February 19, 2026
Emcraft announces an update to the Emcraft Embedded Linux distribution for the NXP i.MX RT1170 SoC family.
What’s new: the i.MX RT1170 uClinux BSP now supports the Avnet MaaXBoard RT — in addition to the NXP i.MX RT1170 EVK. This means you can use the same Emcraft BSP on either reference platform, depending on what’s a better fit for your project.
The BSP continues to be based on Linux kernel v.6.12.20 — the same kernel version NXP uses for their MMU-full SoCs (i.MX 8M*, i.MX 9*, etc.).
We also continue to support the capabilities you may already know from earlier releases, including:
- FreeRTOS running on the Cortex-M4 core, with the Linux RPMSG communications between Linux and FreeRTOS
- Linux device drivers for all key I/O interfaces: including: HyperFlash, CAN, 1Gb and 100Mb Ethernet, USB (host and device), GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART
- Linux low-power, optimised for the i.MX RT1170 SoC
- Debugging user-space applications with cross-GDB (command line or IDE workflow)
If you have either board, you can download and try our pre-built Linux demo right away:
Running Linux on i.MX RT1170 in 5 Minutes →
Product page, downloads, and documentation:
i.MX RT1170 uClinux BSP page →
And for reference, here is the Avnet board:
Avnet MaaXBoard RT →
If you’re building a custom i.MX RT1170 design (or need help with drivers, board bring-up, or BSP adaptation), our engineering team can assist. Send us an email to initiate a discussion.
