AMC Flash Image update from Redboot

Upgrade of AMC-IP Flash Image from Redboot

General

This document describes how to flash the AMC-IP board using Ethernet and TFTP transfer. The process requires a small image (boot loader) written to FLASH in advance. This image will always be present after production.

A complete FLASH image (32MB) Board Support Package, can be written to the flash on-board. It is also possible to write the separate partitions on the flash. The Partitions are:

• RedBoot_xx (Boot loader, image file redboot_xx.bin)
• LinKern_xx (Linux Kernel, image file zImage_xx)
• RootFS_xx (Linux file system for applications, image file root_xx.jffs2
• BackupFS_xx (Linux file system for backup files, image file backup_xx.jffs2)

xx is an image version number. The image version can in linux be read with the command: ‘cat /proc/mtd’

AMC hardware preparation

AMC-IP board with switches and jumpers.

• Turn switch S601 – 1 to ON (enable Linux consol on serial port 1)
• Move jumper S700 to upper position (1 – 2) to disable the watchdog

Setup

|----|  RS-232 (115200,8-N-1)   |--------|
|    |--------------------------|S1      | 
| PC |                          | AMC-IP |   
|    |    Ethernet              |        |                 
|    |--------------------------|Eth0    |
|----|                          |--------|

• On the AMC IP board use serial port 1 and ethernet port 0.
• The RS-232 link is used for console (command prompt for RedBoot)
• The Ethernet link is used for file transfer (TFTP transfer) of the image to flash.
• The RS-232 and Ethernet links can either be on the same PC or different PCs.

Image files

Which image file to use depends on the RedBoot version already installed on the board.

• If the version is ACE 08 or older, use alpha_image_12_nobootload.bin
• If the version is ACE 09 or newer, use alpha_uimage_xx.bin (xx = version number)

You find the Redboot version by watching the Linux console during startup.

Example screenshot: RedBoot is version ACE 11:

Trying NPE-B...success. Using NPE-B with PHY 0.
Ethernet eth0: MAC address 00:02:b3:07:07:07
IP: 169.254.1.5/255.255.0.0, Gateway: 169.254.1.1
Default server: 16.254.1.10
.
RedBoot(tm) bootstrap and debug environment [ROM]
Red Hat certified release, version 2.02 ACE 11 - built 10:41:17, Mar 12 2009
.
Platform: IXDP425 Development Platform (XScale) BE
Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Red Hat, Inc.

• Download the AMC IP Flash Image file from the download server http://swrelease.zenitelcss.com/
• Unzip the downloaded file and store it on a folder on the PC (e.g. c:\work\amc_images)

TFTP Server

A TFTP server has to be installed on the PC. A recommended TFTP server for windows is tftp32 from http://tftpd32.jounin.net

Unzip the files to a folder on the PC (e.g. c:\Program Files\tftpd32\) and run tftpd32.exe (no install).

Set the image folder (e.g. c:\work\amc_images) as ‘base directory’ in tftpd32 (use the ‘settings’ button).

Turn off the DHCP (also under 'settings') server part of the tftp32 application to avoid interfering with other DHCP servers in your network.

The TFTP Server program must be running during the Image upgrade process.

RedBoot init

Note: Avoid using arrow- and special keys with redboot!

Open a serial console to the AMC-IP board (e.g. HyperTerminal or Terra Term). Communication parameters: 115200 baud, no parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit.

Power On or reset the AMC-IP board. A ‘+’ sign in the console window indicates a reboot.

Press Ctrl + C within 3 seconds after the reset/power on.

When the RedBoot application starts you should also be able to see LED activate sequence on the front of the board.

Wait for the RedBoot prompt (this can take some time):

Redboot> 

Make sure the the ‘bootp’ parameter is set to ‘false’

Redboot> fconfig bootp

If set to 'true' change to 'false' by using <backspace> to delete current setting and type in false.

In general use <backspace> to edit parameters displayed by the fconfig command

Make sure the network interface is set to ‘npe_eth0’:

Redboot> fconfig net_device npe_eth0

Clear the IP configuration in NVRAM (Only required if an image upgrade already has been performed on the board from the PC application "AlphaCom Image Upgrade"):

Redboot> mfill -b 0x5442ff00 -l 256 -p 0x0000 -2

Configure the network address/mask for the AMC-IP board (replace example 10.5.220.13 with actual address):

Redboot> fconfig bootp_my_ip 10.5.220.13
Redboot> fconfig bootp_my_ip_mask 255.255.255.0

If you are connecting the AMC-board back-to-back with your PC we have standardized on a ‘Windows Automatic Private’ address IP:169.254.1.5/255.255.0.0

If you are connecting to a PC in a LAN you must find a free address in this LAN (check with your IT-administrator).

If the TFTP server is in a different network, a gateway address has to be set up :

Redboot> fconfig bootp_my_gateway_ip 10.5.220.1

Finally the IP-address of the server (i.e. the PC were the image files are located) has to be setup (replace example 10.5.220.101 with actual address):

Redboot> fconfig bootp_server_ip 10.5.220.101

The complete configuration can be listed:

Redboot> fconfig –l –n

To activate the settings:

Redboot> reset

Now the AMC board will reset. Press Ctrl + C within 3 seconds to log on to Redboot again.

To test the IP connection to the server (use Ctrl-C to abort ping):

Redboot> ping –h <server-ip> 

Note: Make sure that the server is able to reply. The TFTP Server program must be running. If the OS is Windows XP you might need to stop the Windows Firewall temporarily.

Example:

RedBoot> ping -h 169.254.232.100
Immediate response: Network PING - from 169.254.1.5 to 169.254.232.100
Response after 20 seconds: PING - received 10 of 10 expected

Complete FLASH image

Load image without the Bootloader, unlock, erase and program (all but RedBoot):

RedBoot> load -r -v -b 0x01008000 xxx.bin

• With RedBoot version ACE 08 or earler on the AMC-IP board: xxx.bin = alpha_image_12_nobootload.bin
• With RedBoot version ACE 09 or newer on the AMC-IP board: xxx.bin = alpha_uimage_16.bin

The load process takes approx. 1 minute, and should complete without any error messages. When finnished a message saying "Raw file loaded 0x01008000-0x02f87fff, assumed entry at 0x01008000" should be displayed, and the RedBoot promt should reappear. Now run the unlock command:

RedBoot> fis unlock -f 0x50080000 -l 0x01f80000

The command should execute without any error messages, and the RedBoot promt should reappear. Run the erase command:

RedBoot> fis erase -f 0x50080000 -l 0x01f80000 

The erase process takes approx. 4 minutes, and should complete without any error messages. When finnished the RedBoot promt will reappear. Now run the write command:

RedBoot> fis write -b 0x01008000 -f 0x50080000 -l 0x01f80000 

The write process takes approx. 4 minutes, and should complete without any error messages. When finnished the RedBoot promt will reappear.

Finalizing the AMC

Switch off the power and:

• Turn switch S601 – 1 to OFF (disable Linux consol on serial port 1)
• Move jumper S700 to down position (2 – 3) to enable the watchdog
• Do a new image upgrade using the PC application "AlphaCom Image Upgrade" to update the bootloader itself.

The above process will not update the bootloader itself. In some cases AlphaCom features may also depend on the Bootloader version (such as hot stand-by mode).

After finishing this process and the board is up and running, you should use the PC based application to verify that you also have the latest bootloader. The PC application will show the bootloader version. If you have an old version it will notify about that. When performing a new image upgrade the bootloader will be updated.

Partition Update (optional)

The partitions can also be flashed independently. The general AlphaCom flash update command is fis alpha:

fis alpha [-v <version_string>] <image_name> (RedBoot | LinKern | RootFS | BackupFS | ALL)

Example:

Update to the Linux Kernel Image version 03:

Redboot> fis alpha –v 03 LinKern

Update to the Linux Root file system to version 10:

Redboot> fis alpha –v 10 RootFS 

Note! The RedBoot image requires a reboot to RAM mode as for the complete update. The procedure is the same as for a complete update.

Important! Before confirming to flash be sure that the correct image is loaded without any errors. Check for previous error messages!

Important! The image name has to be supplied with the correct case (small and big letters). Redboot is not case sensitive to the image name, but the linux kernel searches for a RedBoot image case sensitive.

To list the partitions on the flash use:

Redboot> fis list