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

Last Modified: 2022-11-16 14:33:06Supports i.MX 8M Nano UltraLite Evaluation Kit

1. Out of the Box

The following section describes the steps to boot the i.MX 8M Nano UL DDR3L EVK.

Development kit contains:

  • i.MX 8M Nano UL DDR3L EVK board for smart devices
  • USB cable (micro-B to standard-A)
  • USB Type-C Cable – Type-C Male to Type-A Male
  • USB Type-C to A Adapter
  • USB Type C 45W Power Delivery Supply, 5V/3A; 9V/3A; 15V/3A; 20V/2.25A supported
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Linux BSP flashed into the eMMC

1.1 Get Familiar with the Board

I.MX-8M-NANO-UL-DDR3L-EVK-BOARD

Figure 1. Top view i.MX 8M Nano UL DDR3L EVK board

I.MX-8M-NANO-UL-DDR3L-EVK-BOARD-BACK-VIEW

Figure 2. Back view i.MX 8M Nano UL DDR3L EVK board

1.2 Confirm Boot Switches

The boot switches should be set to boot from the eMMC. Only SW1101[1-4] are used for boot. See table below

BOOT DEVICESW1101SW1102
eMMC/uSDHC3 0100XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX
Note: 1 = ON 0 = OFF X = Don’t Care

The same information can be found on i.MX 8M Nano Reference Manual and on silkscreen on the board near the switches.

1.3 Boot from eMMC

The i.MX 8M Nano UL DDR3L EVK comes with a pre-built NXP Linux binary demo image flashed on the eMMC. Without modifying the binary inside, booting from the eMMC provides a default system with certain features for building other applications on top of Android.

1.4 Connect USB Debug Cable

Connect the micro-B end of the supplied USB cable into Debug UART port J901. Connect the other end of the cable to a host computer.

If you are not sure about how to use a terminal application, try one of the following tutorials depending on the operating system of the host machine:

Linux

linux-logo

Windows

Tera-Term

Windows

putty-logo

1.5 Boot Switch Setup

Click here to see the Boot Switch Setup

1.6 Connect Power Supply

Connect the power supply cable to the power connector (J302).

Power the board by flipping the switch (SW101).

The processor starts executing from the on-chip ROM code. With the default boot switch setup, the code reads the fuses to define the media where it is expected to have a bootable image. After it finds a bootable image, the U-Boot execution should begin automatically.

Information is printed in the smaller number serial console for the Cortex®-A53. If you do not stop the U-Boot process, it continues to boot the Linux kernel.

1.7 Congratulations! Linux has booted!

During the boot process, there will be operating system status information scrolling on the terminal window of the PC. To work from the terminal window on the host PC, press enter at the terminal window to get the command prompt. Log in as root. Congratulations, you are up and running.

2. Embedded Linux

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 can be found the i.MX Linux documentation bundle, or under the Linux sections on 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 UL DDR3L 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.

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)

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 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 Linux BSP image onto an SD card can vary. Choose an option below for detailed instructions:

Choose an option below for detailed instructions:

2.4 Install UUU on Linux Distro

Download the latest stable files from UUU GitHub page. An extensive tutorial for UUU can be found in https://github.com/NXPmicro/mfgtools/wiki.

  • uuu
  • libusb1 (via apt-get or any other package manager)

2.5 Burn the NXP Linux BSP image to the board

Add execution permission to the uuu file and execute it. Uuu waits for the USB device to connect.

$ chmod a+x uuu

$ sudo ./uuu L5.4.70_2.3.0_images_MX8MMEVK.zip

Turn on the board, uuu starts to copy the images to the board.

When it finishes, turn off the board, and consult

to configure the board to boot from SDcard.

2.6 Install UUU on Windows

Download the latest stable files from UUU GitHub page. An extensive tutorial for UUU can be found in https://github.com/NXPmicro/mfgtools/wiki.

  • uuu.exe
  • libusb-1.0.dll
  • Serial USB drivers (depending on your board and Windows installation)

2.7 Burn the NXP Linux BSP image to the board

> uuu.exe L5.4.70_2.3.0_images_MX8MMEVK.zip

Turn on the board, uuu starts to copy the images to the board.

When it finishes, turn off the board, and consult

to configure the board to boot from SDcard.

3. MCUXpresso SDK

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

3.1 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.

3.2 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, prepare an SD card with a pre-built U-Boot + Linux image from the Linux BSP package for the i.MX 8M Nano UL 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 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 UL DDR3L 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.

Security and Integrity

Documents and Videos Description
AN12714 i.MX Encrypted Storage Using CAAM Secure Keys Provides the steps to run a transparent storage encryption at block level using DM-Crypt taking advantage of the secure key feature provided by i.MXs Cryptographic Accelerator and Assurance Module (CAAM)
AN12632 Enhanced OpenSSL on i.MX 8M and i.MX 8MM This application note describes how to add support for accelerated OP-TEE OS with Cryptographic Accelerator and Assurance Module (CAAM) on top of OpenSSL. The final result being an enhanced OpenSSL capable of accelerating crypto algorithms in a secure way via OP-TEE.
Trusted Execution Environment: Getting Started with OP-TEE on i.MX Processors An overview of TEE, example use cases and how to leverage i.MX hardware security features from OP-TEE.
AN12838 Strengthening Public Key Cryptography using CAAM Secure Key Describes the public key cryptography scheme based on the Black Key feature provided by the i.MX application processors.
Secure the Edge: Manufacturing Protection: Provision Sensitive Material in an Unsecure Environment This webinar will provide an introduction to the Manufacturing protection feature and discuss how it can be used to ensure that sensitive material is delivered and installed securely.
Steps to Enable Secure Boot in i.MX8M Nano Step-by-step process including generating a PKI tree, SRK table and how to sign and securely boot a bootloader image.

CAAM Module Example

The i.MX 8M Nano UL DDR3 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.

            
          

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 UL DDR3 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

Documents and Videos Description
Cloud Connectivity Integrated support for cloud services including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud IoT.

Power Management

The PCA9450 is a single chip Power Management IC optimized for i.MX 8M, i.MX 8M Nano and i.MX 8M Nano UltraLite.

Documents and Videos Description
AN12225 How to Reduce SoC Power when Running M4 with A53 on i.MX8M With AMP applications a user may find a VDD_SOC current that is much higher than expected. This document discusses the root cause and solution.
M4 Low Power Demo on i.MX 8MM Allows you to test power consumption on the i.MX 8M EVKs.

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 resuming to normal operation.

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

# 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
                
              

Audio

Documents and Videos Description
DSP Concepts offering for i.MX 8 Processors Learn about audio platform offerings from DSP Concepts for the i.MX 8M family.

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 UL DDR3 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 a tone on the earphone.

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

This example is very simple. It shows the link between audiotestsrc and alsasink.

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 rootfs 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

Documents and Videos Description
i.MX Graphics User’s Guide Provides information on graphic APIs and driver support for developers writing graphics applications or video drivers.
i.MX 8 Gstreamer User Guide Learn more about how to use GStreamer version 1.0 on the i.MX 8M Nano EVK. Includes examples for decode, encode, camera, video composition and video scaling and rotation.
Achieve Exceptional Graphics for IoT Devices of Tomorrow with NXP’s i.MX 8M Nano Applications Processor Webinar Provides an overview of the i.MX 8M Nano and how Crank Software’s Storyboard differs from traditional UI development tools.
Setting i.MX 8M Mini and Nano MIPI-DPHY Clock How to calculate necessary timing parameters.
Implementing Graphics in Real-time Industrial HMI Systems with NXP MCUs and Embedded Wizard NXP has partnered with TARA Systems to offer Embedded Wizard as an Enabling Software Technology.

Camera Interfaces

Documents and Videos Description
i.MX 8 Camera Use Cases Learn more about the i.MX 8 MIPI CSI use case, Advanced Gstreamer camera use cases, available cameras and daughter cards supported by the i.MX 8M Nano UL DDR3 EVK, compatible Device Tree (DTS) files and how to enable different camera options.
i.MX 8 Gstreamer User Guide Learn more about how to use GStreamer version 1.0 on the i.MX 8M Nano EVK. Includes examples for decode, encode, camera, video composition and video scaling and rotation.

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 voice and audio sections may also reference the included examples.

Documents and Videos Description
eIQ® ML Software Development Environment Enables the use of ML algorithms on NXP MCUs, i.MX RT crossover MCUs, and i.MX family SoCs. eIQ software includes inference engines, neural network compilers and optimized libraries.
i.MX Machine Learning User’s Guide The NXP eIQ UM for i.MX toolkit provides a set of libraries and development tools for machine learning applications targeting NXP microcontrollers and application processors.
eIQ Fact Sheet Machine learning software for NXP i.MX and MCUs – libraries, example applications and inference engines.
AN13001 Glow Memory Analysis How to understand the Glow memory information generated by the Glow compiler and calculate the memory required for a particular model. This compiler can then be used to determine the minimum memory size that is needed to run the model.
AN12766 Anomaly Detection with eIQ using K-Means clustering in Tensor Flow Lite Step by step instruction to enable a machine condition monitoring application using anomaly detection.

Device Management and Secure OTA

Documents and Videos Description
AN12900 Secure Over-the-Air Prototype for Linux Using CAAM and Mender or SWUpdate Provides a prototype implementation for Secure OTA for Linux images, specifically for the i.MX 8M/MM.
AN12921 Google Cast Authentication Aspects Implementation on i.MX This app note provides details about security properties required for Google Voice Assistant (GVA) and Cast for Audio (C4A) on the security aspects and their implementations on NXP’s GVA/C4A reference platform.
Docker On i.MX8MM with Ubuntu This document describes a way to create ubuntu rootfson host pc and install docker for any Arm 64 platform.

Get Help

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

Trainings

Want to learn more about using the i.MX 8M Nano UltraLite EVK? Check out our selection of training offerings ranging from online mini tech sessions to hands-on deep-dive training for help.

Training Description
Meet the i.MX 8M Nano Webinar Learn more about the differentiating features, target applications and ecosystem of the i.MX 8M Nano family.
i.MX 8M Training Full list of on-demand training, how-to videos and webinars from NXP about this product.