Re: moving to same chip, different board: no console output

[Ahmad Fatoum <a.fatoum@pengutronix.de>]

Hi David,

On 6/11/25 13:46, David Picard wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I took the same Buildroot configuration. I replaced the .dts* files with
> the ones provided by the new board BSP. Actually, they differ quite a
> lot from the Altera SoC FPGA .dts* files in the Linux tree. Then, I
> compiled and flashed the SD card.

The device trees don't have the whole story. There is Quartus-generated
C board code that sets up the DRAM controller for example, so just
replacing the device tree doesn't work so early.

> I enabled CONFIG_DEBUG_LL with no change. CONFIG_DEBUG_PBL doesn't exist
> in my case. For some reason, the defconfig I built upon, uses Barebox
> v2021.07.0, which is probably outdated...

v2021.07.0 predated CONFIG_DEBUG_PBL, yes.

Cheers,
Ahmad

> 
> David
> 
> Le 06/06/2025 à 19:46, Ahmad Fatoum a écrit :
>> Hello David,
>>
>> On 06.06.25 16:43, David Picard wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I am working on a project for which we selected an Intel/Altera
>>> Cyclone 5 SoC FPGA (an FPGA with an ARM core). As the project
>>> evolves, I have to change boards and I am facing issues to boot:
>>> absolutely no output on the serial console (USB virtual COM port),
>>> not even from Barebox.
>>>
>>> Previous working configuration:
>>> - SD card image produced by Buildroot with Barebox as the bootloader
>>> - Terasic ADC-SoC demo board, booting from the SD card.
>>> https://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?
>>> Language=English&No=1061&PartNo=1
>>>
>>> Current non-working configuration:
>>> - Eclustra Mercury+ SA2 module, also with a Cyclone 5, plus SDRAM,
>>> RTC, QSPI flash, etc. I think that the main difference between both
>>> Cyclone 5 chips is the size of the logic section is bigger on the
>>> module. The module has more RAM.
>>> https://www.enclustra.com/en/products/system-on-chip-modules/mercury-
>>> sa2/
>>> - Enclustra ST1 demo baseboard. It has a JTAG port, should this
>>> information be of interest.
>>> https://www.enclustra.com/en/products/base-boards/mercury-st1/
>>>
>>> I the current configuration, I get no output on the serial console.
>> So you tried to use the exact same image on both boards or were
>> there changes?
>>
>>> What I did:
>>> - I checked the hardware configuration (switches to select booting
>>> from the SD card and USB config) with a bare-metal application
>>> provided by Enclustra.
>>> - I used Enclutra's .dts and .dtsi files, which differ very slightly
>>> from the Linux kernel tree files.
>>> - I checked how the SD card is connected: to the exact same pins in
>>> both configurations.
>>> - I had a look at Barebox menuconfig, but nothing caught my eye.
>>>
>>> So, now I'm stuck, and I'm looking for some guidance.
>> You can try enabling CONFIG_DEBUG_LL and CONFIG_DEBUG_PBL and see if you
>> get some debugging output maybe. You'll have to choose which UART to use.
>>
>> I think your new SoM may have different RAM and thus you can't use the
>> same image, but need one suitable to RAM integrated on your new board.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Ahmad
>>
>>> David
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
> 
> 
> 

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