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Merged
cshilwant merged 3 commits into from
Nov 21, 2025
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fix(linux): U-Boot: Falcon-Mode: update docs for 11.2 release #520

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91d159a
fix(Falcon-Mode): remove links to already merged patches
ArchUsr64 Nov 18, 2025
7f669bd
feat(Falcon-Mode): update OSPI boot instructions
ArchUsr64 Nov 18, 2025
ee52d5b
feat(Falcon-Mode): update to use upstream U-Boot docs
ArchUsr64 Nov 18, 2025
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133 changes: 21 additions & 112 deletions source/linux/Foundational_Components/U-Boot/UG-Falcon-Mode.rst
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -25,12 +25,6 @@
$ # build the SDK
$ MACHINE=<machine> bitbake -k tisdk-default-image

The following set of patches are also required since they are **not** part of the
``11.01`` SDK release:

* `meta-ti <https://git.yoctoproject.org/meta-ti/log/?h=scarthgap&qt=range&q=9601219021a43cf0c8b8d30ff6fd5f1e4bd42621...272390d0f6183ebab4d7fa81c689a35a125aebc6>`__
* `U-Boot <https://git.ti.com/cgit/ti-u-boot/ti-u-boot/commit/?h=ti-u-boot-2025.01-next&id=80f8ea010e3ef61277b7ab94ac4aeb85499c3ca5>`__

*************************************
Changes made by *ti-falcon* override:
*************************************
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -111,22 +105,19 @@

.. ifconfig:: CONFIG_part_variant not in ('AM62AX')

For OSPI boot, the :file:`tiboot3.bin` and :file:`tifalcon.bin` files should be
flashed to the same addresses in flash as regular boot flow but the
:file:`fitImage` is read from the root filesystem's boot directory. The MMC
For OSPI boot, the :file:`tiboot3.bin` file should be flashed to the same
addresses in flash as regular boot flow whereas :file:`tifalcon.bin` and the
:file:`fitImage` are read from the root filesystem's boot directory. The MMC
device is selected by the ``mmcdev`` env variable for R5 SPL.

Below U-Boot commands can be used to download :file:`tiboot3.bin` and
:file:`tifalcon.bin` over tftp and then flash those to OSPI at their respective
addresses.
Below U-Boot commands can be used to download :file:`tiboot3.bin` over tftp
and then flash it to OSPI.

.. code-block:: console

=> sf probe
=> tftp ${loadaddr} tiboot3.bin
=> sf update $loadaddr 0x0 $filesize
=> tftp ${loadaddr} tifalcon.bin
=> sf update $loadaddr 0x80000 $filesize

.. ifconfig:: CONFIG_part_variant in ('AM62AX')

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -159,118 +150,36 @@
Custom fitImage creation:
=========================

Clone the `core-secdev-k3 source <https://git.ti.com/cgit/security-development-tools/core-secdev-k3>`__:

.. code-block:: console

$ git clone https://git.ti.com/cgit/security-development-tools/core-secdev-k3

Copy the required kernel image renamed to :file:`Image` and the device-tree
renamed to :file:`falcon.dtb` inside the `core-secdev-k3` source directory.

Copy the following contents to a file named :file:`fitImage.its` inside
core-secdev-k3 source:

.. code-block:: dts

/dts-v1/;

/ {
description = "Kernel fitImage for falcon mode";
#address-cells = <1>;

images {
kernel-1 {
description = "Linux kernel";
data = /incbin/("Image.sec");
type = "kernel";
arch = "arm64";
os = "linux";
compression = "none";
load = <0x82000000>;
entry = <0x82000000>;
};
falcon.dtb {
description = "Flattened Device Tree blob";
data = /incbin/("falcon.dtb.sec");
type = "flat_dt";
arch = "arm64";
compression = "none";
load = <0x88000000>;
entry = <0x88000000>;
};
};

configurations {
default = "conf-falcon";
conf-falcon {
description = "Presigned Linux kernel and DTB";
kernel = "kernel-1";
fdt = "falcon.dtb";
};
};
};

Sign the kernel and device-tree with :file:`secure-binary-image.sh` and create the
:file:`fitImage` by using ``mkimage``:
The following steps show how to create a falcon compatible :file:`fitImage`:

.. code-block:: console

$ # inside core-secdev-k3 source
$ ./scripts/secure-binary-image.sh Image Image.sec
$ ./scripts/secure-binary-image.sh falcon.dtb falcon.dtb.sec
$ mkimage -f fitImage.its fitImage
.. ifconfig:: CONFIG_part_variant in ('AM62AX')

****************
Non-Yocto Users:
****************
* `fitImage Creation - U-Boot documentaiton <https://docs.u-boot.org/en/latest/board/ti/am62ax_sk.html#fitimage>`__

Following are the steps to build :file:`tiboot3.bin`, :file:`tifalcon.bin` and the
:file:`fitImage` required for falcon mode:
.. ifconfig:: CONFIG_part_variant in ('AM62PX')

#. For :ref:`ATF build <foundational-components-atf>`, use the following
arguments to update the ATF's jump address for the kernel and the
device-tree: ``PRELOADED_BL33_BASE=0x82000000 K3_HW_CONFIG_BASE=0x88000000``.
* `fitImage Creation - U-Boot documentaiton <https://docs.u-boot.org/en/latest/board/ti/am62px_sk.html#fitimage>`__

#. For :ref:`R5 U-Boot build <Build-U-Boot-label>`, use the
:file:`k3_r5_falcon.config` fragment to enable flacon support at the R5 SPL
stage.
.. ifconfig:: CONFIG_part_variant in ('AM62X')

#. Refer to the :ref:`fitImage creation step
<u-boot_falcon_mode_fitImage_creation>` above for preparing a bootable
:file:`fitImage` with an appropriate kernel and device-tree.
* `fitImage Creation - U-Boot documentaiton <https://docs.u-boot.org/en/latest/board/ti/am62x_sk.html#fitimage>`__

#. Copy the files generated to correct path on SD/eMMC as in the table below:
Non-Yocto Users:

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[RedHat.Headings] Use sentence-style capitalization in 'Non-Yocto Users:'.

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{"message": "[RedHat.Headings] Use sentence-style capitalization in 'Non-Yocto Users:'.", "location": {"path": "source/linux/Foundational_Components/U-Boot/UG-Falcon-Mode.rst", "range": {"start": {"line": 167, "column": 1}}}, "severity": "INFO"}
================

.. list-table::
:widths: 8 8 8 25
:header-rows: 1
The following steps show how to enable falcon mode from the R5 SPL standalone:

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[RedHat.Definitions] Define acronyms and abbreviations (such as 'SPL') on first occurrence if they're likely to be unfamiliar.

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{"message": "[RedHat.Definitions] Define acronyms and abbreviations (such as 'SPL') on first occurrence if they're likely to be unfamiliar.", "location": {"path": "source/linux/Foundational_Components/U-Boot/UG-Falcon-Mode.rst", "range": {"start": {"line": 170, "column": 64}}}, "severity": "INFO"}

* - File
- Destination path on SD/eMMC
- Partition
- Description
.. ifconfig:: CONFIG_part_variant in ('AM62AX')

* - :file:`tiboot3.bin`
- :file:`/tiboot3.bin`
- boot (fat)
- R5 SPL with falcon support
* `Falcon Mode - U-Boot documentaiton <https://docs.u-boot.org/en/latest/board/ti/am62ax_sk.html#falcon-mode>`__

* - :file:`tifalcon.bin`
- :file:`/boot/tifalcon.bin`
- root filesystem (ext4)
- tispl binary without SPL for the A core and device-tree
.. ifconfig:: CONFIG_part_variant in ('AM62PX')

* - :file:`fitImage`
- :file:`/boot/fitImage`
- root filesystem (ext4)
- :file:`fitImage` with pre-signed kernel and device-tree
* `Falcon Mode - U-Boot documentaiton <https://docs.u-boot.org/en/latest/board/ti/am62px_sk.html#falcon-mode>`__

.. note::
.. ifconfig:: CONFIG_part_variant in ('AM62X')

The :file:`tifalcon.bin` binary is generated by default for all falcon
supported platforms at the A-Core U-Boot build step and can be found
alongside the existing :file:`tispl.bin` file in U-Boot build's output directory.
* `Falcon Mode - U-Boot documentaiton <https://docs.u-boot.org/en/latest/board/ti/am62x_sk.html#falcon-mode>`__

**********************
Boot time comparisons:
Expand Down