Debian Build Release

DART-6UL - Debian Stretch 9.3 with imx_4.9.11_1.0.0_ga-var01 Linux release

Overview

This page describes how to build and install Debian distribution (Stretch) on Variscite boards with DART-6UL.

These instructions were tested on an Ubuntu 16.04 x64 host PC. When using other distributions, there may be problems.

Please note that the build script is based on debootstrap. As described in the following instructions, it's kindly suggested to create the build folder on the main Ubuntu volume on your host PC rather than an external media.
Using an external media, although automatically mounted, will cause debootstrap to complain about access rights (even when running the script with sudo).

Create build environment

Installing required packages

On Ubuntu building machine:

$ sudo apt-get install binfmt-support qemu qemu-user-static debootstrap kpartx \
lvm2 dosfstools gpart binutils git lib32ncurses5-dev python-m2crypto gawk wget \
git-core diffstat unzip texinfo gcc-multilib build-essential chrpath socat libsdl1.2-dev \
autoconf libtool libglib2.0-dev libarchive-dev python-git xterm sed cvs subversion \
coreutils texi2html bc docbook-utils python-pysqlite2 help2man make gcc g++ \
desktop-file-utils libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa-dev mercurial automake groff curl \
lzop asciidoc u-boot-tools mtd-utils device-tree-compiler

Deploy source

Download archive containing the build script and support files for building Debian Stretch for this board:

$ cd ~
$ git clone https://github.com/varigit/debian-var.git -b debian_stretch_mx6ul_var01 var_mx6ul_dart_debian

Create environment (Internet connection should be available):

$ cd ~/var_mx6ul_dart_debian
$ ./make_var_mx6ul_dart_debian.sh -c deploy

This environment prepared to build.

Make Debian

Build all

Internet connection should be available

$ cd ~/var_mx6ul_dart_debian
$ sudo ./make_var_mx6ul_dart_debian.sh -c all | tee 2.log

Build by parts

Build bootloader

$ cd ~/var_mx6ul_dart_debian
$ sudo ./make_var_mx6ul_dart_debian.sh -c bootloader

Build kernel, dtb files and kernel modules

$ cd ~/var_mx6ul_dart_debian
$ sudo ./make_var_mx6ul_dart_debian.sh -c kernel
$ sudo ./make_var_mx6ul_dart_debian.sh -c modules

Build rootfs

Internet connection should be available

$ cd ~/var_mx6ul_dart_debian
$ sudo ./make_var_mx6ul_dart_debian.sh -c rootfs

Pack rootfs

To create the root file system archive (rootfs.tar.gz) and UBI image (rootfs.ubi.img), run the following commands:

$ cd ~/var_mx6ul_dart_debian
$ sudo ./make_var_mx6ul_dart_debian.sh -c rtar
$ sudo ./make_var_mx6ul_dart_debian.sh -c rubi

Create boot SD card

1. Follow the above steps for make rootfs, kernel, bootloader;
2. Insert the SD card to card reader connected to a host system;
3. Run the following commands (Caution! All data on the card will be destroyed):

$ cd ~/var_mx6ul_dart_debian
$ sudo ./make_var_mx6ul_dart_debian.sh -c sdcard -d /dev/sdX

where '/dev/sdX' path to the block SD device in your system.

Boot the board with a bootable SD card

Note: Booting from SD card eliminates WiFi as the WiFi and SD card are using the same SDIO interface.

A typical use-case, is to boot from an SD card, flash the eMMC/NAND flash, and re-boot from the eMMC/NAND flash to have WiFi operational.

Setting the Boot Mode

Booting your system from an SD card requires switching the Boot DIP switches. See picture below.
On the VAR-6ULCustomBoard (with a DART-6UL):

• "00" The current position in the picture will set the system to boot from SD card
• "01" Moving the right switch will set the system to boot from eMMC
• "10" Moving the left switch will set the system to boot from NAND flash
• "11" is illegal.

Be aware that your system has eMMC or NAND but never both.

On the Concerto-Board (with a VAR-SOM-6UL):

• ON-EXT: Boot from the external storage (SD card) - the current position in the picture
• OFF-INT: Boot from the SOM's internal storage (eMMC/NAND flash)

Automatic device tree selection in U-Boot

Enable/Disable Automatic Device Tree selection

To enable the automatic device tree selection in U-Boot (already enabled by default):

$ setenv fdt_file=undefined
$ saveenv

To disable the automatic device tree selection in U-Boot, set the device tree file manually:

$ setenv fdt_file=YOUR_DTB_FILE
$ saveenv

Make sure you don't set am illegal value like "imx6ul-var-dart-sd_nand.dtb" in a SOM that has eMMC flash.

Build Results

The resulted images are located in ~/var_mx6ul_dart_debian/output/.

Image name	How to use
rootfs.tar.gz	Root filesystem tarball used for installation on SD card and eMMC
rootfs.ubi.img	Use for flash to NAND
zImage	Linux kernel image
SPL.nand	SPL built for NAND. The SPL is pre-U-Boot SW component, required for DDR initialization
SPL.emmc	SPL built for SD card and eMMC boot. The SPL is pre-U-Boot SW component, required for DDR initialization
u-boot.img.nand	U-Boot built for NAND flash
u-boot.img.emmc	U-Boot built for SD card or eMMC
Device Tree name	Details
imx6ul-var-dart-emmc_wifi.dtb	DART-6UL with eMMC and WiFi enabled. (SD card & NAND disabled)
imx6ul-var-dart-nand_wifi.dtb	DART-6UL with l NAND and WiFi enabled. (SD card & eMMC disabled)
imx6ul-var-dart-sd_emmc.dtb	DART-6UL with SD card and eMMC enabled (WiFi & NAND disabled). You can boot from eMMC or SD card
imx6ul-var-dart-sd_nand.dtb	DART-6UL with SD card and NAND enabled (WiFi & eMMC disabled). You can boot from NAND or SD card
imx6ul-var-dart-5g-emmc_wifi.dtb	DART-6UL-5G with eMMC and WiFi enabled. (SD card & NAND disabled)
imx6ul-var-dart-5g-nand_wifi.dtb	DART-6UL-5G with l NAND and WiFi enabled. (SD card & eMMC disabled)
imx6ull-var-dart-emmc_wifi.dtb	DART-6ULL with eMMC and WiFi enabled. (SD card & NAND disabled)
imx6ull-var-dart-nand_wifi.dtb	DART-6ULL with l NAND and WiFi enabled. (SD card & eMMC disabled)
imx6ull-var-dart-sd_emmc.dtb	DART-6ULL with SD card and eMMC enabled (WiFi & NAND disabled). You can boot from eMMC or SD card
imx6ull-var-dart-sd_nand.dtb	DART-6ULL with SD card and NAND enabled (WiFi & eMMC disabled). You can boot from NAND or SD card
imx6ull-var-dart-5g-emmc_wifi.dtb	DART-6ULL-5G with eMMC and WiFi enabled. (SD card & NAND disabled)
imx6ull-var-dart-5g-nand_wifi.dtb	DART-6ULL-5G with l NAND and WiFi enabled. (SD card & eMMC disabled)

Linux console access

User name	User password	User descriptor
root	root	system administrator
user	user	local user
x_user		used for X session access

Flash images to NAND / eMMC

In case you are using a SOM with NAND flash, run the following command as root to install Debian on it:

# debian-nand.sh

In case you are using a SOM with eMMC, run the following command as root to install Debian on it:

# debian-emmc.sh

The above scripts are located in /usr/sbin in the rootfs of the SD card used to boot Debian.

How-to: Test and use an interface

Please see this section in the Yocto developer guide page. It is the same for Debian.

How-to: Modify the kernel configuration

To modify the kernel configuration (add/remove features and drivers) please follow the steps below:

1. $ cd ~/var_mx6ul_dart_debian/src/kernel
2. $ sudo make ARCH=arm mrproper
3. $ sudo make ARCH=arm imx_v7_var_defconfig
4. $ sudo make ARCH=arm menuconfig
5. Navigate the menu and select the desired kernel functionality
6. Exit the menu and answer "Yes" when asked "Do you wish to save your new configuration?"
7. $ sudo make ARCH=arm savedefconfig
8. $ sudo cp arch/arm/configs/imx_v7_var_defconfig arch/arm/configs/imx_v7_var_defconfig.orig
9. $ sudo cp defconfig arch/arm/configs/imx_v7_var_defconfig
10. Follow the instructions above to rebuild kernel and modules, repack rootfs images and recreate SD card

Build a sample C "Hello, world!" program

Create a file called myhello.c with the following content:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
	printf("Hello, World!\n");
	return 0;
}

Export the C (cross-)compiler path:

$ export CC=~/var_mx6ul_dart_debian/toolchain/gcc-linaro-6.3.1-2017.05-x86_64_arm-linux-gnueabihf/bin/arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc

Compile:

$ $CC myhello.c -o myhello

Now you should have an app called myhello, that can be run on your target board.
You can add it to your rootfs image or copy it directly to the rootfs on the board (using scp, for example).