Getting Started with the i.MX 8M Nano EVK Board

This section is applicable ONLY if attempting to load a Linux operating system on the board.

The i.MX Linux Board Support Package (BSP) is a collection of binary files, source code, and support files that are used to boot an Embedded Linux image on a specific i.MX development platform.

Current releases of Linux binary demo files can be found on the i.MX Linux download page. Additional documentation is available in the i.MX Linux documentation bundle under the Linux sections of the i.MX Software and Development Tool.

2.1 Overview

Before the Linux OS kernel can boot on an i.MX board, the Linux kernel is loaded to a boot device (SD card, eMMC, and so on) and the boot switches are set to boot that device.

There are various ways to download the Linux BSP image for different boards and boot devices.

For this getting started guide, only a few methods to transfer the Linux BSP image to an SD card are listed. Experienced Linux developers can explore other options.

2.2 Download an NXP Linux BSP Pre-Built Image

The latest pre-built images for the i.MX 8M Nano EVK are available on the Linux download page under the most current version on Linux.

The pre-built NXP Linux binary demo image provides a typical system and basic set of features for using and evaluating the processor. Without modifying the system, the users can evaluate hardware interfaces, test SoC features, and run user space applications.

The pre-built NXP Linux binary demo image provides a typical system and basic set of features for using and evaluating the processor. Without modifying the system, the users can evaluate hardware interfaces, test SoC features, and run user space applications.

When more flexibility is desired, an SD card can be loaded with individual components (boot loader, kernel, dtb file, and rootfs file) one-by-one or the .sdcard image is loaded and the individual parts are overwritten with the specific components.

2.3 Burn NXP Linux BSP Image Using Universal Update Utility (UUU)

The latest pre-built images for the i.MX 8M Nano EVK are available on the Linux download page under the most current version on Linux.

The pre-built NXP Linux binary demo image provides a typical system and basic set of features for using and evaluating the processor. Without modifying the system, the users can evaluate hardware interfaces, test SoC features, and run user space applications.

The pre-built NXP Linux binary demo image provides a typical system and basic set of features for using and evaluating the processor. Without modifying the system, the users can evaluate hardware interfaces, test SoC features, and run user space applications.

When more flexibility is desired, an SD card can be loaded with individual components (boot loader, kernel, dtb file, and rootfs file) one-by-one or the .sdcard image is loaded and the individual parts are overwritten with the specific components.

$ chmod a+x uuu

$ sudo ./uuu kernel_version_images_SOC.zip

uuu.exe kernel_version_imagesSOC.zip

3.1 Android^™

This section describes the boot process of loading the i.MX 8M Nano EVK board with an Embedded Android system image and introduces how to build the software components that create your own system image. For details on building the Android platform, see Building Android

The current release includes Demo Images, Source code and Documentation. These can also be found in Android OS for i.MX Applications Processor.

3.2 Overview

The storage devices on the development system (MMC/SD or NAND) must be programmed with the U-Boot boot loader. The boot process determines which storage device to access based on the switch settings. When the boot loader is loaded and begins execution, the U-Boot environment space is then read to determine how to proceed with the boot process.

The images can come from pre-built release packages or be created from source code. Regardless of how you obtain them, all Android images contain the following components:

• U-Boot image: u-boot.imx
• boot image: boot.img
• Android system root image: system.img
• Recovery root image: recovery.img

For more information about the Android BSP refer to the Android User Guide.

3.3 Download NXP Android BSP Image

The pre-built NXP Android demo image provides a default system with certain features for evaluation. Without modifying the system, users can perform some basic operations and interact with the system to test hardware interfaces and develop software application in the user space.

The pre-built images from the package are categorized by boot device and put in the directory with the device name. The latest pre-built image files can be found in Android section on the i.MX Software and Development Tool or on the demo images downloader link.

3.4 Burn NXP Android BSP Image Using UUU

In addition to the connections from Out of box chapter, connect the J301 to the host machine using the proper USB cable.

Turn off the board.

Consult the Boot Switch Setup and configure the board to boot on SDP (Serial Download Protocol) mode.

Depending on the OS used in the host machine, the way to transfer the Android BSP image onto an SD card can vary.

The MCUXpresso Software Development Kit (MCUXpresso SDK) provides comprehensive software source code to be executed in the i.MX 8M Nano M7 core. If you do not wish to enable the Cortex^®-M7 on i.MX 8M Nano at this moment you can skip this section.

4.1 Overview

The MCUXpresso SDK is designed for the development of embedded applications for Cortex^®-M7 standalone or collaborative use with the A cores. Along with the peripheral drivers, the MCUXpresso SDK provides an extensive and rich set of example applications covering everything from basic peripheral use case examples to demo applications. The MCUXpresso SDK also contains RTOS kernels and device stack and various other middleware to support rapid development.

This guide shows how to run the hello_world.bin demo provided by the REL_2.9.0 release. For detailed information on MCUXpresso SDK and how to build and deploy custom demos, please see the MCUXpresso SDK site.

4.2 Run Applications Using U-Boot

This section describes how to run applications using an SD card and pre-built U-Boot image for i.MX processor.

1. Following the steps from section 2—Embedded Linux of this Getting Started guide, prepare an SD card with a pre-built U-Boot + Linux image from the Linux BSP package for the i.MX 8M Nano processor. If you have already loaded the SD card with a Linux image, you can skip this step.
2. Insert the SD card in the host computer (Linux or Windows) and copy the application image (for example hello_world.bin) to the FAT partition of the SD card.
3. Safely remove the SD card from the PC.
4. Insert the SD card to the target board. Make sure to use the default boot SD slot and double check the Consult the Boot Switch Setup.

5. Connect the DEBUG UART connector on the board to the PC through USB cable. The Windows OS installs the USB driver automatically, and the Ubuntu OS will find the serial devices as well.

   See Connect USB debug cable section in Out of box for more instructions on serial communication applications.

6. Open a second terminal on the i.MX 8M Nano EVK board’s second enumerated serial port. This is the Cortex^®-M7’s serial console. Set the speed to 115200 bit/s, data bits 8, 1 stop bit (115200, 8N1), no parity.

7. Power up the board and stop the boot process by pressing any key before the U-Boot countdown reaches zero. At the U-Boot prompt on the first terminal, type the following commands.

   => fatload mmc 0:1 0x48000000 hello_world.bin
   => cp.b 0x48000000 0x7e0000 0x20000 
   => bootaux 0x7e0000

   These commands copy the image file from the first partition of the SD card into the Cortex-M7’s TCM and releases the Cortex-M7 from reset.

CAAM Module Example

The i.MX 8M Nano EVK board includes the Cryptographic Acceleration and Assurance Module (CAAM) module that can be used through CryptoDev in order to accelerate by hardware the encryption and decryption process. It is recommended to use this module when working with large amounts of data or in any application where performance is important.

Checking the Speed Performance

OpenSSL is an open source project that defines the security protocols SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security). It has a software library that can be used in applications that requires a secure information transmission in order to prevent eavesdropping.

OpenSSL includes a speed command that tests the encryption performance for a desired encryption algorithm. For this example, the algorithm used is the aes-128-cbc that implements the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption algorithm, with a Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) mode of operation and 128 bits block.

The OpenSSL speed test can be seen using the following command:

# openssl speed -evp aes-128-cbc

Doing aes-128-cbc for 3s on 16 size blocks: 43389139 aes-128-cbc's in 2.99s

Doing aes-128-cbc for 3s on 64 size blocks: 28788614 aes-128-cbc's in 3.00s

Doing aes-128-cbc for 3s on 256 size blocks: 11766741 aes-128-cbc's in 2.99s

Doing aes-128-cbc for 3s on 1024 size blocks: 3674139 aes-128-cbc's in 2.99s

Doing aes-128-cbc for 3s on 8192 size blocks: 495157 aes-128-cbc's in 3.00s

OpenSSL 1.0.2p 14 Aug 2018

built on: reproducible build, date unspecified

options:bn(64,64) rc4(ptr,char) des(idx,cisc,16,int) aes(partial) idea(int) blowfish(ptr)

compiler: arm-poky-linux-gnueabi-gcc -march=armv7ve -mfpu=neon -mfloat-abi=hard -mcpu=cortex-a7 -DL_ENDIAN -DTERMIO -O2 -pipe -g -feliminate-unused-debug-types -Wall -Wa,--noexecstack -DHAVE_CRYPTODEV -DUSE_CRYPTODEV_DIGESTS

The 'numbers' are in 1000s of bytes per second processed. type 16 bytes 64 bytes 256 bytes 1024 bytes 8192 bytes

Aes-128-cbc 193627.86k 513839.78k 837089.96k 1048974.64k 1130986.42k

Solution: In doc “AN12838 Strengthening Public Key Crptography using CAAM Secure Key” section 5.2.1 and 5.2.2. it describes details of the usage.

Tools and References

Security Reference Manual for i.MX 8M Nano Applications Processor

Wired Communications

With Linux running on the i.MX board, you can evaluate special features that i.MX SoCs provide. This tutorial shows the step-by-step instructions on how to connect to the Internet on Linux with i.MX 8M Nano EVK:

1. Connect an Ethernet cable to the board RJ-45 connector
2. Log in…..
3. Boot up the board and wait for the Linux prompt
4. At the Linux prompt, enter the following command

   # ifconfig eth0

5. Ping any site to corroborate functionality

# ping 8.8.8.8 PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8) 56(84) bytes of data. 

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=119 time=4.81 ms 64 bytes 

from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=119 time=4.87 ms 64 bytes 

from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3 ttl=119 time=4.94 ms 64 bytes 

from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=4 ttl=119 time=4.61 ms

Wireless Connectivity

Low Power Mode Suspension Example

With Linux running on the i.MX board, you can evaluate special features that i.MX SoCs provide. This example shows how to suspend to low-power modes and resume to normal operation.

Enter the command below in order to enable serial TTY as a wake up source for the board:

Path:

# echo enabled > /sys/class/tty/ttymxc0/power/wakeup

Enter the command below to enter Suspend-To-RAM mode:

# echo mem > /sys/power/state

PM: suspend entry (deep)

PM: Syncing filesystems ... done.

Freezing user space processes ... (elapsed 0.001 seconds) done.

OOM killer disabled.

Freezing remaining freezable tasks ... (elapsed 0.000 seconds) done.

Suspending console(s) (use no_console_suspend to debug)

Press the SW901 switch to wake-up the board. The following messages should appear on terminal:

HIFsuspendwow TODO

PM: suspend devices took 0.112 seconds

Disabling non-boot CPUs ...

CPU1: shutdown

psci: CPU1 killed.
              
CPU2: shutdown
              
psci: CPU2 killed.
              
CPU3: shutdown
              
psci: Retrying again to check for CPU kill
              
psci: CPU3 killed.
              
Enabling non-boot CPUs ...
              
Detected VIPT I-cache on CPU1
              
GICv3: CPU1: found redistributor 1 region 0:0x00000000388a0000
              
CPU1: Booted secondary processor [410fd034]
              
cache: parent cpu1 should not be sleeping
              
CPU1 is up
              
Detected VIPT I-cache on CPU2
              
GICv3: CPU2: found redistributor 2 region 0:0x00000000388c0000
              
CPU2: Booted secondary processor [410fd034]
               
cache: parent cpu2 should not be sleeping
              
CPU2 is up

Detected VIPT I-cache on CPU3

GICv3: CPU3: found redistributor 3 region 0:0x00000000388e0000

CPU3: Booted secondary processor [410fd034]

cache: parent cpu3 should not be sleeping

CPU3 is up

PM: resume devices took 0.028 seconds

OOM killer enabled.

Restarting tasks ... done.

PM: suspend exit   

Tools and References

i.MX Audio Board Hardware User's Guide  This manual includes system setup and configurations and provides detailed information on the usage of the i.MX Audio Board System from a hardware perspective.

Simple Audio Example

Connect your earphone to the Audio Jack on the i.MX 8M Nano EVK board.

If your earphone includes a microphone feature (TRRS with four contacts), do not push the microphone jack to the end. Leave one contact ring outside.

#aplay -1

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****

card 0: imxspdif [imx-spdif], device 0: S/PDIF PCM snd-soc-dummy-dai-0 [S/PDIF PCM snd-soc-dummy-dai-0]
Subdevices: 1/1 
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 
card 2: wm8524audio [wm8524-audio], device 0: HiFi wm8524-hifi-0 
[] 
Subdevices: 1/1 
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 
card 2: wm8524audio [wm8524-audio], device 1: HiFi-ASRC-FE (*) 
[] 
Subdevices: 1/1 
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 
# gst-launch-1.0 audiotestsrc ! alsasink device=plughw:2 
Setting pipeline to PAUSED ... 
Pipeline is PREROLLING ... 
Redistribute latency... 
Pipeline is PREROLLED ... 
Setting pipeline to PLAYING ... 

New clock: GetAudioSinkClock

You should be able to listen to a tone on the earphone.

When you are done with the tone, finish the command line by pressing kbd:[Ctrl+C]

This simple example shows the link between audiotestsrc and alsasink.

Connect your earphone to the Audio Jack on the i.MX 8M Nano EVK board.

Decoder Video Audio Example

This example explains how to decode just the audio from a video file. Copy a video file to your /home/root/ on your SD card roots partition, boot the board from the SD card and run the command below:

Note: You can obtain the file used in the example for free from the Big Buck Bunny site.

# gplay-1.0 SampleVideo_1280x720_2mb.mp4

  FSL_GPLAY2_01.00_LINUX build on Mar 12 2018 11:48:19
  
  Set VideoSink kmssink
            
  Set TextSink fakesink ====== AIUR: 4.3.4 build on Mar 12 2018 11:47:35. ======
            
  Core: AVI_PARSER_03.05.29 build on Aug 31 2017 09:15:57
            
  file: /usr/lib/imx-mm/parser/lib_avi_parser_arm_elinux.so.3.1
            
  Track 00 [video]: Disabled
            
  Codec: 4, SubCodec: 1
            
  -----------------------
            
  ------------------------ Track 01 [audio_0] Enabled
            
  Duration: 0:09:56.424000000
            
  Language: und
            
  Mime: audio/mpeg, mpegversion=(int)1, channels=(int)2, rate=(int)48000, bitrate=(int)0
            
  codec_data=(buffer)014d401fffe10017674d401fda014016ec0440000003004000000c83c60ca801000468ef3c80
            
  ------------------------
            
  ====== BEEP: 4.3.4 build on Mar 12 2018 11:47:45. ======
            
  Core: MP3 decoder Wrapper build on Jan 11 2018 10:20:25
             
  file: /usr/lib/imx-mm/audio-codec/wrap/lib_mp3d_wrap_arm_elinux.so.3
            
  CODEC: BLN_MAD-MMCODECS_MP3D_ARM_02.13.01_ARMV8 build on Jan 11 2018 10:05:45. [Stop (No Repeated)][Vol=1.0][00:00:00/00:09:56]=========== fsl_player_play()=========== FSL_GPLAY2_01.00_LINUX build on Mar 12 2018 11:48:19
            
  [h]display the operation Help
            
  [p]Play
            
  [s]Stop
            
  [e]Seek
            
  [a]Pause when playing, play when paused
            
  [v]Volume
            
  [m]Switch to mute or not
            
  [>]Play next file
            
  [ [r]Switch to repeated mode or not
            
  [u]Select the video track
            
  [d]Select the audio track
            
  [b]Select the subtitle track
             
  [f]Set full screen
             
  [z]resize the width and height
            
  [t]Rotate
            
  [c]Setting play rate
            
  [i]Display the metadata
            
  [x]eXit
            
  State changed: buffering
            
  State changed: playing
            
  [Playing (No Repeated)][Vol =1.0][00:00:13/00:00:13]EOS Found
            
  getNextItem No next item!
             
  No more media file, exit gplay!
             
  State changed: stopped
            
  Exit display thread
            
  FSL_PLAYER_UI_MSG_EXIT
            
  fsl_player_deinit

Decoder Video Audio Example

This example explains how to decode just the audio from a video file. Copy a video file to your /home/root/ on your SD card roots partition, boot the board from the SD card and run the command below:

Note: You can obtain the file used in the example for free from the Big Buck Bunny site.

# gplay-1.0 SampleVideo_1280x720_2mb.mp4

  FSL_GPLAY2_01.00_LINUX build on Mar 12 2018 11:48:19
  
  Set VideoSink kmssink
            
  Set TextSink fakesink ====== AIUR: 4.3.4 build on Mar 12 2018 11:47:35. ======
            
  Core: AVI_PARSER_03.05.29 build on Aug 31 2017 09:15:57
            
  file: /usr/lib/imx-mm/parser/lib_avi_parser_arm_elinux.so.3.1
            
  Track 00 [video]: Disabled
            
  Codec: 4, SubCodec: 1
            
  -----------------------
            
  ------------------------ Track 01 [audio_0] Enabled
            
  Duration: 0:09:56.424000000
            
  Language: und
            
  Mime: audio/mpeg, mpegversion=(int)1, channels=(int)2, rate=(int)48000, bitrate=(int)0
            
  codec_data=(buffer)014d401fffe10017674d401fda014016ec0440000003004000000c83c60ca801000468ef3c80
            
  ------------------------
            
  ====== BEEP: 4.3.4 build on Mar 12 2018 11:47:45. ======
            
  Core: MP3 decoder Wrapper build on Jan 11 2018 10:20:25
             
  file: /usr/lib/imx-mm/audio-codec/wrap/lib_mp3d_wrap_arm_elinux.so.3
            
  CODEC: BLN_MAD-MMCODECS_MP3D_ARM_02.13.01_ARMV8 build on Jan 11 2018 10:05:45. [Stop (No Repeated)][Vol=1.0][00:00:00/00:09:56]=========== fsl_player_play()=========== FSL_GPLAY2_01.00_LINUX build on Mar 12 2018 11:48:19
            
  [h]display the operation Help
            
  [p]Play
            
  [s]Stop
            
  [e]Seek
            
  [a]Pause when playing, play when paused
            
  [v]Volume
            
  [m]Switch to mute or not
            
  [>]Play next file
            
  [ [r]Switch to repeated mode or not
            
  [u]Select the video track
            
  [d]Select the audio track
            
  [b]Select the subtitle track
             
  [f]Set full screen
             
  [z]resize the width and height
            
  [t]Rotate
            
  [c]Setting play rate
            
  [i]Display the metadata
            
  [x]eXit
            
  State changed: buffering
            
  State changed: playing
            
  [Playing (No Repeated)][Vol =1.0][00:00:13/00:00:13]EOS Found
            
  getNextItem No next item!
             
  No more media file, exit gplay!
             
  State changed: stopped
            
  Exit display thread
            
  FSL_PLAYER_UI_MSG_EXIT
            
  fsl_player_deinit

Display and Graphics

Camera Interfaces

Machine Learning

Machine learning (ML) typically encompasses applications where classification, recognition and prediction of man-made abstractions are desired. Examples include Image Recognition, Gesture Recognition, Anomaly Detection, Speech-to-Text, Text-to-Speech, ASR, Scene Recognition and many more. This section will focus specifically on the NXP ML tools applied to image or video streams. The audio section may reference the included examples.

Device Management and Secure OTA

Serial Communication Console Setup

On the command prompt of the Linux host machine, run the following command to determine the port number:

$ ls /dev/ttyUSB*

The smaller number is for Arm^® Cortex^®-A53 core and the bigger number is for Arm^® Cortex ^®-M7 core.

Minicom

Use the following commands to install and run the serial communication program (minicom as an example):

• Install Minicom using Ubuntu package manager.

  $ sudo apt-get install minicom

• Launch Minicom using a console window using the port number determined earlier.

  $ sudo minicom /dev/ttyUSB* -s

• Configure Minicom as show in Figure 3

• The next step is to Connect the HDMI cable.

Serial Communication Console Setup

The FTDI USB-serial chip on i.MX 8M Mini enumerates two serial ports. Assume that the ports are COM9 and COM10. The smaller numbered port ( COM9) is for the serial console communication from Arm^® Cortex^®-A53 and the larger numbered port (COM10) is for Arm^® Cortex^®-M7 core. The serial-to-USB drivers are available at FTDI Chip Drivers

Note: To determine the port number of the i.MX board virtual COM port, open the Windows device manager and find USB serial Port in Ports (COM and LPT).

Tera Term

Is an open source terminal emulation application. This program displays the information sent from the NXP development platform’s virtual serial port.

• Download Tera Term. After the download, run the installer and then return to this webpage to continue.
• Launch TeraTerm. The first time it launches, it shows the following dialog. Select the serial option. Assuming your board is plugged in, there should be a COM port automatically populated in the list.

• Configure the serial port settings (using the COM port number identified earlier) to 115200 baud rate, 8 data bits, no parity, and 1 stop bit. To do this, go to Set up → Serial Port and change the settings.
• Verify that the connection is open. If connected, Tera Term shows something like below in its title bar.

• The next step is to Connect the HDMI cable.

Serial Communication Console Setup

The FTDI USB-serial chip on i.MX 8M Mini enumerates two serial ports. Assume that the ports are COM9. This represents the serial console communication from Arm^® Cortex^®-A53 core. The serial-to-USB drivers are available at FTDI Chip Drivers

Note: To determine the port number of the i.MX board virtual COM port, open the Windows device manager and find USB serial Port in Ports (COM and LPT).

Board Documents

• i.MX 8M Nano EVK Board Getting Started Guide
• Design Files for the i.MX 8M Nano Evaluation Kit with NXP WiFi/BT and NXP PMIC (8MNANOLPD4-EVK)  

Chip Documents

• i.MX 8M Nano Applications Processor Datasheet for Consumer Products
• i.MX 8M Nano Applications Processor Datasheet for Industrial Products
• i.MX 8M Nano Applications Processor Reference Manual  
• i.MX 8M Nano Hardware Developer’s Guide
• Mask Set Errata for Mask 0N14Y

Software

• i.MX Software and Development Tools
• i.MX Linux User’s Guide
• i.MX Linux Reference Manual
• i.MX VPU API Linux Reference Manual
• i.MX Yocto Project User’s Guide
• i.MX Yocto Project: Frequently Asked Questions
• i.MX Porting Guide

Training

To learn what to do next, find your issue below. If you still need help, contact NXP Support.

Forums

Connect with other engineers and get expert advice on designing with the i.MX 8M Nano on one of our community sites.

Product Forums:

• i.MX Forums
• Useful Documents and Threads of i.MX Processors
• i.MX Graphics
• i.MX Solutions
• i.MX8 Coral Development Kit
• Power Management
• Wireless Connectivity

Software Forums:

• eIQ Machine Learning Software
• Processor Expert
• MQX Software Solutions
• MCUXpresso Software and Tools
• Software Community Articles