Accessing the bootloader?

To work with the bootloader, you need to boot the AC100 into recovery mode and install the apropriate driver from the NVIDIA OS support packs. To boot into the recovery mode, hold down the CTRL + ESC/back keys and power on the device. You can find further information on the recovery mode and the drivers to install in the Recovery Mode section.

When in recovery mode, you can download the partitions of the internal memory card. To get the partition layout, type

nvflash -w –getpartitiontable ptable.txt –bl <bootloader> –go

<bootloader> is, depending on the OS support pack version, a file called fastboot.bin in the current directory, or a file called fastboot.stock.bin in the ../prebuild directory. In fact, this does not flash anything, but loads a server program to memory, which is able to understand the more complex commands submitted by nvflash.

You should see something like this if you don't execute any command (like –getpartitiontable):

# nvflash –bl fastboot.bin –go -w Nvflash started rcm version 0X20001 System Information: chip name: t20 chip id: 0x20 major: 1 minor: 2 chip sku: 0x8 chip uid: 0x1700618442a160d7 macrovision: disabled hdcp: enabled sbk burned: false dk burned: false boot device: emmc operating mode: 3 device config strap: 0 device config fuse: 0 sdram config strap: 0

odm data: 0x3b2d8011 downloading bootloader – load address: 0x108000 entry point: 0x108000 sending file: fastboot.bin

fastboot.bin sent successfully waiting for bootloader to initialize bootloader downloaded successfully

From now on, you can talk to the bootloader by just submitting commands like

nvflash -r –getpartitiontable ptable.txt

(note the -r instead of -w).

There is more dangerous command called –odmdata. It is some kind of fingerprint of the hardware and enabled/disables certain hardware configuations. For example, the ODM 0x3b2d8011 data causes the HDMI port to be used for bootloader display. The following comes up (after a period with no input):

Entering NvFlash recovery mode / Nv3p Server Android ota recovery Checking for RCK.. press <Enter>in 5 sec to enter RCK OS will cold boot in 10 seconds if no input is detected Press <Enter> to select, Arrow key (Left, Right) for selection move Cold-booting Linux Unable to query partition UBN

A white Android Robot in a green square next to a USB symbol are displayed after the Andoid OTA recovery, and flashes on and off during the “OS Cold Boot” 10 seconds counting down. As of now, there doesn't seem to be any way to interrupt this sequence (at least with the commands fed above) as nothing is displayed on over the USB connection about the Nv3P Server, and the keyboard on the AC100 itself is unresponsive.

If there is no kernel to boot in partition 6 (boot partiion), the fastboot protocol will be started. See this post for details on erasing, backing up and booting a kernel: kenel+boot

Following the kernel+boot procedure, the HDMI output display will show the following:

Entering NvFlash recovery mode / Nv3p Server Checking for Android OTA recovery Checking for RCK.. press <Enter>in 5 sec to enter RCK Starting Fastboot USB download protocol

At which point a kernel can be loaded and booted.

WARNING! The odmdata specified above is just guessed and may propably brick the device (but don't panic). There is a way to get it going again. Until now, don't use it. The original value seems to be 0x800C0075 (and 0x802C0075 with HDMI output), but that's not tested yet….

ODMDATA

Some info regarding odmdata extracted from tegra_devkit_custopt.h (from kernel at git:nv-tegra.nvida.com) Bits: Nible Name Description Remarks and properties for 0x800C0075 00-07 0x75 PERSONALITY 0x00 - DEFAULT “Voyager”, emmc, no trace 0x01 - ULPI = baseband 0x05 - ULPI = UART1 “Voyager”, emmc, trace 0x11 - ULPI = baseband 0x15 - ULPI = UART1 “Voyager”, nand, no trace 0x75 - Voyager, NAND “Whisthler”, stand-alone 0xC1 - KB=13×1, TRACE, GMI=A/D NOR 0xC3 - KB=16×8, NO TRACE, GMI=NAND “Voyager”, USB2-ULPI (no UART) 0x71 0x75: Voyager, NAND, “Whisthler”, stand-alone 08-10 0x00 TRANSPORT 0 - DEFAULT 1 - NONE 2 - UART 3 - USB 4 - ETHERNET 0: DEFAULT 0: DEFAULT 0: DEFAULT 0: DEFAULT, EMBEDDED 11-12 ETHERNET 0 - DEFAULT 1 - SPI 13-14 RIL 0 - DEFAULT 1 - EMP RAINBOW 2 - EMP RAINBOW_ULPI 3 - IFX 15-17 CONSOLE_OPTION 0 - DEFAULT, EMBEDDED 1 - NONE 2 - DCC 3 - UART 18-19 0x3 CONSOLE 0 - DEFAULT, UART-A 1 - UART-B 2 - UART-C 3 - UART-D 4 - UART-E 3 (upper 2 bits of 0x0C): UART-D 20-22 0x0 DISPLAY 0 - DEFAULT, EMBEDDED 1 - NULL 2 - HDMI 3 - CRT 0: DEFAULT, EMBEDDED 23 DHCP 0 - DEFAULT 1 - ENABLE 0: DEFAULT 24-27 0x0 CARVEOUT RAM 0 - DEFAULT 1 - Memory 1 2 - Memory 2 3 - Memory 3 4 - Memory 4 5 - Memory 5 6 - Memory 6 7 - Memory 7 8 - Memory 8 (32 MB) 0: DEFAULT 28-30 0x0 MEMORY 0 - DEFAULT 1 - 256 MB 2 - 512 MB 3 - 1 GB 0: DEFAULT 31 0x1 LPSTATE 0 - LP0 1 - LP1 1: LP stands for “low power” ⇒ “on”?