Yocto Linux BSP Ver.8 User Guide for iMX7 series

i.MX6

Version 3 (based on Yocto 1.5) User Guide

• Eclipse Plug-in
• QtCreator

Version 6 (based on Yocto 1.8) User Guide

• Bluetooth Testing Guide

Version 8 (based on Yocto 2.1) User Guide

• Building Ubuntu Rootfs for i.MX6
• How_To_Update_Ubuntu/Debian_Rootfs on i.MX6 platform
• How to install Docker on i.MX6 Debian

Getting Started

Conventions

${PREBUILT_IMAGE} : compressed prebuilt image (*.img.gz)

${CONTAINER_NAME} : container name (e.g. imx6LBV8040)

${BSP_TARBALL} : BSP tarball (*.tgz)

${BSP_HOME} : home directory of the BSP

${BDIR} : build directory (e.g. build_x11)

${MX7PROC} : i.MX7 Processor

mx7d for iMX7 Dual Core

${IMX7PROC} : i.MX7 Processor

imx7d

${BOARD} : available target boards list below

ebcrm01

${BOARD_REV} : board revision

a1

${MC} : machine code combined with ${IMX6PROC}${BOARD}${BOARD_REV}

for example,

imx7debcrm01a1 for EBC-RM01 A1

${MEM_SIZE} : memory size

2G

${SD_DEVICE} : device name of SD card in Linux (e.g. /dev/sdf)

${SDCARD_IMAGE} : sdcard image built by bitbake (*.sdcard)

${WORKSPACE} : host workspace folders

${UBOOT} :u-boot version(e.g. 2016.03)

${KERNEL} : linux kernel version(e.g. 4.1.15)

${TOOLCHAIN} : toolchain installed directory(e.g. /opt/fsl-imx-x11/4.1.15-2.0.0)

debug console / serial console

serial terminal program (e.g. minicom, putty, teraterm ...) that serial port is configured to 115200 8N1

terminal console

terminal program (e.g. gnome-terminal, xfce4-terminal ...)

Docker install and setting

If you don't have docker in your system, then you can follow the below  steps to install docker and run it first.

To install Docker Engine on your platform

Please refer to Docker Installation Guide for details

To pull ubuntu 12.04 image from Docker Hub 

$ docker pull advrisc/u12.04-imx6lbv3

$ docker run --name imx6LBV8xxx  -it advrisc/u12.04-imx6lbv3 /bin/bash

To copy BSP from local filesystem to the container

$ docker cp ${BSP_PACK} imx6LBV8xxx:/home/adv/ 

To create container

$ docker run --privileged -it --name ${CONTAINER_NAME} -v ${WORKSPACE}:/home/adv/adv-release-bsp -v /dev:/dev advrisc/u12.04-imx6lbv3 /bin/bash

Get BSP

You have two methods to put BSP into container created above

Download BSP From GitHub

The following example shows how to download the Advantech Yocto BSP from GitHub.

For this example, a directory called adv-release-bsp is created for the project.

Refer to IoTGateway/BSP/Linux/iMX7/OS Support List new , Official version "imx6LBV8xxx" is taken as an example :

$ git config --global user.name "Your Name"
$ git config --global user.email you@example.com
$ mkdir adv-release-bsp
$ sudo chown adv:adv adv-release-bsp
$ cd adv-release-bsp
$ repo init -u git://github.com/ADVANTECH-Corp/adv-arm-yocto-bsp.git -b refs/tags/imx6LBV8xxx -m imx6LBV8xxx.xml
$ repo sync

If you want to get latest bsp

$ repo init -u git://github.com/ADVANTECH-Corp/adv-arm-yocto-bsp.git -b imx-4.1-krogoth
$ repo sync

Copy BSP tarball to Container

If you have BSP tarball (eg. imx6LBV8xxx_2018-xx-xx.tgz), then you have to copy it into container.

Follow the steps below:

1.Exit container and back to local machine

$ exit

2.Copy BSP tarball to ${WORKSPACE} , and change owner

$ cp imx6LBV8xxx_2018-xx-xx.tgz ${WORKSPACE}
$ sudo chown adv:adv ${WORKSPACE}/imx6LBV8xxx_2018-xx-xx.tgz 

3.Back to container

$ docker start ${CONTAINER_NAME}
$ docker attach ${CONTAINER_NAME}

4.Unpack BSP tarball

$ tar zxvf imx6LBV8xxx_2018-xx-xx.tgz

Downloads tarball

Not necessarily step

During building  Yocto image , it will generate downloads folder which includes all packages we need , but it usually can't fetch normally, so we keep this downloads folder. Then we can reduce some fetch failed issue.

You can get Downloads tarball (downloads-2.1.tar.gz) from following URL:

https://pan.baidu.com/s/1nvqgx2T#list/path=%2FELAA%2Fimx6_yocto_bsp_2.1_2.0.0%2Fdownloads&parentPath=%2FELAA

If you get downloads tarball, you can copy to your ${WORKSPACE}

Follow the steps below:

1.Exit container and back to local machine

$ exit

2.Copy Downloads tarball to ${WORKSPACE} , and change owner

$ cp downloads-2.1.tar.gz ${WORKSPACE}
$ sudo chown adv:adv ${WORKSPACE}/downloads-2.1.tar.gz 

3.Back to container

$ docker start ${CONTAINER_NAME}
$ docker attach ${CONTAINER_NAME}

4.Unpack Downloads tarball

$ tar zxvf downloads-2.1.tar.gz

5.make link to downloads folder

$ cd adv-release-bsp
$ ln -s ${WORKSPACE}/downloads_2.1 downloads

Introducing BSP

The BSP is based on Yocto Project with Freescale enhanced features for i.MX6, plus specific target board features from Advantech Inc..

The Advantech Yocto Project BSP Release directory contains a "sources" directory, which contains the recipes used to build,

one or more build directories, and a set of scripts used to set up the environment.

The recipes used to build the project come from both the community and Advantech. The Yocto Project layers are downloaded

to the sources directory. This sets up the recipes that are used to build the project.

Naming Rule

The tarball/prebuilt image name is consist of the model name followed by "LB" or "LI" plus version number and released date.

For example, BSP file name: imx6LBV8040_2017-01-16.tgz

which , "LB" is acronym of Linux BSP,

           "V8040" stands for Version 8.040.

For example, Yocto image name: 7421A1LIV8040_DualPlus_2017-01-16.img.gz

which "7421A1" stands for ROM-7421 A1

          "LI" is acronym for prebuilt Linux Image,

          "DualPlus" means this image is fit for Dual Plus Core/Quad Plus Core.

For example, Yocto image name: 3420A1LIV8050_DualQuad_2017-01-17.img.gz

which "3420A1" stands for ROM-3420 A1

          "LI" is acronym for prebuilt Linux Image,

          "DualQuad" means this image is fit for Dual Core/Quad Core.

For example, Yocto image name: U220A1LIV8080_DualLiteSolo_2017-02-08.img.gz

which "U220A1" stands for UBC-220 A1

          "LI" is acronym for prebuilt Linux Image,

          "DualLiteSolo" means this image is fit for Dual Lite Core/Solo Core.

BSP Content

The description of some important folders list below:

sources/

meta-advantech/ : meta layer by Advantech

meta-fsl-*/ : meta layer by Freescale

fsl-setup-release.sh : to create one new build environment

setup-environment : to continue an exist build environment

Build Instructions

To create one new build environment

Perform the following commands in terminal console

$ cd ${BSP_HOME}

$ MACHINE=${MC} source fsl-setup-release.sh -b ${BDIR} -e x11

You need to read and accept the EULA.

To continue an exist build environment

Perform the following commands in terminal console

$ cd ${BSP_HOME}

$ source setup-environment ${BDIR}

To build sdcard image

To create/continue a build environment

Perform the following command in terminal console

$ bitbake fsl-image-qt5

The file, fsl-image-qt5-${MC}.sdcard, will be located in directory, ./tmp/deploy/images/${MC}, while building process finished successfully.

To build toolchain installer

To create/continue a build environment

Perform the following command in terminal console

$ bitbake meta-toolchain-qt5

The below installer will be located in the directory "./tmp/deploy/sdk".

fsl-imx-x11-glibc-x86_64-meta-toolchain-qt5-cortexa9hf-vfp-neon-toolchain-${KERNEL}-1.1.0.sh

To build u-boot

To create/continue a build environment

Perform the following command in terminal console

$ bitbake u-boot-imx

The two files, u-boot_crc.bin & u-boot_crc.bin.crc, will be located in the directory, ./tmp/deploy/images/${MC}.

To modify source code and rebuild u-boot

To create/continue a build environment

Perform the following command in terminal console

to modify source code and created a patch file

$ git diff > test.patch

to create "u-boot-imx" directory and copy the "test.patch" file in following path

sources/meta-advantech/meta-fsl-imx6/recipes-bsp/u-boot$

to open "u-boot-imx_2016.03.bbappend" file in following path

sources/meta-advantech/meta-fsl-imx6/recipes-kernel$vi u-boot-imx_2016.03.bbappend

FILESEXTRAPATHS_prepend := "${THISDIR}/${PN}:"

SRCBRANCH = "imx_v2016.03_4.1.15_2.0.0_ga"

UBOOT_SRC = "..."

SRCREV = "${AUTOREV}"

to add path information of patch file to u-boot-imx_2016.03.bbappend file

SRC_URI += "file://test.patch

to clean u-boot image and code if you modify content of "mx6*.defconfig" file or "Makefile" file in the patch file

$ bitbake u-boot-imx -c cleansstate

to build u-boot image

$ bitbake u-boot-imx

To build linux kernel

To create/continue a build environment

If you operate on docker images, please install tmux application before running this command

$ sudo apt-get install tmux

Type following command to enter tmux

$ tmux

Perform the following command in terminal console to show up menuconfig

$ bitbake linux-imx -c menuconfig

After edit menuconfig, type following command to exit tmux windows

$ exit

to build kernel image

$ bitbake linux-imx

The two files, zImage & zImage-${IMX6PROC}-${BOARD}-${BOARD_REV}.dtb, will be located in the directory, ./tmp/deploy/images/${MC}.

To modify source code and rebuild linux kernel

To create/continue a build environment

Perform the following command in terminal console

to modify source code and created a patch file

$ git diff > test.patch

to create "linux-imx" directory and copy the "test.patch" file in following path 

sources/meta-advantech/meta-fsl-imx6/recipes-kernel/linux/linux-imx$

to open "linux-imx_4.1.15.bbappend" file in following path  (linux-imx_4.1.15.bbappend will check linux-imx folder  )

sources/meta-advantech/meta-fsl-imx6/recipes-kernel/linux/$vi linux-imx_4.1.15.bbappend

FILESEXTRAPATHS_prepend := "${THISDIR}/${PN}:"

SRCBRANCH = "imx_4.1.15_2.0.0_ga"

KERNEL_SRC = "..."

SRCREV = "${AUTOREV}"

to add path information of patch file to linux-imx_4.1.15.bbappend file

SRC_URI += "file://test.patch

to clean kernel image and code if you modify content of "imx_v7_adv_defconfig" file or "Makefile" file in the patch file

$ bitbake linux-imx -c cleansstate

to build kernel image

$ bitbake linux-imx

Creating boot-up on-board flash from prebuilt image

To create one boot-up SD card

Perform the following command in terminal console

$ gunzip -c ${PREBUILT_IMAGE | dd of=${SD_DEVICE} bs=1M

# sync

To transfer whole system to on-board flash

Boot up from SD card

Perform the following commands in debug console

# cd /mk_inand

# ./mksd-linux.sh /dev/mmcblk0

press y followed by Enter, if following message shows up:

While "[Done]" shows up means the transferring is finished.

Creating boot-up on-board flash from built sdcard image

To create one boot-up SD card

Perform the following commands in terminal console

$ pushd ${BSP_HOME}/${BDIR}/tmp/deploy/images/${MC}

$ dd if=${SDCARD_IMAGE} of=${SD_DEVICE} bs=1M

$ sync

$ popd

To transfer whole system to on-board flash

Boot up from SD card

Insert USB stick that contains ${SDCARD_IMAGE}, USB stick will be auto mounted to /run/media/sda1.

Perform the following commands in debug console

# umount /dev/mmcblk0p?

# cd /run/media/sda1

# dd if=${SDCARD_IMAGE} of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=4M conv=fsync

# P2START=$(fdisk -lu | grep mmcblk0p2 | awk '{print $2}')

# echo -e "d\n2\nn\np\n2\n${P2START}\n\nw\n" | fdisk -u /dev/mmcblk0

# umount /dev/mmcblk0p2

# e2fsck -f -y /dev/mmcblk0p2

# resize2fs /dev/mmcblk0p2

# poweroff

Debug console information

If you want to see debug message from device, you need to prepare for hardware device and software tool.

Preparing for hardware device

• The following URL provides information about the debug port slot and the debug port line for each device

Debug Port Information

Preparing for software tool

• You need to prepare the debug console tool. For example: "minicom" tool or "putty" tool.
• Baud rate: 115200

Customization

Package addition

To add tcf-agent & openssh-sftp-server

Navigate to the directory where fsl-image-adv.inc located

$ cd ${BSP_HOME}/sources/meta-advantech/recipes-fsl/images

Add following line to fsl-image-adv.inc

IMAGE_INSTALL += " tcf-agent openssh-sftp-server "

Continue an exist build environment and build sdcard image

To add chromium browser

Navigate to the directory where local.conf located

$ cd ${BSP_HOME}/${BDIR}/conf

Add following two lines to local.conf

CORE_IMAGE_EXTRA_INSTALL += "chromium"

LICENSE_FLAGS_WHITELIST="commercial"

Continue an exist build environment and build sdcard image

Setting up SDK

Please follow the section,To build toolchain installer, to build one toolchain installer

Perform the following command in terminal console

$ cd ${BSP_HOME}/${BDIR}/tmp/deploy/sdk

$ sudo ./fsl-imx-x11-glibc-x86_64-meta-toolchain-qt5-cortexa9hf-vfp-neon-toolchain-${KERNEL}-1.1.0.sh

Enter new installed directory or just press Enter to use default directory.

While Proceed[y/n]? shows up, please enter the correct one.

Waiting for the SDK installed (while the following messages show up completely)

Setting up cross compiling environment

SDK has been set up (ref.Setting up SDK)

Perform the following command in terminal console

$ source ${TOOLCHAIN}/environment-setup-cortexa9hf-vfp-neon-poky-linux-gnueabi

Building & updating u-boot manually

The cross compiling environment has been set up. (ref. Setting up cross compiling environment)

Copy BSP tarball to Container

Refer to Copy_BSP_tarball_to_Container , copy u-boot tarball to ${WORKSPACE} and back to container change owner & unpack tarball

$ sudo chown adv:adv imx6LBV8210_2017-02-20_uboot-imx6.tgz
$ tar zxvf imx6LBV8210_2017-02-20_uboot-imx6.tgz

Config u-boot

$make ${MX6PROC}${BOARD}${BOARD_REV}_${MEM_SIZE}_defconfig

eg.

$make mx6qrsb4411a1_1G_defconfig

Build u-boot

$make -j4

Replace u-boot

Perform the following command to transfer to exist boot-up SD card

$ dd if=u-boot_crc.bin.crc of=${SD_DEVICE} bs=512 seek=2 conv=fsync
$ dd if=u-boot_crc.bin of=${SD_DEVICE} bs=512 seek=3 conv=fsync

Perform the following command to transfer to on-board flash

$ dd if=u-boot_crc.bin.crc of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=512 seek=2 conv=fsync
$ dd if=u-boot-crc.bin of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=512 seek=3 conv=fsync

Building & updating kernel/modules/dtb manually

The cross compiling environment has been set up. (ref. Setting up cross compiling environment)

Copy BSP tarball to Container

Refer to Copy_BSP_tarball_to_Container , copy kernel tarball to ${WORKSPACE} and back to container

change owner & unpack tarball

$ sudo chown adv:adv imx6LBV8210_2017-02-20_linux-imx6.tgz
$ tar zxvf imx6LBV8210_2017-02-20_linux-imx6.tgz

Config kernel

Configure linux kernel

$cd linux-imx6
$make distclean
$make imx_v7_adv_defconfig
$make menuconfig

If you get error ,when you "make imx_v7_adv_defconfig" , you need to insatall "libncurses*"

$apt-get install libncurses*

Build kernel

Start building linux kernel

$ make -j4 zImage

The kernel image file, zImage, is located in the directory "./arch/arm/boot/".

Start building kernel modules

$ make -j4 modules

Copy all modules to a temporary rootfs directory, "~/temp/rootfs"

$ make modules_install INSTALL_MOD_PATH=~/temp/rootfs

Building device tree blob

$ make -j4 ${IMX6PROC}-${BOARD}-${BOARD_REV}.dtb

The device tree blob, ${IMX6PROC}-${BOARD}-${BOARD_REV}.dtb, is located in the directory "./arch/arm/boot/dts/".

Replace kernel & dts

Replace kernel

copy zImage to SDcard or emmc

Replace dtb file

copy dtb file to SDcard or emmc

Improve boot speed

• Bootloader

1.bootdelay time

We can cancel the bootdelay time by setting bootloader environment value.

setenv bootdelay 0
env save
reset

2.Disable console

Disable debug message output can also improve boot speed

Disable kernel message

setenv mmcargs setenv bootargs console=${console},${baudrate} ${smp} root=${mmcroot} ${bootargs} quiet
env save
reset

Or

Disable debug port

setenv console
env save
reset

• Rootfs

1.Use smaller rootfs

We can speed up boot times by using a smaller rootfs instead of fsl-image-qt5 image

eg. core-image-full-cmdline, core-image-minimal

bitbake core-image-full-cmdline

It's a console-only image with more full-featured Linux system functionality installed.

And replace the original fsl-image-qt5 rootfs.

• Services

1. Using update-rc.d remove ,we can remove unnecessary services.

update-rc.d -f ＜basename＞ remove

System Recovery

Please refer to Creating boot-up on-board flash from prebuilt image / sdcard image to create a boot-up SD card and transfer whole system to on-board flash.

Package List

In BSP, list all packages which will be built in the image

bitbake -g fsl-image-qt5 && cat pn-depends.dot | grep -v -e '-native' | grep -v digraph | grep -v -e '-image' \
| awk '{print $1}' | sort | uniq

File:Package List

Show all recipes (include non-installed packages)

bitbake -s

File:Package Version List

You can also check ${BDIR}/tmp/deploy/images/${MC}/fsl-image-qt5-${MC}.manifest

It will show the same content with checking by rpm tool on target board.

On target board, list all packages by rpm tool

rpm -qa --root / --dbpath /var/lib/rpm | sort

File:Package List

Quark

Version 1 User Guide

This version is based on Intel Quark BSP v1.0.4 (Yocto 1.4.2).

Version 2 User Guide

This version is based on Intel Quark BSP v1.2.0 (Yocto 1.7.2).

• Bluetooth Testing Guide
• Getting the BSP from GitHub

There is a newer version which is based on Intel Quark BSP v1.2.1.1 (Yocto 1.7.2).

• Building Debian (Jessie) Rootfs for Quark

APQ8016

Linux BSP User Guide

• Version 1 (Yocto 2.1 & Debian 9)

AM335x

OS Support List

• OS Support List(base on ti-skd-am335x-evm-06.00.00.00 and ti-sdk-am335x-evm-02.00.00.00.00 and Yocto 2.1)

Version 3 (based on Yocto 2.1) User Guide

• Function Test

FAQ

• FAQ

AM57xx

Version 1 (based on Yocto 2.1) User Guide

• Function Test

FAQ

• FAQ

ELAA

• Document

Add on value

• SUSI 4.0
• SUSI IoT
• RMM-Agent