Question about using SPI NAND with A20-SOM

[evelynwang]

Hi everyone,

I'm designing a custom board based on the A20-SOM from Olimex and looking into replacing the standard NAND/eMMC flash with an SPI NAND solution (probably a 1Gb Winbond or GigaDevice part).

I've gone through the A20 datasheet and see SPI interfaces are available, but I'm not sure about bootloader compatibility or how U-Boot handles SPI NAND on this SoC. Has anyone here successfully used SPI NAND as the primary storage/boot medium with an A20-based system?

Would really appreciate any pointers—whether it's DTS changes, U-Boot configs, or just general lessons learned. Thanks!

[LubOlimex]

I don't think it will work. Look here:

https://linux-sunxi.org/BROM

Also I don't see SPI NAND listed in the boot diagram in the manual on page 95 (only SPI NOR):

https://github.com/allwinner-zh/documents/blob/master/A20/A20_User_Manual_v1.4_20150510.pdf