TechNexion Yocto 5.0 Scarthgap 6.6.y GA BSP

Note	This BSP is a TechNexion release providing support NXP i.mx series processors

Introduction

This article provides step-by-step instructions for building a Ubntu Gnome image with TechNexion’s Yocto BSP, which supports the i.MX series of processors.

 

System Requirements

Building an image from source with Yocto requires a host with the following:

• OS: Ubuntu 22.04

• CPU: 4 Core

• RAM: 8/16GB RAM (more is better)

• Storage: 200 GB

• SWAP space: 16GB

  • If less memory is used, then some additional swap space may be needed. Inadequate memory may result slow builds and random build errors.

• Network

  • The host must be connected to a network and have access to the Internet so that all source code and tools may be downloaded.

 

Set up build environment on host PC

Install required packages

• Update the host package list

  sudo apt-get update

• Install required packages

  $: sudo apt-get install gawk wget git git-core diffstat unzip texinfo gcc-multilib build-essential \
  chrpath socat cpio python python3 python3-pip python3-pexpect \
  python3-git python3-jinja2 libegl1-mesa pylint3 rsync bc bison \
  xz-utils debianutils iputils-ping libsdl1.2-dev xterm \
  language-pack-en coreutils texi2html file docbook-utils \
  python-pysqlite2 help2man desktop-file-utils \
  libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa-dev mercurial autoconf automake \
  groff curl lzop asciidoc u-boot-tools libreoffice-writer \
  sshpass ssh-askpass zip xz-utils zstd liblz4-tool kpartx vim screen

Install the repo tool

• There are many respositories required. Google’s repo tool is used to manage this.

  $: mkdir ~/bin
  $: curl http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/git-repo-downloads/repo > ~/bin/repo
  $: chmod a+x ~/bin/repo
  $: PATH=${PATH}:~/bin

Download the BSP source

• Create the work directory

  $: mkdir edm_yocto
  $: cd edm_yocto

• Initialize the repositories based on the release you wish to build:

  $: repo init -u https://github.com/TechNexion/tn-imx-yocto-manifest.git -b scarthgap_6.6.y-stable -m imx-6.6.52-2.2.0.xml

• Start to fetch source code

  $: repo sync -j$(nproc)

Prepare WIFI/BT firmware

• Add firmware package in Yocto build, please add argument "WIFI_FIRMWARE=y" in build instruction.

• Please refer to following explanation.

 

Configurations for setup script

MACHINE is the target of build. It usually corresponds to the name of SOM or SBC.

• For more information, please check the file under “sources/meta-tn-imx-bsp/conf/machine”.

DISTRO is the new way to configure for any backends.

DISPLAY is the disply type. This option only works on i.mx6 (i.mx6 Solo/Dual Lite/Dual/Quad) SOMs and doesn’t work for i.mx6ul, i.mx6sx and i.mx7.

BASEBOARD is the baseboard type.

WIFI_MODULE is to choose what kind of WLAN is on board.

WIFI_FIRMWARE is to choose to add WLAN firmware files in target rootfs or not.

-b specify the build directory.

Table 1. Build configurations for supported hardware

Parameter	Available options	Description
MACHINE	axon-imx93	Compatible with TechNexion AXON-IMX93 (i.MX93)
	edm-imx93	Compatible with TechNexion EDM-IMX93 (i.MX93)
	imx93-11x11-lpddr4x-evk	Compatible with NXP IMX93-11X11-LPDDR4X-EVK (i.MX93)
	imx95-19x19-lpddr5-evk	Compatible with NXP IMX95-LPDDR45-EVK (i.MX95)
	edm-g-imx8mm	Compatible with TechNexion EDM-G-IMX8MM (i.MX8M Mini)
	edm-g-imx8mp	Compatible with TechNexion EDM-G-IMX8MP (i.MX8M Plus)
	pico-imx8mm	Compatible with TechNexion PICO-IMX8MM (i.MX8M Mini)
	axon-imx8mp	Compatible with TechNexion AXON-IMX8MP (i.MX8M Plus)
	imx8mp-lpddr4-evk	Compatible with NXP IMX8MP-LPDDR4-EVK (i.MX8M Plus)
	imx8mp-ddr4-evk	Compatible with NXP IMX8MP-DDR4-EVK (i.MX8M Plus)
	pico-imx7	Compatible with TechNexion PICO-IMX7 (i.MX7 Dual)
	edm-imx6	Compatible with TechNexion EDM-IMX6 (i.MX6 Solo/Duallite/Quad/QuadPlus)
	pico-imx6	Compatible with TechNexion PICO-IMX6 (i.MX6 Solo/Duallite/Quad)
	pico-imx6ul	Compatible with TechNexion PICO-IMX6UL/PICO-IMX6ULL (i.MX6 UltraLite/ULL)
DISTRO NOTE: 1. The X11 and Framebuffer distros are only supported for i.MX 6 and i.MX 7. i.MX 8 should use xwayland only. 2. XWayland is the default distro for all i.MX families.	fsl-imx-xwayland	Wayland graphics and X11. X11 applications using EGL are not supported
	fsl-imx-wayland	Wayland weston graphics
	fsl-imx-fb	Framebuffer (not supported for mx8)
BASEBOARD (It specifies the 'baseboard' variable in uEnv.txt)	pi, nymph, dwarf, hobbit	Compatible with TechNexion PICO-IMX6 (i.MX6 Solo/DL/Quad/UL/ULL) PICO-IMX7 (i.MX7 Dual)
	fairy, tc0700	Compatible with TechNexion EDM-IMX6 (i.MX6 Solo/DL/Quad/Quad Plus)
	pi-8m	Compatible with TechNexion PICO-IMX8MM (i.MX8M Mini)
	wizard	Compatible with TechNexion PICO-IMX8MM (i.MX8M Mini) EDM-G-IMX8MP (i.MX8M Plus) EDM-G-IMX8MM (i.MX8M Mini)
	wb	Compatible with TechNexion EDM-G-IMX8MP (i.MX8M Plus) EDM-G-IMX8MM (i.MX8M Mini)
WIFI_MODULE (It specifies the 'wifi_module' variable in uEnv.txt)	'nxp' 'qca' 'brcm' 'ath-pci'	Choose what kind of WLAN is on board.
WIFI_FIRMWARE	'y' 'all'	'y' option depends on 'WIFI_MODULE'. If you specify 'WIFI_MODULE' as 'qca'. Then, it only add 'qca' firmware package in yocto build. 'all' option will add 'nxp', 'qca', 'brcm' and 'ath-pci' firmware package in yocto build. Please refer to section "Prepare WIFI/BT firmware" to ensure you already put firmware files in the right place.
DISPLAY NOTE: 1. Parameter "DISPLAY" only works on i.mx6/i.mx8m 2. It specifies the 'displayinfo' variable in uEnv.txt	lvds7	(i.mx6) 7 inch 1024x600 LVDS panel
	lvds10	(i.mx6) 10 inch 1280x800 LVDS panel
	lvds15	(i.mx6) 15 inch 1366x768 LVDS panel
	hdmi720p	(i.mx6) 1280x720 HDMI
	hdmi1080p	(i.mx6) 1920x1080 HDMI
	lcd	(i.mx6) 5 inch/7 inch 800x480 TTL parallel LCD panel
	lvds7_hdmi720p	(i.mx6) Dual display output to both 7 inch LVDS and HDMI
	custom	(i.mx6) Reserved for custom panel
	mipi5	(i.mx8m) MIPI-DSI 5 inch panel(with ILI9881 controller)
	hdmi	(i.mx8m) HDMI monitor (the resolution is decided by EDID)
-b	<build dir>	Assign the name of build directory

 

Build OS image for TechNexion target platform

Important

Please don’t add argument 'WIFI_FIRMWARE=y' if you don’t put firmware files in "sources/meta-tn-imx-bsp/recipes-kernel/linux-firmware/files". It would result in build failure. Please refer to section "Prepare WIFI/BT firmware".

Table 2. Common target image

Available options	Description
imx-image-core	core image with basic graphics and no multimedia
imx-image-multimedia	image with multimedia and graphics
imx-image-full	image with multimedia and machine learning and Qt

For AXON-IMX93

• Yocto Xwayland image

  $: WIFI_FIRMWARE=y DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland MACHINE=axon-imx93 source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-xwayland-axon-imx93
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

For EDM-IMX93

• Yocto Xwayland image

  $: WIFI_FIRMWARE=y DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland MACHINE=edm-imx93 source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-xwayland-edm-imx93
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

For EDM-G-IMX8MP

• Yocto Xwayland image

  $: WIFI_FIRMWARE=y DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland MACHINE=edm-g-imx8mp source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-xwayland-edm-g-imx8mp
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

For AXON-IMX8MP

• Yocto Xwayland image

  $: WIFI_FIRMWARE=y DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland MACHINE=axon-imx8mp source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-xwayland-axon-imx8mp
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

For EDM-G-IMX8MM

• Yocto Xwayland image

  $: WIFI_FIRMWARE=y DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland MACHINE=edm-g-imx8mm source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-xwayland-edm-g-imx8mm
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

For PICO-IMX8MM

• Yocto Xwayland image

  $: WIFI_FIRMWARE=y DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland MACHINE=pico-imx8mm source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-xwayland-pico-imx8mm
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

For NXP EVK with TechNexion TEVS and VLS camera support

IMX8MP LPDDR4 EVK

• Yocto Xwayland image

  $: DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland MACHINE=imx8mp-lpddr4-evk source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-xwayland-imx8mp-lpddr4-evk
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

IMX8MP DDR4 EVK

• Yocto Xwayland image

  $: DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland MACHINE=imx8mp-ddr4-evk source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-xwayland-imx8mp-ddr4-evk
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

IMX93 11x11 LPDDR4X EVK

• Yocto Xwayland image

  $: DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland MACHINE=imx93-11x11-lpddr4x-evk source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-xwayland-imx93-11x11-lpddr4x-evk
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

IMX95 19x19 LPDDR5 EVK

• Yocto Xwayland image

  $: DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland MACHINE=imx95-19x19-lpddr5-evk source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-xwayland-imx95-19x19-lpddr5-evk
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

For PICO-IMX7

• PI baseboard, Yocto wayland image for 7 inch/5 inch TTL-LCD panel
  For PICO-IMX7 with QCA WLAN

  $: WIFI_FIRMWARE=y WIFI_MODULE=qca DISTRO=fsl-imx-wayland MACHINE=pico-imx7 BASEBOARD=pi source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-wayland-pico-imx7
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

For EDM-IMX6

• FAIRY baseboard, Yocto wayland image for 7 inch LVDS panel:
  For EDM-IMX6 with QCA WLAN

  $: DISPLAY=lvds7 WIFI_FIRMWARE=y WIFI_MODULE=qca DISTRO=fsl-imx-wayland MACHINE=edm-imx6 BASEBOARD=fairy source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-wayland-edm-imx6
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

• TC-0700/TC0710 baseboard, Yocto wayland image for 7 inch LVDS panel:
  For EDM-IMX6 with QCA WLAN

  $: DISPLAY=lvds7 WIFI_FIRMWARE=y WIFI_MODULE=qca DISTRO=fsl-imx-wayland MACHINE=edm-imx6 BASEBOARD=tc0700 source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-wayland-edm-imx6
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

For PICO-IMX6

• NYMPH baseboard, Yocto wayland image for HDMI output:
  For PICO-IMX6 with QCA WLAN

  $: WIFI_FIRMWARE=y WIFI_MODULE=qca DISTRO=fsl-imx-wayland MACHINE=pico-imx6 BASEBOARD=nymph source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-wayland-pico-imx6
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

For PICO-IMX6UL/PICO-IMX6ULL

• PI baseboard, Yocto wayland image for 5" and 7" TFT-LCD output:
  For PICO-IMX6UL/ULL with QCA WLAN

  $: WIFI_FIRMWARE=y WIFI_MODULE=qca DISTRO=fsl-imx-wayland MACHINE=pico-imx6ul BASEBOARD=pi source tn-setup-release.sh -b build-wayland-pico-imx6ul
  $: bitbake imx-image-full

 

Additional Features

Chromium Browser

• Add Chromium package in conf/local.conf:
  For XWayland or Wayland, add Chromium into your image

  CORE_IMAGE_EXTRA_INSTALL += "chromium-ozone-wayland rng-tools"

QTWebkit

Warning

QtWebengine will only work on SoC with GPU graphics hardware on i.MX 6, i.MX 7 and i.MX 8.

• There are four Qt 6 browsers available. QtWebEngine browsers can be found in:

   /usr/share/qt6/examples/webenginewidgets/StyleSheetbrowser
   /usr/share/qt6/examples/webenginewidgets/Simplebrowser
   /usr/share/qt6/examples/webenginewidgets/Cookiebrowser
   /usr/share/qt6/examples/webengine/quicknanobrowser

• To include Qtwebengine in the image put the following in local.conf or in the image recipe.

  IMAGE_INSTALL_append = "packagegroup-qt6-webengine"

• All three browsers can be run by going to the directory above and running the executable found there.

• Touchscreen can be enabled by adding the parameters -plugin evdevtouch:/dev/input/event0 to the executable.

Qt 6

Warning

Qt is not supported on i.MX 6UltraLite and i.MX 7Dual. It works on X11 backend only but is not a supported feature.

• Note that Qt has both a commercial and open source license options.
  

• Make the decision about which license to use before starting work on custom Qt applications.
  

• Once custom Qt applications are started with an open source Qt license the work can not be used with a commercial Qt license.
  

• Work with a legal representative to understand the differences between each license.

NXP eIQ machine learning

• The meta-ml layer is the integration of NXP eIQ machine learning, which was formerly released as a separate meta-imx-machinelearning layer and is now integrated into the standard BSP image (imx-image-full).
  Note that many of the features require Qt 5.

• In case of using other configuration than imx-image-full, put the following in local.conf:

  IMAGE_INSTALL_append = "packagegroup-imx-ml"

Systemd

• Systemd support is enabled as default.
  But it can be disabled by commenting out the systemd settings in imx/meta-sdk/conf/distro/include/fsl-imx-preferred-env.inc.

 

Image Deployment

• When build completes, the generated release image is under directory <build_dir>/tmp/deploy/images/[MACHINE]
  Ex. PICO-IMX8MM

  build-desktop-pico-imx8mm/tmp/deploy/images/pico-imx8mm

• To decompress the .bz2:

  $: bzip2 -fdk imx-image-full-XXX.rootfs.wic.bz2 imx-image-full-XXX.rootfs.wic

• To deploy the image to your board, please follow the instructions for loading software into the flash or microSD card of your development kit.

  • Use bmaptool to flash imx-image-full-XXX.rootfs.wic.bz2 directly.
    Ex. flash image of PICO-IMX8MM to /dev/sdj

    $: bmaptool copy --bmap imx-image-full-pico-imx8mm.rootfs.wic.bmap imx-image-full-pico-imx8mm.rootfs.wic.bz2 /dev/sdj

  • Use bmaptool with --nobmap to flash imx-image-full-XXX.rootfs.wic.bz2 directly.
    NOTE: This will take a long time to flash image.

    bmaptool copy --nobmap imx-image-full-pico-imx8mm.rootfs.wic.bz2 /dev/sdj

• For i.mx6/i.mx6ul/i.mx7
  Please refer to the link below to flash the image into eMMC on the target board:
  https://ftp.technexion.com/development_resources/development_tools/installer/

  pico-imx6-imx6ul-imx7_otg-installer_xxx.zip
  <platform>_generic-installer_xxx.zip

• For i.MX6UL/i.MX6ULL/i.MX6DL/i.MX6Q/i.MX7D/i.MX8MM/i.MX8MQ/i.MX8MP image deploy by "UUU"
  Please refer to the link as below to get more detail informations
  https://developer.technexion.com/docs/using-uuu-to-flash-emmc

 

Login target

Yocto

• Default user

  • account: root

  • password:

• If you want to change the account or password, modify APTGET_ADD_USERS in <build_dir>/conf/local.conf.
  NOTE: The password must be generated by openssl v1.x