From wpdster@gmail.com Wed Jun 08 14:56:58 2011 Received: from mail-fx0-f44.google.com ([209.85.161.44]) by stoneboat.aleph1.co.uk with esmtps (TLS1.0:RSA_ARCFOUR_SHA1:16) (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1QUJFa-0004tW-Mk for balloon@balloonboard.org; Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:56:58 +0100 Received: by fxm15 with SMTP id 15so395966fxm.31 for ; Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:56:45 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:in-reply-to:references:from:date :message-id:subject:to:cc:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; bh=Yg8Neu8joYry5QdwpOsDEm27j5BmTbHWlx8i9LVNRmU=; b=LTTa7VCK5O76pM4ufTJ/otFNrDAon8gQm2i3c+vlckkm2XNjpguxcfmFt8vAS7lKyO RPu6uMTYVkHlLCOgv3qZvglws6k9hOXGYDs7E9R1cBqkvL3hUHXuUPyVrP+eAFXmERty Fv536Vh05f0V99Qu1aO862fPu6V7tQF2NZecQ= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:from:date:message-id:subject:to :cc:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=rgaNX/k0kcxypCT2vJCTxVft07Ag8ogMrmIhJIn/9tQYPyCrb9+WWE4p50JrgB2P28 ngSjEBGe+/w6u/c04905XTzyCNBNJ+Ycx+3o8sX2APwk6aDMNmP+7PUsjB5GY7q/NG2l gtaTYVRZHGQW4ZcO6e4IzyBcDec6QL75nyd1g= Received: by 10.223.41.89 with SMTP id n25mr466939fae.7.1307541405097; Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:56:45 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.223.96.137 with HTTP; Wed, 8 Jun 2011 06:56:25 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <4DEF79C8.1030400@martin-jones.com> References: <20110608012636.GV5028@dream.aleph1.co.uk> <4DEF6824.3060402@martin-jones.com> <4DEF79C8.1030400@martin-jones.com> From: Patrick Doyle Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2011 09:56:25 -0400 Message-ID: To: Chris Jones Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-SA-Exim-Connect-IP: 209.85.161.44 X-SA-Exim-Mail-From: wpdster@gmail.com X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.5 (2008-06-10) on stoneboat.aleph1.co.uk X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=4.5 tests=AWL,BAYES_00, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_LOW,SPF_PASS autolearn=ham version=3.2.5 X-SA-Exim-Version: 4.2.1 (built Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:14:11 +0000) X-SA-Exim-Scanned: Yes (on stoneboat.aleph1.co.uk) Cc: balloon@balloonboard.org Subject: Re: [Balloon] Accessing NOR flash from Linux X-BeenThere: balloon@balloonboard.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.11 Precedence: list List-Id: Balloon List List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:56:59 -0000 On Wed, Jun 8, 2011 at 9:31 AM, Chris Jones wrote: > On 08/06/2011 14:43, Patrick Doyle wrote: >> I think I'll go down the path of enabling access to the FPGA partition >> of the NOR flash... at least until the "too hard" LED turns on. =A0Then >> I'll start looking at the bbl path recommended by Wookey. =A0I'm >> avoiding the bbl path right now because my USB<->RS232 converter only >> works natively on my MacBook, and I deemed it more difficult (and less >> fun) to figure out how to make bbl run on the MacBook, than it would >> be to go hack kernel code. > > Don't worry too much about bbl. Clever and useful though it is, it's a > wrapper round existing procedures using the serial port and JTAG ports > mostly. My world suffers from sufficient dependency rot that I often > find it easier to work with the bare metal - see below. > > My favourite ways of programming the NOR Flash: > - serial into the bootldr with 'load flash 0x.....' and an XMODEM > transfer. Pretty slow at 115kbaud but simple and reliable. > - if the wind's blowing in the right direction, OpenOCD to talk to the > JTAG port on the Balloon and program the NOR Flash that way. Quicker, > capable of 20kbytes/sec or more, but requires more complex hardware and > software. > > Both of these should work without too much grief on the Mac. I've used > them both, though I've found USB-serial adapters on my Mac to be less > than perfect. > I have been using ZMODEM fine. But now that I have my spiffy PPP network connection set up, I think I'll try NOR mtdblock thing. I do have a USB based JTAG pod, but I feel kinda funny programming a Xilinx part with an Altera Byte Blaster :-) Plus, I don't have the breakout board with the JTAG header anyway. --wpd