Introduction

This BSP provides a basis for development, deployment and execution of Linux based applications on the iMX7 System on Module (SOM). For detailed information on the various software components included in the release and how to use them, please refer to the https://wiki.phytec.com/display/public/PRODUCTINFO/BSP+Yocto+FSL+iMX7+PD18.2.0+Release+Notes#BSPYoctoFSLiMX7PD18.2.0ReleaseNotes-Quickstart.

Versioning

Software

Yocto Machine Configuration Table

This BSP release supports various configurations of the phyBOARD-Zeta i.MX7. You will need to know which Yocto machine configuration corresponds to your kit in order to build the appropriate BSP. By default, only the standard kit configurations are shown in the table. If you have a different kit, use the filters below to search by Kit Part Number or SOM. The U-Boot defconfig and kernel device tree file names are important when creating custom U-Boot and kernel images outside of Yocto development.

Linux Device Tree Summary

Alternate dts imx7d-phyboard-zeta-004-m4.dtb: configure u-boot to use this DTS if running Linux on the Cortex-A7 while running FreeRTOS on the Cortex-M4

Compatible Hardware

Supported Hardware Versions

Compatible Expansion Boards and Accessories

Supported Raspberry Pi HATs (PEB-D-RPI Expansion Board)

PHYTEC supports a variety of Raspberry Pi HATs for use with the PEB-D-RPI Expansion Board. Other HATs may be hardware-compatible but have not yet been integrated and tested by PHYTEC. Demos and tests for supported HATs have been installed to the BSP file system, and are located in the /usr/share/phytec-rpihat-examples directory.

The following table lists supported Raspberry Pi HATs and the name of the subdirectory (relative to the phytec-rpihat-examples directory) that contains the demos for each HAT:

BSP Download

Prebuilt images of BSP-Yocto-FSL-iMX7-PD18.2.1 can be downloaded and extracted from the link below:

BSP-Yocto-FSL-iMX7-PD18.2.1

Quickstart

Quickstarts for BSP-Yocto-FSL-iMX7-PD18.2.1:

• BSP Yocto FSL i.MX7 PD18.2.x Quickstart
  
  
• For testing the "Hello World" Greengrass example on an i.MX7 already running an image built with the -004_greengrass machine configuration: 
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• Additional documentation: 

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BSP Features

The following table lists the interfaces available from the phyCORE-iMX7 SOM. 

• Implemented - driver support exists in the kernel. 
• Tested  - the interface has been configured in the device tree and was tested by PHYTEC 

• Status in Device Tree - the corresponding device tree nodes are enabled in the device tree. See Linux Device Tree Summary for more information.

  The "Status in Device Tree" column is specifically for the standard phyBOARD-Zeta kit (machine configuration imx7d-phyboard-zeta-004).

  Please look at the dts file corresponding to your machine configuration for differences.

[1] Interface requires additional configuration, such as pinmuxing. It may be possible to change the software configuration to utilize this interface even if it is not being set in the board's default configuration. Please see NXP's i.MX7D Technical Reference Manual for more information on the various modes each pin can be muxed to.

New in this Release

PD18.2.1

• General
  • Support for AWS IoT Greengrass v.1.7.0 (in the imx7d-phyboard-zeta-004_greengrass machine configuration)
    • Core software included
    • Added Greengrass user/group to the system
    • Node.js v.6.10 and Java 8 included as alternatives to Python 2.7 for creating AWS Lambda functions
  • Support for PCM-061-2211111E.A0 

• Linux
  • Created imx7_phyboard_zeta_greengrass_defconfig based off the previous imx7_phyboard_zeta_defconfig
    • Enabled extra configurations necessary for Greengrass (e.g. various cgroup and namespace configs)

• Yocto
  • meta-phytec layer
    • Created new machine for i.MX7 Dual Kit with Greengrass and related packages. The new machine name is imx7d-phyboard-zeta-004_greengrass.
    • Created and added recipes and meta-java layer to support Greengrass, Node.js and Java listed in "General"
    • Modified the Linux kernel recipe to use the new Greengrass defconfig if the Greengrass machine is selected 

Fixed in this Release

PD18.2.1

• N/A - see New in this Release for changes

Not Tested

• PEB-WLBT-03
  • Driver support for Laird Sterling LWB has not been tested with Linux v4.9.11
• Booting via network
• Qt5 - NXP includes "fsl-image-qt5" Yocto Image in the BSP but it is meant for i.MX SoCs with hardware graphics, and is not supported by NXP or PHYTEC for the i.MX7D.

Known Issues

PHYTEC Known Issues

• IMX7SW-420: Using Java/Node.js with Greengrass:
  • The Java 8 and Node.js v6.10 packages can't be found by Greengrass with their current package names. Link them to files with the correct names:

    • ln -s /usr/bin/node /usr/bin/nodejs6.10

    • ln -s /usr/bin/java /usr/bin/java8

• Ethernet:
  • iperf3 is included with the Morty Yocto BSP. With UDP, this command reports much lower bandwidth than expected when compared with iperf command.

• eMMC:

  • Flashing with U-Boot: 
    • fsl-image-validation-imx-imx7d-phyboard-zeta-001.sdcard image is too large to be loaded into memory (1GB) from u-boot.
    • Workaround: Partition and flash eMMC from Linux instead. See Quickstart for instructions.
  • IMX7SW-205: HS400 warnings/errors: configure eMMC to run at maximum 100MHz as a work around. See commit b8f6c1b7780 for more information
• Linux IMX Busfreq driver:
  • Driver disabled by default due to impaired UART console functionality when the system is idle (Low frequency setpoint).

  • For dynamic bus frequency scaling and improved power consumption, the busfreq driver can be enabled in the device tree by removing the "fsl,freq_scaling_disabled" property in imx7-phycore-som.dtsi. It can also be controlled in Linux sysfs: 

    echo 1 > /sys/bus/platform/drivers/imx_busfreq/soc\:busfreq/enable 

• NAND:
  • 256MB NAND is too small to flash fsl-image-validation-imx filesystem. Booting from NAND was tested with core-image-minimal Yocto image, which is included with release binaries.

NXP Known Issues

See i.MX Linux Release Notes from NXP in  L4.9.11_1.0.0 BSP Documentation

Technical Support

For further information or to report any problems, visit the PHYTEC Support Portal