Timesys Getting Started Guide for Renesas RZG2L Evaluation Kit

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Contents

Introduction

This document will describe in detail the procedures for booting a Linux kernel image and mounting a root file system from an SD Card on the Renesas RZ/G2L Evaluation Kit.

Prerequisites

Host Requirements

To properly boot the Renesas RZ/G2L Evaluation Kit using software from Timesys, your host machine must meet the following requirements:

  • Modern GNU/Linux Distribution. Timesys recommends one of the following distributions:
    • Ubuntu 20.04 / 22.04
  • sudo permission on the Development Host.
  • A copy of the Linux Kernel (Image-5.10-ts-aarch64) and Root File System (rootfs.tar.gz) for the Target Board downloaded from Factory. These are found in the output directory of your online build, or in the directory build_aarch64-timesys-linux-<libc>/images/ on the command line.
  • An available USB port on your Development Host.
  • A SD card slot or adapter on your Development Host.

Target Requirements

To boot the Renesas RZ/G2L Evaluation Kit, you will need the following items:

  • Renesas RZ/G2L Evaluation Kit
  • SD Card
  • Micro USB Cable
  • USB Type-C cable compatible with USB PD
  • USB PD Charger 15W (5V 3.0A) or more.

Once you have all of the necessary components, you should perform the following steps:

  1. Connect the USB Debug port(CN14) of the board to a USB port of your workstation using the Micro USB Cable.
  2. Connect the power supply to the board's power port (CN6).
  3. Press the red button (SW9) to turn on the power and the LED4 (Carrier PWR On) should illuminate.
  4. Set aside the SD card, you will need to intialize it from the Development Host before booting the board.

Preparing the Target

Configuring Serial Communication

The RZG2L-EVK uses a serial debug port to communicate with the host machine. The commands discussed in this section are meant to be performed by a privileged user account. This requires the root login or prepending each command with sudo.

Using Minicom

  1. Start minicom on your host machine in configuration mode. As root:

    # minicom -o -s -w

  2. A menu of configuration should appear. Use the Down-arrow key to scroll down and select the Serial port setup option, and press Enter.
  3. Verify that the listed serial port is the same one that is connected to the target board. If it is not, press A, and enter the correct device. This is /dev/ttyUSB0 on most Linux distributions.
  4. Set the Bps/Par/Bits option by pressing the letter E and using the next menu to set the appropriate values. You press the key that corresponds to the value 115200, then press Enter.
  5. Set Hardware flow control to No using the F key.
  6. Set Software flow control to No using the G key.
  7. Press Enter to return to the main configuration menu, and then press Esc to exit this menu.
  8. Reset the board, and wait for a moment. If you do not see output from the board, press Enter several times until you see the prompt. If you do not see any output from the board, and have verified that the serial terminal connection is setup correctly, contact your board vendor.

TIP: If you experience an error similar to Device /dev/ttyUSB0 is locked when starting minicom, it usually means that another process is using the serial port (which is usually another instance of minicom). You can find the process that is currently using the serial port by executing the following:

# fuser /dev/ttyUSB0
/dev/ttyUSB0:         28358

# ps 28358
  PID TTY      STAT  TIME COMMAND
  28923 pts/0    S+    0:00 minicom

This process can also be killed directly with fuser as root. Please use this command with caution:

# fuser -k /dev/ttyUSB0

Using GNU Screen

To quickly connect to a board using Gnu Screen, execute the following:

# screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200

For more information about using screen, please consult the man page, or view the manual online at http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/manual/screen.html

Preparing the Secure Digital Card

The RZG2L-EVK boots from an SD card. Some kits may be shipped with one that contains a sample kernel and RFS preloaded. We will be replacing these with the kernel and RFS from Factory. If you are using a blank SD card or have trouble replacing the software on the preloaded one, see Partitioning the SD Card. Otherwise, skip directly to Writing Boot Files to the SD Card.

Before you begin, you should determine the name of your SD card on your host system. To do so:

  1. Connect the SD card to your host system. Many modern systems have SD card slots on the case, or you can purchase a USB SD Card Reader for around $15 US.
  2. Determine the device name of the SD Card. This can be done using dmesg. In the following example, the device is /dev/sdX, which contains one partition sdX1.

    $ dmesg | tail
    [88050.184080] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] 1990656 512-byte hardware sectors: (1.01 GB/972 MiB)
    [88050.184821] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Write Protect is off
    [88050.184824] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
    [88050.184827] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Assuming drive cache: write through
    [88050.185575] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] 1990656 512-byte hardware sectors: (1.01 GB/972 MiB)
    [88050.186323] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Write Protect is off
    [88050.186325] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
    [88050.186327] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Assuming drive cache: write through
    [88050.186330]  sdX: sdX1

Partitioning the SD card

If you want to use a different SD card or its contents become corrupted, you can use the fdisk tool to create two partitions on your SD card. Please note that all data on the card will be lost upon completion of these steps.
  1. Unmount the partition if it was automounted by using the umount command.
    $ umount /dev/sdX1
  2. As root, run the fdisk utility on the drive.
    $ sudo fdisk /dev/sdX
  3. In fdisk, Delete the existing partition table and create a new one using the o command.
    Command (m for help): o
    Building a new DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0x8b025602.
    Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
    After that, of course, the previous content won't be recoverable.
  4. Create a new primary partition using the n command. The first partition will be a FAT partition for storing the boot files. 64 MB is typically more than enough for this purpose.
    Command (m for help): n
    Partition type:
       p   primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
       e   extended
    Select (default p): p
    Partition number (1-4, default 1): 1
    First sector (2048-30679039, default 2048):
    Using default value 2048
    Last sector, +sectors or +sizeK,M,G (2048-30679039, default 30679039): +64M
  5. Set the first partition as W95 FAT32 (LBA) using the t command and entering the Hex code c.

    Command (m for help): t
    Selected partition 1
    Hex code (type L to list codes): c

  6. Set the bootable flag on the first partition using the a command.

    Command (m for help): a
    Partition number (1-4): 1

  7. Create a second primary partition using the n command. This partition will be a linux partition for storing the root filesystem. It will fill the rest of the SD card.

    Command (m for help): n
    Command action
       e   extended
       p   primary partition (1-4)
    p
    Partition number (1-4, default 2): 2
    First sector (133120-30679039, default 133120):
    Using default value 18432
    Last sector, +sectors or +sizeK,M,G (133120-30679039, default 30679039):
    Using default value 30679039

  8. Verify that the partition table is correct by using the p command. It should look similar to the following:

    Command (m for help): p                                                         
                                                                                    
    Disk /dev/sdX: 15.7 GB, 15707668480 bytes
    64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 14980 cylinders, total 30679040 sectors
    Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    Disk identifier: 0x6eaae8f8

       Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
    /dev/sdX1   *        2048      133119       65536    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
    /dev/sdX2          133120    30679039    14773960   83  Linux

  9. This step will destroy all data on the SD Card - Write the partition table to the card using the w command.

    Command (m for help): w
    The partition table has been altered!

    Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

    WARNING: If you have created or modified any DOS 6.x
    partitions, please see the fdisk manual page for additional
    information.
    Syncing disks.

  10. Format the first partition of the SD card with a FAT filesystem using the mkfs.vfat tool.

    $ sudo /sbin/mkfs.vfat -n boot /dev/sdX1

  11. Format the second partition using an ext4 filesystem using the mkfs.ext4 tool.

    $ sudo /sbin/mkfs.ext4 -L rfs /dev/sdX2

Writing Boot Files to the SD Card

  1. Mount the partitions. You can remove and reinsert the card to trigger the automount, or you can use the mount command to mount the partition to an arbitrary location.

    $ sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /media/boot
    $ sudo mount /dev/sdX2 /media/rfs

  2. As root, copy the Image file, Image-5.10-ts-aarch64, to the boot partition of the card.

    $ sudo cp Image-5.10-ts-aarch64 /media/boot/

  3. As root, copy the Device Tree Blob file, rzg2l.dtb, to the boot partition of the card.

    $ sudo cp rzg2l.dtb /media/boot/

  4. As root, extract the rootfs.tar.gz archive to the mounted directory. This file is located at build_aarch64-timesys-linux-<libc>/images/rfs/ on Desktop Factory builds.

    $ sudo tar xzf rootfs.tar.gz -C /media/rfs

  5. As root, umount the SD Card.

    $ sync
    $ sudo umount /media/boot
    $ sudo umount /media/rfs
  6. Remove the SD Card from the host machine, and insert it into the SD Card slot on the target board (located on the Carrier).

Preparing the Host

No additional host setup is required to boot from SD.

Booting the Board

Set Environment Variables

You must set a few environment variables in order to boot the board from the SD card. This is done with the setenv and saveenv commands in U-Boot.

On the target, set the following environment variables:

Variable Value          
bootargs console=ttySC0,115200 root=/dev/mmcblk1p2 rootwait          
load_kernel fatload mmc 1:1 0x48080000 Image-5.10-ts-aarch64          
load_dtb fatload mmc 1:1 0x48000000 rzg2l.dtb          
bootcmd mmc rescan\; run load_kernel load_dtb\; booti 0x48080000 - 0x48000000          

Example

> setenv bootargs console=ttySC0,115200 root=/dev/mmcblk1p2 rootwait rw
> setenv load_kernel fatload mmc 1:1 0x48080000 Image-5.10-ts-aarch64
> setenv load_dtb fatload mmc 1:1 0x48000000 rzg2l.dtb
> setenv bootcmd mmc rescan\; run load_kernel load_dtb\; booti 0x48080000 - 0x48000000
> saveenv

Load The Kernel

You can use the mmc subsystem to load the kernel from the SD card. Example
> mmc rescan
> fatload mmc 1:1 0x48080000 Image-5.10-ts-aarch64
17902080 bytes read in 1137 ms (15 MiB/s)

Load The Device Tree

You can use the mmc subsystem to load the device tree file (dtb) from the SD card.

Example

> mmc rescan
> fatload mmc 1:1 0x48000000 rzg2l.dtb
39900 bytes read in 31 ms (1.2 MiB/s)

Boot the Kernel

The booti command is used to boot the kernel. It loads the file that was previously loaded using the fatload command.

Example

> booti 0x48080000 - 0x48000000
Moving Image from 0x48080000 to 0x48200000, end=49380000
## Flattened Device Tree blob at 48000000
   Booting using the fdt blob at 0x48000000
   Loading Device Tree to 0000000057ff3000, end 0000000057fffbdb ... OK
   
Starting kernel ...

Flashing Bootloader

For Flashing Bootloader you need to follow below steps:
  1. Download Flash Writer to RAM using terminal software in SCIF download mode.
  2. In Desktop Factory, flash writer is located at build_aarch64-timesys-linux-<libc>/images/bootloaders/Flash_Writer_SCIF_RZG2L_SMARC_PMIC_DDR4_2GB_1PCS.mot.
  3. Before writing the loader files, change the Flash Writer transfer rate to high speed 921600bps with SUP command of Flash Writer.

    Example :

     SCIF Download mode
     (C) Renesas Electronics Corp.
    – Load Program to System RAM —————
    please send !

    Flash writer for RZ/G2 Series V1.06 Aug.10,2022
     Product Code : RZ/G2L
    >SUP
    Scif speed UP
    Please change to 921.6Kbps baud rate setting of the terminal.

  4. We need the following bootloader files located at: build_aarch64-timesys-linux-<libc>/images/bootloaders/ in Desktop Factory.
    • bl2_bp_pmic.srec
    • fip_pmic.srec
  5. Use XLS2 command of Flash Writer to write boot loader binary files.

Example :

Loading bl2_bp_pmic.srec from terminal software

>XLS2
===== Qspi writing of RZ/G2 Board Command =============
Load Program to Spiflash
Writes to any of SPI address.
 Micron : MT25QU512
Program Top Address & Qspi Save Address
===== Please Input Program Top Address ============
  Please Input : H'11E00

===== Please Input Qspi Save Address ===
  Please Input : H'00000
Work RAM(H'50000000-H'53FFFFFF) Clear....
please send ! ('.' & CR stop load)
SPI Data Clear(H'FF) Check :H'00000000-0000FFFF Erasing..Erase Completed
SAVE SPI-FLASH.......
======= Qspi  Save Information  =================
 SpiFlashMemory Stat Address : H'00000000
 SpiFlashMemory End Address  : H'0000CB28
===========================================================

Loading fip_pmic.srec from terminal software

>XLS2
===== Qspi writing of RZ/G2 Board Command =============
Load Program to Spiflash
Writes to any of SPI address.
 Micron : MT25QU512
Program Top Address & Qspi Save Address
===== Please Input Program Top Address ============
  Please Input : H'00000

===== Please Input Qspi Save Address ===
  Please Input : H'1D200
Work RAM(H'50000000-H'53FFFFFF) Clear....
please send ! ('.' & CR stop load)
SPI Data Clear(H'FF) Check :H'00010000-000DFFFF Erasing..............Erase Completed
SAVE SPI-FLASH.......
======= Qspi  Save Information  =================
 SpiFlashMemory Stat Address : H'0001D200
 SpiFlashMemory End Address  : H'000DF2DF
===========================================================

For the bootloader flashing procedure, please refer to Renesas SMARC EVK RZ/G2L Linux Start-up Guide,Section 4

https://www.renesas.com/us/en/document/gde/smarc-evk-rzg2l-rzg2lc-rzg2ul...

Additional Information

Factory Documentation