FreeBSD/arm for Gateworks Avila board

This procedure has been tested on a FreeBSD HEAD system.

1. Build world:

make TARGET_ARCH=arm TARGET_CPUTYPE=xscale TARGET_BIG_ENDIAN=true buildworld

1. Setup an NFS root:

ROOT=/data/freebsd/roots/gateworks

make TARGET_ARCH=arm TARGET_CPUTYPE=xscale \

TARGET_BIG_ENDIAN=true DESTDIR=$ROOT installworld

mergemaster -m $SRC/etc -D $ROOT -i -A arm

[Note mergemaster will fail if used to install HEAD on a RELENG_6

system unless /usr/share/mk on the host system has been updated

w/ changes to the build infrastructure.]

1. Configure the NFS root for diskless use; consult diskless(8).

1. Build and install a kernel:

Load the npe(4) microcode file IxNpeMicrocode.dat from

http://www.intel.com/design/network/products/npfamily/ixp400_current.htm

and put it into /sys/arm/xscale/ixp425/

make TARGET_ARCH=arm KERNCONF=AVILA buildkernel

make TARGET_ARCH=arm KERNCONF=AVILA DESTDIR=$ROOT installkernel

Note: the AVILA kernel is configured with the root filesystem

mounted via NFS over the npe0 wired interface.

You should now have an NFS-mountable root filesystem with a kernel.

The final step is to setup network diskless booting from the board.

It is assumed you have a DHCP server operating on your network and

the server is configured to supply the necessary information in the

DHCP lease. If you run the ISC DHCP server the following configuration

information is an example of how to do this:

option root-opts code 130 = string; # NFS / mount options

host avila1 {

hardware ethernet 00:d0:12:02:47:68;

fixed-address 10.0.0.221;

next-server 10.0.0.251;

filename “kernel-avila.nfs”;

option root-path “10.0.0.251:/data/freebsd/roots/gateworks”;

option root-opts “nolockd”;

}

[Note: the root-opts item specifies the root filesystem should

be mounted with the nolocked option; this just short-circuits

file locking requests so you don't get complaints from programs

that use the pidfile(3) routine (e.g. devd).]

5. Place the kernel in the TFTP area for booting from the prom monitor.

If your TFTP server returns file from /tftpboot (default) then do

something like:

cp $ROOT/boot/kernel/kernel /tftpboot/kernel-avila.nfs

6. Boot the kernel from redboot:

RedBoot> ip -h 10.0.0.251 -l 10.0.0.1

IP: 10.0.0.1/255.255.255.0 Gateway: 0.0.0.0

Default server: 10.0.0.251

RedBoot> load -b 0x200000 kernel-avila.nfs

Using default protocol (TFTP)

Address offset = 0x40000000

Entry point: 0x00200100, address range: 0x00200000-0x004db2d4

RedBoot> go

7. To record the above redboot script so that it's used every time

the board is reset run the fconfig command at the redboot prompt

and answer the questions.

Past this you can setup a FreeBSD installation on compact flash and

store a kernel in flash using redboot. Then on boot load the kernel

from flash and if that kernel is configured with root on ad0 you

can run entirely from local storage. Note that the redboot that comes

in the Avila board does not understand how to load a file from UFS

so it is not yet possible to boot a kernel directly from compact flash

(when formatted with UFS).

8. Boot kernel from CF:

On Avila:

Insert CF into the board

Boot from NFS

fdisk ad0 and bsdlabel ad0s1 (remind that xscale-arm.kernel is big-endian!)

mount /dev/ad0s1a /mnt

cd /; find -x . | cpio -pdamuv /mnt

On the NFS Host:

Adapt /sys/arm/conf/AVILA, comment out options NFS_ROOT, BOOTP*

add option ROOTDEVNAME=\“ufs:ad0s1\”

make kernel like 4.

install kernel into tftpd area as kernel.ad0

On Avila:

reboot

CTRL-C before kernel loading (you need to config your cua*0 as 3wire

via /etc/rc.d/serial to let CTRL-C work)

load -b 0x200000 kernel.ad0

fis create kernel.ad0 (no need to overwrite the linux-stuff)

fconfig (to adapt the new kernel)