Re: Installing NetBSD on Jetson Nano

[Dan MacDonald <allcoms%gmail.com@localhost>]

I do have a serial cable for it yes. The problem I'm having is that
when u-boot says to hit a key to interrupt boot, boot doesn't get
interrupted if I hit a key on the USB keyboard attached to the Jetson
or if I send a keystroke via the serial console.

Here's the boot log from the most recent (if not the most up-to-date)
Armbian image I was testing.

https://controlc.com/26bca970

On Sun, Jan 23, 2022 at 9:24 PM Jason Mitchell <jmitchel%bigjar.com@localhost> wrote:
>
> U-Boot is written directly to disk, but for NetBSD there's also a DOS partition that contains the EFI bootloader (in EFI/BOOT/bootaa64.efi).
>
> Now that I think about it, the U-Boot supplied from Nvidia probably looks for a Linux kernel on an ext4fs filesystem. It might not be configured to boot via EFI at all, not even as a fallback. It's possible/probable that you could configure the existing U-Boot to boot from EFI, but I don't know the commands to do so.
>
> Earlier I found a page that contained instructions on removing U-Boot from the QSPI-NOR so the Jetson will use U-Boot on the SD card, but I can't locate it now. I think that's another way to boot NetBSD, as the NetBSD U-Boot will be configured to look for an EFI loader on a DOS partition by default And a serial console, would be most helpful, if you don't already have one.
>
> HTH,
>
> Jason M.
>
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> On Jan 23, 2022, at 2:09 PM, Lloyd Parkes <lloyd%must-have-coffee.gen.nz@localhost> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> On 23/01/22 22:00, Dan MacDonald wrote:
>>>
>>>  I installed Jetpack 4.5 a while back which changed the boot process
>>>  for the Nano and now allows booting from USB which the recent Armbian
>>>  releases take advantage of. The Jetpack 4.5 release notes say:
>>>
>>>  "Boot firmware for all Jetson Nano developer kits updated to relocate
>>>  boot firmware to integrated QSPI-NOR."
>>>
>>>  https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/jetpack-4-5-production-release-with-l4t-32-5/166475
>>
>>
>> Nice. I saw experimental images for this, but I left it alone because I
>> didn't want to encourage anyone to change horses in midstream.
>>
>>>  On Sun, Jan 23, 2022 at 2:51 AM Jason Mitchell <jmitchel%bigjar.com@localhost> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  Okay, this is confusing to me. There's no U-Boot at all, unless it's further on. Where does the DOS partition start? Maybe hexdump up to the start of the DOS partition?
>>
>>
>> As I said earlier, I don't think there is a DOS partition. U-boot is
>> (almost certainly) written directly to its partition without a file
>> system. On the QSPI-NOR it'll be a proprietary partition scheme.
>>
>> Do you guys have serial consoles for your Jetson Nanos? All the early
>> boot messages and user input is done via the serial console. I have a
>> https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9717 and I have replaced the
>> connectors so that I can plug in RX, TX and GND without any of the
>> others (plugging the 5V line by accident might (probably will) destroy
>> your Jetson. Drop me an email off list if you want more details about
>> dealing with the connector.
>>
>> I don't see how you can "press any key" to interrupt U-Boot if you don't
>> have a serial console, and if you can't interrupt U-Boot then you can't
>> ask it to boot NetBSD.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Lloyd