Tips on speeding up kernel development for rock 3a

#1

Hey there folks, I wanted to ask for a few tips on how to speed up the development.
I wanted to use either kermit or tftp to publish new uboot images but networking and kermit are not there, any other tips on this? Doing the whole sdcard flashing takes too much time and kills the productivity.
Also, what I am doing is cross compiling from my machine, then make dir-pkg, so I can rsync the output to /boot/ to avoid all dpkg installation and what not, any tips on that too?
Moreover, I could not find a way to reboot the board from the serial, is there a way to do that? When it gets “bricked” I have to manually reach to it and do it.

1 Like
#2
  1. use emmc module instead of uSD card.
  2. use USB OTG to update the firmware, with rkdeveloptool, you need jumper to run into maskrom mode
  3. use serial console in u-boot with command like rockusb or ums to update/replace kernel/dtb
#3

@jack thank you very much for your answer!
i am sort of making a CI for the changes i am making on u-boot and would like to know if it is safe to power up the board using the pins 1, 2, and 6 to provide 3.3, 5, and gnd so i can automate the reboot process into maskroom then flashing.
i want to avoid pluging my relays into AC :smiley:
also, do you have examples of rockusb and ums commands to replace the kernel?
whatever finds i get i will try and document on the wiki.
thanks again!

#4

just stop u-boot in console, and type rockusb or ums, you will get promote of how to use it. Connect the OTG port to PC, the host can communicate with the u-boot then, use rkdeveloptool or usb massive storage.