I recently acquired a quite nice Chinese ARM computer board, the ITX-3588J from Firefly (aka. T-Chip) and with core processor made by RockChip. By itself, the board is an integrated single-board computer (SBC) so it requires no extra expansion cards or drives to work, however it supports adding up to 4 SATA drives and 1 PCIe x8 card. By itself, it reads both its operating system and firmware off of a flash MMC chip built into the board, and MMC flash packages were available from the vendor both for pre-made Android 12 and Ubuntu 20.04 installs.
But given the limited storage on the MMC, I added an SSD drive with 250 GB capacity, and was also hoping I could install a newer version of Ubuntu, namely 22.04, and am wondering if it's possible to do this. The trouble is, there's virtually no real good information on doing this because this board is so new - it was literally premiered this year, and all the Firefly/Rockchip offerings from before were smaller and considerably less powerful. Nonetheless, I've been hacking at it ever since I got it, with no full success yet.
The included flash package for the MMC contains a "U-Boot" base bootloader/firmware type package, which then boots extlinux, and finally fires up the main kernel. What I'd like to know is if there's some way to (particularly using the first bootloader or another) rig this to boot an Ubuntu 22.04 USB stick image, in particular the "jammy-desktop-arm64.iso" from
https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/jammy/daily-live/current/
website with aim to install to the hard drive. And I never knew of such a thing called "U-Boot" until now, and this is literally my first time having had any experience with it and everything else I've found about it seems geared to advanced users who already know it in and out, and other use cases than mine - no information I've found covers "how to boot an Ubuntu USB .iso for ARM via U-Boot"! And the documentation, again, seems to be written from the point of view of a board manufacturer or vendor, not a user.
So, is this possible? If so, how do you do it? Do you need to upgrade the U-Boot - the version that came with that package was 2017.04, and it looks to be missing some featuers that are present in the 2022 release such as "bootefi" and I note the USB stick has some .efi files. Installing a new U-Boot looks tricky because the latest Rockchip board-specific bit that is in the mainline U-Boot package for download is RK3568 - not surprised given this board was literally premiered in April of this year, but still, and suggests custom code from the vendor was added to produce the Ubuntu flash pack, though the vendor does apparently offer a board SDK available "on request".
But ideally, I'd like to not have to mess with all that if it is not absolutely necessary and there's some way to hook into the chain the ability to boot that USB stick another way. Is there?
ADD:
The output from U-Boot "help" is
=> help
? - alias for 'help'
android_print_hdr- print android image header
atags - Dump all atags
base - print or set address offset
bdinfo - print Board Info structure
bidram_dump- Dump bidram layout
blk - Block device sub-system
boot - boot default, i.e., run 'bootcmd'
boot_android- Execute the Android Bootloader flow.
boot_fit- Boot FIT Image from memory or boot/recovery partition
bootavb - Execute the Android avb a/b boot flow.
bootd - boot default, i.e., run 'bootcmd'
booti - boot arm64 Linux Image image from memory
bootm - boot application image from memory
bootp - boot image via network using BOOTP/TFTP protocol
bootz - boot Linux zImage image from memory
charge - Charge display
cmp - memory compare
coninfo - print console devices and information
cp - memory copy
crc32 - checksum calculation
crypto_sum- crypto checksum engine
dhcp - boot image via network using DHCP/TFTP protocol
dm - Driver model low level access
download- enter rockusb/bootrom download mode
dtimg - manipulate dtb/dtbo Android image
dump_irqs- Dump IRQs
dump_resource- dump resource list
echo - echo args to console
editenv - edit environment variable
env - environment handling commands
exit - exit script
ext2load- load binary file from a Ext2 filesystem
ext2ls - list files in a directory (default /)
ext4load- load binary file from a Ext4 filesystem
ext4ls - list files in a directory (default /)
ext4size- determine a file's size
false - do nothing, unsuccessfully
fastboot- use USB or UDP Fastboot protocol
fatinfo - print information about filesystem
fatload - load binary file from a dos filesystem
fatls - list files in a directory (default /)
fatsize - determine a file's size
fatwrite- write file into a dos filesystem
fdt - flattened device tree utility commands
fstype - Look up a filesystem type
go - start application at address 'addr'
gpt - GUID Partition Table
help - print command description/usage
iomem - Show iomem data by device compatible(high priority) or node name
lcdputs - print string on video framebuffer
load - load binary file from a filesystem
loop - infinite loop on address range
ls - list files in a directory (default /)
md - memory display
mdio - MDIO utility commands
mii - MII utility commands
mm - memory modify (auto-incrementing address)
mmc - MMC sub system
mmcinfo - display MMC info
mtd_blk - MTD Block device sub-system
mw - memory write (fill)
nfs - boot image via network using NFS protocol
nm - memory modify (constant address)
part - disk partition related commands
ping - send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST to network host
printenv- print environment variables
pxe - commands to get and boot from pxe files
rbrom - Perform RESET of the CPU
reboot - Perform RESET of the CPU, alias of 'reset'
reset - Perform RESET of the CPU
rkimgtest- Test if storage media have rockchip image
rockchip_show_bmp- load and display bmp from resource partition
rockchip_show_logo- load and display log from resource partition
rockusb - Use the rockusb Protocol
run - run commands in an environment variable
save - save file to a filesystem
saveenv - save environment variables to persistent storage
setcurs - set cursor position within screen
setenv - set environment variables
sf - SPI flash sub-system
showvar - print local hushshell variables
size - determine a file's size
source - run script from memory
sspi - SPI utility command
sysboot - command to get and boot from syslinux files
sysmem_dump- Dump sysmem layout
sysmem_search- Search a available sysmem region
test - minimal test like /bin/sh
tftp - download image via network using TFTP protocol
tftpbootm- tftpbootm aosp/uImage/FIT image via network using TFTP protocol
tftpflash- flash image via network using TFTP protocol
tftpput - TFTP put command, for uploading files to a server
true - do nothing, successfully
ums - Use the UMS [USB Mass Storage]
usb - USB sub-system
usbboot - boot from USB device
version - print monitor, compiler and linker version
The output from U-Boot "printenv" is
=> printenv
arch=arm
autoload=no
baudrate=1500000
board=evb_rk3588
board_name=evb_rk3588
boot_a_script=load ${devtype} ${devnum}:${distro_bootpart} ${scriptaddr} ${prefix}${script}; source ${scriptaddr}
boot_extlinux=sysboot ${devtype} ${devnum}:${distro_bootpart} any ${scriptaddr} ${prefix}extlinux/extlinux.conf
boot_net_usb_start=usb start
boot_prefixes=/ /boot/
boot_script_dhcp=boot.scr.uimg
boot_scripts=boot.scr.uimg boot.scr
boot_targets=mmc1 mmc0 usb0 pxe dhcp
bootargs=storagemedia=emmc androidboot.storagemedia=emmc androidboot.mode=normal storagenode=/mmc@fe2e0000
bootcmd=boot_android ${devtype} ${devnum};boot_fit;bootrkp;run distro_bootcmd;
bootcmd_dhcp=run boot_net_usb_start; if dhcp ${scriptaddr} ${boot_script_dhcp}; then source ${scriptaddr}; fi;
bootcmd_mmc0=setenv devnum 0; run mmc_boot
bootcmd_mmc1=setenv devnum 1; run mmc_boot
bootcmd_pxe=run boot_net_usb_start; dhcp; if pxe get; then pxe boot; fi
bootcmd_usb0=setenv devnum 0; run usb_boot
bootdelay=0
cpu=armv8
devnum=0
devplist=3
devtype=mmc
distro_bootcmd=for target in ${boot_targets}; do run bootcmd_${target}; done
eth1addr=ce:20:d9:ee:5d:8d
ethaddr=ca:20:d9:ee:5d:8d
fdt_addr_r=0x0a100000
fileaddr=0xedf00000
filesize=0x1f34a
kernel_addr_c=0x05480000
kernel_addr_r=0x00400000
mmc_boot=if mmc dev ${devnum}; then setenv devtype mmc; run scan_dev_for_boot_part; fi
partitions=uuid_disk=${uuid_gpt_disk};name=uboot,start=8MB,size=4MB,uuid=${uuid_gpt_loader2};name=trust,size=4M,uuid=${uuid_gpt_atf};name=misc,size=4MB,uuid=${uuid_gpt_misc};name=resource,size=16MB,uuid=${uuid_gpt_resource};name=kernel,size=32M,uuid=${uuid_gpt_kernel};name=boot,size=32M,bootable,uuid=${uuid_gpt_boot};name=recovery,size=32M,uuid=${uuid_gpt_recovery};name=backup,size=112M,uuid=${uuid_gpt_backup};name=cache,size=512M,uuid=${uuid_gpt_cache};name=system,size=2048M,uuid=${uuid_gpt_system};name=metadata,size=16M,uuid=${uuid_gpt_metadata};name=vendor,size=32M,uuid=${uuid_gpt_vendor};name=oem,size=32M,uuid=${uuid_gpt_oem};name=frp,size=512K,uuid=${uuid_gpt_frp};name=security,size=2M,uuid=${uuid_gpt_security};name=userdata,size=-,uuid=${uuid_gpt_userdata};
pxefile_addr_r=0x00600000
ramdisk_addr_r=0x0a200000
rkimg_bootdev=if mmc dev 1 && rkimgtest mmc 1; then setenv devtype mmc; setenv devnum 1; echo Boot from SDcard;elif mmc dev 0; then setenv devtype mmc; setenv devnum 0;elif mtd_blk dev 0; then setenv devtype mtd; setenv devnum 0;elif mtd_blk dev 1; then setenv devtype mtd; setenv devnum 1;elif mtd_blk dev 2; then setenv devtype mtd; setenv devnum 2;elif rknand dev 0; then setenv devtype rknand; setenv devnum 0;elif rksfc dev 0; then setenv devtype spinand; setenv devnum 0;elif rksfc dev 1; then setenv devtype spinor; setenv devnum 1;elsesetenv devtype ramdisk; setenv devnum 0;fi;
scan_dev_for_boot=echo Scanning ${devtype} ${devnum}:${distro_bootpart}...; for prefix in ${boot_prefixes}; do run scan_dev_for_extlinux; run scan_dev_for_scripts; done;
scan_dev_for_boot_part=part list ${devtype} ${devnum} -bootable devplist; env exists devplist || setenv devplist 1; for distro_bootpart in ${devplist}; do if fstype ${devtype} ${devnum}:${distro_bootpart} bootfstype; then run scan_dev_for_boot; fi; done
scan_dev_for_extlinux=if test -e ${devtype} ${devnum}:${distro_bootpart} ${prefix}extlinux/extlinux.conf; then echo Found ${prefix}extlinux/extlinux.conf; run boot_extlinux; echo SCRIPT FAILED: continuing...; fi
scan_dev_for_scripts=for script in ${boot_scripts}; do if test -e ${devtype} ${devnum}:${distro_bootpart} ${prefix}${script}; then echo Found U-Boot script ${prefix}${script}; run boot_a_script; echo SCRIPT FAILED: continuing...; fi; done
scriptaddr=0x00500000
serial#=1bc8feb9d8c82bd2
soc=rockchip
stderr=serial,vidconsole
stdout=serial,vidconsole
usb_boot=usb start; if usb dev ${devnum}; then setenv devtype usb; run scan_dev_for_boot_part; fi
vendor=rockchip
Environment size: 3949/32764 bytes
ADD: GAAH! some of the lines above unfortunately got rudely truncated by minicom
ADD: Now I have the full output above with NO truncation. Could not get line wrapping to work so I instead used minicom's "captures" feature to capture everything to a file
ADD: I have also tried now some more experimentation with this. After examining the contents of the downloaded 22.04 Ubuntu image USB stick, I figured that it contains a kernel to be booted in /casper/vmlinuz, with a ramdisk /casper/initrd. I scraped the board FDT file from the stock Ubuntu 20.04 MMC image, which was located at /boot/rk3588-firefly-itx-3588j.dtb onto the USB stick at the same location, and then I tried the following U-Boot commands:
usb start
setenv bootargs 'root=/dev/sda1'
load usb 0:1 $kernel_addr_r /casper/vmlinuz
load usb 0:1 $ramdisk_addr_r /casper/initrd
load usb 0:1 $fdt_addr_r /boot/rk3588-firefly-itx-3588j.dtb
bootz $kernel_addr_r $ramdisk_addr_r $fdt_addr_r
which I gathered from reading about just "how to boot a kernel". All the commands go through, but then the last just says at most, "Fdt Ramdisk skip relocation", and returns me straight to the U-Boot prompt. Re-issuing the command simply does nothing at all. What does that mean?
