Release Notes Print

 

Overview

This is the Emcraft Systems Linux BSP (Board Support Package) and Linux software development environment for the Emcraft Systems i.MX 8M SOM and Starter Kit.

Hardware Platform

Refer to the following page for detailed information on the hardware items included in the Starter Kit:
https://emcraft.com/products/868#starter-kit

Currently shipping kits make use of the i.MX 8M SOM Rev 1A and IMX8M-SOM-BSB Rev 1A boards. Refer to the following document for the list of known problems and limitations of the IMX8M-SOM-BSB board:

Supported Features

The following list summarizes the features and capabilities of this release of the i.MX 8M SOM Starter Kit BSP:

  • U-Boot firmware:
    • Runs on the Cortex-A53 cores;
    • U-Boot v2017.03;
    • Target initialization from power-on / reset;
    • Loads from eMMC (or other supported bootable device) and runs from DDR;
    • Serial console;
    • Ethernet driver for loading images to the target from network;
    • Device driver for eMMC / SD Card, including support for U-Boot self-upgrade capability;
    • Supports storing U-Boot environment and Linux images in eMMC / SD Card;
    • Autoboot feature, allowing boot of OS images from eMMC or other storage with no operator intervention;
    • Persistent environment in eMMC or SD Card for customization of target operation;
    • Supports load of firmware images to the Cortex-M4 core;
    • Sophisticated command interface for maintenance and development of the target.
  • Linux:
    • Runs on the Cortex-A53 cores;
    • Linux kernel v4.9;
    • Device drivers for key I/O interfaces of the i.MX 8M;
    • WiFi / Bt connectivity;
    • Qt 5.9 / QML 2.0.
  • FreeRTOS:
    • Runs on the Cortex-M4 core;
    • Device drivers for select I/O interfaces of the i.MX 8M.
  • Development environment:
    • Linux-hosted cross-development environment;
    • Yocto v2.4 distribution.

New and Changed Features

This section lists new and changed features of this release:

  1. Support Linux Suspend-to-RAM.
    ID:    RM 2431.
  2. Support CPU Frequency Scaling.
    ID:    RM RM 2482.
  3. Improved MIPI DSI FRD55 LCD image quality.
    ID:    RM 2574.
  4. Support IMX8M Dual.
    ID:    RM 2634.
  5. Run Debian and Ubuntu on IMX8M-SOM.
    ID:    RM 2658.
  6. Support IMX8M chips with mask 2N14W.
    ID:    RM 2789.

Known Problems and Limitations

  1. The external DS1339 RTC cannot work because of a hardware issue in the first build of the IMX8M-SOM-BSB development baseboard. Enabling the external DS1339 RTC can reduce the system performance by flooding DS1339 RTC interrupts.
    ID:     RM 2547.
    Solution: Rework the IMX8M-SOM-BSB development baseboard as described in item 18 of i.MX8M-SOM-BSB Rev 1A Known Problems and Limitations.
  2. If the i.MX 8M Starter Kit is reset using the Reset push-button before a GUI application running on the LCD-FRD55 display has been properly shut down, there may be an "image sticking" effect affecting the quality of display picture on next Linux boot-up. This is a limitation of the specific display panel used in the LCD FRD55 add-on board.
    ID:     RM 2574.
    Workaround: Properly shut-down or reboot the Linux session. Alternatively, wait several minutes before running a next Linux session on the i.MX 8M Starter Kit.
  3. Due to a discrepancy of the Vivante DRM driver, there are the following limitations in the usage of the HDMI and MIPI DSI interfaces:
    • only standard HD resolutions are supported on HDMI (720p, 1080p, 4K)
    • a picture may break after the restart of the Weston service.
    This issue is known by NXP and is expected to be fixed in future releases.
    ID: RM 2699
    Workaround: Use the standard HD resolutions on HDMI and avoid restarting of the Weston service.

Further Reading

Support:

Customers of the Emcraft i.MX 8M Starter Kit may contact Emcraft at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for support.