Difference between revisions of "Accessing U-Boot environment variables from Linux"
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U-Boot makes use of environment variables which can be read and set from the U-Boot command line with ''printenv'' and ''setenv''. It can be helpful to read and set these variables from Linux as well, for ex. to remote control some U-Boot processes like software updates. The U-Boot distribution has sources for these commands, named ''fw_printenv'' and ''fw_setenv''. | U-Boot makes use of environment variables which can be read and set from the U-Boot command line with ''printenv'' and ''setenv''. It can be helpful to read and set these variables from Linux as well, for ex. to remote control some U-Boot processes like software updates. The U-Boot distribution has sources for these commands, named ''fw_printenv'' and ''fw_setenv''. | ||
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==Links== | ==Links== | ||
* This page is an adaptation on this one: http://elinux.org/U-boot_environment_variables_in_linux | * This page is an adaptation on this one: http://elinux.org/U-boot_environment_variables_in_linux | ||
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Latest revision as of 09:52, 14 September 2018
U-Boot makes use of environment variables which can be read and set from the U-Boot command line with printenv and setenv. It can be helpful to read and set these variables from Linux as well, for ex. to remote control some U-Boot processes like software updates. The U-Boot distribution has sources for these commands, named fw_printenv and fw_setenv.
Contents
Installation
 |
Note: U-Boot tools are now installed and configured on your APF since Armadeus 5.0. Therefore following installation procedure is only useful for reference information. |
Buildroot can automatically build these tools for you. You just have to:
$ make menuconfig
and then select the following option:
Hardware handling --->
[*] u-boot tools
[*] fw_printenv
Tools will be installed in /usr/sbin/ of your target's rootfs.
Then you have to create the config file for the utilities. The file name is fw_env.config and it lives in /etc. To create this file, you need to know informations about where U-Boot stores its env variables. Specifically, you need the mtd device name, the device offset, the env size and the flash sector size. You can guess most of them by looking at /proc/mtd.
- For the APF27 with U-Boot 1.3.4:
# Configuration file for fw_(printenv/saveenv) utility. # Up to two entries are valid, in this case the redundand # environment sector is assumed present. # Notice, that the "Number of sectors" is ignored on NOR. # MTD device name Device offset Env. size Flash sector size Number of sectors /dev/mtd1 0x0000 0x20000 0x20000 3
- For the APF51 with U-Boot 2010.03:
# Configuration file for fw_(printenv/saveenv) utility. # Up to two entries are valid, in this case the redundand # environment sector is assumed present. # Notice, that the "Number of sectors" is ignored on NOR. # MTD device name Device offset Env. size Flash sector size Number of sectors /dev/mtd1 0x0000 0x20000 0x20000 4
- For the APF9328 with U-Boot 1.3.4:
# Configuration file for fw_(printenv/saveenv) utility. # Up to two entries are valid, in this case the redundand # environment sector is assumed present. # Notice, that the "Number of sectors" is ignored on NOR. # MTD device name Device offset Env. size Flash sector size Number of sectors /dev/mtd1 0x0000 0x20000 0x20000
# Configuration file for fw_(printenv/saveenv) utility. # Up to two entries are valid, in this case the redundant # environment sector is assumed present. # Notice, that the "Number of sectors" is ignored on NOR and SPI-dataflash. # Futhermore, if the Flash sector size is ommitted, this value is assumed to # be the same as the Environment size, which is valid for NOR and SPI-dataflash # Armadeus boards default environment configuration # MTD device name Device offset Env. size Flash sector size Number of sectors /dev/mtd1 0x0000 0x20000 0x20000 4 /dev/mtd2 0x0000 0x20000 0x20000 4
- For the APF6, as it uses an eMMC and no NOR/NAND Flash, there is a custom configuration file /etc/fw_env_apf6.config that should be moved to /etc/fw_env.config before going further.
- For the OPOS6UL, as it uses an eMMC and no NOR/NAND Flash, there is a custom configuration file /etc/fw_env_opos6ul.config that should be moved to /etc/fw_env.config before going further.
Usage
Printing all the environment variables
# fw_printenv bootdelay=1 baudrate=115200 ipaddr=192.168.0.2 serverip=192.168.0.1 ...
Printing a single environment variable
# fw_printenv stdin stdin=serial
Setting and verifying an environment variable
- Unlock Flash access (if needed):
- On APF6, you have to do this first:
echo 0 > /sys/block/mmcblk2boot0/force_ro
- On OPOS6UL, you have to do this first:
echo 0 > /sys/block/mmcblk0boot0/force_ro
- Then set your variable:
# fw_setenv mytestvariable abcdefg # fw_printenv mytestvariable mytestenv=abcdefg
Care must be taken when changing env variables as a typo could easily render your system unbootable. Most problems can be fixed by connecting to the serial console and using U-Boot's command line to fix bad variable.
Links
- This page is an adaptation on this one: http://elinux.org/U-boot_environment_variables_in_linux
