Embedded Linux boot

[Jennifer]

Could we write a custom program into SPL/MLO section? Consider that we wont use u-boot or linux kernel and guarentee that our memory consumption in less than 128KB.

If we wont use linux kernel then u-boot is really necessary?I mean , I want to prepare SPL/MLO as custom program loader is it possible to load the custom program to DDR memory and continue to execute it?

Regards,
Jennifer

[Erik Welsh]

Jennifer,

Yes, you can write custom programs on the AM335x that do not use Linux. The biggest issue is all of the system initialization that is required to get the processor and DDR up and running.  There are a couple of paths to follow:

1) You can use the TI StarterWare:  https://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/StarterWare  While you don’t necessarily need U-Boot, you can see an example of using U-Boot to load a StarerWare program in our application note:  https://octavosystems.com/app_notes/bare-metal-on-osd335x-using-u-boot/  However, please note that TI no longer supports this software package.

2) You can use the TI-RTOS:  https://www.ti.com/tool/PROCESSOR-SDK-AM335X  This includes boot loaders and boot utilities.

You can prototype this development on the OSD3358-SM-RED.  However, you might want to get a JTAG debugger and populate the JTAG header to make it easier to interface with Code Composer Studio.

Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

Thanks,

Erik

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