Mass Storage Partitions Configuration
NVIDIA® Linux® for Tegra® releases support formatting mass storage media into multiple partitions for storing data, such as the device OS image, boot loader image, device firmware, and boot loader splash screens.
Partition Configuration File
The partition configuration file describes the entire mass storage devices and partitions in devices. For Linux® for Tegra® releases the default partition configuration file directory is available at:
<top>/Linux_for_Tegra/<board name>/cfg
During the flashing procedure, flash.sh reads in the partition configuration file and converts variables into real numbers or names as specified in <device>.conf files or in option parameters and save it in bootloader/flash.xml file. Then the bootloader/tegraflash.py reads in bootloader/flash.xml file and performs actual flashing as specified by bootloader/flash.xml file.
The partition configuration file is composed of the following XML format elements:
•Root element
•Device elements
•Partition elements
Root Element
There is only root element in a configuration file and it has following syntax:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- NVIDIA Tegra Partition Layout Version 1.0.0 -->
<partition_layout version="01.00.0000">
<!-- Device elements go here. -->
</partition>
Device Element
There are multiple device elements in the root element and it has following syntax:
<device type="<device type>" instance="<instance>">
<!-- Partition elements go here. -->
</device>
Device Attributes Table
The following table shows supported device attributes and their legal values.
Device Attributes | Values | Description |
device type | sdmmc_boot sdmmc_user | (Required) Specifies the type of mass storage device. boot0 and boot1 linearly combined EMMC user partition |
instance | 0-3 | (Required) 3 is the default primary |
Partition Element
There are multiple partition elements in a device element and it has following syntax:
<partition name="<name>" type="<type>" oem_sign=”true”>
<!-- partition properties go here -->
</partition>
Partition Attributes Table
The following table shows supported partition attributes and their legal values.
Partition Attributes | Values | Description |
name | <name>such as: BCT, APP, and mb1, or <keyword> For a complete list, see default partition overview section below. | (Required) Specifies a name for the partition. This name is used when opening a partition for read/write access. The name can have a maximum of 36 characters. There are 3 kinds of partition names: mandatory, optional, and user defined. All mandatory and optional partition names should be associated with specific partition types for specific operations and all user specified partition names should be associated with partition type “data” for no specific action by bootloader. |
type | <type> such as: boot_config_table, wb0, and data, or <keyword> For a complete list, see default partition overview section below. | (Required) Specifies the type of partition. Certain partition types are valid only when they are associated specific partition names. Detailed example is in default partition table section below. |
oem_sign | True False/Undefined | Append generic signature header to the binary and perform OEM signing on that. Append NULL signature header to the binary and perform NULL signing on that. |
Partition Properties Table
The following table shows supported partition properties and their legal values.
Partition Elements | Values | Description |
allocation_policy | sequential | Specifies the type of allocation policy. Sequential partitions begin immediately after the preceding partition. (The legacy “absolute” allocation policy has been deprecated.) |
filesystem_type | basic | The basic filesystem_type specifies “raw” partition. (The legacy “ext2” filesystem has been deprecated.) |
size | <byte size> Or <keyword> | (Required) Specifies the size of the partition in bytes. Decimal and hexadecimal values are valid. Size can be the exact file size being programmed in bytes. However, to minimize changes to your CFG file size increases over time, you can set the partition size in the CFG file greater than actual file size If the partition size specified is less than an erase block size, it will align itself to the partition erase block boundary. If a partition filesystem_type is enhanced file system and size is on a block boundary, then size should be specified to be one additional sector. The size property of the secondary GPT partition, which is defined at the end of each device, should always be 0xffffffffffffffff and the actual size of the Secondary GPT partition is the size defined in the partition which immediately preceding the secondary GPT partition. The actual size of the partition immediately preceding secondary GPT is the size of remaining space left subtracted by the actual secondary GPT partition size. |
file_system_attribute | - | Locks the file system. Not currently implemented. |
allocation_attribute | 0x8 or 0x808 | The allocation attribute for all partitions must be 0x8. The partition immediately preceding secondary GPT should set this attribute to 0x808. |
percent_reserved | - | Reserved for future use. |
filename | <filename> or <Keyword> | Specifies the name of the file to write into the partition. |
Partition Property Keyword Table
The L4T releases adopted a <keyword> in the partition configuration file to abstract varying mandatory and optional partition names, types, and sizes. Upon detection of the <keyword> in the partition configuration file in bootloader/<device>/cfg, the flash.sh replaces <keyword> with sensible default value for the <device>. If a user replaces any of the <keyword> with a specific value, the value is honored by flash.sh and the partition is flashed as specified.
The following table shows supported partition property keywords and their legal values after translation into bootloader/flash.xml.
Partition Keywords | Default translated values in flash.xml |
MB1NAME | mb1 |
MB1TYPE | mb1_bootloader |
SPENAME | spe-fw |
SPETYPE | spe_fw |
MB2NAME | mb2 |
MB2TYPE | mb2_bootloader |
MB2FILE | nvtboot.bin |
MPBNAME | mts-preboot |
MPBTYPE | mts_preboot |
MPBFILE | preboot_d15_prod_cr.bin |
APPSIZE | 30064771072 |
APPFILE | system.img |
MBPNAME | mts-bootpack |
MBPTYPE | mts_bootpack |
MBPFILE | mce_mts_d15_prod_cr.bin |
TBCNAME | cpu-bootloader |
TBCTYPE | bootloader |
TBCFILE | cboot.bin |
TBCDTB-NAME | bootloader-dtb |
TBCDTB-FILE | Appropriate bootloader DTB file name |
TOSNAME | secure-os |
TOSFILE | tos.img |
EKSFILE | eks.img |
BPFNAME | bpmp-fw |
BPFSIGN | true |
BPFFILE | bpmp.bin |
BPFDTB-NAME | Bpmp-fw-dtb |
BPFDTB-SIGN | true |
BPFDTB-FILE | Appropriate bpmp DTB file name |
SCENAME | sce-fw |
SCESIGN | true |
SCEFILE | camera-rtcpu-sce.bin |
SC7NAME | sc7 |
WB0TYPE | WB0 |
WB0FILE | warmboot.bin |
FBNAME | FBNAME (Not used) |
FBTYPE | data |
FBSIGN | false |
FBFILE | Removed/Unused |
SOSFILE | Removed/Unused |
LNXNAME | kernel |
LNXSIZE | 67108864 |
LNXFILE | boot.img |
KERNELDTB-NAME | Kernel-dtb |
KERNELDTB-FILE | Appropriate kernel DTB file name |
Default Partition Overview
The following table summarizes the usage for each partition in sdmmc_boot device:
Name | Type | Description |
BCT | boot_config_table | (Mandatory) Contains the Boot Configuration Table. |
mb1 | mb1_bootloader | (Mandatory) Contains NVIDIA signed MB1 binary. |
MB1_BCT | mb1_boot_config_table | (Mandatory) Contains the MB1 boot configuration table. |
spe-fw | spe-fw | Contains the BPMP spe-fw binary. |
mb2 | mb2_bootloader | Contains the primary copy of the TegraBoot binary.. |
mts-preboot | mts_preboot | Contains Denver preboot firmware. |
secondary_gpt | secondary_gpt | Contains the secondary GPT of sdmmc_boot device. |
The following table summarizes the usage for each partition in sdmmc_user device:
Name | Type | Description |
master_boot_record | protective_master_boot_record | (Mandatory) Contains protective MBR. |
primary_gpt | primary_gpt | (Mandatory) Contains the primary GPT of sdmmc_user device. All partition defined after this entry will be configured in kernel and accessible by standard partition tools such as gdisk or parted. |
APP | data | (Mandatory) Contains the RootFS. This partition must be defined after primary GPT, so that it can be accessed as fixed known special device /dev/mmcblk0p1. |
mts-bootpack | Mts_bootpack | (Mandatory) Contains Denver boot pack firmware. |
cpu-bootloader | bootloader | (Mandatory) Contains the final boot stage CPU bootloader binary that loads the binary in kernel partition. |
bootloader-dtb | data | (Mandatory) Contains the bootloader device tree blob (DTB). |
secure-os | data | (Mandatory) Contains the trusted OS. |
eks | data | (Optional) Contains the encrypted keys. |
adsp-fw | data | (Mandatory) Contains ADSP software. |
bpmp-fw | data | (Mandatory) Contains BPMP firmware. |
bpmp-fw-dtb | data | (Mandatory) Contains the BPMP firmware device tree blob (DTB). |
sce-fw | data | (Optional) Contains camera-rtcpu-sce firmware. |
sc7 | WB0 | (Mandatory) Contains warm boot binary. |
FBNAME | data | (Optional) Reserved for future use. Removable. |
BMP | data | (Optional) Contains BMP images (if any) for display during boot. |
SOS | data | (Optional) Contains a partition used for recovery. Removable. |
kernel | data | (Mandatory) Contains the U-Boot secondary bootloader by default. The U-Boot searches the root device and loads the Linux kernel from rootdev’s /boot directory. If the U-Boot is not selected during flashing, this partition contains the Linux kernel. |
kernel-dtb | data | (Mandatory) Contains the kernel device tree blob (DTB). |
CAC | data | (Optional) Reserved for future use. Removable. |
UDA | data | (Optional) This partition, with the allocation attribute set to 0x808, automatically take all of remaining space of the device except secondary GPT space. This partition can be mounted and used to store user data. |
secondary_gpt | secondary_gpt | (Mandatory) Contains the secondary GPT of sdmmc_user device. |
Example CFGs
Following is example partition configuration file after flash.sh completes translations and substitutions:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- Nvidia Tegra Partition Layout Version 1.0.0 -->
<partition_layout version="01.00.0000">
<device type="sdmmc_boot" instance="3">
<partition name="BCT" type="boot_config_table">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 32768 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
<partition name="mb1" type="mb1_bootloader">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 262144 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> mb1_dev.bin </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="MB1_BCT" type="mb1_boot_config_table">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 65536 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
<partition name="spe-fw" type="spe_fw" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 131072 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> spe.bin </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="mb2" type="mb2_bootloader" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 262144 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> nvtboot.bin </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="mts-preboot" type="mts_preboot" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 262144 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> preboot_d15_dev_cr.bin </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="secondary_gpt" type="secondary_gpt">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
</device>
<device type="sdmmc_user" instance="3">
<partition name="master_boot_record" type="protective_master_boot_record">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 512 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
<partition name="primary_gpt" type="primary_gpt">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 2097152 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
<partition name="APP" type="data">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 15032385536 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 0x8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> system.img </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="mts-bootpack" type="mts_bootpack" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 4194304 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> mce_mts_d15_dev_cr.bin </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="cpu-bootloader" type="bootloader" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 262144 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> cboot.bin </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="bootloader-dtb" type="data" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 262144 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> tegra186-quill-p3310-1000-a00-00-base.dtb </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="secure-os" type="data" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 3145728 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> tos.img </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="eks" type="data" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 2048 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> eks.img </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="adsp-fw" type="data" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 4194304 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
<partition name="bpmp-fw" type="data" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 618144 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> bpmp.bin </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="bpmp-fw-dtb" type="data" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 512000 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> tegra186-a02-bpmp-quill-p3310-1000-a00-00-te770d-ucm2.dtb </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="sce-fw" type="data" oem_sign="true">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 2097152 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> camera-rtcpu-sce.bin </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="sc7" type="WB0">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 6291456 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> warmboot_dev.bin </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="FBNAME" type="data" oem_sign="false">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 2097152 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 0x8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
<partition name="BMP" type="data">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 134217728 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 0x8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
<partition name="SOS" type="data">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 33554432 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 0x8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
<partition name="kernel" type="data">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 67108864 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> boot.img </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="kernel-dtb" type="data">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 262144 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
<filename> tegra186-quill-p3310-1000-a00-00-base.dtb </filename>
</partition>
<partition name="CAC" type="data">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 268435456 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 0x8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
<partition name="UDA" type="data">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 18432 </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 0x808 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
<partition name="secondary_gpt" type="secondary_gpt">
<allocation_policy> sequential </allocation_policy>
<filesystem_type> basic </filesystem_type>
<size> 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF </size>
<file_system_attribute> 0 </file_system_attribute>
<allocation_attribute> 8 </allocation_attribute>
<percent_reserved> 0 </percent_reserved>
</partition>
</device>
</partition_layout>
