PowerPC/MPC8XX Motorola MBX

Overview

RedBoot uses the SMC1/COM1 serial port. The default serial port settings are 38400,8,N,1. Ethernet is also supported using the 10-base T connector.

Management of onboard flash is also supported.

The following RedBoot configurations are supported:

Initial Installation Method

Device programmer is used to program the XU1 socketed flash part (AM29F040B) with the ROM mode image of RedBoot. Use the on-board EPPC-Bug monitor to update RedBoot.

This assumes that you have EPPC-Bug in the on-board flash. This can be determined by setting up the board according to the following instructions and powering up the board.

The EPPC-Bug prompt should appear on the SMC1 connector at 9600 baud, 8N1.

1. Set jumper 3 to 2-3 [allow XU1 flash to be programmed]

2. Set jumper 4 to 2-3 [boot EPPC-Bug]

If it is available, program the flash by following these steps:

1. Prepare EPPC-Bug for download:

   EPPC-Bug>lo 0

   At this point the monitor is ready for input. It will not return the prompt until the file has been downloaded.

2. Use the terminal emulator's ASCII download feature (or a simple clipboard copy/paste operation) to download the redboot.ppcbug file.

   Note that on Linux, Minicom's ASCII download feature seems to be broken. A workaround is to load the file into emacs (or another editor) and copy the full contents to the clipboard. Then press the mouse paste-button (usually the middle one) over the Minicom window.

3. Program the flash with the downloaded data:

   EPPC-Bug>pflash 40000 60000 fc000000

4. Switch off the power, and change jumper 4 to 1-2. Turn on the power again. The board should now boot using the newly programmed RedBoot.

Special RedBoot Commands

None.

Memory Maps

Memory Maps RedBoot sets up the following memory map on the MBX board.

Physical Address Range Description
----------------------- -----------
0x00000000 - 0x003fffff DRAM
0xfa100000 - 0xfa100003 LEDs
0xfe000000 - 0xfe07ffff flash (AMD29F040B)
0xff000000 - 0xff0fffff MPC registers

Rebuilding RedBoot

These shell variables provide the platform-specific information needed for building RedBoot according to the procedure described in Chapter 3:

export TARGET=mbx
export ARCH_DIR=powerpc
export PLATFORM_DIR=mbx

The names of configuration files are listed above with the description of the associated modes.