boot                       0x7c00              u-boot-elf.srec                          s4_emmc
bootparam                    0x0                 bootparam_sa0.srec                       s4_qspi
icumx_loader                 0x40000             icumx_loader.srec                        s4_qspi
cert_header                  0x240000            cert_header_sa9.srec                     s4_qspi
dummy_fw                     0x280000            dummy_fw.srec                            s4_qspi
dummy_icumh_case1            0x380000            dummy_icumh_case1.srec                   s4_qspi
ca55_loader                  0x480000            ca55_loader.srec                         s4_qspi
cr52                         0x500000            App_CDD_ICCOM_S4_Sample_CR52.srec        s4_qspi
g4mh                         0x900000            App_CDD_ICCOM_S4_Sample_G4MH.srec        s4_qspi

flash sub-command

This is the sub-command that you will use most often. It tries to flash selected bootloaders onto a selected board.

Required parameters:

  • -b/--board BOARD - name of board you wish to flash

  • loaders [loaders ...] - list of loaders you want to flash. It can be either all to flash all loaders, or list of (pairs): bl2:bl2.srec bl31:bl31.srec u-boot. You can provide either just bootloader name (like bl2) or bootloader name and corresponding file name (like bl2:bl2.srec). If filename is not provided, rcar_flash will use default filename for that bootloader. You can check default names with list-loaders sub-command.

Optional parameters:

  • -h - just show embedded help message.

  • -c/--cpld [serial_no] - try to use CPLD to switch board into serial download mode. Optional serial_no can be used to choose correct USB device. Implies -f.

  • -f/--flash-writer [flashwriter.mot] - send flash writer to the board before attempting to upload any bootloaders. Flash Writer is a special piece of code that is responsible of writing all other bootloaders into flash memory. It can be found at https://github.com/renesas-rcar/flash_writer. Optional [flashwriter.mot] parameter allows you to override default flash writer name. Use this option only if your board is already in serial download mode and awaits for flash-writer to be sent, or if you are using -c parameter, in this case rcar_flash will put the board into serial download mode for you`.

  • -p/--path PATH - path to bootloader files. By default rcar_flash tries to find bootloader files in the current working directory. You can provide another path (for example, deploy dir of your Yocto build).

  • -s/--serial SERIAL - path to serial device (like /dev/ttyUSB0). By default rcar_flash will try to determine serial device automatically, but this is not always possible, you can override path.

If -f or -c parameters are not present, rcar_flash will assume that board is in MiniMonitor/FlashWriter mode already and will try to flash loaders right away.

YAML file "schema"

rcar_flash reads all required data from shipped rcar_flash.yaml file. This file tells rcar_flash how to communicate with different board types and where to flash bootloaders. You might need to tailor it for your specific needs. It has the following sections:

flash_target

This section describes "programs" used to flash different types of boards. They allow users to tailor flash process for a specific version of MiniMonitor/FlashWriter or to different targets, like HyperFlash or eMMC. Those "programs" are simple lists of "wait-for" - "send" commands. Example:

s4_qspi:
  sequence:
    - wait_for: ">"
      send: const
      val: "xls2\r"
    - wait_for: "(1-3)>"
      send: const
      val: "1\r"
    - wait_for: "(Push Y key)"
      send: const
      val: "Y"
    - wait_for: "(Push Y key)"
      send: const
      val: "Y"
    - wait_for: "Please Input : H'"
      send: img_addr
    - wait_for: "Please Input : H'"
      send: flash_addr
    - wait_for: "(Motorola S-record)"
      send: file
    - wait_for: "(y/n)"
      send: const
      val: "y"

This example describes how to flash QSPI on s4/spider board. rcar_flash will wait for ">", then send "xls2", then wait for "(1-3)" message, choose option "1" and so on...

Allowed arguments for send are:

  • const - send constant string defined in val field
  • img_addr - send the image (load) address. This address is determined by parsing .srec header of the file.
  • file_size - send the size of the binary file. It is obtained by the script automatically. Can be used for binary files only. See the "Work with binary files" section below.
  • flash_addr - send the flash (store) address. This address is read from corresponding ipl entry (check out next parts of the documentation).
  • file - send the bootloader file

Also in some specific cases, like flashing of big files, flash_writer may be silent for 30 seconds or longer. In this case, you should use the optional command timeout, providing a safe timeout in seconds. Like this:

  - wait_for: "complete!"
    timeout: 40
    send: const
    val: "\r"

Specified timeout will be used only for mentioned wait_for.

cpld_profiles

This section defines how to communicate with CPLD and which registers to update to switch board into different modes. In most cases you don't need to alter those parameters, but if you really sure you need to - you already will know what they mean :)

board

This section defines all known boards. Example for one board:

  m3ulcb:
    flash_writer: AArch32_Flash_writer_SCIF_DUMMY_CERT_E6300400_ULCB.mot
    sup_baud: 921600
    ipls:
      bootparam:
        file: bootparam_sa0.srec
        flash_addr: 0x0
        flash_target: gen3_hf
      bl2:
        file: bl2-m3ulcb.srec
        flash_addr: 0x40000
        flash_target: gen3_hf
      cert_header:
        file: cert_header_sa6.srec
        flash_addr: 0x180000
        flash_target: gen3_hf
      bl31:
        file: bl31-m3ulcb.srec
        flash_addr: 0x1C0000
        flash_target: gen3_hf
      tee:
        file: tee-m3ulcb.srec
        flash_addr: 0x200000
        flash_target: gen3_hf
      u-boot:
        file: u-boot-elf.srec
        flash_addr: 0x640000
        flash_target: gen3_hf

For each board there are multiple options possible:

  • flash_writer - mandatory - defines default Flash Writer filename.

  • baud - optional - defines baud rate used to communicate with the board. Default value is 115200.

  • sup_baud - optional - defines "speed-up" baud rate. rcar_flash will try to use sup command to increase communication speed with the board. This might increase flashing speed considerably. There is no default value, as different boards allow different speeds.

  • cpld_profile - optional - name of CPLD profile (check the previous section) which should be used to communicate with the board.

  • ipls - mandatory - list of bootloaders that can be flashed to this board. Each entry should have the following options:

    • file - default file name for said bootloader
    • flash_addr - address in flash memory where to write this bootloader
    • flash_target - which "flash_target" to use while writing this bootloader. Flash targets are described in the one of the previous sections. This option is per-loader, not per-board because some boards (like spider) can have different targets for different loaders.

Work with binary files

In case of need, you can flash not only .srec-files but also binaries. For this, you should use a slightly modified flash_target:

  • replace xls2 with xls3

  • replace img_addr with file_size

  • replace "please send ! ('.' & CR stop load)" with "please send ! (binary)"

  • provide corresponding .bin-files in the list of the loaders for the board

Please see below an example of the flash_target that allows flashing binary files to HyperFlash on H3ULCB board:

flash_target:
  gen3_hf_bin:
    sequence:
      - wait_for: ">"
        send: const
        val: "xls3\r"
      - wait_for: "(1-3)>"
        send: const
        val: "3\r"
      - wait_for: "(Push Y key)"
        send: const
        val: "Y"
      - wait_for: "(Push Y key)"
        send: const
        val: "Y"
      - wait_for: "Please Input : H'"
        send: file_size
      - wait_for: "Please Input : H'"
        send: flash_addr
      - wait_for: "please send ! (binary)"
        send: file
      - wait_for: "(y/n)"
        send: const
        val: "y"

Run flash_writer only

It is possible to load flash_writer only without flashing any loader. This may be useful if someone wants to work with flash_writer commands. In this case, you may specify none as the list of required loaders. In the following example, rcar_flash will use CPLD to switch the board to the download mode, load flash_writer specified for h3ulcb_4x2, and stop. After that, you may open your serial port and work with flash_writer.

sudo ./rcar_flash.py flash -c -f -b h3ulcb_4x2 -s /dev/ttyUSB0 none

Pay attention to the speed of the serial console. If the board supports SUP, then sup_baud will be used after loading the flash_writer. You may identify this by the message like

[INFO] Using serial port /dev/ttyUSB0 with baudrate 921600

Board-specific instructions

Salvator-X(S)

Salvator X(S) boards have no CPLD so it is impossible to set boot mode automatically. Thus, fully automated mode is impossible. User has two choices: either boot into MiniMonitor, as described in Salvator HW manual or Yocto Startup Guide, or boot into Serial Download mode. Booting into serial download mode is easier, because fewer DIP switches need to be changed.

To boot into download mode on your Salvator X(S) board do the following:

  1. Turn off your board.
  2. Locate SW10 DIP switches. They are positioned near the RGB connector, on the top side of the board.
  3. Remember position of pins 5-8. You will need to set them back after flashing. In most cases they are set as following: ON, ON, OFF, ON, but your config may be different.
  4. Configure serial download mode by setting pins 5-8 of SW10:
Pin Value
5 OFF
6 OFF
7 OFF
8 OFF
  1. Turn on your Salvator.
  2. Upload your bootloaders:
sudo ./rcar_flash.py flash -f -b h3_4x2 -s /dev/ttyUSB0 all
  1. Power off the board again.
  2. Return pins 5-8 of SW10 back to original values from step 3.
  3. Power on your board back.

Whitehawk V4H

Whitehawk V4h has no CPLD so it is impossible to set boot mode automatically. User has to boot the board into Serial Download mode before flashing according to the following instruction:

  1. Turn off your board.
  2. Locate SW1 DIP switches. They are located on the small red board, in the row near the serial number, closer to the SOC.
  3. Remember position of pins 5-8. You will need to set them back after flashing.
  4. Configure serial download mode by setting pins 5-8 of SW1 to OFF position:
Pin Value
5 OFF
6 OFF
7 OFF
8 OFF
  1. Turn on your board.
  2. Upload your bootloaders:
./rcar_flash.py flash -f -b v4h -s /dev/ttyUSB0 all
  1. Power off the board again.
  2. Return pins 5-8 of SW1 back to original values from step 3.
  3. Power on your board back.

Examples

List supported boards

./rcar_flash.py list-boards

List loaders for the specified board

./rcar_flash.py list-loaders -b <board>

Flash all loaders to the whitehawk (v4h) board that is already in flashing mode

./rcar_flash.py flash -b v4h -f -s /dev/ttyUSB0 -p <path> all

Flash only bl31 and u-boot to the whitehawk board

./rcar_flash.py flash -b v4h -f -s /dev/ttyUSB0 -p <path> bl31 u-boot

Flash only bl31 that has non-default name to the whitehawk

./rcar_flash.py flash -b v4h -f -s /dev/ttyUSB0 -p <path> bl31:my_bl31.srec u-boot

Flash all loaders to the spider (s4) board that supports CPLD to swith into the flashing mode

sudo ./rcar_flash.py flash -b s4 -c -f -s /dev/ttyUSB0 -p <path> all