eCosPro® Reference Manual
Prev |  | Next

# Setup

## Name

Setup -- Preparing the LPC2468 OEM Board for eCos Development

## Overview

In a typical development environment, the LPC2468 OEM Board boots from internal flash into RedBoot. eCos applications are configured for RAM startup and then downloaded and run on the board via the debugger arm-elf-gdb. Preparing the board therefore usually involves programming a suitable RedBoot image into flash memory.

The following RedBoot configurations are supported:

Configuration | Description | Use | File
--- | --- | --- | ---
ROM | RedBoot running from ROM | redboot_ROM.ecm | redboot_ROM.hex
RAM | RedBoot running from RAM | redboot_RAM.ecm | redboot_RAM.srec

For serial communications, all versions run with 8 bits, no parity, and 1 stop bit at 38400 baud. This baud rate can be changed via the RedBoot baud command.

## Initial Installation

### Flash Installation

This process assumes that a Microsoft Windows machine with the Embedded Systems Academy Flash Magic utility is available.

The first step is to set up the board as described in the Embedded Artists documentation. Install the FTDI USB driver from http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm and configure it as described in the Embedded Artists documentation. Install Flash Magic from http://www.flashmagictool.com.

Install the ISP jumpers (P2.10 and RESET) and press the reset button. The board is now running a special NXP boot loader. Start Flash Magic and set the Communications section to select the FTDI USB device, 38400 baud, device LPC2468, Interface “None (ISP)” and 12MHz Oscillator Frequency. Test communication with the board by using the “ISP->Read Device Signature” menu entry. If communication is not successful, check that the USB cable is connected, the ISP jumpers are installed and the correct COM port is being used.

Check “Erase blocks used by Hex File” under “Erase”. In the “Hex File” section, select the `redboot_ROM.hex` file. Under “Options”, all boxes should be clear except “Verify after programming”. Now press the “Start” button. The utility should show the progress of the upload.

When the process completes, the utility should be closed. Verify the programming has been successful by starting a terminal emulation application such as HyperTerminal or minicom on the host PC and set the serial communication parameters to 38400 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (8N1) and no flow control (handshaking). Remove the ISP jumpers. Reset the board and RedBoot should start. The output should be similar to the following:

    +**Warning** FLASH configuration checksum error or invalid key
    Use 'fconfig -i' to [re]initialize database
    Ethernet eth0: MAC address 0e:00:00:ea:18:f0
    IP: 10.0.2.8/255.0.0.0, Gateway: 10.0.0.3
    Default server: 0.0.0.0, DNS server IP: 10.0.0.1

    RedBoot(tm) bootstrap and debug environment [ROM]
    Non-certified release, version UNKNOWN - built 17:48:38, Mar 10 2008

    Platform: Embedded Artists LPC2468 OEM Board (ARM7TDMI)
    Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    Copyright (C) 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 eCosCentric Limited

    RAM: 0xa0000000-0xa2000000, [0xa000ac08-0xa1fed000] available
    FLASH: 0x00000000-0x0007dfff, 8 x 0x1000 blocks, 14 x 0x8000 blocks, 6 x 0x1000s
    FLASH: 0x80000000-0x803fffff, 64 x 0x10000 blocks
    RedBoot>

It is now necessary to initialize the flash file system and the flash configuration. This can be done with the following commands:

    RedBoot> fis init
    About to initialize [format] FLASH image system - continue (y/n)? y
    *** Initialize FLASH Image System
    ... Erase from 0x803f0000-0x803fffff: .
    ... Program from 0xa1ff0000-0xa2000000 to 0x803f0000: .
    RedBoot> fconfig -i
    Initialize non-volatile configuration - continue (y/n)? y
    Run script at boot: false
    Use BOOTP for network configuration: true
    Default server IP address: 10.0.1.2
    Console baud rate: 38400
    DNS server IP address: 10.0.0.1
    Network hardware address [MAC] for eth0: 0x0E:0x00:0x00:0xEA:0x18:0xF0
    GDB connection port: 9000
    Force console for special debug messages: false
    Network debug at boot time: false
    Default network device: lpc2xxx
    Update RedBoot non-volatile configuration - continue (y/n)? y
    ... Erase from 0x803f0000-0x803fffff: .
    ... Program from 0xa1ff0000-0xa2000000 to 0x803f0000: .
    RedBoot>

Replace the IP addresses in the above with those for your own network. The above also accepts the default for the MAC address, if more than one LPC2468 is to be used on the same network then different MAC addresses should be used; Embedded Artists boards are supplied with a sticker showing an assigned MAC address, and this should be used by preference.

It is it ever necessary to reinstall RedBoot, the above directions can be repeated. Alternatively, a new RedBoot may be installed from RedBoot itself. It is not possible to do this directly, since RedBoot is executing from the flash that needs to be erased and reprogrammed. Instead it is necessary to run a RAM version of RedBoot, use that to download the new ROM RedBoot to RAM, and then program that to flash.

The following shows an example session to do this. It assumes that `redboot_RAM.srec` and `redboot_ROM.bin` are available via TFTP on the server set up in fconfig.

    RedBoot> load redboot_RAM.srec
    Using default protocol (TFTP)
    Entry point: 0xa0100040, address range: 0xa0100000-0xa011bab4
    RedBoot> go
    +Ethernet eth0: MAC address 0e:00:00:ea:18:f0
    IP: 10.0.2.8/255.0.0.0, Gateway: 10.0.0.3
    Default server: 10.0.1.2, DNS server IP: 10.0.0.1

    RedBoot(tm) bootstrap and debug environment [RAM]
    Non-certified release, version UNKNOWN - built 11:00:52, Mar 11 2008

    Platform: Embedded Artists LPC2468 OEM Board (ARM7TDMI)
    Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    Copyright (C) 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 eCosCentric Limited

    RAM: 0xa0000000-0xa2000000, [0xa0125a28-0xa1fed000] available
    FLASH: 0x00000000-0x0007dfff, 8 x 0x1000 blocks, 14 x 0x8000 blocks, 6 x 0x1000s
    FLASH: 0x80000000-0x803fffff, 64 x 0x10000 blocks
    RedBoot> load -r -b %{freememlo} redboot_ROM.bin
    Using default protocol (TFTP)
    Raw file loaded 0xa0125c00-0xa0142ba3, assumed entry at 0xa0125c00
    RedBoot> fis write -f 0x00000000 -b %{freememlo} -l 0x20000
    * CAUTION * about to program FLASH
                at 0x00000000..0x0001ffff from 0xa0125c00 - continue (y/n)? y
    ... Erase from 0x00000000-0x0001ffff: ...........
    ... Program from 0xa0125c00-0xa0145c00 to 0x00000000: ...........
    RedBoot> reset
    +Ethernet eth0: MAC address 0e:00:00:ea:18:f0
    IP: 10.0.2.8/255.0.0.0, Gateway: 10.0.0.3
    Default server: 10.0.1.2, DNS server IP: 10.0.0.1

    RedBoot(tm) bootstrap and debug environment [ROM]
    Non-certified release, version UNKNOWN - built 11:04:34, Mar 11 2008

    Platform: Embedded Artists LPC2468 OEM Board (ARM7TDMI)
    Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    Copyright (C) 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 eCosCentric Limited

    RAM: 0xa0000000-0xa2000000, [0xa000ac08-0xa1fed000] available
    FLASH: 0x00000000-0x0007dfff, 8 x 0x1000 blocks, 14 x 0x8000 blocks, 6 x 0x1000s
    FLASH: 0x80000000-0x803fffff, 64 x 0x10000 blocks
    RedBoot>

## Rebuilding RedBoot

Should it prove necessary to rebuild the RedBoot binary, this is done most conveniently at the command line. Assuming your PATH and ECOS_REPOSITORY environment variables have been set correctly, the steps needed to rebuild RedBoot for the LPC2468-16 are:

    $ mkdir redboot_ealpc2468_rom
    $ cd redboot_ealpc2468_rom
    $ ecosconfig new ea_lpc2468_16 redboot
    $ ecosconfig import $ECOS_REPOSITORY/hal/arm/lpc2xxx/ea_lpc2468/VERSION/misc/redboot_ROM.ecm
    $ ecosconfig resolve
    $ ecosconfig tree
    $ make

At the end of the build the `install/bin` subdirectory should contain the file `redboot.hex`.

Substitute 32 for 16 in the above to build RedBoot for the LPC2468-32 module.

Prev | Home | Next
Overview | Up | Configuration