Release Notes

General Features

• Supports A5/A9/A15-TC1 and A15-A7-TC2 Core Tiles and RTSM 32 bit models.
• Based on Linux Kernel v3.6-rc7
• Gator Version 5.11

About the TC2 Evaluation Build

The TC2 CoreTile is the first example of a big.LITTLE system shipped by ARM and serves as a platform for development and test of big.LITTLE software. TC2 contains a tri-core Cortex-A7 cluster and a dual-core Cortex-A15 cluster linked using the CCI–400 coherent interconnect.

The release integrates big.LITTLE development work which can be traced in the big.LITTLE MP working group git repo . The integration branch present in 12.09 is big-LITTLE-MP-v9 which includes:

Scheduler modifications to support big.LITTLE

• per-task-load-average-v3: Paul Turner’s patches enabling the calculation of load on a per-task basis.
• task-placement-v2: Morten Rasmussen’s patches using the per-task load to schedule threads on the big or LITTLE cores as appropriate. New: Refactoring and new generalisation features are featured in this update to the patchset with the aim of facilitating review of the key features by the scheduler community.

Hot-plug improvements

The aim of this sequence of improvements is to speed-up and make consistent the time taken to hot-plug cores.

• per-cpu-thread-hotplug-v3-fixed
• cpu-hotplug-get_online_cpus-v1
• rcu-hotplug-v1

Cluster and asymmetric system support

• arm-asymmetric-support-v3-v3.6-rc1 - uses arch_scale_freq_power function to reflect the relative capacity of each core
• arm-multi_pmu_v1 - NEW: enables the use of multiple PMU types or sources, for example profiling across both Cortex-A15 and Cortex-A7 clusters.
• scheduler-misc-v1 - miscellaneous scheduler patches complementing the MP work

Platform Support

In addition to the big.LITTLE MP work the TC2 platform support includes

• CPUidle & CPUfreq support
• Misc fixes in this release
  • safely handle missing CPU frequencies
  • MMC Multi-Block fix
  • amba-clcd Device Treee mods
  • HDLCD fixes

Fixed in this release

Details of each item can be found by searching for the issue number (without the #) here

• #1047283 Boot crash in DHCP handler thread
• #978060 system_server crashes when using Browser
• #1037565 evdev mutex inconsistent lock state
• #1040119 CLCD driver doesn’t support 64-bit addresses in device-tree
• #1042653 sdcard partition not mounted on device-tree kernels
• #1042592 “Native” test suite in “0xBenchmark” hangs vexpress A9 board on Jelly bean platform

Known Issues

Details of each item can be found by searching for the issue number (without the #) here

• #893127 vexpress-a9: No sound in Android
• #906344 vexpress-a9: ICS: Suspend-Resume doesn’t work
• #908082 vexpress-a9: Video playback fails in Gallery app
• #973466 Can’t build Thumb–2 kernels
• #987155 vexpress: Angrybirds display severely trucated
• #890601 Missing GL ES 2.0 drivers, unable to run GLMark2 benchmark
• #906363 vexpress-a9: ICS: No thumbnails in gallery application
• #966411 vexpress-a9: ubuntu: Network manager doesn’t manage ethernet connection
• #968972 Mali Streamline patches fail to build without CONFIG_TRACEPOINTS
• #872819 Unable to play Angrybirds game on ICS, App opens but does not show proper game menu.
• #893175 vexpress-a9: ADB over USB doesn’t work
• #893185 vexpress-a9: USB mass storage doesn’t work
• #900714 Camera App does not work on ICS
• #987172 vexpress: YouTube video playback fails
• #987187 vexpress: 0xbench hangs running native tests
• #1009326 “e2eaudio” test failed on Origen, Snowball & vexpress ubuntu image.
• #1028319 vexpress a5 crash on boot when booting with UEFI
• #1037611 logcat showswarnings for “add_tid_to_cgroup failed”
• #1041153 lockdep error on Android reboot
• #1042755 powertop doesn’t show correct frequency stats
• #1043302 Stream data failed in DS–5, caused by gator driver version error.
• #1051993 RCU stall on TC2

Binary Image Installation Instructions

There are two methods to install linaro builds:

• using pre-built image
• creating your own image with linaro image tools

Before installation begins, it is important that you ensure you Versatile Express board has the latest firmware and boot loader installed. Please check the firmware tab on this page for the latest firmware updates.

Pre-Installation Steps

This section talks about setting up your VE board boot loader, or setting up your firmware , etc. The idea is that the hardware state is as close to Linaro state as possible.

You will need to configure your Versatile Express board in order to boot Linaro images.

Instructions in this document assume that you have mounted the Versatile Express motherboard as a mass storage device on your Linux desktop machine to the default location /media/VEMSD.

With the Versatile Express connected to your PC via USB, press the black reset button, then at a serial console which is attached to the board enter:

usb_on

This should cause the PC to detect the firmware disk on the Versatile Express board as an external USB disk. On an Ubuntu PC machine this will be automatically mounted at /media/VEMSD, (assuming the disk had the label 'VEMSD').

UEFI (A5, A9 and A15)

Linaro images use the UEFI bootloader (except TC2) to boot an image from an SD card. Currently, there are two sources for obtaining a UEFI bootloader binary:

• Copy it from the boot partition of a Linaro Android image

  $ cp /media/boot/uefi_v2p-ca9.bin /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/A9/uefi.bin
  

• Build your own. The instructions are in the UEFI tab on this page.

However you get your binary, you will need to configure the board to tell the Versatile Express firmware that you want to boot into the UEFI binary at startup. Configuration instructions for your A5, A9 or A15 boards are here.

Uboot (A5, A9, and A15)

If you are using Uboot, follow these instructions:

• Copy the relevant U-Boot file from the boot partition of the Linaro disk image to the SOFTWARE directory of the firmware disk, giving it the name uboot.bin. If the disks have been automatically mounted then, for the A9CoreTile, this should be possible with:

  cp /media/boot/u-boot.bin /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/u-boot.bin
  

  or for the A15CoreTile:

  cp /media/boot/u-boot_v2p-ca15-tc1.bin /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/u-boot.bin
  

  or for the A5CoreTile:

  cp /media/boot/u-boot_v2p-ca5s.bin /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/u-boot.bin
  

  Note: For 2011.11 and 2011.12 releases only: the shipped version of U-Boot doesn't automatically boot from MMC, so use this one instead.

• We now need to add U-Boot to the list of NOR images, this varies depending on which CoreTile you have.
  • For a A9 CoreTile, edit /media/VEMSD/SITE1/HBI0191B/images.txtand add an image to the end of the list with.

    NOR4UPDATE: AUTO                 ;IMAGE UPDATE:NONE/AUTO/FORCE
    NOR4ADDRESS: 47800000            ;Image Flash Address
    NOR4FILE: \SOFTWARE\u-boot.bin   ;Image File Name
    NOR4LOAD: 0x60800000             ;Image Load Address
    NOR4ENTRY: 0x60800000            ;Image Entry Point
    

  • For a A15 CoreTile, edit /media/VEMSD/SITE1/HBI0237A/images.txtand add an image to the end of the list with.

    NOR4UPDATE: AUTO                 ;IMAGE UPDATE:NONE/AUTO/FORCE
    NOR4ADDRESS: 0f800000            ;Image Flash Address
    NOR4FILE: \SOFTWARE\u-boot.bin   ;Image File Name
    NOR4LOAD: 0x80800000             ;Image Load Address
    NOR4ENTRY: 0x80800000            ;Image Entry Point
    

  • For a A5 CoreTile, edit /media/VEMSD/SITE1/HBI0225B/images.txtand add an image to the end of the list with.

    NOR4UPDATE: AUTO                 ;IMAGE UPDATE:NONE/AUTO/FORCE
    NOR4ADDRESS: 0f800000            ;Image Flash Address
    NOR4FILE: \SOFTWARE\u-boot.bin   ;Image File Name
    NOR4LOAD: 0x80800000             ;Image Load Address
    NOR4ENTRY: 0x80800000            ;Image Entry Point
    

  The TOTALIMAGES: line in the file will also need updating to account for this extra image and the 'NOR4' lines added may need to have a different number to '4' if that is not the next in sequence. Also note, the directory names for the CoreTiles may have a different final letter depending on its revision.

• To boot into Linaro image:
  
  • Look for the name of the BOOTSCRIPT image in the file you edited in the previous step; this should be either \SOFTWARE\booscr_l.txt or \SOFTWARE\booscr_r.txt.
  • Edit this bootscript file to have the line:

    flash run u-boot
    

  • Put the left DIP switch (next to the black reset button) into the DOWN position. Automatic boot can be disabled later by moving it UP.
• Now unmount the firmware disk:

  umount /media/VEMS
  

• Reboot board with red button, should see U-Boot being flashed into NOR. If you went for automated boot, then the board should now also start U-Boot. Otherwise you will need to do this from the boot monitor by entering:

  flash run u-boot
  

  Before the U-Boot timer reaches zero interrupt it by pressing any key on your serial console, you should get a Vexpress# prompt.

• We now need to setup the U-Boot environment. As the default U-Boot configuration should be sufficient, all we need to do is make sure any environment from any previous U-Boot install is erased. This can be done from the U-Boot prompt with:

  env default -f 
  

• Place the SD card with the Linaro image into the Versatile Express then press the red reset button. If you went for the automatic boot option then U-Boot should now load and boot the Linaro image. Otherwise, you will have to enter flash run u-boot at the boot monitor prompt.

Boot Monitor (TC2 only)

TC2 board is booted using the ARM Boot Monitor that is shipped with the board. The ARM Boot Monitor stores its images in NOR flash, so these instructions will show you how to copy the images to the board from the SD card that was built using the instructions above.

• Copy the binaries from the SD card to NOR flash
  • Insert the SD Card into your PC
  • Copy the files to the board

    (We assume the SD card boot partition is mounted at /media/boot)

    (We assume that your Versatile Express motherboard is mounted to /media/VEMSD)

         mkdir /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/TC2/
         dd if=/media/boot/uImage of=/media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/TC2/zimage.bin skip=64 bs=1
         dd if=/media/boot/uInitrd of=/media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/TC2/initrd.bin skip=64 bs=1 
    

  • For Android

    cp /media/boot/v2p-ca15-tc2.dtb /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/TC2/tc2_dtb.bin
    sync
    

  • For Ubuntu

    cp /media/rootfs/lib/firmware/3.6.0-1-linaro-vexpress/device-tree/vexpress-v2p-ca15-tc2.dtb  /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/TC2/tc2_dtb.bin
    sync
    

  • Create a boot script

    Example for Android: /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/TC2/bootscr.txt

         fl linux fdt tc2_dtb
         fl linux initrd initrd
         fl linux boot zimage console=ttyAMA0,38400n8 rootwait ro init=/init androidboot.console=ttyAMA0 mmci.fmax=12000000     
    

    Example for Ubuntu: /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/TC2/bootscr.txt

         fl linux fdt tc2_dtb
         fl linux initrd initrd
         fl linux boot zimage console=ttyAMA0,38400n8 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootwait ro mem=1024M ip=dhcp clcd=xvga mmci.fmax=12000000
    

  • Update images.txt to boot these new binaries

    Example /media/VEMSD/SITE1/HBI0249A/images.txt:

         TITLE: Versatile Express Images Configuration File
                
                    [IMAGES]
                    TOTALIMAGES: 5                   ;Number of Images (Max : 32)
                    NOR0UPDATE: AUTO                 ;Image Update:NONE/AUTO/FORCE
                    NOR0ADDRESS: BOOT                ;Image Flash Address
                    NOR0FILE: \SOFTWARE\bm_v513r.axf ;Image File Name
                     
                    NOR1UPDATE: AUTO                 ;IMAGE UPDATE:NONE/AUTO/FORCE
                    NOR1ADDRESS: 0c000000            ;Image Flash Address
                    NOR1FILE: \SOFTWARE\TC2\zimage.bin   ;Image File Name
                    NOR1LOAD: 80008000               ;Image Load Address
                    NOR1ENTRY: 80008000              ;Image Entry Point
                     
                    NOR2UPDATE: AUTO                 ;IMAGE UPDATE:NONE/AUTO/FORCE
                    NOR2ADDRESS: 00400000            ;Image Flash Address
                    NOR2FILE: \SOFTWARE\TC2\tc2_dtb.bin  ;Image File Name
                    NOR2LOAD: a0000000               ;Image Load Address
                    NOR2ENTRY: a0000000              ;Image Load Address
                     
                    NOR3UPDATE: AUTO                 ;IMAGE UPDATE:NONE/AUTO/FORCE
                    NOR3ADDRESS: 0d000000            ;Image Flash Address
                    NOR3FILE: \SOFTWARE\TC2\initrd.bin   ;Image File Name
                    NOR3LOAD: a0100000               ;Image Load Address
                    NOR3ENTRY: a0100000              ;Image Entry Point
                     
                    NOR4UPDATE: AUTO                 ;IMAGE UPDATE:NONE/AUTO/FORCE
                    NOR4ADDRESS: 00000000            ;Image Flash Address
                    NOR4NAME: BOOTSCRIPT             ;Image Flash Name
                    NOR4FILE: \SOFTWARE\TC2\bootscr.txt   ;Image File Name
                
    

  • UbuntuDevice Tree Blobs.

    Ubuntu disks are currently storing the device tree blobs in /lib/firmware. After creating an SD card, insert the card and the following command will copy the device tree blobs into the /boot partition:

     cp /media/rootfs/lib/firmware/3.6.0-1-linaro-vexpress/device-tree/*.dtb /media/boot 
    

  • Eject the SD card cleanly from your computer

    For Example:

                eject /media/boot
                eject /media/cache
                eject /media/sdcard
                eject /media/system
                eject /media/userdata
    

• Boot the board
  • Insert the SD card into the board
  • Reboot the board
  • “Cmd>" prompt from the Boot Loader"
  • Press the red reboot button

Using pre-built image

Pre-requisites

• 4GB SD card or larger
• UEFI installed onto the Versatile Express
• Download the pre-built image from (here)

Installation Steps

• unzip the downloaded pre-build image
• Insert SD card and note the assigned '/dev/sdX'

   $ dmesg
   $ SDCARD=/dev/sdX   (sdcard found from dmesg above)
   $ sudo dd bs=64k if=vexpress-jb-gcc47-armlt-tracking-open.img.gz of=$SDCARD
  

• Continue with the instructions below to Configure your board to boot the image.
  

Note: Windows users may use the Image Writer for Windows

Building a custom image using pre-built components

Sometimes, you may wish to build your own custom image for a Versatile Express. Perhaps you wish to use a more recent snapshot of the hardware pack (?) for Ubuntu or take the latest Android build. Whatever the reason, you will want to use the Linaro media tools (?) to create a custom image.

Pre-requisites

• Install Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit or newer on your desktop PC (www.ubuntu.com)
• Get Artifacts

  $ wget http://releases.linaro.org/12.09/android/images/vexpress-jb-gcc47-armlt-tracking-open/boot.tar.bz2 http://releases.linaro.org/12.09/android/images/vexpress-jb-gcc47-armlt-tracking-open/system.tar.bz2 http://releases.linaro.org/12.09/android/images/vexpress-jb-gcc47-armlt-tracking-open/userdata.tar.bz2 
  

• Get linaro image tools
  • Method 1: using binary package for Ubuntu (PPA)

    $ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linaro-maintainers/tools
    $ sudo apt-get update
    $ sudo apt-get install linaro-image-tools
    

  • Method 2: using source code

    $ wget http://releases.linaro.org/12.09/components/platform/linaro-image-tools/linaro-image-tools-2012.09.1.tar.gz
    

• Insert SD card and note the assigned '/dev/sdX' or '/dev/mmcblk0'

  $ dmesg
  

  Look for a line that looks like the following at the end of the log

  [288582.790722] sdc: sdc1 sdc2 sdc3 sdc4 < sdc5 sdc6 >
  

  WARNING: In the next step, make sure you use /dev/"whatever you see above". You can erase your hard drive with the wrong parameter.

• Create Media

  $ sudo linaro-android-media-create --mmc /dev/sdX --dev vexpress --system system.tar.bz2 --boot boot.tar.bz2 --userdata userdata.tar.bz2 
  

• Boot the board
• Insert the SD card into the board
• Reboot the board
• “Cmd>" prompt from the Boot Loader
• Press the red reboot button

Accessing Source Code

Linaro Android JB Source Code

When you run the linaro_android_build_cmds.sh , it will download the entire source code for both Android JB and the kernel.

The pinned and source manifests can be found here

• Pinned Manifest
• Source Manifest

Kernel Source Code

If you wish to obtain the exact source code used to generate this Linaro cycle, you can use the linaro_kernel_build_cmds.sh to download the source and build it.

Building from Source Code

Compiling Linaro Android RootFS+Kernel

The following simple steps download, install and compile a complete Linaro Android distribution

• Download and install Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit or newer (download)
• Install the following packages:

   $ sudo apt-get install zip curl flex bison build-essential git-core gnupg gperf zlib1g-dev libx11-dev x11proto-core-dev \ 
   gcc-multilib g++-multilib libc6-dev-i386 ia32-libs lib32z-dev gcc-4.5 g++-4.5 cpp-4.5 gcc-4.5-multilib g++-4.5-multilib \ 
   uboot-mkimage uuid-dev openjdk-6-jdk ant lib32ncurses5-dev 
        

• Download the Android building script for this release from here. You can get other artifacts from here
• Run the script

   $ chmod a+x linaro_android_build_cmds.sh                                          
   $ ./linaro_android_build_cmds.sh
        

Installing Android JB on your board

Insert the SD card into your Versatile Express board and reboot it.

If UEFI is already configured to boot a Linaro Android image, it will boot from the SD card. If not, follow the instructions in the section: “Configure UEFI” found in the UEFI tab on this page.

Compiling and installing your Kernel

Prerequisites

• Download and install Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit or newer (download)
• Install the following packages by typing:

   $ sudo apt-get gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi curl git u-boot-tools libncurses5-dev
        

• Create a working subdirectory
• Download the auto build script for this release from here (The kernel config will be automatically downloaded). You can get the kernel config and other artifacts from here.
• Run the build script

   $ chmod a+x linaro_kernel_build_cmds.sh
   $ ./linaro_kernel_build_cmds.sh
      

  Note: When you run menuconfig, make sure you go to System Type -> Versatile Express platform type and make sure that both options are enabled.

        [*] Versatile Express Cortex-A9x4 tile
        [*] Device Tree support for Versatile Express platforms
        

  This will mean that the same kernel will run on A5, A9 and A15:

• Create the Device Tree blob if you don’t have one in your Linaro image (note, the A9 Core Tile boots using an ATAGS kernel):

   $ scripts/dtc/dtc -I dts -O dtb -S 8192 arch/arm/boot/dts/vexpress-v2p-ca5s.dts -o v2p-ca5s.dtb
   $ scripts/dtc/dtc -I dts -O dtb -S 8192 arch/arm/boot/dts/vexpress-v2p-ca15-tc1.dts -o v2p-ca15-tc1.dtb
        

Installing your kernel

• Insert the SD card containing the Linaro disk image
• Copy the kernel onto the memory card

     $ cp arch/arm/boot/uImage /media/boot/
        

• Copy the device tree blob (for A9 no device tree blob is needed)
  • For A5

           $ cp v2p-ca5s.dtb /media/boot/
       

  • For A15

           $ cp v2p-ca15-tc1.dtb /media/boot/
     

• Eject the memory card

     $ eject /media/boot
        

• Insert the memory card into the Versatile Express board and power it on

Building UEFI Bootloader from source

Notes. Please note that UEFI doesn't currently support the TC2 (bit.LITTLE) CoreTile yet. You must use Bootmonitor instead.

Current Support Status

Pre-requisites

• Ubuntu 12.04 64Bit LTS. You can download it from (www.ubuntu.com)  
• GCC Cross Compiler:

  $ sudo apt-get gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi 

• Miscellaneous tools

  $ sudo apt-get git uuid-dev build-essential texinfo bison flex libgp3-dev libmpfr-dev

UEFI Source Code can be found here

Compiling

git clone git://git.linaro.org/arm/uefi/uefi-next.git uefi-next.git
cd uefi-next.git/edk2
export EDK_TOOLS_PATH=`pwd`/BaseTools
. edksetup.sh `pwd`/BaseTools/
make -C $EDK_TOOLS_PATH
build -a ARM -p ArmPlatformPkg/ArmVExpressPkg/ArmVExpress-CTA9x4.dsc -t ARMLINUXGCC -D EDK2_ARMVE_STANDALONE=1 -D EDK2_ARMVE_SINGLE_BINARY
build -a ARM -p ArmPlatformPkg/ArmVExpressPkg/ArmVExpress-CTA5s.dsc -t ARMLINUXGCC -D EDK2_ARMVE_STANDALONE=1
build -a ARM -p ArmPlatformPkg/ArmVExpressPkg/ArmVExpress-CTA15x2.dsc -t ARMLINUXGCC -D EDK2_ARMVE_STANDALONE=1
build -a ARM -p ArmPlatformPkg/ArmTuscanPkg/ArmTuscan.dsc -t ARMLINUXGCC -D EDK2_ARMVE_STANDALONE=1 -D EDK2_ARMVE_SINGLE_BINARY

This will produce binaries thus:

./Build/ArmVExpress-CTA9x4/DEBUG_ARMLINUXGCC/FV/ARMVEXPRESS_EFI.fd
./Build/ArmVExpress-CTA5s/DEBUG_ARMLINUXGCC/FV/ARMVEXPRESS_EFI.fd
./Build/ArmVExpress-CTA15x2/DEBUG_ARMLINUXGCC/FV/ARMVEXPRESS_EFI.fd
./Build/ArmTuscan/DEBUG_ARMLINUXGCC/FV/TUSCAN_EFI.fd

Versatile Express with A5 CoreTile

Installing UEFI on your A5 board

Copy the binary for your platform to the motherboard’s mass storage device. These examples assume that the Versatile Express board is mounted to /media/VEMSD on your Ubuntu desktop machine:

$ cp ./Build/ArmVExpress-CTA5s/DEBUG_ARMLINUXGCC/FV/ARMVEXPRESS_EFI.fd /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/A5/uefi.bin

Then, you add the UEFI binary into images.txt. Here is an example /media/VEMSD/SITE1/HBI0225B/images.txt:

TITLE: Versatile Express Images Configuration File

[IMAGES]
TOTALIMAGES: 1
NOR0UPDATE: AUTO
NOR0ADDRESS: BOOT
NOR0FILE: \SOFTWARE\A5\uefi.bin

Eject the motherboard mass storage device:

$ eject /media/VEMSD

Reboot your board and it will boot into UEFI.

Configuring UEFI for Versatile Express A5

If your board has not been configured for UEFI before, you will need to create a boot config. Interrupt boot at the countdown to enter the Boot Manager menu:

  The default boot selection will start in  10 seconds
  [1] NorFlash
  [2] EBL
  [3] Boot Manager
  Start: 3
  [1] Add Boot Device Entry
  [2] Update Boot Device Entry
  [3] Remove Boot Device Entry
  [4] Update FDT path
  [5] Return to main menu
  Choice: 3
  [1] NorFlash
  Delete entry: 1
  [1] Add Boot Device Entry
  [2] Update Boot Device Entry
  [3] Remove Boot Device Entry
  [4] Update FDT path
  [5] Return to main menu
  Choice:1
  [1] boot (51 MB)
  [2] VenHw(E7223039-5836-41E1-B542-D7EC736C5E59)
  [3] VenHw(02118005-9DA7-443A-92D5-781F022AEDBB)
  [4] VenHw(1F15DA3C-37FF-4070-B471-BB4AF12A724A)
  [5] VenHw(CC2CBF29-1498-4CDD-8171-F8B6B41D0909)
  Select the Boot Device: 1
  File path of the EFI Application or the kernel: uImage
  Has FDT support? [y/n] y
  Add an initrd: [y/n] y
  File path of the initrd: uInitrd
  Arguments to pass to the binary: console=tty0 console=ttyAMA0,38400n8 rootwait ro init=/init androidboot.console=ttyAMA0 mmci.fmax=12000000
  Description for this new Entry: Android on MMC
  [1] Add Boot Device Entry
  [2] Update Boot Device Entry
  [3] Remove Boot Device Entry
  [4] Update FDT path
  [5] Return to main menu
  Choice: 4
  [1] boot (51 MB)
  [2] VenHw(E7223039-5836-41E1-B542-D7EC736C5E59)
  [3] VenHw(02118005-9DA7-443A-92D5-781F022AEDBB)
  [4] VenHw(1F15DA3C-37FF-4070-B471-BB4AF12A724A)
  [5] VenHw(CC2CBF29-1498-4CDD-8171-F8B6B41D0909)
  Select the Boot Device: 1
  File path of the FDT blob: v2p-ca5s.dtb
  [1] Add Boot Device Entry
  [2] Update Boot Device Entry
  [3] Remove Boot Device Entry
  [4] Update FDT path
  [5] Return to main menu
  Choice: 5
  [1] Android on MMC
  [2] EBL
  [3] Boot Manager
  Start:1

User input is shown in bold above; the blue text indicates which option is being chosen by the user’s input.

The command line options shown above are suitable for booting Android on an A5 Core Tile. If you wish to boot Ubuntu, then use the following command line:

  console=ttyAMA0,38400n8 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootwait ro mem=1024M ip=dhcp clcd=xvga mmci.fmax=12000000

Versatile Express with A9 CoreTile

Installing UEFI on your A9 board

Copy the binary for your platform to the motherboard’s mass storage device. These examples assume that the Versatile Express board is mounted to /media/VEMSD on your Ubuntu desktop machine:

$cp ./Build/ArmVExpress-CTA9x4/DEBUG_ARMLINUXGCC/FV/ARMVEXPRESS_EFI.fd /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/A9/uefi.bin

Then, you add the UEFI binary into images.txt. Here is an example /media/VEMSD/SITE1/HBI0191B/images.txt:

TITLE: Versatile Express Images Configuration File

[IMAGES]
TOTALIMAGES: 3                   ;Number of Images (Max : 32)
NOR0UPDATE: AUTO                 ;Image Update:NONE/AUTO/FORCE
NOR0ADDRESS: BOOT                ;Image Flash Address
NOR0FILE: \SOFTWARE\bm_v500l.axf  ;Image File Name
 
NOR1UPDATE: AUTO
NOR1ADDRESS: 40000000
NOR1NAME: BOOTSCRIPT
NOR1FILE: \SOFTWARE\bootscr.txt
 
NOR2UPDATE: AUTO
NOR2ADDRESS: 44000000
NOR2FILE: \SOFTWARE\A9\uefi.bin
NOR2LOAD: 44000000
NOR2ENTRY: 44000000

Next you need to modify

board.txt

to tell the board to swap the NOR banks and boot from UEFI instead of the ARM Boot Monitor.

An example board.txt:

BOARD: HBI0191
TITLE: V2P-CA9 Configuration File
 
; Do not place comments within the [SECTION] blocks.
 
[DCCS]
TOTALDCCS: 1                    ;(1) Total Number of DCCS - Do not change this value
M0FILE: dbb_v112.ebf         ;DCC0 Filename
M0MODE: MICRO                   ;DCC0 Programming Mode
 
[FPGAS]
TOTALFPGAS: 0                   ;(0) - Do not change this value
F0FILE: NONE                    ;FPGA0 Filename
F0MODE: NONE                    ;FPGA0 Programming Mode
 
[TAPS]
TOTALTAPS: 6                    ;(6) - Do not change this value
T0NAME: STM32TMC                ;TAP0 Device Name
T0FILE: NONE                    ;TAP0 Filename
T0MODE: NONE                    ;TAP0 Programming Mode
T1NAME: STM32CM3                ;TAP1 Device Name
T1FILE: NONE                    ;TAP1 Filename
T1MODE: NONE                    ;TAP1 Programming Mode
T2NAME: ispCLOCK5610V           ;TAP2 Device Name
T2FILE: ispm_1v.svf          ;TAP2 Filename
T2MODE: PLD                     ;TAP2 Programming Mode
T3NAME: ispCLOCK5610V           ;TAP3 Device Name
T3FILE: isps_1v.svf          ;TAP3 Filename
T3MODE: PLD                     ;TAP3 Programming Mode
T4NAME: XC2C64A                 ;TAP4 Device Name
T4FILE: smbmux.svf              ;TAP4 Filename
T4MODE: PLD                     ;TAP4 Programming Mode
T5NAME: XC2C64A                 ;TAP5 Device Name
T5FILE: vconvb.svf              ;TAP5 Filename
T5MODE: PLD                     ;TAP5 Programming Mode
 
[OSCCLKS]
TOTALOSCCLKS: 3                 ;Total Number of OSCCLKS (3) - Do not change this value
OSC0: 40.0                      ;OSC0 Frequency in MHz (EXTSAXICLK)
OSC1: 23.75                     ;OSC1 Frequency in MHz (CLCDCLK)
OSC2: 66.67                     ;OSC2 Frequency in MHz (TCREFCLK)
 
[SCC REGISTERS]
TOTALSCCS: 3                ;Total Number of SCC registers defined
SCC: 0x000 0xBB8A802A           ;CFGRW0 Power up settings - MCLK, AXICLKs, FCLK PLL configuration
SCC: 0x004 0x10001F09 ;CFGRW1 Power up settings - Remap bits, A9 static signals, MCLK PLL
SCC: 0x008 0x00000000           ;CFGRW2 Power up settings - Misc, A9 static signals
 
; Alternative Clock options
;
; To use these values, copy the SCC: line and replace the lines in the [SCC REGISTERS] section above.
; Do not place comments between the [SCC REGISTERS] and the last SCC: line.
 
; Slow : FCLK = 80, FAXI = 80, SAXI = 40, MCLK = 160 ; @ OSC2 = 40 MHz
;SCC: 0x000 0xCFBF8A3C
;SCC: 0x004 0x00001F09
 
; Normal : FCLK = 400, FAXI=200, SAXI = 50, MCLK = 266 ; @ OSC2 = 66.67 MHz
;SCC: 0x000 0xBB8A802A
;SCC: 0x004 0x00001F09

The line in bold above is the only line that needs changing from the default board.txt file.

Original entry:

SCC: 0x004 0x00001F09

New entry:

SCC: 0x004 0x10001F09

Eject the motherboard mass storage device:

$ eject /media/VEMSD

Reboot your board and it will boot into UEFI.

Configuring UEFI for Versatile Express A9

If your board has not been configured for UEFI before, you will need to create a boot config. Interrupt boot at the countdown to enter the Boot Manager menu:

  The default boot selection will start in  10 seconds
  [1] NorFlash
  [2] EBL
  [3] Boot Manager
  Start: 3
  [1] Add Boot Device Entry
  [2] Update Boot Device Entry
  [3] Remove Boot Device Entry
  [4] Update FDT path
  [5] Return to main menu
  Choice:3
  [1] NorFlash
  Delete entry: 1
  [1] Add Boot Device Entry
  [2] Update Boot Device Entry
  [3] Remove Boot Device Entry
  [4] Update FDT path
  [5] Return to main menu
  Choice:1
  [1] boot (51 MB)
  [2] VenHw(E7223039-5836-41E1-B542-D7EC736C5E59)
  [3] VenHw(02118005-9DA7-443A-92D5-781F022AEDBB)
  [4] VenHw(1F15DA3C-37FF-4070-B471-BB4AF12A724A)
  [5] VenHw(CC2CBF29-1498-4CDD-8171-F8B6B41D0909)
  Select the Boot Device: 1
  File path of the EFI Application or the kernel: uImage
  Has FDT support? [y/n]n
  Add an initrd: [y/n] y
  File path of the initrd: uInitrd
  Arguments to pass to the binary: console=tty0 console=ttyAMA0,38400n8 rootwait ro init=/init androidboot.console=ttyAMA0 mmci.fmax=12000000
  Description for this new Entry: Android on MMC 
  [1] Add Boot Device Entry
  [2] Update Boot Device Entry
  [3] Remove Boot Device Entry
  [4] Update FDT path
  [5] Return to main menu
  Choice: 5
  [1] Android on MMC
  [2] EBL
  [3] Boot Manager
  Start: 1

User input is shown in bold above; the blue text indicates which option is being chosen by the user’s input.

The command line options shown above are suitable for booting Android on an A9 Core Tile. If you wish to boot Ubuntu, then use the following command line:

 console=ttyAMA0,38400n8 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootwait ro mem=1024M ip=dhcp clcd=xvga mmci.fmax=12000000

Versatile Express with A15 CoreTile

Installing UEFI on your A15 board

Copy the binary for your platform to the motherboard’s mass storage device. These examples assume that the Versatile Express board is mounted to /media/VEMSD on your Ubuntu desktop machine:

$ cp ./Build/ArmVExpress-CTA15x2/DEBUG_ARMLINUXGCC/FV/ARMVEXPRESS_EFI.fd /media/VEMSD/SOFTWARE/A15/uefi.bin

Then, you add the UEFI binary into images.txt. Here is an example /media/VEMSD/SITE1/HBI0237A/images.txt:

TITLE: Versatile Express Images Configuration File

[IMAGES]
TOTALIMAGES: 1
NOR0UPDATE: AUTO
NOR0ADDRESS: BOOT
NOR0FILE: \SOFTWARE\A15\uefi.bin

Eject the motherboard mass storage device:

$ eject /media/VEMSD

Reboot your board and it will boot into UEFI.

Configure UEFI for Versatile Express A15

If your board has not been configured for UEFI before, you will need to create a boot config. Interrupt boot at the countdown to enter the Boot Manager menu:

The default boot selection will start in  10 seconds
[1] NorFlash
[2] EBL
[3] Boot Manager
Start: 3
[1] Add Boot Device Entry
[2] Update Boot Device Entry
[3] Remove Boot Device Entry
[4] Update FDT path
[5] Return to main menu
Choice: 3
[1] NorFlash
Delete entry: 1
[1] Add Boot Device Entry
[2] Update Boot Device Entry
[3] Remove Boot Device Entry
[4] Update FDT path
[5] Return to main menu
Choice: 1
[1] boot (51 MB)
[2] VenHw(E7223039-5836-41E1-B542-D7EC736C5E59)
[3] VenHw(02118005-9DA7-443A-92D5-781F022AEDBB)
[4] VenHw(1F15DA3C-37FF-4070-B471-BB4AF12A724A)
[5] VenHw(CC2CBF29-1498-4CDD-8171-F8B6B41D0909)
Select the Boot Device: 1
File path of the EFI Application or the kernel: uImage
Has FDT support? [y/n] y
Add an initrd: [y/n] y
File path of the initrd: uInitrd
Arguments to pass to the binary: console=tty0 console=ttyAMA0,38400n8 rootwait ro init=/init androidboot.console=ttyAMA0 mmci.fmax=12000000
Description for this new Entry: Android on MMC
[1] Add Boot Device Entry
[2] Update Boot Device Entry
[3] Remove Boot Device Entry
[4] Update FDT path
[5] Return to main menu
Choice: 4
[1] boot (51 MB)
[2] VenHw(E7223039-5836-41E1-B542-D7EC736C5E59)
[3] VenHw(02118005-9DA7-443A-92D5-781F022AEDBB)
[4] VenHw(1F15DA3C-37FF-4070-B471-BB4AF12A724A)
[5] VenHw(CC2CBF29-1498-4CDD-8171-F8B6B41D0909)
Select the Boot Device:1
File path of the FDT blob: v2p-ca15-tc1.dtb
[1] Add Boot Device Entry
[2] Update Boot Device Entry
[3] Remove Boot Device Entry
[4] Update FDT path
[5] Return to main menu
Choice: 5
[1] Android on MMC
[2] EBL
[3] Boot Manager
Start: 1

User input is shown in bold above; the blue text indicates which option is being chosen by the user’s input.

The command line options shown above are suitable for booting Android on an A15 Core Tile. If you wish to boot Ubuntu, then use the following command line:

console=ttyAMA0,38400n8 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootwait ro mem=1024M ip=dhcp clcd=xvga mmci.fmax=12000000

Versatile Express Firmware Update

It is advised that you update your Versatile Express board firmware to the latest version. To update your VE board firmware, please follow the instructions below.

• Install the Recovery firmware from the v4.0b VE CD/DVD
• Connect and mount your Versatile Express motherboard USB mass storage device to you PC
• Download the latest ARM firmware from here
• Unzip the firmware zip to the root of the motherboard mounted drive
• Please contact support@arm.com for any issues related this firmware update
• Download additional Linaro firmware from here
• Unzip the firmware zip to the root of the motherboard mounted drive
• Please contact Linaro for any issues related to this firmware update
• Unmount the motherboard
• Reboot the Versatile Express board