Video ROM and VSA for Geode LX

[Phani Babu Giddi]

Hi,

I am having trouble getting AMD's DB800 board to boot Linux with FILO. I am
using buildrom to build the image.

Now for debugging purposses I want to get Video ROM in coreboot image. Has
anybody tried patching Video ROM to coreboot image for Geode LX, if so which
part of the BIOS image does this fit in. Is it after VSA or before that ? I
think I have to reduce ROM_SIZE by the size of VSA and Video ROM.

Is there any other way I can debug coreboot/filo ? Can all the post codes
and other stuff be seen on serial console ?

Regards,
Phani

[Phani Babu Giddi]

I check Options.lb for db800 board and looks like serial console debugging
is turned on, but I still dont see any messages on my serial console.

# To Enable the Serial Console
default CONFIG_CONSOLE_SERIAL8250=1
default TTYS0_BAUD=115200
# Select the serial console base port
default TTYS0_BASE=0x3f8
## Request this level of debugging output
default  DEFAULT_CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL=8
## At a maximum only compile in this level of debugging
default  MAXIMUM_CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL=8

-Phani
On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 10:38 AM, Phani Babu Giddi  wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am having trouble getting AMD's DB800 board to boot Linux with FILO. I
> am using buildrom to build the image.
>
> Now for debugging purposses I want to get Video ROM in coreboot image. Has
> anybody tried patching Video ROM to coreboot image for Geode LX, if so which
> part of the BIOS image does this fit in. Is it after VSA or before that ? I
> think I have to reduce ROM_SIZE by the size of VSA and Video ROM.
>
> Is there any other way I can debug coreboot/filo ? Can all the post codes
> and other stuff be seen on serial console ?
>
> Regards,
> Phani

[Marc Jones]

Phani,

It should just work. Have you tested a serial console with the normal 
BIOS in Linux?

Marc

[Phani Babu Giddi]

Marc,

Yes I have tested and I can see the messages. Do I need to check how the
serial port on DB800 board has been routed. Looks like the Config ROM
expects it to be on 3f8 and take out from the Winbond Super IO. If the board
has picked up the serial port either from the sourth bridge of else if its
using some other port then that could be the reason for this.

How about the Video ROM image does it go after VSA or before that ?

Regards,
Phani

On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 12:12 PM, Marc Jones  wrote:
> Phani,
>
> It should just work. Have you tested a serial console with the normal
> BIOS in Linux?
>
> Marc

[Marc Jones]

Phani,

The DB800 coreboot configures the Winbond SIO. There have been some 
reported problems with the SIO buffers getting messed up. I don't recall 
the exact symptom but try completely powering off the system by 
unplugging or power off the ATX power supply and press the power button 
to get rid of any on-board capacitance. If this is your problem there 
should be reword instructions from Logic or on the AMD embedded 
developer site.

The video ROM would need to go before the VSA in the ROM image. VSA is 
expected to be on the end. See do_vsmbios().

Marc

Phani Babu Giddi wrote:
> Marc,
>
> Yes I have tested and I can see the messages. Do I need to check how the 
> serial port on DB800 board has been routed. Looks like the Config ROM 
> expects it to be on 3f8 and take out from the Winbond Super IO. If the 
> board has picked up the serial port either from the sourth bridge of 
> else if its using some other port then that could be the reason for this.
>
> How about the Video ROM image does it go after VSA or before that ?
>
> Regards,
> Phani
>
> On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 12:12 PM, Marc Jones <[e-mail] 
> > wrote:
> Phani,
>
> It should just work. Have you tested a serial console with the normal
> BIOS in Linux?
>
> Marc
>
>
> --
> Marc Jones
> Senior Firmware Engineer
> [phone] Office
> mailto:[e-mail] <mailto:[e-mail]>
> http://www.amd.com/embeddedprocessors