There are two versions of the board. The current version has NAND, but only because that is the part we can get to build the boards. You cannot boot from the NAND. Once we get the regular memory devices, they will not have NAND. So, the current boards are sort of a freebie in that you can use the NAND if you like, but the SW will not support it and it won’t last long on the -xM board. You can read the System Reference Manual for more details.
Yes. It was the only one we could get with the 512MB. We had an issue with our first supplier that we are still testing to see if the issue is resolved. Then we hope to move back to them. That was the main reason for the delay we had. It was lots of fun!!
One thing I'm still fuzzy on related to this discussion are a couple
of the clock frequencies. I was following the discussion re: the two
memory vendors but wasn't clear if the 166Mhz memory rating was
essentially specific to the 2nd vendor whose parts were only rated for
166Mhz. I got an -00 assembly and am wondering if it is safe or
recommended to run the DDR at 200Mhz or not. Also, the SRM and
default image indicate 800Mhz for the DSP but I seem to recall a
thread not too long ago that 800Mhz wouldn't be a supported/
recommended speed. I'm not looking to push my board to the edge of
stability and/or shorten its working life, just curious about what the
recommended limits are for the currently shipping boards.
The memory part we are currently shipping is rated at 166MHZ. You can run it faster if you like, but it is only rated at 166MHZ and is not guranteed to work at 200MHZ… That is why the specification of the board is 166MHZ as stated in the System Reference Manual. The other device is rated at 200MHz.
We test all boards at 800MHz on the DSP side. Now, the board may not run at 800MHZ for the DSP over the entire voltage and temperature range. But it should operate OK in a typical environment. In order to get 800MHz on the DSP the layout has to be good and the part has to be binned out for 800MHZ. These parts that we are currently using have not been binned out for 800MHZ over the full operating range.
There is a HW reason for this. There is no ability to set the boot option for the internal boot ROM to boot from NAND as shipped from the factory. Now, you can modify the board if you have the capability to make it work that way if you can figure it out. Of course you will void the warranty and won’t be able to get it repaired if you have issues with it later on. In addition the SW out there won’t really support this option, but that can be worked around as well. What you will end up with is a one off configuration that won’t be supported and in a few months at the most this version of the board will no longer be built.