> Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2022 12:53:44 +0000 > From: Klemens Nanni <k...@openbsd.org> > > On Mon, Nov 14, 2022 at 11:37:05PM +0100, Patrick Wildt wrote: > > Hi, > > > > the u-boot and dtb ports haven't been updated in a while, mostly because > > updating those regularly breaks working machines. I think it's time for > > another update, so here's a diff for both. > > > > Before this heads into the tree it would be nice to get some testing > > from people with Pinebook Pro, RockPro64, and/or especially a BeagleBone > > Black. > > > > I reverted the change that switches from the 'old' cpsw switch driver > > model to the 'new' one. This should allow is to update the dtbs. > > > > I've personally verified that U-Boot+DTB boot fine on NanoPi R2s, but > > we have many more combinations. > > > > I can provide pre-built unsigned packages upon request. > > I installed u-boot-aarch64-2022.10.tgz built with dtb-6.0.8.tgz and > followed INSTALL.arm64 to flash the new files onto my Pinebook Pro's > eMMC.
Well, what you did makes no sense. The u-boot package does not depend on the dtb package as u-boot comes with its own set of DTBs. So the only thing you tested is that u-boot-aarch-2022.10 is still broken on your machine. Let me explain the situation once more. In principle the only thing you need is a (working) U-Boot for you board/machine. But in some cases the DTB that comes with U-Boot is broken. In that case you may be able to make your board/machine work by installing an updated DTB for your board/machine (from the dtb package) on the "msdos" partition of your disk. Another reason why you might want to install an updated DTB is when the DTB that comes with U-Boot is incomplete. In that case installing an updated DTB on the "msdos" partition may give you better hardware support (more drivers that attach) for your board/machine. Ultimately the missing bits should end up in U-Boot, but as you have experienced, newer versions of U-Boot might be broken for your board. So the possibility to update the DTB separately from U-Boot gives people a bit more flexibility. The whole thing sucks, and I don't really know how to make it better. Newer boards need newer U-Boot versions and could take advantage of newer DTBs. But those newer versions may break older boards. Ideally we'd keep an archive of "known good" versions somewhere. That raises issues with GPL compliance though as we can't just point people at ports if they'd ask us for the source code that was used to build the binaries we distribute.
