Rockchip U-Boot

The Rockchip boot chain: TPL/SPL, BL31, U-Boot proper and image layout on flash.

Rockchip boards boot BootROM → DDR init (TPL) → SPL → TF-A BL31 (+ optional OP-TEE) → U-Boot proper → Linux. Mainline U-Boot supports many Rockchip SoCs and produces a single u-boot-rockchip.bin written at sector 64. For newer SoCs it still needs the DDR init blob and BL31 from rkbin.

Key points

Mainline build: make <board>_defconfig && make BL31=... ROCKCHIP_TPL=... (DDR blob from rkbin).
Write u-boot-rockchip.bin to sector 64 of SD/eMMC, or u-boot-rockchip-spi.bin to SPI NOR.
Vendor U-Boot (next-dev) is still what Android SDKs use; it supports boot-image features mainline may lack.

References

U-Boot guides

LinuxIntermediate

Build Mainline U-Boot for Rockchip (RK3588, RK3568, RK3399)

Build a mainline U-Boot image with TF-A and the Rockchip DDR blob, then write it to SD, eMMC or SPI flash.

7 min read · RK3588, RK3588S, RK3568

BeginnerBeginner

Rockchip Boot Process Explained: BootROM, TPL, SPL, BL31, U-Boot and Linux

A stage-by-stage walkthrough of how a Rockchip SoC boots, where each piece lives on flash, and how to tell from the serial log which stage failed.

9 min read · All SoCs

Spotted an error or have something to add? Suggest an improvement.

Building a Rockchip-based product?

From hardware design to Linux, Android and AI integration, get engineering support for your Rockchip project.

Request Engineering Support See what we do