[SRU] Add support for the NXP S32G274A-RDB2 board in Jammy

[Isaac True]

[ Impact ]

Flash-kernel only supports boards maintained in the db/all.db database.

We want to be able to support the 'NXP S32G274A-RDB2' in Jammy.

The database entries are copied from the Lunar version for the package.

[ Test Plan ]

As the database entries are the same as in Lunar they already received some testing.

Check that no entry is deleted in the database.

On a NXP S32G274A-RDB2 board, run flash-kernel to verify that a new fit image has been created and deployed to /boot/firmware

[ Where problems could occur ]

We could by mistake delete entries for other boards in the database.

We could create a database file that flash-kernel cannot parse.

This could lead to errors in booting other systems.

Both causes are not probable as we copy the entries from Lunar where testing already has occurred.

[ Other Info ]

Original description

I've created a debdiff which adds support for the NXP S32G274A-RDB2 reference board for the S32G2 SoC. The added fit image template (its/arm64/image-nxp-s32.its) can also be used for other boards in the S32 family, which may be added in the future.

This is a development board for NXP's automotive platform with a specific and custom BSP (https://github.com/nxp-auto-linux/). The device tree and support for the board is not (yet) in the mainline kernel, and the board is not supported by upstream U-Boot. In order to achieve the best compatibility with the custom U-Boot implementation required to boot this board, this patch instructs flash-kernel to only generate the fit image and place it in /boot/firmware/fitImage, without generating a boot script.

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

The attachment "flash-kernel_3.106ubuntu9_add-nxps32g274a-rdb2.debdiff" seems to be a debdiff. The ubuntu-sponsors team has been subscribed to the bug report so that they can review and hopefully sponsor the debdiff. If the attachment isn't a patch, please remove the "patch" flag from the attachment, remove the "patch" tag, and if you are member of the ~ubuntu-sponsors, unsubscribe the team.

[This is an automated message performed by a Launchpad user owned by ~brian-murray, for any issue please contact him.]

[Loïc Minier (lool)]

Hi Isaac,

Thanks for the nice debdiff!

I understand you have a compatible Ubuntu-esque kernel for an S32 platform, as I don't have access to the hardware myself, could you confirm you have tested the patch on the target hardware and its exact name?

[Isaac True (itrue)]

Hi Loïc,

Yes I've tested the version in the debdiff (3.106ubuntu9) on the target device (NXP S32G274A-RDB2 reference board aka S32G-VNP-RDB2: https://www.nxp.com/design/designs/s32g2-vehicle-networking-reference-design:S32G-VNP-RDB2) running 22.04.

Here's the output of the test:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo flash-kernel $(uname -r)
Using DTB: s32g274a-rdb2.dtb
Installing /lib/firmware/5.15.0-59.65-bsp35.0-ppa14-nxp-s32/device-tree/freescale/s32g274a-rdb2.dtb into /boot/dtbs/5.15.0-59.65-bsp35.0-ppa14-nxp-s32/./s32g274a-rdb2.dtb
Taking backup of s32g274a-rdb2.dtb.
Installing new s32g274a-rdb2.dtb.
Installing /lib/firmware/5.15.0-59.65-bsp35.0-ppa14-nxp-s32/device-tree/freescale/s32g274a-rdb2.dtb into /boot/dtbs/5.15.0-59.65-bsp35.0-ppa14-nxp-s32/./s32g274a-rdb2.dtb
Taking backup of s32g274a-rdb2.dtb.
Installing new s32g274a-rdb2.dtb.
flash-kernel: installing version 5.15.0-59.65-bsp35.0-ppa14-nxp-s32
Generating u-boot image... done.
Taking backup of fitImage.
Installing new fitImage.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo dumpimage -l /boot/firmware/fitImage
FIT description: Ubuntu kernel, ramdisk and FDT blobs for the NXP S32 family
Created: Thu Feb 2 14:52:24 2023
 Image 0 (kernel-1)
  Description: Ubuntu kernel
  Created: Thu Feb 2 14:52:24 2023
  Type: Kernel Image
  Compression: uncompressed
  Data Size: 46402048 Bytes = 45314.50 KiB = 44.25 MiB
  Architecture: AArch64
  OS: Linux
  Load Address: 0x80000000
  Entry Point: 0x80000000
  Hash algo: sha256
  Hash value: 96221c7b0ffdc2f429206ab7d27c3128b2d663462719990aabe94e1023b249de
 Image 1 (ramdisk-1)
  Description: Ubuntu ramdisk
  Created: Thu Feb 2 14:52:24 2023
  Type: RAMDisk Image
  Compression: uncompressed
  Data Size: 28992936 Bytes = 28313.41 KiB = 27.65 MiB
  Architecture: AArch64
  OS: Linux
  Load Address: 0x90000000
  Entry Point: unavailable
  Hash algo: sha256
  Hash value: 8d9415d0f6dac9bc5e24a6c3f44577331c8458e40929499df883a46a27367a35
 Image 2 (fdt-1)
  Description: NXP S32
  Created: Thu Feb 2 14:52:24 2023
  Type: Flat Device Tree
  Compression: uncompressed
  Data Size: 45491 Bytes = 44.42 KiB = 0.04 MiB
  Architecture: AArch64
  Load Address: 0x83000000
  Hash algo: sha256
  Hash value: 5501381d695ef799be36d9144cb35f8e2eb65842c77b5206ff471d09f800142c
 Default Configuration: 'nxp-s32'
 Configuration 0 (nxp-s32)
  Description: NXP S32
  Kernel: kernel-1
  Init Ramdisk: ramdisk-1
  FDT: fdt-1

The board successfully boots using the new fitImage file.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package flash-kernel - 3.106ubuntu10

---------------
flash-kernel (3.106ubuntu10) lunar; urgency=medium

  * Add support for the NXP S32G274A-RDB2 (LP: #2004495)
    - Add entry in db/all.db using the generic U-Boot method, the kernel
      provided s33g274a-rdb2 device tree to generate a FIT image under
      boot/firmware/fitImage.
    - Add its/arm64/image-nxp-s32.its FIT image template applicable for all
      S32x boards.

 -- Isaac True <email address hidden> Wed, 01 Feb 2023 15:30:35 +0000

[Loïc Minier (lool)]

Isaac tells me he needs this change in jammy as well; @Isaac: I'll let you morph this bug title/description per SRU process, ping me or someone else when ready to sponsor :)

[Isaac True (itrue)]

I've attached the .debdiff for the current development version in Jammy (flash-kernel-3.104ubuntu16)

[Isaac True (itrue)]

Test results on 22.04 using flash-kernel-3.104ubuntu16ppa1 from the .debdiff in #7 and a custom kernel and device tree:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ apt info flash-kernel | grep ^Version

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

Version: 3.104ubuntu16ppa1

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo flash-kernel
Using DTB: s32g274a-rdb2.dtb
Installing /lib/firmware/5.15.0-1007-s32/device-tree/freescale/s32g274a-rdb2.dtb into /boot/dtbs/5.15.0-1007-s32/./s32g274a-rdb2.dtb
Taking backup of s32g274a-rdb2.dtb.
Installing new s32g274a-rdb2.dtb.
flash-kernel: installing version 5.15.0-1007-s32
Generating u-boot image... done.
Taking backup of fitImage.
Installing new fitImage.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo dumpimage -l /boot/firmware/fitImage
FIT description: Ubuntu kernel, ramdisk and FDT blobs for the NXP S32 family
Created: Tue Mar 14 07:59:54 2023
 Image 0 (kernel-1)
  Description: Ubuntu kernel
  Created: Tue Mar 14 07:59:54 2023
  Type: Kernel Image
  Compression: uncompressed
  Data Size: 37957640 Bytes = 37068.01 KiB = 36.20 MiB
  Architecture: AArch64
  OS: Linux
  Load Address: 0x80000000
  Entry Point: 0x80000000
  Hash algo: sha256
  Hash value: c822873731442460371cf6201d37c914fd54c6be9b3fdf5ffb075ee236941b74
 Image 1 (ramdisk-1)
  Description: Ubuntu ramdisk
  Created: Tue Mar 14 07:59:54 2023
  Type: RAMDisk Image
  Compression: uncompressed
  Data Size: 33251316 Bytes = 32471.99 KiB = 31.71 MiB
  Architecture: AArch64
  OS: Linux
  Load Address: 0x90000000
  Entry Point: unavailable
  Hash algo: sha256
  Hash value: 3125b5e38589dd16ed92dd025cd477c796108c5ccea2c4c6bba298ef787b9aee
 Image 2 (fdt-1)
  Description: NXP S32
  Created: Tue Mar 14 07:59:54 2023
  Type: Flat Device Tree
  Compression: uncompressed
  Data Size: 45615 Bytes = 44.55 KiB = 0.04 MiB
  Architecture: AArch64
  Load Address: 0x83000000
  Hash algo: sha256
  Hash value: df2b932e0a4882fc35bc492aa0570c69171faa2a1f046b9236d6fb584456b7d6
 Default Configuration: 'nxp-s32'
 Configuration 0 (nxp-s32)
  Description: NXP S32
  Kernel: kernel-1
  Init Ramdisk: ramdisk-1
  FDT: fdt-1

---

After a reboot the system boots back up using the new fit image without any issues.

[Robie Basak (racb)]

Missing from the bug description is an explanation of *user* impact. What's the user story that currently doesn't succeed, that you intend to fix with this SRU?

> On a NXP S32G274A-RDB2 board, run flash-kernel to verify that a new fit image has been created and deployed to /boot/firmware

This is not sufficient as a Test Plan. Please expand this to include the full exercise of the hardware enablement you are proposing. The details would depend on the user story which needs describing first.

[Benjamin Drung (bdrung)]

I unsubscribed ~ubuntu-sponsors. Please resubscribe ~ubuntu-sponsors once you addressed Robie's comment.