Last edited 2 years ago

How to load U-Boot with dfu-util

Applicable for STM32MP13x lines, STM32MP15x lines

This page explains how to load and start U-Boot with the dfu-util[1] tool over a USB port.

This tool, available on Linux or Windows, supports the DFU standard [2] and can replace STM32CubeProgrammer for the U-Boot load use case.

1. Overview[edit source]

To load and execute U-Boot in DDR with the DFU protocol, the dfu-util tools can be used instead of STM32CubeProgrammer.

As the GetPhase is an STMicroelectronics protocol for STM32CubeProgrammer and is not supported by dfu-util, you must follow the steps described in AN5275: USB DFU/USART protocols used in STM32MP1 Series bootloaders and provide the binaries in the order expected by the bootloaders:

  1. Download phase 0x1 by ROM code is the FSBL (TF-A BL2)
  2. DFU detach to request an FSBL start - not required for STM32MP15x lines More info.png ROM code
  3. Download phase 0x3 by FSBL is the FIP file including the SSBL image (U-Boot)
  4. DFU detach to request an SSBL start

The FSBL, SSBL and FIP definitions can be found in the Boot chain overview.

The FIP includes the required SSBL = U-Boot, see How to configure TF-A FIP in order to update it with the U-Boot binary.

This feature can be used to debug U-Boot during board bring-up.

See also How to load U-Boot with STM32CubeProgrammer.

2. dfu-util[edit source]

The help message of dfu-util is:

   dfu-util --help
 Usage: dfu-util [options] ...
   -h --help			Print this help message
   -V --version			Print the version number
   -v --verbose			Print verbose debug statements
   -l --list			List currently attached DFU capable devices
   -e --detach			Detach currently attached DFU capable devices
   -E --detach-delay seconds	Time to wait before reopening a device after detach
   -d --device <vendor>:<product>[,<vendor_dfu>:<product_dfu>]
 				Specify Vendor/Product ID(s) of DFU device
   -p --path <bus-port. ... .port>	Specify path to DFU device
   -c --cfg <config_nr>		Specify the Configuration of DFU device
   -i --intf <intf_nr>		Specify the DFU Interface number
   -S --serial <serial_string>[,<serial_string_dfu>]
 				Specify Serial String of DFU device
   -a --alt <alt>		Specify the Altsetting of the DFU Interface
 				by name or by number
   -t --transfer-size <size>	Specify the number of bytes per USB Transfer
   -U --upload <file>		Read firmware from device into <file>
   -Z --upload-size <bytes>	Specify the expected upload size in bytes
   -D --download <file>		Write firmware from <file> into device
   -R --reset			Issue USB Reset signalling once we're finished
   -s --dfuse-address <address>	ST DfuSe mode, specify target address for
 				raw file download or upload. Not applicable for
 				DfuSe file (.dfu) downloads

The minimal dfu-util option used to load U-Boot is:

  • -a/--alt select the alternate to load the requested phase
  • -D/--download Download the requested binary for the selected phase
  • -e/--detach request a DFU DETACH

2.1. Identify alternate[edit source]

You can also use the -l/--list option to check the alternate associated to each phase (see AN5275 for the coding of the alternate name).

For example the result of this command on ROM code with a USB serial boot is:

  • on STM32MP15x lines More info.png: the first alternate is alt=1 for FSB alternate associate to phase 0x1 and the last one is alt = 5 for virtual associate to phase 0xF1
  dfu-util -l
 dfu-util 0.9
 
 Copyright 2005-2009 Weston Schmidt, Harald Welte and OpenMoko Inc.
 Copyright 2010-2016 Tormod Volden and Stefan Schmidt
 This program is Free Software and has ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
 Please report bugs to http://sourceforge.net/p/dfu-util/tickets/
 
 Found DFU: [0483:df11] ver=0200, devnum=12, cfg=1, intf=0, path="1-5.2", alt=5, name="@virtual /0xF1/1*512Ba", 
 serial="004100323338511634383330"
 Found DFU: [0483:df11] ver=0200, devnum=12, cfg=1, intf=0, path="1-5.2", alt=4, name="@Partition4 /0x04/1*16Me", 
 serial="004100323338511634383330"
 Found DFU: [0483:df11] ver=0200, devnum=12, cfg=1, intf=0, path="1-5.2", alt=3, name="@Partition3 /0x03/1*16Me", 
 serial="004100323338511634383330"
 Found DFU: [0483:df11] ver=0200, devnum=12, cfg=1, intf=0, path="1-5.2", alt=2, name="@Partition2 /0x02/1*1Me", 
 serial="004100323338511634383330"
 Found DFU: [0483:df11] ver=0200, devnum=12, cfg=1, intf=0, path="1-5.2", alt=1, name="@FSBL /0x01/1*1Me", 
 serial="004100323338511634383330"
 Found DFU: [0483:df11] ver=0200, devnum=12, cfg=1, intf=0, path="1-5.2", alt=0, name="@Partition0 /0x00/1*256Ke", 
 serial="004100323338511634383330"
  • on STM32MP13x lines More info.png: the first alternate is alt=0 for FSB alternate associate to phase 0x1 and the second is alt = 1 for virtual associate to phase 0xF1
  dfu-util -l
 dfu-util 0.9
 
 Copyright 2005-2009 Weston Schmidt, Harald Welte and OpenMoko Inc.
 Copyright 2010-2016 Tormod Volden and Stefan Schmidt
 This program is Free Software and has ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
 Please report bugs to http://sourceforge.net/p/dfu-util/tickets/
 
 Found DFU: [0483:df11] ver=0200, devnum=6, cfg=1, intf=0, path="1-5.2", alt=1, name="@virtual /0xF1/1*512Ba", serial="801480113530510138343532"
 Found DFU: [0483:df11] ver=0200, devnum=6, cfg=1, intf=0, path="1-5.2", alt=0, name="@FSBL/0x01/1*128Ke", serial="801480113530510138343532"

2.2. Select device[edit source]

In each dfu-util command, the command device can be identified by:

  • USB vendor and product identifiers (VID and PID)
  • USB serial number

In the previous STM32MP15 example, the device has VID:PID=0483:df11 and its serial number is 004100323338511634383330.

In the following sections, you can add the -d/--device and -S/--serial options to select this specific device:

  dfu-util -d 0483:df11 -S 004100323338511634383330 ....

It is required only when several devices are connected on the host.

3. The U-Boot load sequence[edit source]

The load sequence is described in #Overview, depending of the alternate (phase = P for alternate A) and the corresponding commands are:

  1. Download phase P = dfu-util -a A -D [file]
  2. DFU detach = dfu-util -a 0 -e
Info white.png Information
After a DFU detach done with dfu-util -a 0 -e, you must wait that the next stage is ready, for example by adding some delay in script.

3.1. On STM32MP15x lines More info.png[edit source]

  dfu-util -a 1 -D tf-a-usb.stm32
  dfu-util -a 3 -D fip.bin
  dfu-util -a 0 -e

3.2. On STM32MP13x lines More info.png[edit source]

  dfu-util -a 0 -D tf-a-usb.stm32
  dfu-util -a 0 -e
  dfu-util -a 0 -D fip.bin
  dfu-util -a 0 -e

4. U-Boot DFU support[edit source]

After load sequence, U-Boot is running, the boot command is executed, the DFU stack is running and the stm32prog is waiting the FlashLayout file before to reenumerate. you can:

  dfu-util -a 0 -D flashlayout.tsv
  dfu-util -a 0 -e
  • interrupt the stm32progcommand by sending a Ctrl-C on the console or sending an empty flashlayout with 2 DFU detach:
  dfu-util -a 0 -e
  dfu-util -a 0 -e
  • request device reboot by a USB reset with option -R --reset:
  dfu-util -a 0 -e -R

4.1. Generate an flashlayout.stm32 file[edit source]

You can generate the flashlayout.stm32 file from the tsv flashlayout file = flashlayout.tsv with the U-Boot mkimage tool by using the following Linux shell commands:

 mkimage -T stm32image -a 0xC0000000 -e 0xC0000000 -d flashlayout.tsv flashlayout.stm32

4.2. Execute a U-Boot script[edit source]

You can replace the flashlayout file with a U-Boot script containing a U-Boot image header. This is then executed automatically by U-Boot.

The following example is for a simple script to start U-Boot in dfu mode and then reset:

 dfu 0
 reset
 echo "dfu 0; reset" > script.cmd
 mkimage -C none -A arm -T script -d script.cmd script.uimg

Then the complete sequence is:

  • on STM32MP15x lines More info.png
  dfu-util -a 1 -D tf-a-usb.stm32
  dfu-util -a 3 -D fip.bin
  dfu-util -a 0 -e
  dfu-util -a 0 -D script.uimg
  dfu-util -a 0 -e
  • on STM32MP13x lines More info.png
  dfu-util -a 0 -D tf-a-usb.stm32
  dfu-util -a 0 -e
  dfu-util -a 0 -D fip.bin
  dfu-util -a 0 -e
  dfu-util -a 0 -D script.uimg
  dfu-util -a 0 -e

5. GetPhase support with dfu-util[edit source]

The GetPhase is an STMicroelectronics addition, on top of DFU, not supported by dfu-util, see AN5275: USB DFU/USART protocols used in STM32MP1 Series bootloaders for details.

The expected Phase P and the expected DFU detach request are indicated by device in the Get Phase answer, read (= DFU_UPLOAD) in the last alternate, with alternate id = A, name = "virtual" with phase id = 0xF1 with the command:

  dfu-util -a A -U phase.bin

The format of the received data, the phase.bin file in this example, is:

Byte Name Description
1 Phase Phase P expected by device
2-5 Address 0xFFFFFFFF or load address in embedded RAM
6-9 Offset 0x0
10 NeedDFUDetach Present only if P = 0
1 : DFU detach is requested for a new USB enumeration

This information can be used to dynamically manage the load sequence in script using dfu-util as it is done in STM32CubeProgrammer.

Example of "Get Phase" answer done by STM32MP13x ROM code on alternate 1:

  dfu-util -a 1 -U phase.bin
 dfu-util 0.9
 
 Copyright 2005-2009 Weston Schmidt, Harald Welte and OpenMoko Inc.
 Copyright 2010-2016 Tormod Volden and Stefan Schmidt
 This program is Free Software and has ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
 Please report bugs to http://sourceforge.net/p/dfu-util/tickets/
 
 Opening DFU capable USB device...
 ID 0483:df11
 Run-time device DFU version 0110
 Claiming USB DFU Interface...
 Setting Alternate Setting #0 ...
 Determining device status: state = dfuIDLE, status = 0
 dfuIDLE, continuing
 DFU mode device DFU version 0110
 Device returned transfer size 1024
 Copying data from DFU device to PC
 Upload	[=========================] 100%            9 bytes
 Upload done.
 
  hexdump phase.bin
 0000000 0001 fdfe 002f 0000 0000               
 0000009

6. References[edit source]

  1. dfu-util - Device Firmware Upgrade Utilities - http://dfu-util.sourceforge.net
  2. USB DFU - Universal Serial Bus Device Class Specification for Device Firmware Upgrade Version 1.1 - https://usb.org/sites/default/files/DFU_1.1.pdf