1. Article purpose[edit source]
This article describes the FlashLayout file format.
This file is used as an input by STM32CubeProgrammer tool in order to:
- define the Flash memory partitions (see STM32_MPU_Flash_mapping)
- select the files used to boot (see Boot chain overview) and then populate each partition.
The embedded programming service processes this file on the device and interacts with STM32CubeProgrammer to update the Flash memory.
This is done by the stm32prog command in U-Boot. This command is automatically executed for a serial boot (bootcmd on USB or UART boot). However you can launch it manually from the U-Boot console: this is useful if you want to perform a non-virgin board update front of STM32CubeProgrammer, without manipulating the boot pins.
See AN5275: USB DFU/USART protocols used in STM32MP1 Series bootloaders for protocol details and refer to STM32CubeProgrammer article to know how to use this tool.
The next chapters:
- describe the FlashLayout file format
- give Typical FlashLayout file
- give FlashLayout file to load and start kernel that can be used to load a Linux kernel for direct execution
- give some hints on the Using of the provided FlashLayout files that come as part of STM32 MPU ecosystem deliveries
The FSBL, SSBL definitions can be found in the Boot chain overview.
As explain in TF-A overview, the FIP file includes all the binaries loaded by FSBL=TF-A BL2:
SSBL=U-Boot, the non secure device tree, BL32 = OP-TEE or SP-MIN...
2. FlashLayout file format[edit source]
The FlashLayout is a text file with a tab-separated-value format (tsv). It includes the below elements:
- one line per partition or device
- seven columns, one for each field, provided in the following order:
The lines beginning with the '#' character are ignored and treated as comments.
The "Binary" last column is not used by U-Boot. It is used by STM32CubeProgrammer on the host computer to select the files to be sent to the target.
Several tabulations (<tab>) can be used to allow the correct column alignment in the editor. They are ignored by STM32CubeProgrammer and by U-Boot.
Empty fields are not allowed. The FlashLayout file format supports the none reserved word.
2.1. Examples[edit source]
Below some valid FlashLayout files:
#opt Id Name Type Device Offset Binary - 0x01 fsbl-boot Binary none 0x00000000 tf-a-usb.stm32 - 0x03 fip-boot FIP none 0x00000000 fip.bin P 0x04 fsbl1 Binary mmc0 0x00004400 tf-a-sdcard.stm32 P 0x05 fsbl2 Binary mmc0 0x00044400 tf-a-sdcard.stm32 P 0x06 metadata1 Binary mmc0 0x00084400 metadata.bin P 0x07 metadata2 Binary mmc0 0x000C4400 metadata.bin P 0x08 fip-a FIP mmc0 0x00104400 fip.bin PED 0x09 fip-b FIP mmc0 0x00504400 none PED 0x09 u-boot-env binary mmc0 0x00904400 none P 0x10 bootfs System mmc0 0x00984400 bootfs.ext4 P 0x11 vendorfs FileSystem mmc0 0x04984400 vendorfs.ext4 P 0x12 rootfs FileSystem mmc0 0x05984400 rootfs.ext4 P 0x13 userfs FileSystem mmc0 0x33984400 userfs.ext4
Above, the first line contains only header information. This is not mandatory, as shown below:
- 0x01 fsbl_boot Binary none 0x0 tf-a-usb.stm32
- 0x03 fip_boot FIP none 0x0 fip.bin
P 0x10 sdcard RawImage mmc0 0x0 sdcard.bin
2.2. Field1: Options[edit source]
The Options field defines the operations to perform with a combination of characters: - P D E provided in any order;
First select the line of the FlashLayout with '-' or 'P':
- '-' : none option, the partition or the device is not modified (mandatory if #Field5: Device = none)
- 'P' : Program the partition or the device
- U-Boot requests the binary to STM32CubeProgrammer and programs the partition or the Flash device.
- On the block devices (SD card or e•MMC), the GPT partitioning is performed if all partitions of the device are selected with P.
- For the 'P' option, two optional modifiers can be added:
- 'E' : Empty partition or device, update is not requested (associated "Id" is skipped)
- 'D' : Delete partition or device
The only supported combinations are the following (with character in any order):
- - : no action
- P : update = program the partition or the flash device
- PE : do not update (also EP) : allow the GPT partitioning with empty partition for the block device but equivalent to '-' for RAW flash device
- PD : delete and update (also DP)
- PDE : delete and keep empty (also PED / DPE / DEP / EPD / EDP)
All other combinations are invalid.
2.3. Field2: Id[edit source]
Id identifies in a unique way the "download phase" requested by the device to STM32CubeProgrammer.
It is used by the embedded programming service to identify the next binary that is downloaded to the device.
Their destination depends on the executed code:
- ROM code and TF-A (FSBL): binary loaded in RAM, to start the embedded programming service
- U-Boot(SSBL): the embedded programming service is running, the binary is populated in Flash memory by
stm32progcommand.
The FlashLayout supported ranges are :
| Range | Partition |
|---|---|
| 0x01 to 0x0F | Boot partitions with FIP header: file containing SSBL or with STM32 header: FSBL or other or without header: metadata |
| 0x10 to 0xF0 | User partitions programmed without header (uimage, dtb, rootfs, vendorfs, userfs) |
All the other values are forbidden in FlashLayout file.
The Id 0x01 and 0x03 are reserved for binaries containing FSBL and SSBL respectively; the presence of these two Id in the FlashLayout file is mandatory to load the embedded service.
2.3.1. Reserved Id[edit source]
The reserved and allowed values in FlashLayout file are the following:
| Code | Content | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x01 | image containing FSBL | loaded by ROM code in embedded RAM |
| 0x03 | image containing SSBL | loaded by FSBL in external RAM for serial boot = FIP for OpenSTLinux |
For information some other Id are reserved and used for the communication between the embedded programming service and STM32CubeProgrammer, but they are forbidden in FlashLayout file.
| Code | Virtual Partition or State |
|---|---|
| 0x00 | FlashLayout |
| 0xF1 | Command GetPhase |
| 0xF2 | OTP |
| 0xF3 | SSP |
| 0xF4 | PMIC NVM |
| 0xFE | State = End of operation |
| 0xFF | State = Reset |
2.3.2. Using Id for boot partition[edit source]
Even if in the FlashLayout file, any other Id lower than 0x10 (boot partition with FIP header or STM32 header) can identify the binaries containing the FSBL and SSBL to be programmed in Flash memory, the recommended mapping is:
| Code | Comment | Content | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x01 | reserved | FSBL to boot | file containing FSBL with serial load support: loaded by ROM code |
| 0x03 | reserved | SSBL to boot | file containing SSBL with programming support : loaded by FSBL |
| 0x04 | FSBL to program 1 | file containing FSBL to program in Flash memory (first copy) | |
| 0x05 | FSBL to program 2 | file containing FSBL to program in Flash memory (second copy) | |
| 0x06 | metadata 1 | FBSL metadata to program in Flash memory (first copy) | |
| 0x07 | metadata 2 | FBSL metadata to program in Flash memory (second copy) | |
| 0x08 | SSBL to program A | file containing SSBL slot A to program in Flash memory | |
| 0x09 | SSBL to program B | file containing SSBL slot B to program in Flash memory |
It enables having different binaries loaded in RAM (with Reserved ID 0x1 and 0x3) and programmed in Flash memory, for example when an updated feature is deactivated in the binaries to be programmed in Flash memory (see example in #Load and program different binaries).
We also skip the Id 0x2 (not reserved) to have a more coherent order, as U-Boot requests and programs the partitions in Id order.
With OpenSTLinux binaries (FSBL=TF-A and the FIP contains SSBL=U-Boot) , this recommended mapping uses two ID (0x03 and 0x08) for the same FIP file used to boot and to program slot A:
| Code | Comment | File | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x01 | reserved | tf-a-usb.stm32 | TF-A to boot with serial load support on usb |
| 0x03 | reserved | fip.bin | FIP image file to boot, including U-Boot |
| 0x04 | tf-a-<dev>.stm32 | TF-A for <dev> boot device to program: first copy | |
| 0x05 | tf-a-<dev>.stm32 | TF-A for <dev> boot device to program: second copy | |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |
| 0x08 | fip.bin | FIP file to program, including U-Boot (same FIP binary slot A than FIP to boot) |
However the minimal mapping is, when the same FSBL and SSBL binaries can be loaded in RAM and programmed in Flash memory:
| Code | Comment | Content | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x01 | reserved | FSBL | file containing FSBL (first copy) to program in Flash memory, also used for serial boot, loaded by ROM code |
| 0x02 | default | FSBL | file containing FSBL second copy to program in Flash memory |
| 0x03 | reserved | SSBL | file containing SSBL programmed in Flash memory, also used for serial boot, loaded by FSBL |
2.4. Field3: Name[edit source]
Name of the alternate setting of the USB DFU[1] for U-Boot enumeration. This is a string descriptor that indicates the target memory segment (see Interface Descriptor in DFU spec [2])
This is also the name of the Block device GPT partition: SD card / e•MMC.
The requirements for the GPT partitions, only for device = mmc + instance, are:
- FSBL for SD card boot: the name must start with "fsbl"= fsbl, fsbl1, fsbl2... (ROM code requirement)
- FIP containing SSBL for e•MMC/SD card boot with #Field4: Type = FIP, the name must be:
- "fip" when firmware update is not supported in TF-A
- "fip-a" and "fip-b" for firmware update support in TF-A, see #GPT partuuid of FIP partition.
- a partition named "rootfs", see specific behavior described in #GPT partuuid of rootfs partition.
These requirements are not verified by U-Boot during the Flash programming. If they are not fulfilled, the ROM code or TF-A does not find the boot stage binary and the boot from Flash memory fails.
2.5. Field4: Type[edit source]
Type is only used in U-Boot to select the part of Flash memory to be updated:
- one partition
- all the #Hardware device = RawImage
The supported values are:
| GPT | MTD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | SD card | e•MMC | NAND Flash memory | NOR Flash memory | RAM |
| Binary | x | x | x | x | x |
| Binary(N) | fsbl | ||||
| FIP | x | x | x | x | x |
| FileSystem | x | x | x | x | dtb |
| System | x | x | UBI | UBI | kernel |
| RawImage | x | user data | x | x | |
2.5.1. Block device GPT partition: SD card / e•MMC[edit source]
Refer to GPT standard for details [3].
The supported values, with associated partition type GUID (globally unique identifiers[4]), are:
- Binary : raw data / linux reserved
GUID = 8DA63339-0007-60C0-C436-083AC8230908 - FIP : FIP partition
GUID = 19D5DF83-11B0-457b-BE2C-7559C13142A5
see also #GPT partuuid of FIP partition - FileSystem : Linux filesystem data (for example ext2/ext4/fat file system)
GUID = 0FC63DAF-8483-4772-8E79-3D69D8477DE4 - System : FileSystem partition marked as bootable and used by U-Boot to find extlinux.conf configuration file (normally only one in the device, generic DISTRO feature)
For a Block device, the GPT header is updated only if all the partitions of this device are selected with the P option (full update).
2.5.2. Raw Flash device (NAND/NOR Flash memories) MTD partition[edit source]
The supported values are:
- Binary: raw data, skip bad block.
- Binary(N): raw data, skip bad block. The loaded binary is repeated N times.
It is only supported for NAND Flash memories when the partition name starts with "fsbl". It is used to avoid disturbances during the first boot (uncorrectable ECC errors).
The first good block is read from NAND and duplicated N times in the same partition (write skip bad block).
This feature is no more used in OpenSTLinux flashlayout which use one MTD partition by copy. - FIP: raw data, skip bad block.
- FileSystem: unspecified File system, raw data
- System : normally UBI volume, U-Boot erases all the blocks following the last data in the MTD partition to avoid mount errors.
2.5.3. Hardware device[edit source]
Export the associated device as one alternate setting by using Type=RawImage.
- For SD card, NOR and NAND Flash memories: all the devices
- For e•MMC: the user data area of e•MMC (see #Field6: Offset for access to the boot area partitions)
For RawImage, Offset=0x0 and PartId >= 0x10
2.5.4. RAM device (DDR)[edit source]
The supported values are:
- Binary: raw data, used for initrd in the
bootmcommand - FileSystem: device tree used in the
bootmcommand - System : kernel image used in the
bootmcommand (uImage.bin for example)
When a RAM device is present in the FlashLayout, the programming service will not reboot but start the loaded kernel image with the associated device tree or when it is absent with the U-Boot device tree.
2.6. Field5: Device[edit source]
Select the targeted device and the instance (starting at 0) as defined by U-Boot device tree:
- mmc + instance : mmc0, mmc1, mmc2
It is used for e•MMC or SD card on SDMMC. In the below examples and for STMicroelectronics boards:- SD card = mmc0 (SDMMC1)
- e•MMC = mmc1 (SDMMC2)
- nor + instance : nor0
It is used for NOR on QUADSPI. - nand + instance : nand0
It is used for parallel NAND Flash memories on FMC. - spi-nand + instance : spi-nand0
It is used for serial NAND Flash memories on QSPI. - none only used to load the programming service in RAM
It is allowed only for the reserved bootloaders partition (FSBL=0x1 and SSBL=0x3).
In this case, the only allowed fields are: Type=Binary, Offset=0x0 and option=- - ram + instance : ram0
It is used for files loaded in RAM by the programming service, for example to load and execute kernel.
Several devices can be mixed in the same FlashLayout file.
2.7. Field6: Offset[edit source]
The supported values are:
- boot1: first boot area partition of e•MMC (offset is 0x0)
- boot2: second boot area partition of e•MMC (offset is 0x0)
- Offset in Bytes: offset in Flash memory area (in the user data area for e•MMC)
Refer to #Partition sizes for offset constraints.
2.8. Field7: Binary[edit source]
This file is used by STM32CubeProgrammer to find the file associated to each Id when it is requested by embedded programming service .
The file can be absent (Binary=none in the tsv file) only for skipped partitions tagged with the E option. In all other cases, this file is sent to U-Boot to update the Flash memory only for the partitions selected with the P option.
2.9. GPT partuuid[edit source]
For GPT on block device (SD card / e•MMC), U-Boot can also set a unique partition guid [4](PARTUUID) on one partition.
This partition PARTUUID is distinct from the filesystem UUID and it is persistent.
Refer to GPT standard for details. [3]
2.9.1. GPT partuuid of FIP partition[edit source]
If #Field4: Type = FIP and the GPT partition UUID is defined according the #Field3: Name value:
- fip-a : PARTUUID = "4FD84C93-54EF-463F-A7EF-AE25FF887087"
- fip-b : PARTUUID = "09C54952-D5BF-45AF-ACEE-335303766FB3"
These value are aligned with the metadata generated by TF-A tools and allow to support the firmware update in TF-A BL2.
2.9.2. GPT partuuid of rootfs partition[edit source]
If #Field3: Name = rootfs and for each targeted MMC instance with #Field5: Device:
- rmmc0: PARTUUID = "e91c4e10-16e6-4c0e-bd0e-77becf4a3582"
- rmmc1: PARTUUID = "491f6117-415d-4f53-88c9-6e0de54deac6"
- rmmc2: PARTUUID = "fd58f1c7-be0d-4338-8ee9-ad8f050aeb18"
This value can be used with the "root" argument in the kernel bootargs to identify the partition used for the "Root filesystem". For instance, "root=PARTUUID=e91c4e10-16e6-4c0e-bd0e-77becf4a3582" [5] starts with the partition named rootfs on mmc0.
2.10. Partition operations[edit source]
To update only one partition, use the same FlashLayout file, keep the #Field1: Options=P for the partition to update and change the others to -.
And to delete only one partition, add the DE option on the corresponding line.
To update fip-a partition (based on #Examples):
#opt Id Name Type Device Offset Binary - 0x01 fsbl-boot Binary none 0x00000000 tf-a-usb.stm32 - 0x03 fip-boot FIP none 0x00000000 fip.bin - 0x04 fsbl1 Binary mmc0 0x00004400 tf-a-sdcard.stm32 - 0x05 fsbl2 Binary mmc0 0x00044400 tf-a-sdcard.stm32 - 0x06 metadata1 Binary mmc0 0x00084400 metadata.bin - 0x07 metadata2 Binary mmc0 0x000C4400 metadata.bin P 0x08 fip-a FIP mmc0 0x00104400 fip.bin - 0x09 fip-b FIP mmc0 0x00504400 none - 0x09 u-boot-env binary mmc0 0x00904400 none - 0x10 bootfs System mmc0 0x00984400 bootfs.ext4 - 0x11 vendorfs FileSystem mmc0 0x04984400 vendorfs.ext4 - 0x12 rootfs FileSystem mmc0 0x05984400 rootfs.ext4 - 0x13 userfs FileSystem mmc0 0x33984400 userfs.ext4
To delete fip-a partition, with PDE:
#opt Id Name Type Device Offset Binary - 0x01 fsbl-boot Binary none 0x00000000 tf-a-usb.stm32 - 0x03 fip-boot FIP none 0x00000000 fip.bin - 0x04 fsbl1 Binary mmc0 0x00004400 tf-a-sdcard.stm32 - 0x05 fsbl2 Binary mmc0 0x00044400 tf-a-sdcard.stm32 - 0x06 metadata1 Binary mmc0 0x00084400 metadata.bin - 0x07 metadata2 Binary mmc0 0x000C4400 metadata.bin PDE 0x08 fip-a FIP mmc0 0x00104400 fip.bin - 0x09 fip-b FIP mmc0 0x00504400 none - 0x09 u-boot-env binary mmc0 0x00904400 none - 0x10 bootfs System mmc0 0x00984400 bootfs.ext4 - 0x11 vendorfs FileSystem mmc0 0x04984400 vendorfs.ext4 - 0x12 rootfs FileSystem mmc0 0x05984400 rootfs.ext4 - 0x13 userfs FileSystem mmc0 0x33984400 userfs.ext4
2.11. Partition sizes[edit source]
The partitions are contiguous (no holes in Flash memory).
The last partition continues until the end of the selected Flash memory.
To reduce the size of the last partition, use an 'Empty' partition and leave it unused.
All the partitions need to be present in the FlashLayout file, even if they are not selected or empty.
Then the offset and size of each partition are compared with:
- pre-existing GPT partitioning, for updates on block devices (e•MMC or SD card)
- predefined partitioning for MTD devices (NOR and NAND): see mtdparts environment variable in U-Boot for more information.
In case of partition size error, compare the existing partition size in U-Boot with the offset in the FlashLayout file.
2.11.1. GPT partition sizes[edit source]
Each GPT partition must be aligned to:
- 512 bytes (LBA)
- e•MMC erase group size
The first partition starts after 17 Kbytes, the default size of GPT header for 128 entries in U-Boot.
Prior to updating partitions in a block device, check the partition size by executing the U-Boot command part list on the mmc device:
part list mmc 0
Partition Map for MMC device 0 -- Partition Type: EFI Part Start LBA End LBA Name Attributes Type GUID Partition GUID 1 0x00000022 0x00000221 "fsbl1" attrs: 0x0000000000000000 type: 8da63339-0007-60c0-c436-083ac8230908 guid: 3bc90966-2c53-4eba-8187-e6630626d1d2 2 0x00000222 0x00000421 "fsbl2" attrs: 0x0000000000000000 type: 8da63339-0007-60c0-c436-083ac8230908 guid: 1dfe7c94-8223-447c-90ed-a7fc5a4ea823 3 0x00000422 0x00000621 "metadata1" attrs: 0x0000000000000000 type: 8da63339-0007-60c0-c436-083ac8230908 guid: eb8119bb-592b-40ef-b4b8-b4b14557e7f2 4 0x00000622 0x00000821 "metadata2" attrs: 0x0000000000000000 type: 8da63339-0007-60c0-c436-083ac8230908 guid: 125e7af2-0e1b-408e-a621-e23765c01d0b 5 0x00000822 0x00002821 "fip-a" attrs: 0x0000000000000000 type: 19d5df83-11b0-457b-be2c-7559c13142a5 guid: 4fd84c93-54ef-463f-a7ef-ae25ff887087 6 0x00002822 0x00004821 "fip-b" attrs: 0x0000000000000000 type: 19d5df83-11b0-457b-be2c-7559c13142a5 guid: 09c54952-d5bf-45af-acee-335303766fb3 7 0x00004822 0x00004c21 "u-boot-env" attrs: 0x0000000000000000 type: 8da63339-0007-60c0-c436-083ac8230908 guid: def45efd-bc82-415b-87d3-f00d63388fe6 8 0x00004c22 0x00024c21 "boot" attrs: 0x0000000000000004 type: 0fc63daf-8483-4772-8e79-3d69d8477de4 type: linux guid: d072dc90-f3cf-49ce-a851-4d011c9768c6 9 0x00024c22 0x0002cc21 "vendorfs" attrs: 0x0000000000000000 type: 0fc63daf-8483-4772-8e79-3d69d8477de4 type: linux guid: 1d6c73ce-4521-43dd-a069-b08022c3013d 10 0x0002cc22 0x0019cc21 "rootfs" attrs: 0x0000000000000000 type: 0fc63daf-8483-4772-8e79-3d69d8477de4 type: linux guid: e91c4e10-16e6-4c0e-bd0e-77becf4a3582 11 0x0019cc22 0x01dacbdc "userfs" attrs: 0x0000000000000000 type: 0fc63daf-8483-4772-8e79-3d69d8477de4 type: linux guid: 81ad4323-f879-4788-a40e-b190d614df9d
Warning: in mmccommand, start and end are indicated in multiple of LBA (512 bytes by default).
To check the e•MMC erase group size in U-Boot, select the mmc device with mmc dev command (1 on STMicroelectronics board and in next example) and use the command mmc info.
mmc dev 1 switch to partitions #0, OK mmc1(part 0) is current device
mmc info Device: STM32 SD/MMC Manufacturer ID: 11 OEM: 100 Name: 004GA Bus Speed: 52000000 Mode: MMC High Speed (52MHz) Rd Block Len: 512 MMC version 5.0 High Capacity: Yes Capacity: 3.7 GiB Bus Width: 8-bit Erase Group Size: 512 KiB HC WP Group Size: 4 MiB User Capacity: 3.7 GiB WRREL Boot Capacity: 2 MiB ENH RPMB Capacity: 512 KiB ENH Boot area 0 is not write protected Boot area 1 is not write protected
2.11.2. MTD partition sizes[edit source]
Each MTD partition must be aligned to the device erase block size (NOR/NAND Flash memory).
In U-Boot shell, this size is verified with the command:
nand info
Device 0: nand0, sector size 256 KiB Page size 4096 b OOB size 224 b Erase size 262144 b subpagesize 4096 b options 0x00084200 bbt options 0x00060000
sf probe
SF: Detected mx25l51235f with page size 256 Bytes, erase size 64 KiB, total 64 MiB
For MTD, the U-Boot uses the mtdparts variable.
Execute the U-Boot command mtdparts or mtd to know the current value:
mtdparts mtd list
By default on ST board, the mtdpart variable is built dynamically in board_mtdparts_default() under CONFIG_SYS_MTDPARTS_RUNTIME with the STMicroelectronics configs:
- CONFIG_MTDPARTS_NAND0_BOOT = "512k(fsbl1),512k(fsbl2),512k(metadata1),512k(metadata2),4m(fip-a1),4m(fip-a2),4m(fip-b1),4m(fip-b2)"
- CONFIG_MTDPARTS_NOR0_BOOT = "256k(fsbl1),256k(fsbl2),256k(metadata1),256k(metadata2),4m(fip-a1),4m(fip-a2),4m(fip-b1),4m(fip-b2),512k(u-boot-env)"
- CONFIG_MTDPARTS_SPINAND0_BOOT = "512k(fsbl1),512k(fsbl2),512k(metadata1),512k(metadata2),4m(fip-a1),4m(fip-a2),4m(fip-b1),4m(fip-b2)"
On NAND Flash, the last partition 'UBI' uses the remaining space with several UBI volumes for OpenSTLinux:
uboot_config, uboot_config_r, boot, rootfs, vendorfs, and userfs ("boot" is the volume name expected by U-Boot).
On NOR Flash, the last partition named 'nor_user', is a free MTD partition which uses the remaining space.
We align each partition size on max supported erase block size (512 Kbytes on NAND and 256 Kbytes on NOR).
To change the MTP partitioning on NOR and NAND Flash memories, update these configurations in your U-Boot defconfig as explained in U-Boot and in 'MTD partitions in U-Boot' or override this behavior in your board.
2.11.3. NOR MTD partition on STMicroelectronics boards[edit source]
The default MTD partitions used on the STMicroelectronics boards with OpenSTLinux for NOR boot is:
mtd list
SF: Detected mx66l51235l with page size 256 Bytes, erase size 64 KiB, total 64 MiB
List of MTD devices:
* nor0
- device: mx66l51235l@0
- parent: spi@58003000
- driver: jedec_spi_nor
- path: /soc/spi@58003000/mx66l51235l@0
- type: NOR flash
- block size: 0x10000 bytes
- min I/O: 0x1 bytes
- 0x000000000000-0x000004000000 : "nor0"
- 0x000000000000-0x000000040000 : "fsbl1"
- 0x000000040000-0x000000080000 : "fsbl2"
- 0x000000080000-0x0000000c0000 : "metadata1"
- 0x0000000c0000-0x000000100000 : "metadata2"
- 0x000000100000-0x000000500000 : "fip-a"
- 0x000000500000-0x000000900000 : "fip-b"
- 0x000000900000-0x000000980000 : "u-boot-env"
- 0x000000980000-0x000004000000 : "nor_user"
* nor1
- device: mx66l51235l@1
- parent: spi@58003000
- driver: jedec_spi_nor
- path: /soc/spi@58003000/mx66l51235l@1
- type: NOR flash
- block size: 0x10000 bytes
- min I/O: 0x1 bytes
- 0x000000000000-0x000004000000 : "nor1"
mtdparts
SF: Detected mx66l51235l with page size 256 Bytes, erase size 64 KiB, total 64 MiB device nor0 <nor0>, # parts = 8 #: name size offset mask_flags 0: fsbl1 0x00040000 0x00000000 0 1: fsbl2 0x00040000 0x00040000 0 2: metadata1 0x00040000 0x00080000 0 3: metadata2 0x00040000 0x000c0000 0 4: fip-a 0x00400000 0x00100000 0 5: fip-b 0x00400000 0x00500000 0 6: u-boot-env 0x00080000 0x00900000 0 7: nor_user 0x03680000 0x00980000 0 active partition: nor0,0 - (fsbl1) 0x00040000 @ 0x00000000 defaults: mtdids : nor0=nor0 mtdparts: mtdparts=nor0:256k(fsbl1),256k(fsbl2),256k(metadata1),256k(metadata2),4m(fip-a),4m(fip-b),512k(u-boot-env),-(nor_user)
This default partitioning is compatible for any NOR device, as we align each partition size on max supported erase block size on = 256 Kbytes.
2.11.4. NAND MTD partition on STMicroelectronics boards[edit source]
The default MTD partitions used on the ST boards with OpenSTLinux for NAND boot is:
mtd list
List of MTD devices: * nand0 - type: NAND flash - block size: 0x40000 bytes - min I/O: 0x1000 bytes - OOB size: 224 bytes - OOB available: 118 bytes - ECC strength: 8 bits - ECC step size: 512 bytes - bitflip threshold: 6 bits - 0x000000000000-0x000040000000 : "nand0" - 0x000000000000-0x000000080000 : "fsbl1" - 0x000000080000-0x000000100000 : "fsbl2" - 0x000000100000-0x000000180000 : "metadata1" - 0x000000180000-0x000000200000 : "metadata2" - 0x000000200000-0x000000600000 : "fip-a1" - 0x000000600000-0x000000a00000 : "fip-a2" - 0x000000a00000-0x000000e00000 : "fip-b1" - 0x000000e00000-0x000001200000 : "fip-b2" - 0x000001200000-0x000040000000 : "UBI"
mtdparts
device nand0 <nand0>, # parts = 9 #: name size offset mask_flags 0: fsbl1 0x00080000 0x00000000 0 1: fsbl2 0x00080000 0x00080000 0 2: metadata1 0x00080000 0x00100000 0 3: metadata2 0x00080000 0x00180000 0 4: fip-a1 0x00400000 0x00200000 0 5: fip-a2 0x00400000 0x00600000 0 6: fip-b1 0x00400000 0x00a00000 0 7: fip-b2 0x00400000 0x00e00000 0 8: UBI 0x3ee00000 0x01200000 0 active partition: nand0,0 - (fsbl1) 0x00080000 @ 0x00000000 defaults: mtdids : nand0=nand0,nor0=nor0 mtdparts: mtdparts=nand0:512k(fsbl1),512k(fsbl2),512k(metadata1),512k(metadata2),4m(fip-a1),4m(fip-a2),4m(fip-b1),4m(fip-b2),- (UBI);nor0:256k(fsbl1),256k(fsbl2),256k(metadata1),256k(metadata2),4m(fip-a),4m(fip-b),512k(u-boot-env),-(nor_user)
This default partitioning is compatible for any NAND device, as we align each partition size on max supported erase block size on NAND = 512 Kbytes.
3. Typical FlashLayout file[edit source]
This chapter describes the Layout file for the typical OpenSTLinux boot use cases based on STM32_MPU_Flash_mapping.
Data are presented in tables for better readability despite the Layout file is plain text.
In the next examples, the boot chain of OpenSTLinux is used together with the following files:
- FSBL = TF-A with 2 different binary
- FSBL to boot with serial boot over USB = tf-a-usb.stm32
TF-A BL2 with STM32CubeProgrammer USB support,
this file is replaced by tf-a-uart.stm32 when UART is used - FSBL to program = tf-a-<dev>.stm32 (TF-A with boot from <dev> support, <dev> = emmc, sdcard, nand, spinand, nor)
- FSBL to boot with serial boot over USB = tf-a-usb.stm32
- TF-A metadata binary for FIP update support = metadata.bin
- FIP file containing SSBL = fip.bin, it includes secure monitor, from TF-A = SPMIN or from OP-TEE, SSBL=U-Boot binary and device tree.
3.1. NOR Flash memory and SD card[edit source]
NOR Flash memory in RAW, containing the bootloaders, use the MTD partitions for OpenSTLinux:
- 2 for TF-A : 2 copy for failsafe update
- 2 for TF-A metadata for FIP update support: 2 copy for failsafe update
- 2 for FIP : file fip.bin in the first slot (fip-a), the second slot is empty (fip-b), reserved for FIP update support
- 1 for U-Boot environment
SD card using GPT: several EXT4 partitions.
In this next NOR flashlayout for the STMicroelectronics boards, we align each partition on max supported erase block size of NOR 256 Kbytes, based on default MTD partition on NOR but the size of these MTD partitions can be optimized for NOR with lower erase block size.
| Opt | Part | Name | Type | Device | Offset | Binary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | 0x01 | fsbl-boot | Binary | none | 0x0 | tf-a-usb.stm32 |
| - | 0x03 | fip-boot | Binary | none | 0x0 | fip.bin |
| P | 0x04 | fsbl1 | Binary | nor0 | 0x00000000 | tf-a-nor.stm32 |
| P | 0x05 | fsbl2 | Binary | nor0 | 0x00040000 | tf-a-nor.stm32 |
| P | 0x06 | metadata1 | Binary | nor0 | 0x00080000 | metadata.bin |
| P | 0x07 | metadata2 | Binary | nor0 | 0x000C0000 | metadata.bin |
| P | 0x08 | fip-a | Binary | nor0 | 0x00100000 | fip.bin |
| PED | 0x09 | fip-b | Binary | nor0 | 0x00500000 | none |
| PED | 0x0A | u-boot-env | Binary | nor0 | 0x00900000 | none |
| PE | 0x0B | unused | Binary | nor0 | 0x00980000 | none |
| P | 0x10 | bootfs | System | mmc0 | 0x00004400 | bootfs.ext4 |
| P | 0x11 | vendorfs | FileSystem | mmc0 | 0x04004400 | vendorfs.ext4 |
| P | 0x12 | rootfs | FileSystem | mmc0 | 0x05004400 | rootfs.ext4 |
| P | 0x13 | userfs | FileSystem | mmc0 | 0x33004400 | userfs.ext4 |
The PartId 0x09 is empty/deleted in nor0 ('PED' flag), the second FIP slot is empty and cleared.
The FIP partition {{HighlightParam|0x8} named "fip-a" and - ! Opt !! Part !! Name !! Type !! Device !! Offset !! Binary || FIP || mmc0 || 0x00104400 || none |- | PED || 0x0A || u-boot-env || Binary || mmc0 || 0x00504400 || none |- | P || 0x09 || bootfs || System || mmc0 || 0x00904400 || bootfs.ext4 |- | P || 0x10 || vendorfs || FileSytem || mmc0 || TBD || vendorfs.ext4 |- | P || 0x12 || rootfs || FileSytem || mmc0 || TBD || rootfs.ext4 |- | P || 0x13 || userfs || FileSytem || mmc0 || TBD || userfs.ext4 |- | PED || 0x60 || emmc_boot1 || Binary || mmc1 || boot1 || none |- | DPE || 0x61 || emmc_boot2 || Binary || mmc1 || boot2 || none |- | EPD || 0x62 || emmc || RawImage || mmc1 || 0x0 || none |- | EPD || 0x10 || nand || RawImage || nand0 || 0x0 || none |}
4. Reference list[edit source]
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Device_Firmware_Upgrade
- ↑ USB Device Class Specification for Device Firmware Upgrade, Version 1.1, (available at http://www.usb.org/developers/docs): https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/DFU_1.1.pdf
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universally_unique_identifier
- ↑ https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/persistent_block_device_naming