Timesys Getting Started Guide for Toradex Colibri VF61

Introduction
Prerequisites
- Host Requirements
- Target Requirements
Preparing the Target
Preparing the Host
Booting the Board
- Boot from SD
Additional Information
- Factory Documentation

Introduction

This document will describe in detail the procedures for booting a Linux kernel image and mounting a root file system over NFS on the NXP Freescale Vybrid Colibri VF61.

Release notes: /docs/wiki/engineering/vybrid_release_notes

Prerequisites

Host Requirements

To properly boot a board using software from Timesys, your host machine must meet the following requirements:

Modern GNU/Linux Distribution. While you can use nearly any modern Linux distribution released in the last 24 months, Timesys recommends one of the following:
- Ubuntu (Most recent release or LTS)
- Fedora (Most recent release)
An internet connection on the Development Host.
Root or sudo permission on the Development Host.
A copy of the Linux Kernel (uImage) and Root File System (rootfs.tar.gz) for the Target Board downloaded from Factory. These are found in the output directory of your online build, or in the directory build_armv7l-timesys-linux-<libc>/images/ on the command line.
If you are booting your root file system over the network, you will need two network cards installed and configured in the Development Host. One to communicate normally with your LAN/WAN while installing host packages, the other to communicate solely with the target board.
An available serial port on your Development Host.

Target Requirements

To boot the NXP Freescale Vybrid Colibri VF61using NFS (network filesystem), you will need the following items:

NXP Freescale Vybrid Colibri VF61
Colibri VF61 Board
Adapters: DVI to VGA, DVI to HDMI, USB to RS232, USB Micro-A to A (USB Micro-AB receptacle to Type A), RS232 Header to D-Sub, Iris Power-adapter
Serial Expansion module
Micro USB Cable and USB Power Supply
RS232 Serial Cable
Ethernet Crossover Cable or Ethernet hub/switch and Ethernet Patch Cables
microSD card

Once you have all of the necessary components, you should perform the following steps:

Connect the UART port of the Serial Expansion board to the serial port of your workstation using the RS232 serial cable.
If you are using a cross-over cable, connect the Ethernet port of the Serial Expansion Board (ETH-A of the TWR-SER2) to the second Ethernet port of your workstation.
If you are using an Ethernet hub or switch, connect the debug board to the hub with a straight-through Ethernet cable, then connect the hub to the second Ethernet port of your workstation.
Connect the power supply to your board.

Preparing the Target

Preparing the Secure Digital Card

The Colibri VF61 boots from an SD card. Some kits may be shipped with one that contains a sample kernel and RFS preloaded. We will be replacing these with the kernel and RFS from Factory. If you are using a blank SD card or have trouble replacing the software on the preloaded one, see Partitioning the SD Card. Otherwise, skip directly to Writing Boot Files to the SD Card.

Before you begin, you should determine the name of your SD card on your host system. To do so:

Connect the SD card to your host system. Many modern systems have SD card slots on the case, or you can purchase a USB SD Card Reader for around $15 US.
Determine the device name of the SD Card. This can be done using dmesg. In the following example, the device is /dev/sdX, which contains one partition sdX1.

$ dmesg | tail [88050.184080] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] 1990656 512-byte hardware sectors: (1.01 GB/972 MiB) [88050.184821] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Write Protect is off [88050.184824] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00 [88050.184827] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Assuming drive cache: write through [88050.185575] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] 1990656 512-byte hardware sectors: (1.01 GB/972 MiB) [88050.186323] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Write Protect is off [88050.186325] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00 [88050.186327] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdX] Assuming drive cache: write through [88050.186330] sdX: sdX1

Partitioning the SD card

If you want to use a different SD card or its contents become corrupted, you can use the fdisk tool to create two partitions on your SD card. Please note that all data on the card will be lost upon completion of these steps.

Unmount the partition if it was automounted by using the umount command.
$ umount /dev/sdX1
As root, run the fdisk utility on the drive.
$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdX
In fdisk, Delete the existing partition table and create a new one using the o command.
Command (m for help): o Building a new DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0x8b025602. Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them. After that, of course, the previous content won't be recoverable.
Create a new primary partition using the n command. The first partition will be a FAT partition for storing the boot files. 64 MB is typically more than enough for this purpose.
Command (m for help): n Partition type: p primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free) e extended Select (default p): p Partition number (1-4, default 1): 1 First sector (2048-30679039, default 2048): Using default value 2048 Last sector, +sectors or +sizeK,M,G (2048-30679039, default 30679039): +64M
Set the first partition as W95 FAT32 (LBA) using the t command and entering the Hex code c.
Command (m for help): t Selected partition 1 Hex code (type L to list codes): c
Set the bootable flag on the first partition using the a command.

Command (m for help): a Partition number (1-4): 1
Create a second primary partition using the n command. This partition will be a linux partition for storing the root filesystem. It will fill the rest of the SD card.

Command (m for help): n Command action e extended p primary partition (1-4) p Partition number (1-4, default 2): 2 First sector (133120-30679039, default 133120): Using default value 18432 Last sector, +sectors or +sizeK,M,G (133120-30679039, default 30679039): Using default value 30679039
Verify that the partition table is correct by using the p command. It should look similar to the following:

Command (m for help): p Disk /dev/sdX: 15.7 GB, 15707668480 bytes 64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 14980 cylinders, total 30679040 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x6eaae8f8 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdX1 * 2048 133119 65536 c W95 FAT32 (LBA) /dev/sdX2 133120 30679039 14773960 83 Linux
This step will destroy all data on the SD Card - Write the partition table to the card using the w command.

Command (m for help): w The partition table has been altered! Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table. WARNING: If you have created or modified any DOS 6.x partitions, please see the fdisk manual page for additional information. Syncing disks.
Format the first partition of the SD card with a FAT filesystem using the mkfs.vfat tool.

$ sudo /sbin/mkfs.vfat -n boot /dev/sdX1
Format the second partition using an ext3 filesystem using the mkfs.ext3 tool.

$ sudo /sbin/mkfs.ext3 -L rfs /dev/sdX2

Writing Boot Files to the SD Card

Once you have a properly partitioned SD card, you can then populate it with the boot files generated by Factory.

Mount the partitions. You can remove and reinsert the card to trigger the automount, or you can use the mount command to mount the partition to an arbitrary location.

$ sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /media/boot $ sudo mount /dev/sdX2 /media/rfs
Transfer the U-Boot binary (u-boot.imx) to your SD card. In Desktop Factory, this file is located at: build_armv7l-timesys-linux-<libc>/images/bootloaders/u-boot.imx.

sudo dd if=u-boot.imx of=/dev/sdX bs=512 seek=2
Copy the kernel to the SD card.
If you are booting the 3.0 kernel, run the following:

sudo cp /path/to/factory/build_armv7l-timesys-linux-<libc>/images/uImage-4.0-ts-armv7l /media/boot/

Or, if you are booting the 3.13 kernel, run the following instead:

sudo cp /path/to/factory/build_armv7l-timesys-linux-<libc>/images/uImage-4.4-ts-armv7l /media/boot/ sudo cp /path/to/factory/build_armv7l-timesys-linux-<libc>/images/colibri_vf61.dtb /media/boot/
As root, extract the RFS tarball onto the SD card:

sudo tar -xf rootfs.tar.gz -C /media/rfs/
Unmount the partitions:

sync cd /media/ sudo umount boot/ sudo umount rfs/

Remove the SD Card from your host, and slide it into the slot of your Colibri VF61. You should hear the card 'click' into place.

Configuring Serial Communication

The Colibri VF61 uses a serial debug port to communicate with the host machine. The commands discussed in this section are meant to be performed by a privileged user account. This requires the root login or prepending each command with sudo.

Using Minicom

Start minicom on your host machine in configuration mode. As root:

# minicom -o -s -w
A menu of configuration should appear. Use the Down-arrow key to scroll down and select the Serial port setup option, and press Enter.
Verify that the listed serial port is the same one that is connected to the target board. If it is not, press A, and enter the correct device. This is /dev/ttyACM0 on most Linux distributions.
Set the Bps/Par/Bits option by pressing the letter E and using the next menu to set the appropriate values. You press the key that corresponds to the value 115200, then press Enter.
Set Hardware flow control to No using the F key.
Set Software flow control to No using the G key.
Press Enter to return to the main configuration menu, and then press Esc to exit this menu.
Reset the board, and wait for a moment. If you do not see output from the board, press Enter several times until you see the prompt. If you do not see any output from the board, and have verified that the serial terminal connection is setup correctly, contact your board vendor.

TIP: If you experience an error similar to Device /dev/ttyACM0 is locked when starting minicom, it usually means that another process is using the serial port (which is usually another instance of minicom). You can find the process that is currently using the serial port by executing the following:

# fuser /dev/ttyACM0 /dev/ttyACM0: 28358

# ps 28358 PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND 28923 pts/0 S+ 0:00 minicom

This process can also be killed directly with fuser as root. Please use this command with caution:

# fuser -k /dev/ttyACM0

Using GNU Screen

To quickly connect to a board using Gnu Screen, execute the following:

# screen /dev/ttyACM0 115200

For more information about using screen, please consult the man page, or view the manual online at http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/manual/screen.html

Configuring the Network Interface

Finding and Changing the MAC Address

The MAC address on the Colibri VF61 is set by the ethaddr environment variable in U-Boot.

If ethaddr is not set, it can be set using the setenv command.

Example

> setenv ethaddr 12:34:56:78:9a:bc

The MAC Address can be found using the printenv command in U-Boot.

Example

> printenv baudrate=115200 bootfile="uImage" stdin=serial stdout=serial stderr=serial ethaddr=12:34:56:78:9a:bc

NOTE Once the MAC address has been set, it cannot be changed without destroying the entire U-Boot environment.

Changing the IP Address

The IP address can be set manually by modifying the ipaddr environment variable, or automatically using the dhcp or bootp commands.

Preparing the Host

Setting up the network

The commands discussed in this section are meant to be performed by a privileged user account. This requires the root login or prepending each command with sudo.

Identify the network adapter connecting the Host to the Target

Timesys only supports direct Ethernet connections from the development Host to the Target board. Ideally, the development Host would have two network adapters; one adapter to connect to your LAN, and one Ethernet card to connect directly to the Target board with a crossover cable or Ethernet hub. If your development Host only has one network interface it must be directly connected to the Target board. The Ethernet adapter connected directly to the target board must be:

Configured with a proper static IP address and Subnet Mask.
Connected directly to the target board with either a crossover cable or its own Ethernet hub.

From a command prompt issue the command:

# /sbin/ifconfig

Each interface will report its IP address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway information:

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:19:bb:49:ff:0e inet addr:192.168.3.244 Bcast:192.168.3.255 Mask:255.255.254.0 inet6 addr: fe80::219:bbff:fe49:ff0e/64 Scope:Link UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:57214 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:47272 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 RX bytes:43109083 (41.1 MB) TX bytes:6308206 (6.0 MB) Interrupt:16 eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:10:b5:4a:c1:a9 inet addr:10.0.0.1 Bcast:10.0.0.255 Mask:255.0.0.0 UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B) Interrupt:21 Base address:0x1100 lo Link encap:Local Loopback inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0 inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1 RX packets:1974 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:1974 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 RX bytes:226637 (221.3 KB) TX bytes:226637 (221.3 KB)

Note the IP address and Subnet Mask of the appropriate network connection. You will use this to configure the DHCP server.

Installing the server daemons on the development host

On Ubuntu 11.04 and newer:
# apt-get install xinetd tftp tftpd isc-dhcp-server \ nfs-kernel-server portmap
On Ubuntu 10.11 and older:
# apt-get install xinetd tftp tftpd dhcp3-server \ nfs-kernel-server portmap
NOTE: Older versions of Ubuntu use nfs-common and nfs-user-server in place of nfs-kernel-server
On Fedora Core:

# yum install xinetd tftp tftp-server dhcp nfs-utils

Important:

After installing these packages the DHCP server software may start automatically. Having the DHCP server running while you are connected to a LAN can interfere with the operation of other computers. After the DHCP service installs and starts issue these commands to stop the DHCP service and prevent it from starting automatically at boot:

To stop the dhcp service:
- On Ubuntu 11.04 and newer:
  
  # service isc-dhcp-server stop
- On Ubuntu 10.11 and older:
  
  # service dhcp3-server stop
- On Fedora Core:
  
  # /etc/init.d/dhcp stop
To prevent the service from starting automatically:
- On Ubuntu 11.04 and newer:
  
  # chmod 644 /etc/init.d/isc-dhcp-server
- On Ubuntu 10.11 and older:
  
  # chmod 644 /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server
- On Fedora Core:
  1. Click the System Menu
  2. Select Administration
  3. Select Services
  4. Select dhcpd
  5. Click the Customize button
  6. Uncheck Runlevel 2, 3, 4 and 5

Disable SELinux and Firewall on Fedora Core

On Fedora Core, SELinux and the firewall will interfere with many of the services that are needed to work with the target board. These should be disabled before continuing.

Generally Ubuntu does not have these services running by default.

Disable SELinux:
1. Click the System Menu
2. Select Administration
3. Select SELinux Management
4. Change System Default Enforcing Mode to Disabled
Disable Firewall:
1. Click the System Menu
2. Select Administration
3. Select Services
4. Select iptables
5. Click the Customize button
6. uncheck Runlevel 2, 3, 4 and 5

Setting up DHCP

Edit the dhcpd configuration file:
- On Ubuntu, edit /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf and include the following lines (note: on older versions of Ubuntu this file is at either /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf or /etc/dhcpd.conf):
  
  subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.0.0.0 { host targetboard { fixed-address 10.0.0.10; hardware ethernet 12:34:56:78:9a:bc; option root-path "/full/path/to/rfs"; filename "uImage"; } }
- On Fedora Core, edit /etc/dhcpd.conf and include the following lines:
  
  ddns-update-style ad-hoc; subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.0.0.0 { host targetboard { fixed-address 10.0.0.10; hardware ethernet 12:34:56:78:9a:bc; option root-path "/full/path/to/rfs"; next-server 10.0.0.1; filename "uImage"; } }
Test the DHCP server on the network card that is connected to your development board. For this example assume eth1. This command will start the DHCP server in the foreground and output any status or error messages to the screen.
- On Ubuntu up to 12.04 LTS:
  
  # service dhcp3-server restart
- On Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and later:
  
  # service isc-dhcp-server restart
- On Fedora Core:
  
  # /usr/sbin/dhcpd -d eth1
- It is recommended to start the DHCP server in this manner each time you need to boot your Target board.

Setting up TFTP

Edit the xinetd.conf file
- On Ubuntu, edit /etc/xinetd.conf and add the following lines just above the line that reads includedir /etc/xinetd.d.
  
  service tftp { socket_type = dgram protocol = udp wait = yes user = root server = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd server_args = -s /tftpboot disable = no }
- On Fedora Core, the tftp-server package creates a /etc/xinetd.d/tftp file. Edit this file and change the disable line from yes to no. The contents of the file are:
  
  service tftp { socket_type = dgram protocol = udp wait = yes user = root server = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd server_args = -s /tftpboot disable = no per_source = 11 cps = 100 2 flags = IPv4 }
Create the /tftpboot folder if it does not exist:

# mkdir /tftpboot
Copy the kernel image to the /tftpboot directory:

# cp /path/to/kernel/image/uImage \ /tftpboot/uImage

NOTE Also copy other files that are required for booting, such as a device tree blob, to /tftpboot.
Restart the xinetd server with the following command:

# /etc/init.d/xinetd restart
Test the TFTP server with the following commands

# tftp localhost tftp> get uImage Received 1456898 bytes in 0.4 seconds tftp> quit
Set xinetd to start automatically on Fedora Core.
Ubuntu users will skip this step.
1. Click the System Menu
2. Select Administration
3. Select Services
4. Select xinetd
5. Click the Customize button
6. Check Runlevel 2, 3, 4 and 5

Setting up NFS

As root, extract rootfs.tar.gz to a directory and note the path. This path will be referred to as /full/path/to/rfs in this document.

# mkdir /full/path/to/rfs # cd /full/path/to/rfs # sudo tar xvf rootfs.tar.gz
Export this path by editing /etc/exports to include a line similar to the following:

/full/path/to/rfs 10.0.0.10(rw,no_root_squash)
Restart the NFS services
- On Ubuntu issue the following commands in order:
  
  # service portmap stop # service nfs-kernel-server stop # service portmap start # service nfs-kernel-server start
  NOTE: Older versions of Ubuntu use nfs-common and nfs-user-server in place of nfs-kernel-server
- On Fedora Core:
  
  # /etc/init.d/nfs restart
Set nfsd to start automatically on Fedora Core. Ubuntu users will skip this step.
1. Click the System Menu
2. Select Administration
3. Select Services
4. Select NFS
5. Click the Customize button
6. Check Runlevel 2, 3, 4 and 5

Booting the Board

Boot from SD

4.4+ kernel:

Power on the board and at the boot countdown, hit <Enter>. Run the following commands:

>setenv bootcmd 'fatload mmc 0:1 0x82000000 uImage-4.4-ts-armv7l;fatload mmc 0:1 0x84000000 col_vf61.dtb;bootm 0x82000000 - 0x84000000' >setenv bootargs mem=128M console=tty1,115200 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rw rootwait >saveenv

Reboot the board.