[U-Boot] i.MX SPL tools (was Re: [RFC PATCH 00/12] imx: mx6: add virtual mx6memcal board)

[Tom Rini]

On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 12:48:45PM -0700, Eric Nelson wrote:
> On 06/21/2016 11:41 AM, Eric Nelson wrote:
> > This patch set makes use of the dynamic DDR calibration routines added in commit
> > d339f16 to define an alternative to the Freescale DDR stress tester tool.
> > 
> Hi all,
> 
> While preparing this patch set, I thought again about the tools we have
> for managing SPL images, and especially "first boot" issues (when a
> full U-Boot isn't available or isn't programmed into the normal boot
> device).
> 
> Since the "mx6memcal" device is deliberately small, with only
> the DDR and UART defined, there's no way to load a full U-Boot
> and doing so would defeat the primary purpose.
> 
> We've discussed this at length on a number of occasions, (most recently
> in [5]) but I don't think we have a good solution.
> 
> I just looked at Troy's ancient patches ([1] and [2]) and it seems that
> these two patches are the bulk of the work needed to build a combined
> SPL+U-Boot image, and if I understand patch 2 correctly, SPL could
> tell at run-time that it was executed via a plugin and return control
> to the Boot ROM instead of trying to load U-Boot or a kernel.
> 
> If I recall correctly, Troy dropped these patches because of push-back
> that came from the sheer size of the 21-patch set, and not because of
> any particular objection to support for plugins.
> 
> It seems that a little work here would remove the need for things
> like Stefano's patch in [3] or Michael thoughts of adding DFU support
> in [4].
> 
> I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on the subject.

So, if I read the commentary right, "plugin" is how we can eventually
get to the point where we can support, in a single binary, somewhat
disparate board / SoC types because we can have enough smarts there to
see if it's a Q or D or DL and so forth, right?  That would be
worthwhile to support, yes.

-- 
Tom
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