Re: [PATCH RFC 9/9] doc: board: amlogic: add u-boot-spl documentation

[Heinrich Schuchardt]

On 9/10/25 09:03, Neil Armstrong wrote:

On 07/09/2025 16:36, Ferass El Hafidi wrote:

Add building and usage instructions for SPL.

Signed-off-by: Ferass El Hafidi <fundersc...@postmarketos.org>
---
  doc/board/amlogic/index.rst             |  1 +
  doc/board/amlogic/pre-generated-fip.rst |  9 ++++

  doc/board/amlogic/spl.rst               | 77 +++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++

  3 files changed, 87 insertions(+)

diff --git a/doc/board/amlogic/index.rst b/doc/board/amlogic/index.rst

index dcd935224ac0280a77455e3475a610fd81cfb80d..23380ac33f2b06efff7d4741ce2967d75671ca13 100644

--- a/doc/board/amlogic/index.rst
+++ b/doc/board/amlogic/index.rst
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ Boot Documentation
     boot-flow
     pre-generated-fip
+   spl
  Board Documentation
  -------------------

diff --git a/doc/board/amlogic/pre-generated-fip.rst b/doc/board/ amlogic/pre-generated-fip.rst index 6a43d776d43f35cbffc7ba9e72bf05dd719f6387..d820bd09115952d4fca2b9e7d7b5a9e30bd11430 100644

--- a/doc/board/amlogic/pre-generated-fip.rst
+++ b/doc/board/amlogic/pre-generated-fip.rst

@@ -98,6 +98,13 @@ The repo also provides the following files used with GXBB boards:   The repo also supports the open-source 'gxlimg' signing tool that can be used to sign   U-Boot binaries for GXL/GXM/G12A/G12B/SM1 boards: https:// github.com/repk/gxlimg

+The following binaries can be replaced with open-source implementations:
+
+- bl2.bin (GXBB and GXL only)
+- bl31.img (GXBB, GXL, AXG and G12A only)
+
+Refer to `Experimental U-Boot SPL Support`_ if you wish to replace them.
+
  Licensing
  ---------

@@ -129,3 +136,5 @@ clarified. The current Amlogic distribution licence is below:       // THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT       // (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE       // OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

+
+.. _`Experimental U-Boot SPL Support`: spl.rst
diff --git a/doc/board/amlogic/spl.rst b/doc/board/amlogic/spl.rst
new file mode 100644

index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..39d50e3da87d71f62cec1903c441c334bf7020e8

--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/board/amlogic/spl.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
+
+Experimental U-Boot SPL Support
+===============================
+

+There's some experimental support for some Amlogic SoCs, in U-Boot SPL.  It +replaces the proprietary bl2.bin blob used for DRAM init.  Currently Meson GX

+SoCs (GXBB, GXL) are supported.
+

+A subset of Amlogic boards have SPL enabled.  These boards have been tested and

+known to work to an extent.

%s/known/are known/

+
+
+Building Arm Trusted Firmware (TF-A)
+------------------------------------
+
+This U-Boot SPL port requires the BL31 stage of mainline Arm Trusted
+Firmware-A firmware. It provides an open source implementation of secure
+software for Armv8-A. Build it with:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+

+    $ git clone https://git.trustedfirmware.org/TF-A/trusted- firmware-a.git

+    $ cd trusted-firmware-a
+    $ make CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- PLAT=your_soc DEBUG=1
+

+Replace ``your_soc`` with the SoC target you wish to build for. For GXBB it's

+``gxbb`` and for GXL it's ``gxl``.
+
+
+Building a bl30_new.bin binary
+------------------------------
+
+``bl30_new.bin`` has both ``bl30.bin`` and ``bl301.bin`` binary blobs

+bundled. The former is the proper system control processor firmware and the +latter is a "plug-in" for board-specific DVFS/suspend-resume parameters. For +more info you may wish to read this page: `Pre-Generated FIP File Repo`_.

+
+To build using the FIP file repo, simply issue the following commands:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $ cd amlogic-boot-fip/your_board

Where do you get this source tree from? It is not contained in TF-A.

Best regards

Heinrich

+    $ make bl30_new.bin
+
+
+.. _`Pre-Generated FIP File Repo`: pre-generated-fip.rst
+
+
+U-Boot compilation
+------------------
+

+U-Boot SPL is not enabled by default, instead there are config fragments that

+can be used to enable it, with per-board configuration:
+
+- ``spl-libretech-cc-1gb.config``: 1 GB LePotato board
+- ``spl-libretech-cc-2gb.config``: 2 GB LePotato board
+- ``spl-odroid-c2.config``: ODROID-C2
+- ``spl-videostrong-kii-pro.config``: Videostrong KII Pro
+
+Pick one of them then:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $ export CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-

+    $ export BL31=path/to/tf-a/bl31.bin                 # Upstream TF-A BL31 binary +    $ export SCP=path/to/bl30_new.bin                   # bl30_new.bin binary

+    $ make <yourboardname>_defconfig spl-<yourboardname>.config
+    $ make
+
+Write to SD:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $ DEV=/dev/boot_device

+    $ dd if=u-boot-meson-with-spl.bin of=$DEV conv=fsync,notrunc bs=512 seek=1

+

It's very nice :-)

Reviewed-by: Neil Armstrong <neil.armstr...@linaro.org>