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Table of Contents
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Hardware Setup

Prepare hardware as described below:

  1. Connect the microUSB cable to the J28 connector on the MIMXRT1050-EVKB board or to the J1 connector on the MIMXRT1060-EVKB board and the development host to provide the power and serial console access, which is required to run Linux (uClinux) on the i.MX RT10xx. The serial console operates in U-Boot and uCLinux with the following parameters:

    • Baud rate - 115200

    • Data bits - 8

    • Stop bits - 1

    • Parity - none

  2. Connect Ethernet cable to the J19 connector on the MIMXRT1050-EVKB board or to the J43 connector on the MIMXRT1060-EVKB board.

  3. The microUSB SD Card used to boot the system on the MIMXRT1050/1060-EVKB board.
    Since U-Boot (SPL+TPL) + U-Boot environment are located at the 0x400..0x100000 range of the raw SD Card address-space, the SD Card must be partitioned properly, so that U-Boot does not overwrite the file system on the partition. The SD Card must contain at least one partition started at a at least 1MB raw offset. The partition must be FATFS-formatted. Usually, a new SD Card satisfies these requirements by default so most likely no special preparations are required unless the card has been reformatted in some other way in other projects.

Installing Linux to NXP i.MX RT1050/1060 EVKB Board

  1. Download the bootable U-Boot and Linux images from the Emcraft web site: for i.MX RT1050 EVKB board

    for i.MX RT1060 EVKB board

    where SPL is the U-Boot SPL prebuilt image; u-boot.img is the U-Boot TPL prebuilt image; rootfs.uImage is the prebuilt rootfs project image.

  2. Plug in the MicroSD card to the cross-development host.

  3. Find out a /dev/sdX device the system has assigned to your SD Card:

    Code Block
    $ dmesg | tail
[  456.470775] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[  456.482079] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[  457.501716] scsi 3:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Generic  STORAGE DEVICE
   0821 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[  457.508132] sd 3:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[  457.715113] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] 15446016 512-byte logical blocks: 
(7.91 GB/7.37 GiB)
[  457.733992] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[  457.733999] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00
[  457.753808] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Write cache: disabled, read cache: 
enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[  457.840489]  sdb: sdb1
[  457.840845] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk

  4. Install U-Boot to the microSD card:

    Code Block
    $ sudo dd if=SPL of=/dev/sdX bs=1k seek=1 conv=notrunc; sync
$ sudo dd if=u-boot.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1k seek=128 conv=notrunc; sync

  5. Install the rootfs project to the microSD card:

    Code Block
    $ sudo mount /dev/sdX /mnt
$ cp rootfs.uImage /mnt

  6. Install U-Boot splash screen.

    Copy the file to the splash.bmp file on the SD card:

    Code Block
    $ cp splash-rt1050-series_24.bmp /mnt/splash.bmp
$ sudo umount /mnt
$ sync

  7. Unplug the microSD card from the development host. Set Boot SW.7 as 1010, insert the micro SD card into the microSD slot on the target board and power the board. The system should boot up on the board:

    Code Block
    U-Boot SPL 2024.04-00028-g674762029e5-dirty (Dec 11 2024 - 09:04:14 +0300)
Trying to boot from MMC1


U-Boot 2024.04-00028-g674762029e5-dirty (Dec 11 2024 - 09:04:14 +0300)

DRAM:  32 MiB
Core:  78 devices, 17 uclasses, devicetree: separate
MMC:   FSL_SDHC: 0
Loading Environment from MMC... OK
In:    serial@40184000
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   eth0: ethernet@402d8000
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
8780430 bytes read in 5999 ms (1.4 MiB/s)
## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 80007fc0 ...
   Image Name:   Linux-6.6.36
   Image Type:   ARM Linux Multi-File Image (uncompressed)
   Data Size:    8780366 Bytes = 8.4 MiB
   Load Address: 80008000
   Entry Point:  80008001
   Contents:
      Image 0: 8768576 Bytes = 8.4 MiB
      Image 1: 11778 Bytes = 11.5 KiB
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
## Flattened Device Tree from multi component Image at 80007FC0
   Booting using the fdt at 0x80864c4c
Working FDT set to 80864c4c
   Loading Multi-File Image to 80008000
   Loading Device Tree to 81dfa000, end 81dffe01 ... OK
Working FDT set to 81dfa000

Starting kernel ...

Booting Linux on physical CPU 0x0
Linux version 6.6.36 (sasha@e14) (arm-none-eabi-gcc (GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain 10.3-2021.10) 10.3.1 20210824 (release), GNU ld (GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain 10.3-2021.10) 2.36.1.20210621) #60 PREEMPT Tue Dec 10 08:49:53 +03 2024
CPU: ARMv7-M [411fc271] revision 1 (ARMv7M), cr=00000000
CPU: PIPT / VIPT nonaliasing data cache, PIPT instruction cache
OF: fdt: Machine model: NXP IMXRT1060-evk board
Reserved memory: created DMA memory pool at 0x81e00000, size 1 MiB
OF: reserved mem: initialized node dmapool@81e00000, compatible id shared-dma-pool
OF: reserved mem: 0x81e00000..0x81efffff (1024 KiB) nomap non-reusable dmapool@81e00000
OF: reserved mem: 0x81f00000..0x81ffffff (1024 KiB) nomap non-reusable memory@81f00000
Zone ranges:
  Normal   [mem 0x0000000080000000-0x0000000081ffffff]
Movable zone start for each node
Early memory node ranges
  node   0: [mem 0x0000000080000000-0x0000000081dfffff]
  node   0: [mem 0x0000000081e00000-0x0000000081ffffff]
Initmem setup node 0 [mem 0x0000000080000000-0x0000000081ffffff]
Kernel command line: ip=192.168.1.82:192.168.1.83:192.168.1.254:255.255.0.0::eth0:off
...
Freeing unused kernel image (initmem) memory: 3312K
This architecture does not have kernel memory protection.
Run /init as init process
[51] Jan 01 00:00:02 Running in background
/ # Micrel KSZ8081 or KSZ8091 402d8000.ethernet-1:02: attached PHY driver (mii_bus:phy_addr=402d8000.ethernet-1:02, irq=POLL)
fec 402d8000.ethernet eth0: Link is Up - 100Mbps/Full - flow control off
random: crng init done

/ #

3. Ethernet Driver Support

  1. Power cycle the board. While U-Boot is coming up, press any key on the serial console to enter the U-Boot command line interface:

    Code Block
    U-Boot SPL 2024.04-00028-g674762029e5-dirty (Dec 11 2024 - 09:04:14 +0300)
Trying to boot from MMC1


U-Boot 2024.04-00028-g674762029e5-dirty (Dec 11 2024 - 09:04:14 +0300)

DRAM:  32 MiB
Core:  78 devices, 17 uclasses, devicetree: separate
MMC:   FSL_SDHC: 0
Loading Environment from MMC... OK
In:    serial@40184000
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   eth0: ethernet@402d8000
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
=>

  2. From the U-Boot command line interface, reset to the default environment:

    Code Block
    => env default -a
## Resetting to default environment
=>

  3. Set the ipaddr, serverip, gatewayip and netmask U-Boot environment variables:

    Code Block
    => setenv ipaddr 192.168.1.82
=> setenv serverip 192.168.1.83
=> setenv gatewayip 192.168.1.254
=> setenv netmask 255.255.255.0
=> saveenv
Saving Environment to MMC... Writing to MMC(0)... OK
=>

  4. ping the development host from the target board:

    Code Block
    => ping 192.168.1.83
Using ethernet@402d8000 device
host 192.168.1.83 is alive

  5. Load rootfs.uImage using the U-Boot tftp command:

    Code Block
    => tftp imxrt1050/rootfs.uImage
Using ethernet@402d8000 device
TFTP from server 192.168.1.83; our IP address is 192.168.1.82
Filename 'imxrt1050/rootfs.uImage'.
Load address: 0x80007fc0
Loading: #################################################################
         #################################################################
         #################################################################
...
         #################################################################
         #########################
         658.2 KiB/s
done
Bytes transferred = 8780437 (85fa95 hex)

  6. Reset the board and let it boot up to the Linux shell:

    Code Block
    => reset
resetting ...
U-Boot SPL 2024.04-00028-g674762029e5-dirty (Dec 11 2024 - 09:04:14 +0300)
Trying to boot from MMC1


U-Boot 2024.04-00028-g674762029e5-dirty (Dec 11 2024 - 09:04:14 +0300)

DRAM:  32 MiB
Core:  78 devices, 17 uclasses, devicetree: separate
MMC:   FSL_SDHC: 0
Loading Environment from MMC... OK
In:    serial@40184000
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   eth0: ethernet@402d8000
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
8780430 bytes read in 5996 ms (1.4 MiB/s)
## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 80007fc0 ...
   Image Name:   Linux-6.6.36
   Image Type:   ARM Linux Multi-File Image (uncompressed)
   Data Size:    8780366 Bytes = 8.4 MiB
   Load Address: 80008000
   Entry Point:  80008001
   Contents:
      Image 0: 8768576 Bytes = 8.4 MiB
      Image 1: 11778 Bytes = 11.5 KiB
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
## Flattened Device Tree from multi component Image at 80007FC0
...
/ # Micrel KSZ8081 or KSZ8091 402d8000.ethernet-1:02: attached PHY driver (mii_bus:phy_addr=402d8000.ethernet-1:02, irq=POLL)
fec 402d8000.ethernet eth0: Link is Up - 100Mbps/Full - flow control off
random: crng init done

/ #

  7. From the development host validate that the target board is visible using ping:

    Code Block
    $ ping -c 5 192.168.1.82
PING 192.168.1.82 (192.168.1.82) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.1.82: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.826 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.82: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.461 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.82: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.460 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.82: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.439 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.82: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.444 ms

--- 192.168.1.82 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 4080ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.439/0.526/0.826/0.150 ms

  8. From the target board, validate that the development host is visible using ping:

    Code Block
    / # ping -c 5 192.168.1.83
PING 192.168.1.83 (192.168.1.83): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.1.83: seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.808 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.83: seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.649 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.83: seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.839 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.83: seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.825 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.83: seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.632 ms

--- 192.168.1.83 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 0.632/0.750/0.839 ms

TCP/IP Stack Support

With uClinux running on the i.MX RT10xx, you get the full Linux TCP/IP stack (kernel version 5.15.71). Userspace POSIX APIs are provided by the uClibc library. Key user-space networking tools and utilities are available from the multi-call busybox. Additional tools and packages, such as for instance the SSH dropbear server, can be built specifically for uClinux. All in all, you have the powerful Linux TCP/IP stack at your disposal.

  1. From the development host validate that the target board is visible using ping:

    Code Block
    $ ping -c 5 192.168.1.82
PING 192.168.1.82 (192.168.1.82) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.1.82: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.826 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.82: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.461 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.82: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.460 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.82: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.439 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.82: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.444 ms

--- 192.168.1.82 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 4080ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.439/0.526/0.826/0.150 ms

  2. ping the development host from the target board:

    Code Block
    / # ping -c 5 192.168.1.83
PING 192.168.1.83 (192.168.1.83): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.1.83: seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.808 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.83: seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.649 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.83: seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.839 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.83: seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.825 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.83: seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.632 ms

--- 192.168.1.83 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 0.632/0.750/0.839 ms

  3. On the target, start the telnetd daemon to allow connections to the target board:

    Code Block
    / # telnetd
/ # ps | grep telnetd
   78 root       864 S    telnetd
   80 root       864 S    grep telnetd
/ #

  4. Connect to the target from the development host using telnet. The target is configured to accept the 123 password for root:

    Code Block
    $ telnet 192.168.1.82
Trying 192.168.1.82...
Connected to 192.168.1.82.
Escape character is '^]'.

(none) login: root
Password:
/ # ls
bin       etc       httpd     lib       mnt       root      sbin      tmp       var
dev       hello.ko  init      linuxrc   proc      run       sys       usr
/ # exit
Connection closed by foreign host.

  5. The dropbear SSH daemon starts automatically on the target. Verify that dropbear allows secure connections to the target:

    Code Block
    / # ps | grep dropbear
   50 root       728 S    dropbear -R
   85 root       864 S    grep dropbear

  6. Connect to the target from the development host using ssh. The first connection takes several seconds to establish as the target runs computation-extensive key calculations. Again, enter 123 on the password prompt:

    Code Block
    $ ssh root@192.168.1.82
The authenticity of host '192.168.1.82 (192.168.1.82)' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:lD/+nIvsFbFre45QVo2VTFiPhjimOkctjCHzhd19YwI.
This key is not known by any other names.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
Warning: Permanently added '192.168.1.82' (ED25519) to the list of known hosts.
root@192.168.1.82's password:
/ # ls
bin       etc       httpd     lib       mnt       root      sbin      tmp       var
dev       hello.ko  init      linuxrc   proc      run       sys       usr
/ # exit
Connection to 192.168.1.82 closed.

  7. On the target, enable access to the Internet by configuring a default gateway. Note also that the system makes use of the public name server provided by Google:

    Code Block
    / # cat /etc/resolv.conf
# This configuration makes use of the Google public DNS server.
# If you would like to use something else, replace with the IP
# of your DNS server

nameserver 8.8.8.8

  8. Use ntpd to synchronize the time on the target with the time provided by a public server:

    Code Block
    / # date
Thu Jan  1 00:51:16 UTC 1970
/ # ntpd -p 0.fedora.pool.ntp.org
/ # sleep 5
/ # date
Wed Dec 11 13:39:09 UTC 2024
/ #

  9. Use wget to download a file from a remote server:

    Code Block
    / # wget ftp://ftp.gnu.org/README
Connecting to ftp.gnu.org (209.51.188.20:21)
saving to 'README'
README               100% |********************************|  2748  0:00:00 ETA
'README' saved
/ # cat README
This is ftp.gnu.org, the FTP server of the the GNU project.
...

  10. Mount a directory exported by a development host over NFS:

    Code Block
    / # mount -o nolock,rsize=1024 192.168.1.83:/srv/homes /mnt/nfs
/ # ls /mnt/nfs/
512kB.host          busybox             eclipse-workspace
SimpleClass         c-example           linux-dp
app                 check_float_soft    test
app.c               check_float_softfp
/ # cp /bin/busybox /mnt/nfs
/ # cp /mnt/nfs/busybox /tmp
/ # md5sum /bin/busybox /tmp/busybox
f662b9d6dd7de640b54ba5cb76d868b2  /bin/busybox
f662b9d6dd7de640b54ba5cb76d868b2  /tmp/busybox

  11. Start the HTTP daemon:

    Code Block
    / # httpd -h /httpd/html
/ #

  12. From a local host, open a Web browser to the target and watch the demo web page provided by the target. The target shows the current time and date as well as the list of the currently running processes:

    image-20250119-083345.pngImage Added

Support USB Host Stack Interface

  1. Attach a USB Flash device to the J9 connector for the imxrt1050-evkb board or to the J48 connector for the imxrt1060-evkb board. Verify that it is automatically detected and can be mounted:

    Code Block
    ci_hdrc ci_hdrc.0: EHCI Host Controller
ci_hdrc ci_hdrc.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
ci_hdrc ci_hdrc.0: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 2-0:1.0: 1 port detected
usb 2-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using ci_hdrc
usb-storage 2-1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
scsi host0: usb-storage 2-1:1.0
scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Generic  Flash Disk       8.07 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 8228864 512-byte logical blocks: (4.21 GB/3.92 GiB)
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] No Caching mode page found
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
 sda: sda1
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI removable disk
/ # mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usbflash/
/ # ls /mnt/usbflash/
System Volume Information  data.log
/ #

  2. Unmount the USB Flash device:

    Code Block
    / # umount /mnt/usbflash/
/ #

Support Loading / Unloading Kernel Modules

  1. From the Linux shell, load the demo kernel module:

    Code Block
    / # insmod hello.ko
Hello, world
/ #

  2. Show the status of the loaded kernel modules:

    Code Block
    / # lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by    Not tainted
hello                  12288  0
/ #

  3. Unload the module from the Linux kernel:

    Code Block
    / # rmmod hello
Goodbye, world
/ #

Running Emcraft Ebike Demo

Step through the following procedure to run the Emcraft Ebike demo:

  1. LCD backlight power on:

    Code Block
    / # echo 0 > /sys/class/backlight/backlight/bl_power

  2. From the Linux shell, type the ebike_gui_demo command to run the ebike demo:

    Code Block
    / # ebike_gui_demo

  3. Click to the padlock icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to switch to the Unlock Your Bike group.

    image-20250119-083447.pngImage Added

  4. Click 4 any digits and then v. Make sure the correct PIN-code in printed out to the Linux shell terminal:

    Code Block
    / # ebike_gui_demo
entered pin: 4 7 1 2

  5. Click to the bike icon to switch back to the Driving Information group.

  6. Press and hold the SW8 button, which resides on the opposite side of the target board to LCD. Make sure that the Speed, Trip, Odometer and other values are increasing on the corresponding widgets on the LCD. If release the SW8 button the Speed reading is decreasing.

    image-20250119-083508.pngImage Added