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--- ass:labs-2025:01:tasks:02 [2025/08/04 11:32]
florin.stancu
+++ ass:labs-2025:01:tasks:02 [2026/07/13 13:52] (current)
florin.stancu
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ==== 02. Creating the Firmware Image Package ====
-This package will contain **BL2** (U-Boot SPL), **BL31** (ATF-A) and **BL33** (fully-featured U-Boot) and some proprietary firmware (//yikes!//). The Secure OS (**BL32**) is outside the scope of this lab; even if we did bother to include it, it would just //be there//, doing nothing.
+This package will contain **BL2** (U-Boot SPL), **BL31** (ARM Trusted Firmware) and **BL33** (normal/full U-Boot) and some proprietary firmware (//yikes!//). The Secure OS (**BL32**) is outside the scope of this lab; even if we did bother to include it, it would just //be there//, doing nothing.
 Following this exercise, we should be able to reach the first step of the booting sequence that //can// be interactive; meaning that we'll be able to interact with a shell implemented in U-Boot!
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 == Step 2.1. Build ARM Trusted Firmware-A (ATF / TF-A) ==
-Following a successful build process, you should obtain a **bl31.bin** file (take note if its location, for you will need it later).
 <note tip>
@@ Line 38: / Line 36: @@
 If you're still having problems, you can also read the [[https://docs.u-boot.org/en/latest/board/nxp/imx93_frdm.html|u-boot mainline steps for FRDM iMX93]].
+Following a successful build process, you should obtain a **bl31.bin** file (take note if its location (use ''find'' to find it if lost) and copy it to your ''artifacts/'' dir, for you will need it later).
 === The iMX proprietary firmware ===
@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 == Step 2.2. Fetch the NXP IMX proprietary firmware ==
-You must download both [[https://www.nxp.com/lgfiles/NMG/MAD/YOCTO/firmware-imx-8.22.bin|firmware-imx-8.22.bin]] and [[https://www.nxp.com/lgfiles/NMG/MAD/YOCTO/firmware-sentinel-0.11.bin|firmware-sentinel-0.11.bin]] (URLs are taken from Yocto recipes) and download the self-extracting archives.
+NXP releases its proprietary IMX firmware on its [[https://www.nxp.com/design/design-center/software/embedded-software/i-mx-software/embedded-linux-for-i-mx-applications-processors:IMXLINUX|software design documentation website]] (download the latest release's '' i.MX Linux Release Notes'' PDF document; the actual firmware download URLs are provided in there).
+Download both [[https://www.nxp.com/lgfiles/NMG/MAD/YOCTO/firmware-imx-8.32-1991416.bin|firmware-imx-8.32.bin]] and [[https://www.nxp.com/lgfiles/NMG/MAD/YOCTO/firmware-sentinel-0.11.bin|firmware-sentinel-0.11.bin]] (URLs are taken from Yocto recipes) and download the self-extracting archives.
 Run the binaries and accept the license agreement in order for it to extract its contents
@@ Line 62: / Line 64: @@
 <code bash>
-# from the firmware-imx:
+# from the firmware-imx (8 files!):
-lpddr4_imem_1d_v202201.bin lpddr4_dmem_1d_v202201.bin
+lpddr4_imem_1d_v202201.bin     lpddr4_dmem_1d_v202201.bin
-lpddr4_imem_2d_v202201.bin lpddr4_dmem_2d_v202201.bin
+lpddr4_imem_2d_v202201.bin     lpddr4_dmem_2d_v202201.bin
-lpddr4_pmu_train_1d_dmem.binlpddr4_pmu_train_1d_imem.bin
+lpddr4_pmu_train_1d_dmem.bin   lpddr4_pmu_train_1d_imem.bin
-lpddr4_pmu_train_2d_dmem.bin lpddr4_pmu_train_2d_imem.bin
+lpddr4_pmu_train_2d_dmem.bin   lpddr4_pmu_train_2d_imem.bin
-# and this is from firmware-sentinel:
+# and this is from firmware-sentinel (just 1 req., fortunately):
 mx93a1-ahab-container.img
 </code>
@@ Line 85: / Line 87: @@
 The more astute will notice that, **once again**, we're not using the [[https://github.com/u-boot/u-boot|official U-Boot]] project, but instead NXP (i.e. the board's manufacturer) fork.
-The FRDM-IMX93 board has been published in mainline, though. And it works! But we want //"advanced"// features (like USB mass storage support) which is yet to be supported. And we'll still need to patch the NXP fork...
+Fhe FRDM-IMX93 board has been published in mainline and it works perfectly as of 2026 (including USB support!)
+Feel free to try it out, though your current defconfig and DTB path might be wrong (due to differing official naming schemes)!
 </note>
 == Step 2.3. Downloading & patching U-Boot source code ==
-Clone this repo using git: [[https://github.com/nxp-imx/uboot-imx|The NXP iMX U-Boot fork]] (**obligatory: clone the ''lf_v2024.04'' branch!** you can use [[https://git-scm.com/docs/git-checkout|git checkout]] to change branch afterwards).
+Clone this repo using git: [[https://github.com/nxp-imx/uboot-imx|The NXP iMX U-Boot fork]] (**obligatory: clone the ''lf_v2026.04'' branch!** you can use [[https://git-scm.com/docs/git-checkout|git checkout]] to change branch afterwards).
-Unfortunately, especially when using NXP's official U-Boot, our FRDM board is **not supported**! We'll need to download yet another thing (a patch) from NXP's Yocto source code: [[https://github.com/nxp-imx-support/meta-imx-frdm/blob/lf-6.6.36-2.1.0/meta-imx-bsp/recipes-bsp/u-boot/u-boot-imx/0002-imx-imx93_frdm-Add-basic-board-support.patch]].
+Fortunately, ''v2026.04'' has recently added support for our FRDM-IMX93 board ([[https://github.com/nxp-imx/uboot-imx/commit/ab870ad9a92b4d367ae80489a4421b820ba9942b|check out the commit]]), so we won't need to patch anything ;)
-Save the file to ''u-boot''`s source directory and apply it using:
-<code bash>
-# the -p1 argument is required to strip out the first path component
-# (which is a/b if you manually inspect the patch)
-patch -p1 < 0002-imx-imx93_frdm-Add-basic-board-support.patch
-</code>
-If the patch fails some hunks, it's your fault :P (you haven't checked out the correct git branch as mentioned above).
 == Step 2.4. Configure U-Boot ==
@@ Line 164: / Line 157: @@
 </note>
-=== Step 2.4. Generate the firmware package ===
+=== The Firmware Image Package ===
 Now that we have all necessary binaries either downloaded or compiled ourselves, all that is left is to combine them in a manner that can be understood by the processor's first boot stage (**BL1** -- inside ROM memory).
+The format is specific to each model and is usually described inside the chip's [[https://www.nxp.com/webapp/Download?colCode=IMX93RM|Technical Reference Manual]] (note: requires sign in!).
+{{ :ass:labs-2025:01:imx93_firm_image_format.png?600 |}}
+In order to generate a binary image file in this format, we must use a specific tool ofc.
 Since 2022, U-Boot's tool of choice for this task is [[https://u-boot.readthedocs.io/en/latest/develop/package/binman.html|binman]]. This tool uses a platform-specific config file that specifies what components should be included and where they should be placed in memory. For our platform (i.e.: i.MX93) this file would be ''arch/arm/dts/imx93-11x11-frdm-u-boot.dtsi''.
@@ Line 172: / Line 172: @@
 **However**, since the U-Boot version that we are using is older and the board manufacturer did not add proper support for binman, **we are going to use the older method**, based on [[https://linux.die.net/man/1/mkimage|mkimage]] (part of the U-Boot repo or as a package on most distros). In order to spare ourselves some pain, we are going to use NXP's [[https://github.com/nxp-imx/imx-mkimage/|imx-mkimage]] implementation which knows the proper offsets where the images should be loaded... but beware: it's not very pretty to use!
-So clone the ''imx-mkimage'' folder and navigate to it!
+=== Step 2.6. Generate flash.bin (the FIP) ===
-In their source tree you will find a number of subdirectories corresponding to different versions of the i.MX platform. Select the one which corresponds to our board.
+Clone the ''imx-mkimage'' project from git and ''cd'' to it!
+In their source tree you will find a number of subdirectories corresponding to different versions of the i.MX platform. Select the one which corresponds to our board:
+<code>
+imx-mkimage
+├── iMX8DXL
+├── iMX8M
+├── iMX8QM
+├── iMX8QX
+├── iMX8ULP
+├── iMX91
+├── iMX93
+├── iMX94
+├── iMX95
+├── scripts
+└── src
+</code>
-When you get there (that is, inside the ''iMX93'' subdirectory), you will have to copy all the ''artifacts'' you compiled so far + the ones downloaded/extracted from proprietary firmware archive (trust us here: **make a script to do all this automatically**! you'll need to do it tens -- probably hundreds -- of times!).
+When you get there (that is, inside the ''iMX93'' subdirectory), you will have to copy all the ''artifacts'' (remember we had you manage them all inside a new folder?) you compiled so far + the ones downloaded/extracted from proprietary firmware archive (trust us here: **make a script/Makefile goal to do all this automatically**! you'll need to do it tens -- probably hundreds -- of times!).
 In addition to these, you will have to copy the base **mkimage** tool generated in the U-Boot directory, see if you can ''find'' it '';)'' you must rename it as **mkimage_uboot** inside the ''iMX93'' subdirectory.
-Once you have all these (see below), run make **in the parent directory** (check and see where it has that Makefile!) with the ''flash_singleboot'' target, while specifying the platform in the ''SOC=iMX93'' argument (note that cASE!), and the name of the DTB copied over from U-Boot in the ''dtbs='' argument. The output firmware image should be called **flash.bin**. Here's the final contents of the directory:
+Once you have all these (see below), run ''make'' **in the parent directory of imx-mkimage** (check and see where it has that Makefile!) with the ''flash_singleboot'' target, while specifying the platform in the ''SOC=iMX93'' argument (note that cASE!), and the name of the DTB copied over from U-Boot in the ''dtbs='' argument. The output firmware image should be called **flash.bin**. Here's the final contents of the directory:
 <code>
 imx-mkimage/iMX93
-├── bl31.bin                       # generated, we don't care
+├── bl31.bin                       # ARM Trusted Firmware
 ├── boot-spl-container.img         # also generated
 ├── flash.bin                      # generated by `make SOC=... dtbs=...`