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i.MX RT1170: Release Notes 3.3.0

i.MX RT1170: Release Notes 3.3.0

1. Overview

This is the Linux BSP (Board Support Package) for the NXP i.MX RT1170 EVK/EVKB and Avnet MaaXBoard-RT boards.

The BSP provides a software development environment for evaluation and development of Linux (uClinux) on the Cortex-M7 processor core of the i.MX RT1170 microcontroller using the NXP i.MX RT1170 EVK / NXP i.MX RT1170 EVKB or Avnet MaaXBoard-RT board as a hardware platform.

2. Supported Features

The following list provides a summary of the features and capabilities of this release of the NXP i.MX RT1170 BSP:

  • Linux:

    • Kernel v.6.12.20;

    • Serial Linux console;

    • Ethernet device driver (both 100Mb and 1Gb interfaces) and Linux TCP/IP networking (ping, NFS, Telnet, FTP, NTPD, etc);

    • Clock driver;

    • pinctrl driver;

    • MMC/SD driver;

    • I2C driver;

    • USB High Speed driver (Host and Gadget modes);

    • (PAID ADD-ON) QSPI Flash driver (only for NXP i.MX RT1170 EVK(B) board);

    • (PAID ADD-ON) ADC driver;

    • (PAID ADD-ON) CAN bus driver;

    • (PAID ADD-ON) SPI bus drive;

    • (PAID ADD-ON) Support LVGL GUI (only for NXP i.MX RT1170 EVK(B) board);

    • (PAID ADD-ON) Support RPMSG;

    • busybox v1.35.0;

    • POSIX pthreads;

    • Hardened exception handling; an exception triggered by a process affects only the offending process;

    • MPU user-level protection support;

    • GPIO device driver.

  • U-Boot firmware:

    • U-Boot v 2025.04;

    • Target initialization from power-on / reset;

    • Serial console;

    • Ethernet driver for loading images to the target;

    • Clock driver;

    • USB support;

    • pinctrl driver;

    • Device driver for MMC/SD Card;

    • Autoboot feature, allowing boot of OS images from the SD Card or QSPI Flash;

    • Persistent environment in the SD Card for customization of target operation;

    • Sophisticated command interface for maintenance and development of the target.

  • Development tools:

    • Linux-hosted cross-development environment;

    • 11.3.0 GNU toolchain is used for development of user-space applications;

    • ELF / dynamic linking supported;

    • Debugging user-space applications with cross-GDB;

    • Hardware FPU enabled in the toolchain and kernel;

    • mkimage tool used by the Linux kernel build process to create a bootable Linux image.

3. New and Changed Features

The following is a summary of the changes in Release 3.3.0, as compared to Release 3.2.1:

  1. Enable full access to HyperFlash in U-Boot.
    ID: RM 7567.

  2. Add support for 1Gb Ethernet to the demo.
    ID: RM 7580.

  3. Add USB support in U-Boot for the Avnet MaaXBoard-RT board.
    ID: RM 7584.

  4. The saveenv command does not work in U-Boot for the Avnet MaaXBoard-RT board.
    ID: RM 7599.

  5. Disable sf commands in U-Boot for the maaxboard-rt board.
    ID: RM 7600.

  6. Add addip command when booting the kernel from Flash in U-Boot for the Avnet MaaXBoard-RT board.
    ID: RM 7601.

  7. Fix flash partitioning on the Avnet MaaXBoard-RT board.
    ID: RM 7578.

  8. IMXRT1170 the general/SNVS/LPSR pinctrl driver nodes are sensitive to the compatible string.
    ID: RM 7588.

4. Known Problems & Limitations

This section lists known problems and limitations of this release:

  1. IMXRT1170: USB gadget function can be broken in OTG mode if insert a USB flash to the OTG connector.
    ID: RM 6804.
    Workaround: None.

  2. QSPI flash in U-Boot does not work on imxrt1170-evkb board from 3.0.4 IMXRT1170 BSP.

    ID: RM 6931.
    Workaround: None.

  3. U-boot fails to boot from microSD card with the 64GB capacity.

    ID: RM 7017.
    Workaround: Use microSD card with less capacity.

  4. ebike LVGL demo is not supported on IMXRT1170-EVK LCD.
    ID: RM 6978.
    Workaround: None.