The U­boot bootloader

The U­boot
bootloader
Michael Opdenacker
Thomas Petazzoni
Free Electrons

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 Rights to copy
© Copyright 2004­2009, Free Electrons
feedback@free­electrons.com
Document sources, updates and translations:
http://free­electrons.com/docs/u­boot
Corrections, suggestions, contributions and
translations are welcome!
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 Das U­boot

http://www.denx.de/wiki/UBoot/WebHome
Das U­Boot: Universal Bootloader from Denx Software
The most used on arm.
Supports: arm, ppc, mips, x86, m68k, nios...
See our U­boot presentation for details:
http://free­electrons.com/docs/u­boot
Easy to port to new boards.
See our BSP presentation for porting details:
http://free­electrons.com/docs/bsp

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 Postprocessing kernel image for U­boot

The U­boot bootloader needs extra information to be added to

the kernel and initrd image files.
mkimage postprocessing utility provided in U­boot sources
Kernel image postprocessing:
make uImage

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 Postprocessing initrd image for U­boot

mkimage
­n initrd \ Name
­A arm \ Architecture
­O linux \ Operating System
­T ramdisk \ Type
­C gzip \ Compression
­d rd­ext2.gz \ Input file
uInitrd Output file
Note: this applies to initramfs images in the same way.
Bootloaders don't see the difference between initrds and
initramfs.

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 Compiling Das U­boot

Get the U­boot sources from http://www.denx.de/wiki/UBoot

In the U­boot source directory:
Find the name of the config file for your board in include/configs
(for example: omap1710h3.h)
Configure U­boot:
make omap1710h3_config (.h replaced by _config)
If needed, change the cross­compiler prefix in Makefile:
ifeq ($(ARCH),arm)
CROSS_COMPILE = arm­linux­
endif
Specify the path to your cross­compiler. For example:
export PATH=/usr/local/uclibc­0.9.28­2/arm/bin:$PATH
Compile:
make

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 Compiling U­boot mkimage

If you just need mkimage

and U­boot is already installed on your board:
mkimage is completely architecture and board independent.
Configure U­boot sources for any board on any architecture
(see previous slide).
Compile:
make (or make ­k if you have minor failures)
Install mkimage:
cp tools/mkimage /usr/local/bin/

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 Configuring tftp (1)

Often in development: downloading a kernel image from the

network. Instructions for xinetd based systems (Fedora Core, Red
Hat...)
Install the tftp­server package if needed
Remove disable = yes in /etc/xinetd.d/tftp
Copy your image files to the /tftpboot/ directory (or to the
location specified in /etc/xinetd.d/tftp)
You may have to disable SELinux in /etc/selinux/config
Restart xinetd:
/etc/init.d/xinetd restart

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 Configuring tftp (2)

On GNU/Linux systems based on Debian: Ubuntu, Knoppix

Install the tftpd­hpa package if needed
Set RUN_DAEMON="yes"
in /etc/default/tftpd­hpa
Copy your images to /var/lib/tftpboot
/etc/hosts.allow:
Replace ALL : ALL@ALL : DENY by ALL : ALL@ALL : ALLOW
/etc/hosts.deny:
Comment out ALL: PARANOID
Restart the server:
/etc/init.d/tftpd­hpa restart

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 U­boot prompt

Connect the target to the host through a serial console

Power­up the board.
On the serial console, you will see something like:
U­Boot 1.1.2 (Aug 3 2004 ­ 17:31:20)
RAM Configuration:
Bank #0: 00000000 8 MB
Flash: 2 MB
In: serial
Out: serial
Err: serial
u­boot #

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 Board information

u­boot # bdinfo
DRAM bank = 0x00000000
­> start = 0x00000000
­> size = 0x00800000
ethaddr = 00:40:95:36:35:33
ip_addr = 10.0.0.11
baudrate = 19200 bps

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 Environment variables (1)

u­boot # printenv
baudrate=19200
ethaddr=00:40:95:36:35:33 Network settings
netmask=255.255.255.0 for TFTP
ipaddr=10.0.0.11 and NFS
serverip=10.0.0.1
stdin=serial
stdout=serial
stderr=serial
u­boot # setenv serverip 10.0.0.2
u­boot # printenv serverip
serverip=10.0.0.2

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 Environment variables (2)

Environment variable changes can be stored

to flash using the saveenv command.
You can even create small shell scripts
stored in environment variables:
setenv myscript 'tftp 0x21400000 uImage ;
bootm 0x21400000'
You can then execute the script:
run myscript
More elaborate scripting is available with script files,
to be processed with mkimage.

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 Network commands

u­boot # tftp 8000 u­boot.bin

From server 10.0.0.1; our IP address is
10.0.0.11
Filename 'u­boot.bin'.
Load address: 0x8000
Loading: ###################
done
Bytes transferred = 95032 (17338 hex)
The address and size of the downloaded file are stored in the
fileaddr and filesize environment variables.

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 Flash commands (1)

u­boot # flinfo
Bank # 1: AMD Am29LV160DB 16KB,2x8KB,32KB,31x64KB
Size: 2048 KB in 35 Sectors
Sector Start Addresses:
S00 @ 0x01000000 ! S01 @ 0x01004000 !
S02 @ 0x01006000 ! S03 @ 0x01008000 !
S04 @ 0x01010000 ! S05 @ 0x01020000 !
S06 @ 0x01030000 S07 @ 0x01040000
... Protected sectors
S32 @ 0x011D0000 S33 @ 0x011E0000
S34 @ 0x011F0000

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 Flash commands (2)

u­boot # protect off 1:0­4

Un­Protect Flash Sectors 0­4 in Bank # 1
u­boot # erase 1:0­4
Erase Flash Sectors 0­4 in Bank # 1
Erasing Sector 0 @ 0x01000000 ... done
Erasing Sector 1 @ 0x01004000 ... done
Erasing Sector 2 @ 0x01006000 ... done
Erasing Sector 3 @ 0x01008000 ... done
Erasing Sector 4 @ 0x01010000 ... done

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 Flash commands (3)

Storing a file in flash

Downloading from the network:
u­boot # tftp 8000 u­boot.bin
Copy to flash (0x01000000: first sector)
u­boot # cp.b ${fileaddr} 1000000 ${filesize}
Copy to Flash... ................ done
Restore flash sector protection:
u­boot # protect on 1:0­4
Protect Flash Sectors 0­5 in Bank # 1

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 boot commands

Specify kernel boot parameters: Continues on

u­boot # setenv bootargs mem=64M \ the same line
console=ttyS0,115200 init=/sbin/init \
root=/dev/mtdblock0
Execute the kernel from a given physical address (RAM or
flash):
bootm 0x01030000

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 Useful links

U­boot home page:

http://www.denx.de/wiki/UBoot/WebHome
Very nice overview about U­boot
(which helped to create this section):
http://linuxdevices.com/articles/AT5085702347.html
The U­boot manual:
http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/DULG/UBoot

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 Related documents

All the technical presentations and training materials created and used by Free
Electrons, available under a free documentation license (more than 1500 pages!).

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