Re: [Upstream] Re: [PATCH] arm: mach-k3: am625: Unlock MMR registers again

Wadim Egorov
2026-01-12T03:05:23Z

On 9/10/25 9:06 PM, Daniel Schultz wrote:
>
> On 9/10/25 15:26, bb@ti.com wrote:
>> On September 10, 2025 thus sayeth Sverdlin, Alexander:
>>> Hi Bryan!
>>>
>>> On Wed, 2025-09-10 at 07:53 -0500, bb@ti.com wrote:
>>>>>>>>> The watchdog requires to have the MCU ESM error source enabled to
>>>>>>>>> trigger a system reboot. When booting HS-SE (security enforced)
>>>>>>>>> devices, the MMR registers are locked again and all write commands
>>>>>>>>> are simply ignored.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Unlock the MMR registers again to successfully enable the MCU ESM
>>>>>>>>> source.
>>>>>>>> I'm just curious, could you please elaborate a bit, where the
>>>>>>>> registers
>>>>>>>> are being locked again if they are being unlocked by
>>>>>>>> ctrl_mmr_unlock()
>>>>>>>> in board_init_f() before enable_mcu_esm_reset()?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Is it TIFS firmware?
>>>>>>>> What else could be affected?
>>>>>>>> Do we expect to leave General Purpose Control Registers unlocked
>>>>>>>> when we return from board_init_f()?
>>>>>>>> Does it mean that the whole ctrl_mmr_unlock() has to be re-done
>>>>>>>> after k3_sysfw_loader() call?
>>>>>>> I really can't tell why those registers are locked again. I
>>>>>>> figured out
>>>>>>> they're only locked again after loading the TIFS firmware on HS-
>>>>>>> SE devices.
>>>>>>> So, I also assume the firmware itself locks those registers again
>>>>>>> as part of
>>>>>>> a secure/security feature.
>>>>>> Hmm yeah this is likely a bug or a config issue. Ideally we
>>>>>> (U-Boot/Linux) should be in complete control of when these are
>>>>>> locked or
>>>>>> unlocked. TIFS or DM shouldn't be anywhere near these MMRs.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The A53 SPL will unlock those registers again, which will be
>>>>>>> permanent. Only
>>>>>>> the watchdog is problematic because enable_mcu_esm_reset is
>>>>>>> currently only
>>>>>>> called in the R5 SPL (config only enabled in the R5 SPL defconfig).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> BTW: We have seen the same behavior with the AM68A/J721S2.
>>>>>> Hmm this is strange.
>>>>> Thanks for your assessment!
>>>>> Do you know who can be contacted at TI regarding this possible
>>>>> problem in
>>>>> TIFS firmware? Maybe this has to be fixed in TIFS firmware indeed?
>>>> I've started creating some noise internally to see if we can debug this
>>>> faster. Most of these teams are fairly insulated from the outside world
>>>> and can only be reached via e2e tickets.
>>> Thanks for looking into this!
>>> I read it as if we would not need to create an e2e ticket for now?
>> That's correct. I short circuited the e2e process by creating a bug and
>> messaging a few people internally to jump start the process:
>>
>>     https://sir.ext.ti.com/jira/browse/EXT_EP-12916
>
> Just for reference, I already opened an e2e post some weeks ago:
> https://e2e.ti.com/support/processors-group/processors/f/processors-
> forum/1511852/am625-am62x-hs-se-spl-cannot-write-to-
> mcu_mmr0_rst_ctrl/5813164#5813164

I would like to know if we can proceed with Daniels patch.
The reply in the E2E post suggests more or less the same change.

>
> - Daniel
>
>>
>> ~Bryan
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