To install a new firmware use SD cards. To copy the built images on the host system to a connected card type:

$ cd <BSP project>/platform-<platform_name>/images
$ sudo dd if=u-boot_@mod_name_code@_hd.img of=/dev/sdf bs=1M conv=fsync #Assuming the SD card is assigned to /dev/sdf

To find out what device file the SD card has, type “dmesg” after you connect the card to see the system messages. At the bottom you'll see some “Attached scsi …” messages along with something like:

[ 8197.588395]  sdf: sdf1

To update bootloader / kernel / devicetree in a running system you have to copy the images in your tftp directory and upload them to the eMMC or SD Card.

Please see How to setup TFTP Server

1. Boot from eMMC or SD and stop autoboot in U-Boot

Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
=>

2. Set U-Boot variable mmcdev according to the drive you want to write to

=> setenv mmcdev <Nr.>

3. Connect device via ethernet to a tftp server supplying the image
4. Provide the correct network configuration in U-Boot:

• ⇒ setenv autoload no
• ⇒ setenv serverip <serverip> (e.g.: setenv serverip 192.168.100.110)
• ⇒ setenv ipaddr <ipaddr> (e.g.: setenv ipaddr 192.168.100.111)
• ⇒ setenv netmask <netmask> (e.g.: setenv netmask 255.255.255.0)

5. Provide U-Boot the file name of the desired image on the tftp server:

• For U-Boot update: ⇒ setenv uboot <filename>
  
• For Device Tree update: ⇒ setenv fdt_file <filename>
  
• For Kernel update: ⇒ setenv zimage <filename>
  

6. Perform Update:

• U-Boot update: ⇒ run update_uboot
  
• Device Tree update: ⇒ run update_fdt
  
• Kernel update: ⇒ run update_kernel
  

• Write Image to SD card (use dd command under linux or Win32diskImager under Windows)
• Set Starterkit to boot from SD, please see DIP Switch Settings
• Interrupt the boot process to get to the U-Boot prompt
• Use the following command to copy the SD card to eMMMC

 
mmc dev 1 && mmc rescan && mmc read ${loadaddr} 0 (number of blocks)  && mmc dev 0 && mmc rescan && mmc write ${loadaddr} 0 (number of blocks)

• Size of image-u-boot-fsl-mba6ul-hd.img in byte = 293.601.280
• 293.601.280 / 512 = 573.440
• 540.672 converted to hex value = h8C000

mmc dev 1 && mmc rescan && mmc read ${loadaddr} 0 0x8c000  && mmc dev 0 && mmc rescan && mmc write ${loadaddr} 0 0x8c000

The rootfs is located in the second partition of the SD card/eMMC please see Partition Scheme

example for TQMa6ULx

dd if=/dev/mmcblk0p2 of=/dev/mmcblk1p2 bs=1M

• How to setup the NFS Server on your Host Computer
• How to setup the TFTP Server on your Host Computer

To boot the @mod_name@ from network you need a working bootloader in eMMC/SD-card or SPI-NOR (placement option on @mod_name@) which is able to get the kernel image over tftp and to provide the kernel with commandline settings for NFS.
The dtb-file and kernel image have to be provided via tftp and the rootfs via nfs.

The bootloader environment needs to be modified to work with your tftp-server and your nfs-server.

• setenv autoload no
• setenv serverip <serverip> (e.g.: setenv serverip 192.168.100.1)
• setenv ipaddr <ipaddr> (e.g.: setenv ipaddr 192.168.0.10)
• setenv netmask <netmask> (e.g.: setenv netmask 255.255.255.0)
• setenv rootpath <rootpath> (NFS share has to set in /etc/exports on the Computer that runs the NFS server first)
• setenv fdt_file <fdt_file> (name of devicetree file to be downloaded from the tftp server)
• setenv zimage <zimage> (name of the Linux kernel image to be downloaded from the tftp server)

Starting with TQMa6ULx-BSP-REV.0104 we deliver a Linux tool to upload U-Boot into the TQMa6ULx RAM from your development host and start it.
After building the BSP the tool is located in:
…/TQMa6ULx.BSP.SW.SRC.0104/platform-MBa6ULx-FSL/packages/host-imx_usb_loader-48a85c0b84611c089cf870638fd1241619324b1d/

You have to apply the following steps before you can start to work with the tool:

• Copy the content of folder …/TQMa6ULx.BSP.SW.SRC.0104/platform-MBa6ULx-FSL/packages/host-imx_usb_loader-48a85c0b84611c089cf870638fd1241619324b1d/usr/etc/ to /usr/etc
• Copy the content of folder …/TQMa6ULx.BSP.SW.SRC.0104/platform-MBa6ULx-FSL/packages/host-imx_usb_loader-48a85c0b84611c089cf870638fd1241619324b1d/usr/bin/ to /bin

1. Set Starterkit to boot-mode “serial downloader”, please see MBa6ULx DIP switch settings
2. Connect Starterkit connector X9 (Micro USB cable provided with the Starterkit) to your host
3. Connect Starterkit connector X15 (RS232) to your host
4. Power up Starterkit
5. Please check that Linux recognized a new USB device, see output of command dmesg | grep -i usb. You should see something like the following :

usb 3-2.1: Product: SE Blank 6UL
usb 3-2.1: Manufacturer: Freescale SemiConductor Inc
hid-generic 0003:15A2:007D.0007: hiddev0,hidraw1: USB HID v1.10 Device [Freescale SemiConductor Inc  SE Blank 6UL ] on usb-0000:03:00.0-2.1/input0

1. Open a serial terminal on your host e.g. TeraTerm
2. Open a Linux terminal and naviagate to folder “images” in the BSP dirctory
   e.g. /home/embedded/TQMa6ULx.BSP.SW.SRC.0104/platform-MBa6ULx-FSL/images
   
3. Start the serial downloader imx_usb as super user with the desired U-Boot as parameter

   Keep in mind to select a U-Boot that is corresponding to your module, please see deployment

   e.g.

   embedded@ubuntu:~/workspace/TQMa6ULx.BSP.SW.SRC.0104/platform-MBa6ULx-FSL/images$ sudo imx_usb u-boot-fsl-mba6ulx-mmc.imx

Host console output after starting the serial downloader:

config file </etc/imx-loader.d/imx_usb.conf>
vid=0x066f pid=0x3780 file_name=mx23_usb_work.conf
vid=0x15a2 pid=0x004f file_name=mx28_usb_work.conf
vid=0x15a2 pid=0x0052 file_name=mx50_usb_work.conf
vid=0x15a2 pid=0x0054 file_name=mx6_usb_work.conf
vid=0x15a2 pid=0x0061 file_name=mx6_usb_work.conf
vid=0x15a2 pid=0x0063 file_name=mx6_usb_work.conf
vid=0x15a2 pid=0x0071 file_name=mx6_usb_work.conf
vid=0x15a2 pid=0x007d file_name=mx6_usb_work.conf
vid=0x15a2 pid=0x0076 file_name=mx7_usb_work.conf
vid=0x15a2 pid=0x0041 file_name=mx51_usb_work.conf
vid=0x15a2 pid=0x004e file_name=mx53_usb_work.conf
vid=0x15a2 pid=0x006a file_name=vybrid_usb_work.conf
vid=0x066f pid=0x37ff file_name=linux_gadget.conf
config file </etc/imx-loader.d/mx6_usb_work.conf>
parse /etc/imx-loader.d/mx6_usb_work.conf
15a2:007d(mx6_qsb) bConfigurationValue =1
Interface 0 claimed
HAB security state: development mode (0x56787856)
== work item
filename u-boot-fsl-mba6ulx-mmc.imx
load_size 0 bytes
load_addr 0x00000000
dcd 1
clear_dcd 0
plug 1
jump_mode 2
jump_addr 0x00000000
== end work item
main dcd length 1e0
sub dcd length 1dc

loading binary file(u-boot-fsl-mba6ulx-mmc.imx) to 8fbff400, skip=0, fsize=86c00 type=aa

<<<551936, 551936 bytes>>>
succeeded (status 0x88888888)
jumping to 0x8fbff400

9. Now you can see the U-Boot messages in the serial terminal programm

Next steps are:

• write U-Boot using tftp to eMMC, see Updating existing firmware over ethernet
• write kernel image using tftp to eMMC, see Updating existing firmware over ethernet

Finally, you will find the built images in platform-<platformname>/images.

Complete system image:

• uboot-mba6ulx-hd.img: bootable image for TQMaULx on MBa6ULx (usage on SD Card and eMMC)
• uboot-mba6ulx-lga-hd.img: bootable image for TQMaULxL (with TQMA6ULXL-MB-ADAP) on MBa6ULx (usage on SD Card and eMMC)

The complete system image is intended for:

• development system initialisation
• deployment

QSPI NOR image without rootfs:

• uboot-mba6ulx-qspi.img: bootable image for TQMaULx on MBa6ULx (usage on QSPI NOR, without rootfs)
• uboot-mba6ulx-lga-qspi.img: bootable image for TQMaULxL (i.e. LGA-Version with adaptor) on MBa6ULx (usage on QSPI NOR, without rootfs)

Bootloader images:
Not to be confused with the u-boot*.bin images, these are just intermediate images and will not be booted by the i.MX6ULx.

• u-boot-fsl-mba6ulx-mmc.imx: u-boot bootloader for TQMa6ULx on MBa6ULx (usage on SD Card and eMMC)
• u-boot-fsl-mba6ulx-qspi.imx: u-boot bootloader for TQMa6ULx on MBa6ULx (usage on QSPI NOR)

• u-boot-fsl-mba6ulx-lga-mmc.imx: u-boot bootloader for TQMa6ULxL (i.e. LGA-Version with adaptor) on MBa6ULx (usage on SD Card and eMMC)
• u-boot-fsl-mba6ulx-lga-qspi.imx: u-boot bootloader for TQMa6ULxL (i.e. LGA-Version with adaptor) on MBa6ULx (usage on QSPI NOR)

Linux images:

• linuximage: Kernel (zImage)
• imx6ul-mba6ulx.dtb: device tree blob for TQMa6ULx on MBa6ULx
• imx6ul-mba6ulx-otg.dtb: device tree blob for TQMa&ULx on MBa6ULx USB OTG activated
• imx6ul-mba6ulx-lvds.dtb: device tree blob for TQMa6ULx on MBa6ULx LVDS interface activated
• imx6ul-mba6ulx-glyn-etm0700g0edh6.dtb: device tree blob for TQMa6ULx on MBa6ULx parallel display interface activated with display timing for GLYN display ETM700G0EDH6
• imx6ul-mba6ulx-dmb-ct44.dtb: device tree blob for TQMa6ULx on MBa6ULx parallel display interface activated with display timing for DMB display 800×480
• imx6ul-mba6ulx-dmb-ct21.dtb: device tree blob for TQMa6ULx on MBa6ULx parallel display interface activated with display timing for DMB display 1024×600

• imx6ul-mba6ulx-lga.dtb: device tree blob for TQMaULxL (i.e. LGA-Version with adaptor) on MBa6ULx
• imx6ul-mba6ulx-lga-otg.dtb: device tree blob for TQMaULxL (i.e. LGA-Version with adaptor) on MBa6ULx USB OTG activated
• imx6ul-mba6ulx-lga-lvds.dtb: device tree blob for TQMaULxL (i.e. LGA-Version with adaptor) on MBa6ULx LVDS interface activated
• imx6ul-mba6ulx-lga-glyn-etm0700g0edh6.dtb: device tree blob for TQMaULxL (i.e. LGA-Version with adaptor) on MBa6ULx parallel display interface activated with display timing for GLYN display ETM700G0EDH6
• imx6ul-mba6ulx-lga-dmb-ct44.dtb: device tree blob for TQMaULxL (i.e. LGA-Version with adaptor) on MBa6ULx parallel display interface activated with display timing for DMB display 800×480
• imx6ul-mba6ulx-lga-dmb-ct21.dtb: device tree blob for TQMaULxL (i.e. LGA-Version with adaptor) on MBa6ULx parallel display interface activated with display timing for DMB display 1024×600

firmware partition images:

• firmware.img: firmware image contains all devicetree blobs and linux kernel image
• firmware.tgz: firmware image archive (for firmware image creation)

Rootfs images:

• root.tgz: Root file system archive (for NFS etc.)
• root.ext2: Root file system partition image (for system update)
• root.ubi: ubi partition for QSPI NOR
• root.ubifs: ubifs image for QSPI NOR

The size of eMMC/SD image exceeds TQMa6ULx RAM size so it is not possible to copy the image into the RAM.
Nevertheless copying is possible by splitting Rootfs into several parts during the process.

• Set Starterkit to boot from SD, please see DIP Switch Settings
• Interrupt the boot process to get to the U-Boot prompt
• The U-Boot environment has to be expanded to copy the content from the SD Card to the eMMC therefore create the following u-boot env variables has to be created.

• Create U-boot env variable install_firmware

setenv  install_firmware 'echo MBR... && mmc dev 1 && mmc read $loadaddr 0 1 && mmc dev 0 && mmc write $loadaddr 0 1 && echo U-Boot... && mmc dev 1 && mmc read $loadaddr 2 7fe && mmc dev 0 && mmc write $loadaddr 2 7fe && echo U-Boot environment... && mmc dev 1 && mmc read $loadaddr 800 800 && mmc dev 0 && mmc write $loadaddr 800 800 &&  echo Firmware Partition... && mmc dev 1 && mmc read $loadaddr 2000 A000 && mmc dev 0 && mmc write $loadaddr 2000 A000 && echo Root FS... && run root_loop'

• Create U-boot env variable root_loop

setenv root_loop 'setenv start 0xC000 && setenv r1 $rootblks16 && while itest $r1 -gt 0; do if itest $r1 -gt 0x2D000; then setenv count 2D000; else setenv count $r1; fi && mmc dev 1 && mmc read $loadaddr $start $count && mmc dev 0 && mmc write $loadaddr $start $count && setexpr start $start + $count && setexpr r1 $r1 - $count; done; setenv r1; setenv start; setenv count'

• create rootblks16 and set a value

setenv rootblks16 0x80000

• save changes

saveenv

• Use the new commands to copy the SD-Card image to eMMC

run install_firmware

Devicetree can be edit with the fdt commands under U-Boot.

1) At first the fdt file has to be loaded from the current boot medium (mmc) into RAM.

=> run loadfdt 

2) Next step is to set the predefined U-Boot environment variable fdt_addr through the fdt addr command.

=> fdt addr $fdt_addr 

3) Afterwards the size of the fdt has to be increased (to the next 4K divider) in order to have some space for modifications. This is simply done by entering:

=> fdt resize 

4) List device in the tree you want to change to have a look at the default settings.

Example

=> fdt list /gpio_keys
gpio_keys {
        compatible = "gpio-keys";
        #address-cells = <0x00000001>;
        #size-cells = <0x00000000>;
        pinctrl-names = "default";
        pinctrl-0 = <0x00000036>;
        button@0 {
        };
        button@1 {
        };
        button@2 {
        };
        button@3 {
        };
};
=> fdt print /gpio_keys
gpio_keys {
        compatible = "gpio-keys";
        #address-cells = <0x00000001>;
        #size-cells = <0x00000000>;
        pinctrl-names = "default";
        pinctrl-0 = <0x00000036>;
        button@0 {
                label = "s14";
                linux,code = <0x00000002>;
                gpios = <0x00000013 0x00000000 0x00000001>;
        };
        button@1 {
                label = "s6";
                linux,code = <0x00000003>;
                gpios = <0x00000013 0x00000001 0x00000001>;
        };
        button@2 {
                label = "s7";
                linux,code = <0x00000004>;
                gpios = <0x00000013 0x00000002 0x00000001>;
        };
        button@3 {
                lable = "POWER";
                gpio-key,wakeup = <0x00000001>;
                linux,code = <0x00000074>;
                gpios = <0x00000012 0x00000003 0x00000001>;
        };
};

5) To modify a value of a propertie use the fdt set command.

=> fdt set <path> <property> <value> 

Example

=> fdt set /gpio_keys/button@0 label s140 

6) Optional: If you want to save your modified Devicetree back to mmc you'll have to run the following command:

=> fatwrite mmc $mmcdev:$firmwarepart $fdt_addr $fdt_file <totalsize> 

You can find out <totalsize> of the modified fdt by entering the command fdt header

Otherwise you can boot your module with the changed Devicetree right after the modification.