rock-3a: unset BOOTFS_TYPE for non-vendor builds

[EvilOlaf]

Description

Perhaps needed for vendor, did not test. However mainline just works fine from ext4.

How Has This Been Tested?

• build
• boot

Checklist:

• My code follows the style guidelines of this project
• I have performed a self-review of my own code
• I have commented my code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas
• My changes generate no new warnings
• Any dependent changes have been merged and published in downstream modules

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes
  • Corrected bootloader filesystem type handling for Rock-3A board systems to avoid an incorrect default being applied.
  • Prevents unintended filesystem selection during startup, improving boot reliability and reducing configuration ambiguity for affected devices.

_{✏️ Tip: You can customize this high-level summary in your review settings.}

[coderabbitai]

Walkthrough

Removed the BOOTFS_TYPE="fat" definition from the Rock 3A board configuration file (config/boards/rock-3a.conf), leaving BOOTFS_TYPE undefined after this change.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Board configuration config/boards/rock-3a.conf	Deleted the BOOTFS_TYPE="fat" assignment so BOOTFS_TYPE is no longer defined in this board config.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 1 (Trivial) | ⏱️ ~2 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• switch current u-boot to v2025.01 #8012: Related changes around BOOTFS_TYPE handling for config/boards/rock-3a.conf.
• nanopi-r3s, radxa-zero3, rock-3a: board config cleanup & maint #8045: Previously modified the same board config and BOOTFS_TYPE-related logic.

Suggested reviewers

• amazingfate
• catalinii
• rpardini

Poem

🐰 A nibble, a hop, a tiny change made light,
BOOTFS_TYPE slipped away in the night.
Rock 3A hums with a quieter tune,
I twitch my nose and dance by the moon. ✨

Pre-merge checks and finishing touches

✅ Passed checks (3 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately describes the main change: unsetting BOOTFS_TYPE in the rock-3a board configuration for non-vendor builds, which aligns with the actual code modification.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.

✨ Finishing touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment

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Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between c2856ce and ca8fec4.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf (0 hunks)

💤 Files with no reviewable changes (1)

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

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[coderabbitai]

Walkthrough

A single-line configuration change to the Rock 3A board configuration file that unsets the BOOTFS_TYPE variable after an informational alert in the mainline U-Boot configuration function, altering variable state for subsequent configuration steps.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Board configuration config/boards/rock-3a.conf	Unsets BOOTFS_TYPE variable in post_family_config__rock-3a_use_mainline_uboot_except_vendor_and_add_sata_target function after informational alert

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~8 minutes

• Verify that unsetting BOOTFS_TYPE does not inadvertently affect downstream boot configuration for mainline U-Boot builds
• Confirm the placement of the unset statement relative to other configuration operations is intentional

Possibly related PRs

• nanopi-r3s, radxa-zero3, rock-3a: board config cleanup & maint #8045 — Directly modifies the same post_family_config function introduced in that PR
• radxa-zero3: even more board config maint, abandon vendor uboot #8807 — Also modifies board post_family_config logic for mainline U-Boot with BOOTFS_TYPE handling changes
• rock-3a board config maintenance #8795 — Changes the same board config function in rock-3a.conf

Suggested labels

Ready to merge, BSP

Suggested reviewers

• amazingfate
• catalinii
• igorpecovnik

Poem

🐰 A single line, so small yet might,
Unsets a type that boots the light,
Rock-3A's path grows ever clear,
With mainline U-Boot drawing near! ✨

Pre-merge checks and finishing touches

✅ Passed checks (3 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately summarizes the main change: unsetting BOOTFS_TYPE for non-vendor builds in the rock-3a configuration.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.

✨ Finishing touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment

---

📜 Recent review details

Configuration used: Path: .coderabbit.yaml

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Disabled knowledge base sources:

• Jira integration is disabled by default for public repositories

You can enable these sources in your CodeRabbit configuration.

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 682ee1c and c2856ce.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf (1 hunks)

🧰 Additional context used

🧠 Learnings (16)

📓 Common learnings

Learnt from: Grippy98
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8622
File: config/sources/families/k3.conf:66-66
Timestamp: 2025-09-12T19:28:38.491Z
Learning: In the Armbian k3 family build system (config/sources/families/k3.conf), builds do not fail when TIBOOT3_BOOTCONFIG is unset, even though tiboot3.bin is still listed in UBOOT_TARGET_MAP. The gating mechanism in pre_config_uboot_target__build_first_stage function works as intended to conditionally build/copy tiboot3.bin only when TIBOOT3_BOOTCONFIG is defined.

Learnt from: amazingfate
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8619
File: config/sources/families/rockchip.conf:222-230
Timestamp: 2025-09-14T06:32:29.806Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, the write_uboot_platform() function implementations follow different patterns across Rockchip family files. The newer standard (used in rockchip64_common.inc and rk3506) includes 'status=none' parameter in dd commands, while older implementations (rk3288, rk322x) use an older pattern without this parameter. The rk3506 implementation correctly follows the current Rockchip family standard.

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8428
File: config/boards/lckfb-taishanpi.csc:5-9
Timestamp: 2025-07-25T03:51:50.830Z
Learning: When reviewing PRs in the Armbian build system, U-Boot defconfig files and patches may be added as part of the PR changes but might not be visible in the current repository clone state during review. It's important to check the actual PR file changes directly via GitHub or the PR API to get the complete picture of what files are being added or modified.

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8428
File: config/boards/lckfb-taishanpi.csc:5-9
Timestamp: 2025-07-25T03:51:50.830Z
Learning: When reviewing PRs in the Armbian build system, U-Boot defconfig files and patches may be added as part of the PR changes but might not be visible in the current repository clone state during review. It's important to check the actual PR file changes directly via GitHub API (https://api.github.com/repos/armbian/build/pulls/{pr_number}/files) to get the complete picture of what files are being added or modified, especially for U-Boot patches that will be applied during the build process.

Learnt from: igorpecovnik
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8849
File: config/boards/radxa-e54c.csc:14-28
Timestamp: 2025-11-02T20:49:56.719Z
Learning: In Armbian board configuration files (config/boards/*.conf, *.csc, etc.), do not use kernel_config_set, kernel_config_set_m, kernel_config_set_y, or custom_kernel_config__* functions to modify kernel configuration. Kernel configuration is associated with LINUXFAMILY/BOARDFAMILY, not individual BOARD. Board-specific kernel modifications cause inconsistency in kernel packages published to the apt repository because boards within a family share the same kernel packages. Kernel configuration changes must be made in the appropriate kernel config file (e.g., config/kernel/linux-*-*.config) or in family configuration files (config/sources/families/*.conf, *.inc) instead.

Learnt from: djurny
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8272
File: config/bootscripts/boot-mvebu.cmd:182-186
Timestamp: 2025-06-04T23:45:38.860Z
Learning: In config/bootscripts/boot-mvebu.cmd, the `fdtfile` variable is mandatory for booting and is pre-set by U-Boot, but can be overridden via armbianEnv.txt. If `fdtfile` is empty, the subsequent device tree file search logic will eventually fail and trigger the critical error "Cannot find DT!" with proper error handling.

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8754
File: config/boards/bestv-r3300-l.csc:14-16
Timestamp: 2025-10-14T05:08:11.785Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, BOOTBRANCH_BOARD is a valid framework variable used as a fallback when BOOTBRANCH is unset. The framework checks BOOTBRANCH_BOARD before applying the default bootloader branch value (see config/sources/common.conf). Board configuration files can use BOOTBRANCH_BOARD to specify the bootloader branch.

Learnt from: pyavitz
Repo: armbian/build PR: 9058
File: patch/u-boot/legacy/u-boot-spacemit-k1/003-SpacemiT-K1X-Fixups.patch:28-67
Timestamp: 2025-12-13T11:38:58.965Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system for SpacemiT U-Boot patches (patch/u-boot/legacy/u-boot-spacemit-k1/), alignment with mainline U-Boot behavior is prioritized. For example, in boot mode handling, leaving devnum unchanged in the default case (when devtype is cleared) follows mainline conventions rather than explicitly clearing it to handle edge cases.

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8586
File: config/boards/nanopi-r76s.conf:15-21
Timestamp: 2025-09-07T17:39:32.272Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, the variables $BOARD and $SDCARD are always set by the build framework, so guard checks for these variables are unnecessary in board configuration files and hook functions.

Learnt from: pyavitz
Repo: armbian/build PR: 9058
File: patch/u-boot/legacy/u-boot-spacemit-k1/003-SpacemiT-K1X-Fixups.patch:17-25
Timestamp: 2025-12-13T11:44:54.545Z
Learning: In the SpacemiT U-Boot patches for Armbian (patch/u-boot/legacy/u-boot-spacemit-k1/), the environment variable `devnum` is set to the device name string (e.g., "mmc", "nvme") rather than a numeric index, and `distro_bootpart` holds the partition number. This implementation aligns with mainline U-Boot conventions for the SpacemiT platform and has been verified to work correctly by the maintainer.

Learnt from: djurny
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8287
File: config/bootscripts/boot-sunxi.cmd:13-23
Timestamp: 2025-06-12T21:08:11.318Z
Learning: In config/bootscripts/boot-sunxi.cmd the variable name `align_overlap_oboe_avoidance` intentionally uses the acronym “OBOE” (Off-By-One Error); it is not a typo and should not be renamed.

Learnt from: djurny
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8287
File: config/bootscripts/boot-sunxi.cmd:148-161
Timestamp: 2025-06-12T21:03:39.686Z
Learning: In Armbian U-Boot bootscripts, the `${cpu}` environment variable is always pre-set by U-Boot (or defaults to a valid value), so additional guards against it being unset are unnecessary.

📚 Learning: 2025-11-02T20:49:56.719Z

Learnt from: igorpecovnik
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8849
File: config/boards/radxa-e54c.csc:14-28
Timestamp: 2025-11-02T20:49:56.719Z
Learning: In Armbian board configuration files (config/boards/*.conf, *.csc, etc.), do not use kernel_config_set, kernel_config_set_m, kernel_config_set_y, or custom_kernel_config__* functions to modify kernel configuration. Kernel configuration is associated with LINUXFAMILY/BOARDFAMILY, not individual BOARD. Board-specific kernel modifications cause inconsistency in kernel packages published to the apt repository because boards within a family share the same kernel packages. Kernel configuration changes must be made in the appropriate kernel config file (e.g., config/kernel/linux-*-*.config) or in family configuration files (config/sources/families/*.conf, *.inc) instead.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-09-12T19:28:38.491Z

Learnt from: Grippy98
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8622
File: config/sources/families/k3.conf:66-66
Timestamp: 2025-09-12T19:28:38.491Z
Learning: In the Armbian k3 family build system (config/sources/families/k3.conf), builds do not fail when TIBOOT3_BOOTCONFIG is unset, even though tiboot3.bin is still listed in UBOOT_TARGET_MAP. The gating mechanism in pre_config_uboot_target__build_first_stage function works as intended to conditionally build/copy tiboot3.bin only when TIBOOT3_BOOTCONFIG is defined.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-09-14T06:32:29.806Z

Learnt from: amazingfate
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8619
File: config/sources/families/rockchip.conf:222-230
Timestamp: 2025-09-14T06:32:29.806Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, the write_uboot_platform() function implementations follow different patterns across Rockchip family files. The newer standard (used in rockchip64_common.inc and rk3506) includes 'status=none' parameter in dd commands, while older implementations (rk3288, rk322x) use an older pattern without this parameter. The rk3506 implementation correctly follows the current Rockchip family standard.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-12-13T11:38:58.965Z

Learnt from: pyavitz
Repo: armbian/build PR: 9058
File: patch/u-boot/legacy/u-boot-spacemit-k1/003-SpacemiT-K1X-Fixups.patch:28-67
Timestamp: 2025-12-13T11:38:58.965Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system for SpacemiT U-Boot patches (patch/u-boot/legacy/u-boot-spacemit-k1/), alignment with mainline U-Boot behavior is prioritized. For example, in boot mode handling, leaving devnum unchanged in the default case (when devtype is cleared) follows mainline conventions rather than explicitly clearing it to handle edge cases.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-10-26T10:41:35.118Z

Learnt from: HackingGate
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8665
File: config/boards/photonicat2.csc:4-4
Timestamp: 2025-10-26T10:41:35.118Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, rk3576 boards consistently use BOARDFAMILY="rk35xx" for both vendor and edge kernel targets. The rk35xx family configuration sources rockchip64_common.inc, which provides edge and current kernel branch definitions, making these branches available even though they're not defined directly in rk35xx.conf.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-10-05T19:31:16.930Z

Learnt from: rpardini
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8718
File: config/boards/thinkpad-x13s.conf:185-185
Timestamp: 2025-10-05T19:31:16.930Z
Learning: In config/boards/thinkpad-x13s.conf, the x13s_obtain_firmware() function is reference-only utility code that never runs. It is kept for documentation purposes. Updates to firmware must be done at the armbian/firmware repository. TODO comments in this function are intentional reminders and should not be flagged.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-09-07T17:39:32.272Z

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8586
File: config/boards/nanopi-r76s.conf:15-21
Timestamp: 2025-09-07T17:39:32.272Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, the variables $BOARD and $SDCARD are always set by the build framework, so guard checks for these variables are unnecessary in board configuration files and hook functions.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-12-13T11:44:54.545Z

Learnt from: pyavitz
Repo: armbian/build PR: 9058
File: patch/u-boot/legacy/u-boot-spacemit-k1/003-SpacemiT-K1X-Fixups.patch:17-25
Timestamp: 2025-12-13T11:44:54.545Z
Learning: In the SpacemiT U-Boot patches for Armbian (patch/u-boot/legacy/u-boot-spacemit-k1/), the environment variable `devnum` is set to the device name string (e.g., "mmc", "nvme") rather than a numeric index, and `distro_bootpart` holds the partition number. This implementation aligns with mainline U-Boot conventions for the SpacemiT platform and has been verified to work correctly by the maintainer.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-07-17T04:12:33.125Z

Learnt from: pyavitz
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8388
File: config/boards/kickpik2b.conf:1-14
Timestamp: 2025-07-17T04:12:33.125Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, board configuration files (*.conf) follow a project standard of not including shebang lines, even though they contain bash code and are sourced by the build system. This is an established Armbian convention that individual contributors are expected to follow, and changes to this standard would require broader project maintainer approval.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-11-20T18:20:11.985Z

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8968
File: patch/u-boot/u-boot-sunxi/arm64-dts-sun50i-h6-orangepi.dtsi-Rollback-r_rsb-to-r_i2c.patch:36-36
Timestamp: 2025-11-20T18:20:11.985Z
Learning: The rewrite-patches tool (REWRITE_PATCHES=yes) in the Armbian build system can inadvertently introduce semantic changes when the u-boot/kernel git base revision differs from expected state. The tool applies patches, commits them, and re-exports them using git format-patch, which can cause the re-exported patch to reflect the base revision's state rather than preserving the original patch intent. This is particularly problematic for device tree changes like interrupt specifications. The tool currently lacks validation mechanisms to detect such semantic drift, and affected patches must be manually corrected after rewriting.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-10-14T05:08:11.785Z

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8754
File: config/boards/bestv-r3300-l.csc:14-16
Timestamp: 2025-10-14T05:08:11.785Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, BOOTBRANCH_BOARD is a valid framework variable used as a fallback when BOOTBRANCH is unset. The framework checks BOOTBRANCH_BOARD before applying the default bootloader branch value (see config/sources/common.conf). Board configuration files can use BOOTBRANCH_BOARD to specify the bootloader branch.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-08-02T05:46:10.664Z

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
Repo: armbian/build PR: 0
File: :0-0
Timestamp: 2025-08-02T05:46:10.664Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, the modern recommended approach for kernel configuration is to use the kernel-config command via "./compile.sh BOARD=boardname BRANCH=branchname kernel-config" instead of the deprecated KERNEL_CONFIGURE=yes flag. This provides a two-step workflow: configure using menuconfig, then build, with better transparency and control over configuration changes.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-06-04T23:45:38.860Z

Learnt from: djurny
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8272
File: config/bootscripts/boot-mvebu.cmd:182-186
Timestamp: 2025-06-04T23:45:38.860Z
Learning: In config/bootscripts/boot-mvebu.cmd, the `fdtfile` variable is mandatory for booting and is pre-set by U-Boot, but can be overridden via armbianEnv.txt. If `fdtfile` is empty, the subsequent device tree file search logic will eventually fail and trigger the critical error "Cannot find DT!" with proper error handling.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-11-10T22:05:40.490Z

Learnt from: tabrisnet
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8913
File: config/sources/families/k3-beagle.conf:16-16
Timestamp: 2025-11-10T22:05:40.490Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, kernel branches using non-mainline/vendor forks (like BeagleBoard's linux repository) should be named "vendor" or "vendor-rt" rather than "current" or "edge". The "current" and "edge" naming is reserved for mainline kernel branches. This affects both the case statement in family config files (e.g., `vendor | vendor-rt)` instead of `current | current-rt)`) and the corresponding KERNEL_TARGET declarations in board config files.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

📚 Learning: 2025-09-14T06:29:18.958Z

Learnt from: amazingfate
Repo: armbian/build PR: 8619
File: config/sources/families/rockchip.conf:64-70
Timestamp: 2025-09-14T06:29:18.958Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, vendor branch configurations in family files are designed to be shared across multiple SoCs within the same family that use the same vendor kernel tree. For example, rk35xx and rockchip-rk3588 families both use identical vendor branch settings (same KERNELSOURCE, KERNELBRANCH, and KERNELPATCHDIR), demonstrating that vendor branches are intentionally generic rather than SoC-specific.

Applied to files:

• config/boards/rock-3a.conf

🔇 Additional comments (1)

config/boards/rock-3a.conf (1)

24-33: The unset BOOTFS_TYPE for mainline builds is correct and follows an established pattern across multiple Rockchip boards (rock-3a, nanopi-r3s, nanopi-r3s-lts). This is an intentional architectural choice: when BOOTFS_TYPE is unset, the partitioning logic does not create a separate /boot partition, placing boot files directly in the root filesystem instead—which aligns with mainline U-Boot bootflow on these platforms.

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[rpardini]

Don't think it's needed even for vendor u-boot anymore -- it was at the very first versions of vendor.

I say this cos if you unset in hook it overrides everything else -- while if you don't set it to begin with, flexibility remains for those who want it for some reason (can pass in compile.sh command line, etc).

[EvilOlaf]

I see.
Well, IIRC there are more board configs that have a hook to use mainline uboot and also unset this.

[amazingfate]

Don't think it's needed even for vendor u-boot anymore -- it was at the very first versions of vendor.

I say this cos if you unset in hook it overrides everything else -- while if you don't set it to begin with, flexibility remains for those who want it for some reason (can pass in compile.sh command line, etc).

Yes, the very first vendor uboot is from sdk with 4.19 kernel, and now the vendor uboot has get updated to the same repo as rk3588, so it should be unnecessary to set a fat boot partition.