VAR-SOM-MX6 Yocto Fido R1
Introduction
- Variscite Yocto Fido release version 1.
- Linux kernel: linux-imx_3.14.38
- Uboot: imx_v2013.10_var4.
- QT5 X, QT5 Embedded
Supported hardware and features
| Feature |
Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Board support |
VAR-DVK-MX6 VAR-SOLOCustomBoard VAR-SOM-MX6 SOM-SOLO DART-MX6 | |
| CPU |
||
| Software platform |
Yocto Daisy release. | |
| Nand Recovery |
Version 43 |
|
| NAND Flash size support |
128MB up to 1GB | |
| eMMC |
up to 64GB | |
| DDR size support configuration |
Solo:up to 1GB. DualLite, Dual, Quad: up to 4GB | |
| SD-Card |
+ | |
| Ethernet |
10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet | |
| WLAN |
Support for Wilink8, Dual band 5.0ghz + MIMO b/g/n | |
| Bluetooth |
4.0 | |
| CAN bus |
+ | |
| I2C |
+ | |
| SPI |
+ | |
| USB host |
+ | |
| USB OTG |
Device / Host | |
| 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 purchased separately | |
| SATA | + |
Variscite Yocto Fido release V1 for Freescale i.MX6.
Installing required packages
Follow the link below and install all 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 gcc-multilib build-essential chrpath socat libsdl1.2-dev xterm lib32ncurses5-dev
Variscite Yocto build was tested with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS only!
Create a Github account and an SSH public key
This step is not required. we made the repository public.
Documentation
Documentation are available for Download from fsl-yocto-L3.14.38_6qp-beta
Download Yocto Fido for i.MX6 Freescale source
$ git config --global user.name "Your Name" $ git config --global user.email "Your Email" $ $ mkdir ~/bin (this step may not be needed if the bin folder already exists) $ curl http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/git-repo-downloads/repo > ~/bin/repo $ chmod a+x ~/bin/repo $ $ mkdir ~/var-som-mx6-yocto-fido $ cd ~/var-som-mx6-yocto-fido $ repo init -u git://git.freescale.com/imx/fsl-arm-yocto-bsp.git -b imx-3.14.38-6QP_beta $ repo sync
Download Yocto Fido i.MX6 with Meta Variscite VAR-SOM-MX6 support
$ cd ~/var-som-mx6-yocto-fido/sources $ git clone https://github.com/varigit/meta-variscite-mx6/ $ cd meta-variscite-mx6/ $ git checkout -b imx_3.14.38_6qp_beta-var01 remotes/origin/imx_3.14.38_6qp_beta-var01 $ cp scripts/var-setup-release.sh ../../ $ cd ../meta-fsl-bsp-release $ patch -p1 < ../meta-variscite-mx6/patch/0001-Fix-FSL-multi-patch-append-bug.patch
Setup and build Yocto QT5/X
Setup the environment and use build_var folder
Note: Run only once!
$ cd ~/var-som-mx6-yocto-fido $ source var-setup-release.sh -b build_x11 -e x11
If you close your terminal and wish to build Yocto again, you should run (instead of var-setup-release.sh):
$ cd ~/var-som-mx6-yocto-fido
$ . ./setup-environment build_x11If you don't need Chromium browser edit conf/local.conf and comment out the chromium line.
Setup and build Yocto QT5/Embedded
Setup the environment and use build_var folder
Note: Run only once!
$ cd ~/var-som-mx6-yocto-fido $ source var-setup-release.sh -b build_fb -e fb
If you close your terminal and wish to build Yocto again, you should do:
$ cd ~/var-som-mx6-yocto-fido
$ . ./setup-environment build_fblocal.conf customizations
Edit you local.conf file:
$ gedit conf/local.conf
Change parallel build and download directory:
Set the build parameters to fully utilize your host machine's resources
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.
Change packages download directory. By default it is set to: DL_DIR ?= "${BSPDIR}/downloads/" change it to a global folder like DL_DIR ?= "/opt/yocto_dl/". Don't forget to create the folder and make it available without a sudo permissions.
Build your image
Due to NAND flash size limitation on Variscite's default EVK (512MB), we have created a "QT5-minimal" image. which is similar to Freescale's QT5 image, but QT demos removed
$ bitbake fsl-image-qt5-minimal
You can also build
$ bitbake fsl-image-qt5
The last one will build without the ubifs product.
Build Results
The resulted images are locaated in tmp/deploy/images/var-som-mx6.
Looking at tmp/deploy/images/var-som-mx6 you will find 6 main files that are linked to the actual file
| Image Name |
How to use | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| fsl-image-qt5-minimal-var-som-mx6.ext3 |
Not in Use | |||
| fsl-image-qt5-minimal-var-som-mx6.sdcard | This image is for SD-Card boot. Default u-boot is built for SDCARD. Booting from SD-Card is explained in details below. See section 8.1 below for the sdcard structure. | |||
| fsl-image-qt5-minimal-var-som-mx6.tar.bz2 | Used to create an NFS root file system on the host. See apendix for setting an NFS server | |||
| fsl-image-qt5-minimal-var-som-mx6.ubi | Use the sdcard created above. Copy the file into it and use the following commands to flash them into nand. Coping files (mount the sd-card created above first): | |||
| uImage | Linux kernel image | |||
| SPL-nand,u-boot-nand-2014.04-r0.img | SPl and u-boot built for nand | |||
| SPL-sd,u-boot-sd-2014.04-r0.img | SPl and u-boot built for sdcard/eMMC | |||
| Device Tree Name |
SOM type |
Carrier Board type |
LCD Type |
Evaluation Kit name |
| uImage-imx6q-var-som.dtb | VAR-SOM-MX6_V2 (Quad / Dual) | VAR-MX6CustomBoard | Capacitive/Resistive touch | VAR-DVK-MX6_V2-PRO VAR-STK-MX6_V2 |
| uImage-imx6q-var-som-vsc.dtb | VAR-SOM-MX6_V2 (Quad / Dual) | VAR-SOLOCustomBoard | Capacitive LVDS touch | N/A |
| uImage-imx6dl-var-som.dtb | VAR-SOM-MX6_V2 (DualLite/ Solo) | VAR-MX6CustomBoard | Capacitive/Resistive touch | N/A |
| uImage-imx6dl-var-som-solo-vsc.dtb | VAR-SOM-SOLO / VAR-SOM-DUAL | VAR-SOLOCustomBoard | Capacitive LVDS touch | VAR-DVK-SOLO/DUAL VAR-STK-SOLO/DUAL |
| uImage-imx6dl-var-som-solo.dtb | VAR-SOM-SOLO / VAR-SOM-DUAL | VAR-MX6CustomBoard | Capacitive/Resistive touch | N/A |
| uImage-imx6q-var-dart.dtb | VAR-SOM-SOLO / VAR-SOM-DUAL | VAR-DT6CustomBoard | Capacitive LVDS touch | VAR-STK-DT6.VAR-DVK-DT6 |
SDCARD structure
The SDCARD is devided into 3 sections as shown in the picture above.
The first unallocated 4MB are saved space for SPL and u-boot.img. it can be replaced with a dd command described in u-boot out of tree section below.
The second partition is a fat16 partition used for the device tree files and Linux uImage file. You can copy them as described in the Linux out of tree section.
The third partition is an ext3 partition that contain the complete file system and modules. Modules can be replaced as described in the Linux out of tree section.
Create a sample SDCARD
In order to make a creation of SDCARD as simple as possible we releases a script tree of file that will create a bootable SDCARD out of a Yocto Fido build. To use it:
$ cd ~/var-som-mx6-yocto-fido/build_x11 $ sudo ../sources/meta-variscite-mx6/scripts/var_mk_yocto_sdcard/var-create-yocto-sdcard.sh /dev/sdxxx Replace sdxxx with the right device name.
The script assume fsl-image-qt5-minimal is the product to use. It is very easy to modify it and adopt it to your requirements. The scripts also copy the relevant target scripts and programs. This will enable you to boot from the SDCARD and flash the target NAND and/or eMMC.
QT5/Embedded environment variables
The QT5/Embedded require environment variables to run correctly. You need to have them avilable on the target. For example /etc/profile.d/tslib.sh can be edited.
export TSLIB_TSDEVICE=/dev/input/touchscreen0
export TSLIB_CALIBFILE=/etc/pointercal
export TSLIB_CONFFILE=/etc/ts.conf
export QT_QPA_GENERIC_PLUGINS=tslib:/dev/input/event0
export QT_QPA_EGLFS_PHYSICAL_HEIGHT=480
export QT_QPA_EGLFS_PHYSICAL_WIDTH=800
export QT_QPA_EGLFS_HEIGHT=480
export QT_QPA_EGLFS_WIDTH=800
export QT_EGLFS_IMX6_NO_FB_MULTI_BUFFER=1
export QT_QPA_EGLFS_DEPTH=24
export QT_QPA_PLATFORM=linuxfb:fb=/dev/fb0:size=800x480:mmSize=800x480
UBIFS
By default we create ubifs image for 0.5GB nand size.
You can change the size by editing ~/var-som-mx6-yocto-fido/sources/meta-variscite-mx6/conf/machine/var-som-mx6.conf
and comment / uncomment the relevant section based on size.
Anther option is to create the ubifs image manualy. 4GB nand example:
$ cd ~/var-som-mx6-yocto-fido $ sudo mkdir rootfs $ sudo tar xvf build_x11/tmp/deploy/images/var-som-mx6/fsl-image-qt5-var-som-mx6.tar.bz2 -C rootfs/ $ sudo mkfs.ubifs -r rootfs/ -o fsl-image-qt5-var-som-mx6q4.ubifs -m 4096 -e 504KiB -c 7835 $ ubinize -o fsl-image-qt5-var-som-mx6q4.ubi -m 4096 -p 512KiB -s 4096 -O 4096 ubinize.cfg
$ cat ubinize.cfg [ubifs] mode=ubi image=fsl-image-qt5-var-som-mx6.ubifs vol_id=0 vol_type=dynamic vol_name=rootfs vol_flags=autoresize
DDR size and Contiguous Memory Allocator
By default Freescale allocates 256MB of RAM to the Contiguous Memory allocator. This is for proper operation of the IPU VPU, X11 etc. On VAR-SOM-SOLO with 256MB DDR RAM size, it will cause a kernel freeze during boot. Adding cma=32MB to the bootargs parameters is required to fix.
Next steps
In sections 1-6 we explained how to build Yocto for VAR-SOM-MX6. We explained the results for nand (UBI) and for sd-card.
At this point you should have a bootable sd-card with UBI images on it. You should be able to boot from the sd-card using the boot select button and flash the nand.
Next steps:
- Build and deploy the compiler and tools.
- Fetch u-boot and compile it out of Yocto tools.
- Fetch Linux kernel and compile it out of Yocto tools.
Toolchain installation for out of Yocto builds
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:
sdk/poky-eglibc-x86_64-meta-toolchain-cortexa9hf-vfp-neon-toolchain-1.8.sh
Install the tools by running:
$ tmp/deploy/sdk/poky-eglibc-x86_64-meta-toolchain-cortexa9hf-vfp-neon-toolchain-1.8.sh
Reply to all defaults 'y'
The toolchain name depend on your build machine and may change.
Build U-Boot out of Yocto tree
This is a single u-boot image that supports all VAR-SOM-MX6 SOM's.
Obtain sources:
$ cd ~/var-som-mx6-yocto-fido $ git clone https://github.com/varigit/uboot-imx $ cd uboot-imx/
- follow above procedure for installing the toolchain
Build u-boot:
$ export PATH=/opt/fsl-imx-release/1.8/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin/arm-poky-linux-gnueabi:$PATH clean tree: $ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- mrproper Choose build for SD-Card or NAND Flash: $ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- mx6var_som_sd_config or $ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- mx6var_som_nand_config Build U-BOOT: $ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi-
Flash u-boot to the sd-card:
$ sudo dd if=SPL of=/dev/sdxxx bs=1K seek=1; sync $ sudo dd if=u-boot.img of=/dev/sdxxx bs=1K seek=69; sync
In case of UBI copy it to the sd-card:
$ sudo cp SPL /media/rootfs/opt/images $ sudo cp u-boot.img /media/rootfs/opt/images
refer to "fsl-image-qt5-var-som-mx6.ubi" section above for flashing images from SD-Card into NAND-flash
Eject SD-Card gracefully from host machine
Build Linux out of Yocto tree
Get sources:
$ cd ~/variscite-yocto-manifest/ $ git clone https://github.com/varigit/linux-2.6-imx.git $ cd linux-2.6-imx/ $ git checkout -b imx_3.14.38_6qp_beta-var01 remotes/origin/imx_3.14.38_6qp_beta-var01
Build the Linux kernel:
$ export PATH=/opt/fsl-imx-release/1.8/sysroots/x86_64-pokysdk-linux/usr/bin/arm-poky-linux-gnueabi:$PATH $ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- mrproper $ make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- imx_v7_var_defconfig $ make -j6 LOADADDR=0x10008000 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- uImage $ make -j6 LOADADDR=0x10008000 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- modules Build all device tree: $ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- dtbs Build device tree for a specific device Build the device tree for Dualite/Solo $ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- imx6dl-var-som.dtb Build the device tree for Quad/Dual $ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- imx6q-var-som.dtb Build the device tree for VAR-SOM-SOLO $ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- imx6dl-var-som-solo.dtb Build the device tree for VAR-SOM-SOLO on VAR-SOLOCustomBoard $ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- imx6dl-var-som-solo-vsc.dtb Build the device tree for DART-MX6 $ make -j6 ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- imx6q-var-dart.dtb
Copy the uImage and device tree to the sd-card boot partition or to the opt/image in order to be flashed to the nand. Copy modules to the sd-card
$ sudo make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-poky-linux-gnueabi- modules_install INSTALL_MOD_PATH=/media/rootfs/ $ cp arch/arm/boot/uImage /media/BOT_varsomi $ cp arch/arm/boot/dts/*var*.dtb /media/BOT_varsomi