VAR-SOM-MX6 Yocto GS
Introduction
This is the second release of VAR-SOM-MX6 - Yocto V4.1 Dora. We updated the kernel with features and cleanup update u-boot and added support for Bluetooth and camera on the Dual lite and Solo SOM versions.
We also added 2 packages that enable Eclipse/Yocto application debug. A debug application note will come soon.
Supported hardware and features
| Feature |
Description |
|---|---|
| Board support |
VAR-DVK-MX6,VAR-SOM-MX6 |
| CPU |
|
| Software platform |
Yocto Dora release. |
| Nand Recovery | NAND-recovery SD V22 - can be downloaded from FTP |
| NAND Flash size support |
0.5,1.0,2.0 GB |
| SD-Card |
+ |
| Wired Network |
10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet |
| Wireless Network |
802.11 b/g/n |
| Bluetooth |
4.0 |
| USB host |
+ |
| USB OTG |
Host and Device |
| Uarts |
x3, up to 3.6 Mbps. Minicom avilable to use with the port |
| RTC |
+ |
| Display | HDMI 720P,1080P LVDS0 (On board LVDS to RGB bridge, EVK supports 800x480 resolution) LVDS1 external display |
| Audio | Line IN/ Line out |
| Camera | ov5640 camera sensor. CB402 board can be ordered seperately |
| SATA | + |
Variscite Yocto Dora release 2 for Freescale i.MX6 version 4.1.
Installing required packages
Follow the link below and install all the required packages on your machine.
www.yoctoproject.org/docs/latest/yocto-project-qs/yocto-project-qs.html
For example, if your building machine is an Ubuntu machine:
sudo apt-get install gawk wget git-core diffstat unzip texinfo build-essential chrpath libsdl1.2-dev xterm
Variscite Yocto build is tested with Ubuntu 12.04 lts.
Get Yocto Dora for i.MX6 with Variscite VAR-SOM-MX6 support
Method 1 (recommended)
$ cd ~ $ tar xvf var_yocto_rel_v3.0.tar.bz2
This will install an entire source tree. No need to apply any patch.
Method 2 using "Repo"
Install the `repo` utility:
$ mkdir ~/bin $ curl https://dl-ssl.google.com/dl/googlesource/git-repo/repo > ~/bin/repo $ chmod a+x ~/bin/repo $ export PATH=~/bin:$PATH
we uploaded as a reference the repo we used.
Get Yocto Dora from github.
$ cd ~ $ mkdir var-som-mx6-dora-v3 $ cd var-som-mx6-dora-v3 $ repo init -u https://github.com/Freescale/fsl-community-bsp-platform -b dora $ repo sync
Download var_yocto_v3.2.tar.bz2 from Variscite's FTP.
$ tar xvf var_yocto_v3.0.tar.bz2 $ variscite/install
This method will keep the git repositories. It will enable you to track Variscite and your changes.
Setup and Customize your Yocto build
Setup the environment and build folder
MACHINE=varsommx6q . setup-environment build_mx6q
local.conf customizations
edit conf/local.conf
Set:
MACHINE options
| Macine selection |
|
|---|---|
| MACHINE ??= 'varsommx6q' |
Build for the Quad or The Dual MX6 SOC version |
| MACHINE ??= 'varsommx6dual' |
Build for the Dual Lite MX6 SOC version |
| MACHINE ??= 'varsommx6solo' |
Build for the Solo MX6 SOC version |
Parallel build
Set the build parameters to fully utilize your host machine
BB_NUMBER_THREADS = '4'
PARALLEL_MAKE = '-j 6'
BB_NUMBER_THREADS should be your host machine's number of threads minus 2 or same.
PARALLEL_MAKE should be the number of threads your host machine has plus two.
download directory.
Recommended to save download time and space.
DL_DIR = "/home/<uname>/yocto_dl"
Build your image
$ bitbake core-image-base $ bitbake fsl-image-test $ bitbake fsl-image-gui
| image name |
description |
|---|---|
| core-image-base |
A console-only image that fully supports the target device hardware. |
| fsl-image-test |
Builds contents core-image-base plus Freescale test applications and multimedia components. |
| fsl-image-gui |
Builds contents of core-image-sato with Freescale test applications and multimedia with hardware accelerated X11 |
The resulted images are in tmp/deploy/images/varsommx6q.
Looking at tmp/deploy/images/varsommx6q you will find 6 main files that are linked to the actual file
| Image Name |
How to use |
|---|---|
| fsl-image-gui-varsommx6q.ext3 |
Not in Use |
| fsl-image-gui-varsommx6q.sdcard |
Flash into SD-card and use boot select to boot from. $ sudo dd if=tmp/deploy/images/varsommx6q/fsl-image-gui-varsommx6q.sdcard of=/dev/devxxx bs=1024k devxxx = mmcblk0 or sdX. Do dmesg after you insert an SD-Card into your build system to figure out the device name |
| fsl-image-gui-varsommx6q.tar.bz2 |
Used to create an NFS root file system on the host. $ sudo mkdir ../rootfs $ sudo rm -rf ../rootfs/* # sudo tar xvf tmp/deploy/images/varsommx6q/fsl-image-gui-varsommx6q.tar.bz2 -C ../rootfs See apendix for setting an NFS server |
| fsl-image-gui-varsommx6q.ubi u-boot.bin uImage |
The best practice is to use Variscite's NAND-recovery SD-Card. update the Yocto folder on the SD-Card You can also look at /sbin/nand-recovery.sh for the excat procedure to flash the nand. |
U-Boot options
By default all images are built for NAND-based U-Boot. If you want to change the setting to build SD-Card images, change the board file.
under ~/var_yocto/sources/meta-fsl-arm-extra/conf/machine you will find Variscite board definitions.
varsommx6q.conf
varsommx6solo.conf
varsommx6dual.conf
Edit you specifc board and change UBOOT_MACHINE according to the folowing table.
| Definition |
Built for |
|---|---|
| mx6q_var_som_config |
VAR-SOM-MXQ/D, boot from MMC |
| mx6solo_var_som_config |
VAR-SOM-MXSolo, boot from MMC |
| mx6dl_var_som_config |
VAR-SOM-MXDL, boot from MMC |
| mx6q_var_som_nand_config |
VAR-SOM-MXQ/D, boot from NAND |
| mx6solo_var_som_nand_config |
VAR-SOM-MXSolo, boot from NAND |
| mx6dl_var_som_nand_config |
VAR-SOM-MXDL, boot from NAND |
Toolchain
Build the toolchain by:
$ bitbake meta-ide-support $ bitbake meta-toolchain
The output will be located at tmp/deploy/sdk/. On a 64 bit Ubuntu you will get:
poky-eglibc-x86_64-meta-toolchain-cortexa9hf-vfp-neon-toolchain-1.5.sh.
Install the tools by running:
$ tmp/deploy/sdk/poky-eglibc-x86_64-meta-toolchain-cortexa9hf-vfp-neon-toolchain-1.5.1.sh
The toolchain name depend on your build machine and may change.
Build Linux out of Yocto tree
Prepare the Linux kernel
$ bitbake -c cleansstate linux-variscite $ bitbake -c devshell linux-variscite
This will open a new shell at ...tmp/work/varsommx6q-poky-linux-gnueabi/linux-variscite/3.0.35-r0/git#
Copy the Linux kernel to a new folder
$ mkdir ~/var-som-mx6-dora-v3/linux-imx $ cp -a * ~/var-som-mx6-dora-v3/linux-imx $ exit
change dir into the new Linux kernel folder
$ cd ~/var-som-mx6-dora-v3/linux-imx
Set the tools path:
$ export PATH=/opt/poky/1.5.1/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin:/opt/poky/1.5.1/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin/cortexa9hf-vfp-neon-poky-linux-gnueabi:$PATH
Clean the Linux kernel:
$ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- mrproper
Configure the Linux kernel:
$ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- var_som_mx6_defconfig
Change configuration if required:
$ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- menuconfig
Build the Linux kernel:
$ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- uImage $ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- modules
The best practice of testing the new Linux kernel is using TFTP&NFS. Described in the apendix.
$ cp arch/arm/boot/uImage /tftpboot
Install the Linux modules into the rootfs file system
$ sudo make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- modules_install INSTALL_MOD_PATH=../rootfs
Build U-Boot out of Yocto tree
Prepare the U-Boot boot loader
$ bitbake -c cleansstate u-boot-variscite $ bitbake -c devshell u-boot-variscite
This will open a new shell at ...tmp/work/varsommx6q-poky-linux-gnueabi/linux-variscite/3.0.35-r0/git#
Copy the U-Boot boot loader to a new folder
$ mkdir ~/var-som-mx6-dora/uboot-imx $ cp -a * ~/var-som-mx6-dora/uboot-imx $ exit
change dir into the new u-boot folder
$ cd ~/var-som-mx6-dora/uboot-imx
set the tools path if required
$ export PATH=/opt/poky/1.5.1/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin:/opt/poky/1.5.1/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin/cortexa9hf-vfp-neon-poky-linux-gnueabi:$PATH
Clean the U-Boot
$ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- mrproper
Configure the U-Boot boot loader
$ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- mx6q_var_som_nand_config
Build the U-Boot boot loader
$ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi-
Use our NAND-recovery sd-card to burn your u-boot to the NAND-Flash.
In case you build an sd-card version use
sudo dd if=u-boot.bin of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=512 seek=2 skip=2 conv=fsync
Set the /dev/mmcblk0 according to you host sd-card device.
Creating a recovery SD-Card
we use Ubuntu 12.04 mount convention and a laptop media name. "/media/var_som_mx6_rf" and "/dev/mmcblk0" are widely used in this section.
You should be aware of this and change the media name to you host machine name.
Create a new folder:
$ mkdir ~/my_recovery_sd $ cd ~/my_recovery_sd
Insert Variscite recovery SD-Card version 19 into your host machine.
Copy the recovery folder from the SD-Card into your local folder:
$ sudo cp -a /media/var_som_mx6_rf/opt/recovery ./ $ sudo cp /media/var_som_mx6_rf/sbin/nand-recovery.sh ./
Update your local folder with the files you created during the Yocto build:
$ sudo cp ~/var-som-mx6-dora/build_mx6q/tmp/deploy/images/varsommx6q/fsl-image-gui-varsommx6q.ubi recovery/Yocto/rootfs.ubi.img $ sudo cp ~/var-som-mx6-dora/build_mx6q/tmp/deploy/images/varsommx6q/fsl-image-gui-varsommx6q.tar.bz2 recovery/Yocto/rootfs.tar.bz2 $ sudo cp ~/var-som-mx6-dora/build_mx6q/tmp/deploy/images/varsommx6q/uImage recovery/Yocto/uImage $ sudo cp ~/var-som-mx6-dora/build_mx6q/tmp/deploy/images/varsommx6q/u-boot.bin recovery/Yocto/u-boot.bin
Copy the SD-Card image from your Yocto build folder to the local recovery folder:
$ sudo cp ~/var-som-mx6-dora/build_mx6q/tmp/deploy/images/varsommx6dual/fsl-image-gui-varsommx6dual.sdcard ./
Build U-Boot for SD-Card. Follow the "Build U-Boot out of Yocto tree" section.
Configure U-Boot with:
$ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- mx6q_var_som_config
Build U-Boot:
$ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi-
Copy U-Boot from your U-Boot build folder to the local recovery folder:
$ cp u-boot.bin ~/my_recovery_sd
From ~/my_recovery_sd folder
Unmount your SD-Card.
Build the SD-Card. First flash the SD-Card image and U-Boot.
$ sudo dd if=fsl-image-gui-varsommx6q.sdcard of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M $ sudo dd if=u-boot.bin of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=512 seek=2 skip=2 conv=fsync $ sync
Set the SD-Card label:
$ Sudo apt-get install gparted $ sudo gparted Set the label to var_som_mx6_rf
Mount the SD-Card. You can simply remove it and inster it again to your host machine.
Copy all files from the recovery folder on your host machibe into the SD-Card:
$ sudo cp -a recovery/ /media/var_som_mx6_rf/opt/ $ sudo cp nand-recovery.sh /media/var_som_mx6_rf/sbin/ $ sudo rm /media/var_som_mx6_rf/var/lib/alsa/asound.state
If you want you can back up your new SD-Card image:
Un mount the SD-Card
$ sudo dd of=mx6qd-som-nand-recovery-sd.v19.img if=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M
I used "/dev/mmcblk0" as the SD-Card device name. You should replace it with your own SD-Card device name.