This document provides instructions for advanced users how Embedian offers patches and builds a customized version of u-boot and linux kernel for Embedian's SMARC-iMX8 product platform and how to install the images to bring the evaluation board up and running.
Our aim is to fully support our hardware through device drivers. We also provide unit tests so that testing a board is easy and custom development can start precisely.
The host Linux machine is recommended Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04.
Once you have Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 LTS running, install the additional required support packages using the following console command:
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SMARC-iMX8 from Embedian
EVK-STD-CARRIER-S20 (universal carrier board for all SMARC 2.0 modules) from Embedian
This is a pre-built (32bit) version of Linaro GCC that runs on generic linux, so 64bit users need to make sure they have installed the 32bit libraries for their distribution.
| debian based | extra | pkgs: (sudo apt-get update ; sudo apt-get install xyz) |
|---|---|---|
Ubuntu 20.04 |
| ia32-libs |
Debian 11 (Bullseye) | sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 | libc6:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libncurses5:i386 zlib1g:i386 |
Ubuntu 20.10 -> 22.04 |
| libc6:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libncurses5:i386 zlib1g:i386 |
Red Hat/Centos/Fedora |
| libstdc++.i686 ncurses-devel.i686 zlib.i686 |
Red Hat based (rpm) | extra | pkgs: (yum install xyz) |
Red Hat/Centos/Fedora |
| libstdc++.i686 ncurses-devel.i686 zlib.i686 |
Ubuntu 22.04 |
| ia32-libs |
Ubuntu 20.10 -> 22.04 |
| libc6:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libncurses5:i386 zlib1g:i386 |
To build Embedian’s SMARC-iMX8 u-boot and linux kernel, you will need to install the following ARM compiler:
For u-boot 2022.04, you need to use the following Arm compiler.
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Test:
If this test fails, verify that you have the 32bit libraries installed on your development system.
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Generating SSH Keys
We recommend you use SSH keys to establish a secure connection between your computer and Embedian Gitlab server. The steps below will walk you through generating an SSH key and then adding the public key to our Gitlab account.
First, we need to check for existing ssh keys on your computer. Open up Git Bash and run:
$ cd ~/.ssh $ ls # Lists the files in your .ssh directory |
Check the directory listing to see if you have a file named either id_rsa.pub or id_dsa.pub. If you don't have either of those files go to step 2. Otherwise, you already have an existing keypair, and you can skip to step 3.
To generate a new SSH key, enter the code below. We want the default settings so when asked to enter a file in which to save the key, just press enter.
$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "your_email@example.com" # Creates a new ssh key, using the provided email as a label # Generating public/private rsa key pair. # Enter file in which to save the key (/c/Users/you/.ssh/id_rsa): [Press enter] $ ssh-add id_rsa |
Now you need to enter a passphrase.
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): [Type a passphrase] Enter same passphrase again: [Type passphrase again] |
Which should give you something like this:
Your identification has been saved in /c/Users/you/.ssh/id_rsa. Your public key has been saved in /c/Users/you/.ssh/id_rsa.pub. The key fingerprint is: 01:0f:f4:3b:ca:85:d6:17:a1:7d:f0:68:9d:f0:a2:db your_email@example.com |
Copy the key to your clipboard.
$ cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAABDAQABAAABAQDQUEnh8uGpfxaZVU6+uE4bsDrs/tEE5/BPW7jMAxak 6qgOh6nUrQGBWS+VxMM2un3KzwvLRJSj8G4TnTK2CSmlBvR+X8ZeXNTyAdaDxULs/StVhH+QRtFEGy4o iMIzvIlTyORY89jzhIsgZzwr01nqoSeWWASd+59JWtFjVy0nwVNVtbek7NfuIGGAPaijO5Wnshr2uChB Pk8ScGjQ3z4VqNXP6CWhCXTqIk7EQl7yX2GKd6FgEFrzae+5Jf63Xm8g6abbE3ytCrMT/jYy5OOj2XSg 6jlxSFnKcONAcfMTWkTXeG/OgeGeG5kZdtqryRtOlGmOeuQe1dd3I+Zz3JyT your_email@example.c om |
Go to Embedian Git Server. At Profile Setting --> SSH Keys --> Add SSH Key
Paste your public key and press "Add Key" and your are done.
The bootable image file is called flash.bin. It is is comprised of as minimum the System Controller Firmware (scfw_tcm.bin) and the Security Controller Firmware (mx8qmb0-ahab-container.img), optionally it can contain images for the Cortex M4 cores (if more than one available as in the case of QM devices) and Cortex A cores.
This section instruct you how to generate a bootable file flash.bin.
1. Download the imx-mkimage tool and apply Embedian's patch to accept Embedian's device tree blob.
2. Get and Build the ARM Trusted firmware and copy bl31.bin to imx-mkimage/iMX8QM directory.
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3. Get and build System Control Firmware
3.1. Setup Cross Compiler
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3.2. Get and build System Control Firmware (SCFW)
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For 4GB LPDDR4 variant, use
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4. Get and Security Control Firmware (SECO)
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5. Get and build Cortex-M image (Optional)
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6. Clone the U-Boot source code from Embedian Git Server and copy related files to imx-mkimage/iMX8QM/ directory.
Download:
For u-boot v2022.04:
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Configure and Build:
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Note1: If the board is 4GB LPDDR4 in commercial or industrial temperature, use Note 2: "ser3" stands for console debug port in SMARC definition. In this example, we uses SER3 as debug port. If user uses SER0 as your debug port, make change to "ser0" instead. Same as SER1 and SER2. Note 3: The SMARC-iMX8 module always boot up from the on-module eMMC flash. The factory default will be flash.bin pre-installed with SER3 as console output. In some cases when the eMMC flash is empty or needs to be upgraded. Users can shunt crossed the TEST# to ground. In this way, the SMARC-iMX8 module will boot up to carrier SD card, if TEST# pin is shunt crossed. The flash.bin image are the same, the difference is how you flash flash.bin. This will be explained in the "Setup SD card" section. |
Copy u-boot.bin spl/u-boot-spl.bin arch/arm/dts/imx8qm-smarc.dtb to imx-mkimage/iMX8QM directory.
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7. Generate flash.bin file.
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The flash.bin file will be located at imx-mkimage/iMX8QM directory. Go to "Setup SD Card" section to instruct you how to flash this file into SD card.
Download:
For 5.15.71 (Based on NXP imx_lf-5.15.y official release):
$ git clone git@git.embedian.com:developer/smarc-fsl-linux-kernel.git v5.15.71 -b emb_imx_lf-5.15.y |
Configure and Build:
$ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=${CC} distclean$ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=${CC} emb_imx_v8_defconfig$ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=${CC} Image modules dtbs |
Selecting display configuration is a matter of selecting an appropriate DTB file under arch/arm64/boot/dts/embedian.
All available DTB files are listed in the table below.
| DTB File Name | Description |
|---|---|
imx8qm-smarc.dtb | Device tree blob for no display configuration. |
imx8qm-smarc-hdmi.dtb | Device tree blob for HDMI display configuration. |
imx8qm-smarc-dp.dtb | Device tree blob for Display Port (DP) display configuration. |
imx8qm-smarc-edp.dtb | Device tree blob for embedded Display Port (eDP) display configuration. |
imx8qm-smarc-lvds.dtb | Device tree blob for LVDS display configuration. |
imx8qm-smarc-rpmsg.dtb | Device tree blob for Cortex-M4 configuration. |
Root File System
Ubuntu ARM64 18.04:
| User | Password |
|---|---|
| root | N/A |
Ubuntu 18.04 Download:
$ wget -c ftp://ftp.embedian.com/public/dev/minfs/ubuntu/bionic/ubuntu-minimal-imx8qm-18.04-arm64.tar.gz |
Verify:
$ md5sum ubuntu-minimal-imx8qm-18.04-arm64.tar.gz 0d48e9951a7cfb61ac712d5a386e6eb1 ubuntu-minimal-imx8qm-18.04-arm64.tar.gz |
Yocto Kirkstone Build Root File System:
| User | Password |
|---|---|
| root | N/A |
Find the yocto pre-built root file systems here at Embedian's ftp site based on your module CPU variants.
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For these instruction, we are assuming: DISK=/dev/mmcblk0, "lsblk" is very useful for determining the device id.
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Erase SD card:
$ |
Create Partition Layout: Leave 2MB offset for flash.bin.
With util-linux v2.26, sfdisk was rewritten and is now based on libfdisk.
$ sudo sfdisk --versionsfdisk from util-linux 2.34 |
Create Partitions:
$ sudo sfdisk ${DISK} <<-__EOF__2M,48M,0x83,*50M,,,__EOF__ |
$ sudo sfdisk --in-order --Linux --unit M ${DISK} <<-__EOF__2,48,0x83,*,,,-__EOF__ |
Format Partitions:
for: DISK=/dev/mmcblk0$ sudo mkfs.vfat -F 16 ${DISK}p1 -n boot$ sudo mkfs.ext4 ${DISK}p2 -L rootfsfor: DISK=/dev/sdX$ sudo mkfs.vfat -F 16 ${DISK}1 -n boot$ sudo mkfs.ext4 ${DISK}2 -L rootfs |
Mount Partitions:
On some systems, these partitions may be auto-mounted...
$ sudo mkdir -p /media/boot/$ sudo mkdir -p /media/rootfs/for: DISK=/dev/mmcblk0$ sudo mount ${DISK}p1 /media/boot/$ sudo mount ${DISK}p2 /media/rootfs/ for: DISK=/dev/sdX$ sudo mount ${DISK}1 /media/boot/$ sudo mount ${DISK}2 /media/rootfs/ |
If on-module eMMC Flash is empty
In some cases, when eMMC flash is erased or the u-boot is under development, we need a way to boot from SD card first. Users need to shunt cross the TEST# pin to ground. In this way, SMARC-iMX8 will always boot up from SD card.
Fuse flash.bin to the SD card.
$ sudo dd if=iMX8QM/flash.bin of=${DISK} bs=1024 seek=32 |
If on-module eMMC Flash is not empty
The flash.bin is pre-installed in on-module eMMC flash at factory default. SMARC-iMX8 is designed to always boot up from on-module eMMC flash and to load Image, device tree blob and root file systems based on the setting of BOOT_SEL. If users need to fuse your own flash.bin or perform u-boot upgrade. This section will instruct you how to do that.
Copy flash.bin to the second partition home directory of your SD card and boot into SD card. Go to home directory and you should see flash.bin file (The flash.bin file is located at imx-mkimage/iMX8QM/ directory).
$ sudo cp -v imx-mkimage/iMX8QM/flash.bin /media/rootfs/home/root/ |
Boot up device and fuse flash.bin to the on-module eMMC flash. (The eMMC flash is emulated as /dev/mmcblk0 in SMARC-iMX8)
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Create "uEnv.txt" boot script: ($ vim uEnv.txt)
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Copy uEnv.txt to the boot partition:
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Copy Image to the boot partition:
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All available DTB files are listed in the table below.
| DTB File Name | Description |
|---|---|
imx8qm-smarc.dtb | Device tree blob for no display configuration. |
imx8qm-smarc-hdmi.dtb | Device tree blob for HDMI display configuration. |
imx8qm-smarc-dp.dtb | Device tree blob for Display Port (DP) display configuration. |
imx8qm-smarc-edp.dtb | Device tree blob for embedded Display Port (eDP) display configuration. |
imx8qm-smarc-lvds.dtb | Device tree blob for LVDS display configuration. |
imx8qm-smarc-rpmsg.dtb | Device tree blob for Cortex-M4 configuration. |
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Yocto Pre-Built Rootfs:
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Ubuntu 18.04:
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Networking:
Edit: /etc/network/interfaces
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Add:
auto loiface lo inet loopbackauto eth0iface eth0 inet dhcp |
Remove SD card:
$ sync$ sudo umount /media/boot$ sudo umount /media/rootfs |
Setting up eMMC usually is the last step at development stage after the development work is done at your SD card or NFS environments. From software point of view, eMMC is nothing but a non-removable SD card on board. For SMARC-iMX8, the SD card is always emulated as /dev/mmcblk1 and on-module eMMC is always emulated as /dev/mmcblk0. Setting up eMMC now is nothing but changing the device descriptor.
This section gives a step-by-step procedure to setup eMMC flash. Users can write a shell script your own at production to simplify the steps.
First, we need to backup the final firmware from your SD card or NFS.
Insert SD card into your Linux PC. For these instructions, we are assuming: DISK=/dev/mmcblk0, "lsblk" is very useful for determining the device id.
For these instruction, we are assuming: DISK=/dev/mmcblk0, "lsblk" is very useful for determining the device id.
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Mount Partitions:
On some systems, these partitions may be auto-mounted...
$ sudo mkdir -p /media/boot/$ sudo mkdir -p /media/rootfs/for: DISK=/dev/mmcblk0$ sudo mount ${DISK}p1 /media/boot/$ sudo mount ${DISK}p2 /media/rootfs/ for: DISK=/dev/sdX$ sudo mount ${DISK}1 /media/boot/$ sudo mount ${DISK}2 /media/rootfs/ |
Copy Image to rootfs partition:
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Copy uEnv.txt to rootfs partition:
Copy and paste the following contents to /media/rootfs/home/root ($ sudo vim /media/rootfs/home/root/uEnv.txt)
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Copy device tree blob to rootfs partition:
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Copy boot file to rootfs partition:
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Copy real rootfs to rootfs partition:
Yocto Built Root File Systems
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Ubuntu 18.04 Root File Systems
Delete all contents starting with "SUBSYSTEM=="
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Remove SD card:
$ sync$ sudo umount /media/boot$ sudo umount /media/rootfs |
Insert this SD card into your SMARC-iMX8 device and boot into SD card.
Now it will be almost the same as you did when setup your SD card, but the eMMC device descriptor is /dev/mmcblk0 now.
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Erase eMMC:
$ |
Create Partition Layout:
2M,48M,0x83,* 50M,,,__EOF__ |
Format Partitions:
$ sudo mkfs.vfat -F 16 ${DISK}p1 -n boot$ sudo mkfs.ext4 ${DISK}p2 -L rootfs |
Mount Partitions:
$ sudo mkdir -p /media/boot/$ sudo mkdir -p /media/rootfs/$ sudo mount ${DISK}p1 /media/boot/$ sudo mount ${DISK}p2 /media/rootfs/ |
Copy uEnv.txt/Image/*.dtb to the boot partition
$ sudo cp -v Image uEnv.txt /media/boot/ |
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Unmount eMMC:
$ sync$ sudo umount /media/boot$ sudo umount /media/rootfs |
Flash boot file
$ sudo dd if=flash.bin of=${DISK} bs=1024 seek=32 |
Switch your Boot Select to eMMC (OFF ON ON) and you will be able to boot up from eMMC now.
version 1.0a, 8/14/2023
Last updated 2023-08-14