How to use UUU to flash the iMX boards
UUU is the next version of MFGTools, a tool used to load the software on the RAM or flash it to a list of boot media supported by several i.MX boards. UUU is helpful for development or production environment.
Introduction
UUU stands for Universal Update Utility - also known as mfgtools 3.0.
It runs on Windows or Linux with the same look and feel, the source code is available on GitHub along with the documentation, the issue tracking system and the release artifacts.
Installation
The installation only requires copying the right set of files to one directory. The next table shows the minimum files needed to get UUU running on Linux or Windows.
| Linux | Windows |
|---|---|
uuu |
uuu.exe |
libusb-1.0.dll |
How to use UUU for i.MX 8QXP MEK
The i.MX 8QXP MEK is shown in the following picture:
Connect the board
The first step is to connect all the needed cables to the board and power on the board.
- Connect the 12V/8.3A universal power supply between the outlet and connector
J9 - Connect a USB type B cable between the computer and connector
J11 - Connect a USB type C cable between the computer and connector
J10
The power indication led is D2. To verify if the USB connections are right use
the Linux command lsusb or
USBView on Windows.
The USB devices created are as in the following table:
| USB Type | Connector | Use | USB device recognized by OS |
|---|---|---|---|
| micro | J11 |
Serial Console | Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0403:6010 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT2232C Dual USB-UART/FIFO IC |
| Type C | J10 |
Serial Download | Bus 003 Device 003: ID 1fc9:012f NXP Semiconductors |
If using on Windows, additional drivers may be needed. This link may help.
Serial download mode
The serial download mode is used to enable UUU to communicate with the i.MX SoC. The SoC enters serial download mode every time a boot media is not found. For example, if the board is configured to boot from SDCard, but there is no SDCard connected or the boot media does not have a valid bootloader copied into it.
In this example, the SW2 dip switch is set to 1100 (follow the instructions
written on the board).
Download the image
In this example the image used is from L4.14.62_1.0.0_Beta release. For i.MX 8QXP MEK download the pre-built image from here (you must read and decide if you accept the license).
UUU
UUU uses scripts with the same API used in MFGTools. The L4.14.62_1.0.0_beta
release pre-built image already includes some script examples, a README file for
UUU and the default script uuu.auto which flashes the default pre-built
fsl-image-validation-imx-imx8qxpmek.sdcard to eMMC.
The files related to UUU are listed with the following command:
$ unzip -l ~/Download/L4.14.62_1.0.0_beta_images_MX8QXPMEK.zip | grep uuu
160 2018-10-18 05:40 README.uuu
1775 2018-10-30 03:25 samples/uuu.xen
526 2018-10-30 03:25 samples/example_spinor.uuu
3171 2018-10-30 03:25 samples/example_kernel_emmc.uuu
546 2018-10-30 03:25 samples/example_weimnor.uuu
454 2018-10-30 03:25 samples/uuu.auto
2795 2018-10-30 03:25 samples/example_kernel_nand.uuu
434 2018-10-30 03:25 samples/example_sata.uuu
591 2018-10-30 03:25 samples/uuu_sd_m4.auto
570 2018-10-18 05:41 uuu.auto
The default use of UUU is to flash the eMMC using the pre-built image is show bellow:
$ cp ~/Download/uuu .
$ chmod a+x uuu
$ sudo ./uuu ~/Download/L4.14.62_1.0.0_beta_images_MX8QXPMEK.zip
uuu (Universal Update Utility) for nxp imx chips -- libuuu_1.1.108-0-g5a7bfd2
Success 1 Failure 0
3:2 7/ 7 [Done ] FB: done
This command follows the instructions from uuu.auto automatically to flash the
board.
The progress can be followed in the board console:
U-Boot 2018.03-imx_v2018.03_4.14.62_1.0.0_beta+g7fac6b9 (Oct 16 2018 - 07:03:51 +0000)
CPU: Freescale i.MX8QXP revB A35 at 1200 MHz at 27C
Model: Freescale i.MX8QXP MEK
Board: iMX8QXP MEK
Boot: USB
DRAM: 3 GiB
TCPC: Vendor ID [0x1fc9], Product ID [0x5110], Addr [I2C1 0x50]
MMC: FSL_SDHC: 0, FSL_SDHC: 1
Loading Environment from MMC... Card did not respond to voltage select!
*** Warning - No block device, using default environment
Failed (-5)
[pcie_ctrlb_sata_phy_init_rc] LNK DOWN 8600000
In: serial
Out: serial
Err: serial
BuildInfo:
- SCFW 07a6cccf, SECO-FW 31fabbff, IMX-MKIMAGE 7f7b5b25, ATF 30d73be
- U-Boot 2018.03-imx_v2018.03_4.14.62_1.0.0_beta+g7fac6b9
Card did not respond to voltage select!
Detect USB boot. Will enter fastboot mode!
Net:
Warning: ethernet@5b040000 (eth0) using random MAC address - 46:98:d2:ce:23:f0
eth0: ethernet@5b040000 [PRIME]
Warning: ethernet@5b050000 (eth1) using random MAC address - d2:ce:c7:57:a3:43
, eth1: ethernet@5b050000
Fastboot: Normal
Boot from USB for mfgtools
Use default environment for mfgtools
Run bootcmd_mfg: run mfgtool_args;if iminfo ${initrd_addr}; then if test ${tee} = yes; then bootm ${tee_addr} ${initrd_addr} ${fdt_addr}; else booti ${loadaddr} ${initrd_addr};
Hit any key to stop autoboot: 0
## Checking Image at 83100000 ...
Unknown image format!
Run fastboot ...
1 setufp mode 0
1 cdns3_uboot_initmode 0
Detect USB boot. Will enter fastboot mode!
flash target is MMC:1
Card did not respond to voltage select!
MMC card init failed!
Card did not respond to voltage select!
** Block device MMC 1 not supported
Detect USB boot. Will enter fastboot mode!
flash target is MMC:0
switch to partitions #0, OK
mmc0(part 0) is current device
status: -104 ep 'ep1in' trans: 0
Detect USB boot. Will enter fastboot mode!
Starting download of 16776232 bytes
..........................................................................
.....................................................
downloading of 16776232 bytes finished
writing to partition 'all'
sparse flash target is mmc:0
writing to partition 'all' for sparse, buffer size 16776232
Flashing sparse image at offset 0
Flashing Sparse Image
........ wrote 16776192 bytes to 'all'
status: -104 ep 'ep1in' trans: 0
Starting download of 16776244 bytes
..........................................................................
.....................................................
downloading of 16776244 bytes finished
writing to partition 'all'
sparse flash target is mmc:0
writing to partition 'all' for sparse, buffer size 16776244
Flashing sparse image at offset 0
Flashing Sparse Image
........ wrote 16776192 bytes to 'all'
Starting download of 16776244 bytes
..........................................................................
.....................................................
downloading of 16776244 bytes finished
writing to partition 'all'
Boot the board
Change the SW1 to 0010, reset the board, follow the output of serial console.