Hi Andy
This turns out to be quite a serious issue to consider when
contemplating the TS-7400 as a platform for field deployment. If a
user does any one of many "stupid" things like, but not limited to:
Using ftp to transfer files and "accidentally wiping or overwriting a
crucial 7400 file, or (as we have already experienced) trying to use
an update script and having a file deleted before it is correctly
overwritten, or having a power failure during USB update. What the
user has then is a paperweight, and I get a support call. Technologic
is agreeable to reprogram the dead boards for me, but this product is
all over the world, and sending a board back each time this occurs is
impossible.
Since no TS-7400 CPU JTAG pins are brought out, the use of a JTAG
dongle is not possible, and even if the pins were there, I have not
been able to find any documentation on the flash interface (done
through the TS-7400 ALTERA); such information is necessary to set up
the JTAG memory access per the flash memory type.
I assume that when a board's flash is rendered corrupt that the
TS-7400 2K EEPROM is still intact, and that the ALTERA has also not
been corrupted. This means that the ONLY way to restore this board is
via the 9441 port or via the serial port.
Also, the restore procedure should not be 50 steps of manual
procedure. Our users are not savvy enough to do this out in some
remote site.
Since I do hardware, I am willing to create a new "TS-9441 Like" board
with sufficient memory to hold my complete product's code. What I need
assistance with is the development of custom code for the boot part of
the TS-9441 to perform the update. This code should also be able to
read a Complete Image from a target TS-7400 board and write it to the
restore board's memory (to make backups of a working system).
I would package the new restore device in a rugged field type
enclosure so that it is not an exposed board.
Another way to do a complete flash restore would be via the serial
port. Slow, but possible. What is needed here is a Windows loader
program that senses the serial character sent from the target CPU
(when the CPU is properly strapped for serial code loading). This
program (like the JTAG solution) needs knowledge of what the flash
memory of the TS-7400 actually looks like (primitives like erasing,
bulk or sector, write timing and waits, read timing, etc..) I do not
have this information.
FYI, we make several other products using the Cirrus Logic ARM7 CPU,
and use the serial port to load code during production. We wrote our
own loader since we had full control of the hardware. Since it is a
slow process, our loading station handles 16 target boards at a time.
The product using the TS-7400 has been well accepted, but this is an
issue I must solve before I will be able to feel comfortable making
more of the product.
Thanks,
Howard
--- In "Andy Mercier" <> wrote:
>
> --- In "anatek36" <anatek36@> wrote:
> >
> > The main issue we face is what can we create to send out to
> > our field users to restore a completely corrupted flash memory chip
> > on a TS-7400 board?
> > I understand that there is only 2M on the 9441 board, but we
> > could possibly make a version of the 9441 that has much bigger
> > flash.
> >
> Hi anatek,
> Yes, have something custom made - primarily scripts.
>
> With enough flash on a 9441 and an intelligent script or scripts that
> could be a solution.
>
> Have you considered the solution documented in
> http://www.embeddedarm.com/Manuals/ts-7400-info.txt, paragraph
> "Software-update facility in factory configuration"? It describes the
> use of a USB storage device with a script to perform software updates.
> Maybe using this in conjunction with the 9441 will get you what you
need.
>
> I have an interest in your solution, whenever you get it. I have a
> project coming up using the TS-7400 where I'll have to deal with the
> same issue: The product with an integral TS-7400 may have its on-board
> flash get corrupted. It may have to have the functionality of the 9441
> built in to allow on-site recovery.
>
> There are two major tasks (with a bunch of minor ones in each of
> these) to restoring a TS-7400 completely, 1) Restore the fastboot
> kernel and the initrd, 2) Get your application code on the on-board
> flash (partition 3?).
>
> If you use the SD card then you have another step to getting parts of
> a corrupted 7400 going - at least the restoration of your application
> code.
>
> The direction I'm going to go with my solution is use of the USB
> storage and/or the SD card in conjunction with a customized load on a
> TS-9441 to get the corrupted flash fixed. I feel this is one of the
> better solutions since it doesn't require larger flash on the TS-9441.
>
> Thanks for posting the question - it helped me think about it before
> the pressure of trying to come up with all the scenarios myself.
>
> Good luck.
>
> ----
> Andy
>
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