Different versions of the ESPRESSObin board have different memory layouts, which require different builds of the bootloader.
Build the bootloader with nix-build -A pkgsCross.aarch64-multiplatform.ubootEspressobinImages_<configuration>, replacing <configuration> with one of:
512MBV5_1GB_2CSV5_1GB_1CSV7_1GBV7_2GBV5_2GB
eg. To build for the V7 1GB board, run nix-build -A pkgsCross.aarch64-multiplatform.ubootEspressobinImages_V7_1GB
Adapted from the USB stick instructions from http://wiki.espressobin.net/tiki-index.php?page=Update+the+Bootloader
- Copy
result/flash-image.binto a USB stick. - Connect a USB cable to the serial port on the ESPRESSObin and boot it with the current bootloader.
- Press enter to stop autoboot and get to the shell.
- Run
bubt flash-image.bin spi usb - Run
resetto reset the board and boot into the new bootloader.
Stop autoboot, load the default U-Boot environment with env default -a, save it with env save, then reset.
The goal is to get the fdtfile U-Boot variable to be automatically set correctly. I've seen corruption the first time I run those commands where the m in marvell is missing (see below). Running the commands again seems to set it correctly.
To see the current value, run echo $fdtfile.
- On an ESPRESSObin V5, the correct value is
marvell/armada-3720-espressobin.dtb. - On an ESPRESSObin V7, the correct value is
marvell/armada-3720-espressobin-v7.dtb.
- Set the boot jumpers on the board to boot into UART mode: http://wiki.espressobin.net/tiki-index.php?page=Ports+and+Interfaces#Boot_selection
- Connect the USB serial port, ensure it comes up as
/dev/ttyUSB0, then run./uart-recover.sh <configuration>, where<configuration>is as in the U-Boot section. - Set the boot jumpers back to booting from the SPI NOR flash and reset the board (press the reset button or unplug and plug in the power).
The default AArch64 NixOS image will boot unmodified on the ESPRESSObin, but there will be no serial output by default.
To get serial output over USB in Linux, console=ttyMV0,115200n8 needs to be added to the kernel command line.
To build an SD card image with this already set (and using the latest Linux kernel), run nix-build '<nixpkgs/nixos>' -A config.system.build.sdImage -I nixos-config=./sd-image.nix
This requires either an AArch64 host, or enabling AArch64 emulation in NixOS: https://nixos.wiki/wiki/NixOS_on_ARM#Compiling_through_QEMU
TODO: Cross compilation, eg. https://discourse.nixos.org/t/how-to-cross-compile-the-sd-card-images/12751
Some special configuration is needed to make things work as desired.
# To get a console on the micro-USB serial port.
boot.kernelParams = [ "console=ttyMV0,115200n8" ];MAC addresses are randomized on boot since they are not set up in any way by U-Boot.
These can be set in NixOS configuration instead:
# These are the MAC addresses for my unit, based on what's printed on the case.
# It's recommended to adjust these if your unit has a different MAC address
# printed.
networking.interfaces.wan.macAddress = "f0:ad:4e:09:08:a0";
networking.interfaces.lan0.macAddress = "f0:ad:4e:09:08:a1";
networking.interfaces.lan1.macAddress = "f0:ad:4e:09:08:a2";There are some issues around how the network interfaces work, where eth0 is
the connection between the SoC and the internal ethernet switch, and wan,
lan0, and lan1 are ports on that switch.
This is what I did to get DHCP working on the wan interface - it probably
works with lan0 and lan1 as well, adding those in the same way.
# eth0 needs to be up for the other interfaces to work.
# https://github.com/mirrexagon/espressobin-nix/issues/2
# https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/7478
networking.interfaces.wan.useDHCP = true;
networking.localCommands = ''
ip link set eth0 up
'';See these links for more information and discussion:
- The V7 schematics (page 9) imply you can boot U-Boot from SD card by setting the three mode jumpers to 1. The wiki page table seems to be wrong, all modes except SPI NOR flash are the same.