[U-Boot] mpc83xx U-boot questions

[Yuke Tian <ytian@bnl.gov>]

Jerry Van Baren wrote:
> David Hawkins wrote:
>> Hi Yuke,
>
> [snip]
>
>> You say that the development is done with RHLE5, but
>> then that a .exe is created. That seems to be a conflicting
>> statement. Perhaps you could explain ... are you running
>> the RTEMs tools under Wine??
>
> The RTEMS "quickstart" example uses an .exe extension, so it looks
> like Yuke's toolset is braindamaged.
>   <http://www.rtems.com/wiki/index.php/Quick_Start>
> Example:
>   bash-3.1$ sparc-rtems4.9-gdb `find . -name ticker.exe`
> (bleah!)
>
> The RTEMS example is running on a simulator via gdb, which is a far
> cry from running on real hardware, booting either on bare metal (very
> big ouch) or using u-boot to start it (much less ouch - I would start
> by running your RTEMS build as a u-boot "application" - that gets you
> things like fairly painless serial support).
>
> Note to Yuke: this will be a learning experience for you - please keep
> us informed so we can learn vicariously with you.  I'm not aware of
> anybody using u-boot to boot RTEMS, so you may have some useful stuff
> when you get to the end of your journey.  We will help as much as we
> can...
>
Thanks. It is true that RTEMS provide .exe for gdb simulation. But we do
have BSP package and to build application for real board, like this
mpc8313 board. I might need to figure out how to make better use of
U-boot. But right now, I just want to use it to load image and get it
run. The vendor already installed U-boot.  I thought U-boot is just a
bootloader. Never think  about build RTEMS as u-boot application. It
seems I misunderstood a lot. :-(
>> Anyway, a good suggestion is to install ELDK and rebuild
>> U-Boot and update it, even get Linux booted. It may not be
>> your main goal, but consider it educational :)
>
> Note to Yuke: you should also have a JTAG debugger to recover from
> failed u-boot reprogramming if you rebuild and reflash u-boot.  You
> may want to use a JTAG debugger even if you *don't* reflash u-boot.
>
> Note that the Abatron BDI3000 supports "gdb remote target".
>   <http://www.abatron.ch/products/bdi-family/bdi3000.html>
>   <http://www.abatron.ch/products/debugger-support/gnu-support.html>
> I think most of the competitors do too now, but I don't know.
> Definitely ask about their linux (as the host) and gdb (remote target
> over ethernet) support before you buy.
>
> USB-attached JTAG debuggers tend to be Windows-only.  Bleah!  On a
> positive note, I have a whole collection of single-board computers
> (curiously labeled "USB TAP" ;-) with a MPC866, usb, and JTAG
> interface.  If only I had the time to port u-boot to them and make
> them useful... :-D
>
>> Cheers,
>> Dave
>
> Best regards,
> gvb
>