Dear @christophe93,
Thanks for your reply.
If I understand you correctly, you would like to migrate/change from your Raspberry Pi system to one of the Toradex modules. Also, I see that you are using (or interested in using) a verdin imx8m-plus module.
Let me try to give you an overall idea based on your two concerns regarding flashing the image and updating Debian packages on our modules compared to your process used for Raspberry Pi:
- System images are created in .img format, using Packer. Such images are flashed using rpiboot/balenaEtcher.
Updates are performed using apt-get update/install commands.
OS images can be flashed on Toradex modules using our Linux-based application called Toradex Easy Installer (TEZI). It comes with a nice Graphical User Interface and all newer Toradex System on Modules come with TEZI pre-installed. You can then power on the module and choose (either one of the images that are available from our DHCP servers or your own customized image) what image you want to flash onto your module. We provide several reference images (BSPs) based on Linux and also several versions of our own out-of-the-box image called TorizonCore. Please find some of the available images here.
Flashing the image is, therefore, an easy and straightforward step since all you need to do is load our easy installer, choose the image and click on Install button. We provide several documents about how to build your own custom TEZI image (Build TorizonCore from Source With Yocto Project/OpenEmbedded | Toradex Developer Center, Build U-Boot and Linux Kernel from Source Code | Toradex Developer Center) and how to flash it onto the module.
- We have some application Debian packages that are updated by apt-get update/install commands.
Please note we also use Docker that must be installed in our system.
The process of updating the packages depend on what type of image you are using on your module. If you are using one of our BSPs or your own custom Linux BSP, you will have to modify the linux kernel using Yocto and rebuild the image to add a missing package or driver support.
On the other hand, it is an easy process if you use our TorizonCore image. TorizonCore is our OS built from Yocto with docker integrated into the kernel. This means you will be running your application in docker containers on top of the OS itself. Therefore, you have the flexibility and freedom to choose what platform you want the container to be based on (example: Debian). So you will be installing/adding the packages you need in those docker images that you want your application container to run from. You can easily build your own docker images using all the configurations and requirements written in a simple DockerFile and run your application containers from those images using a docker-compose file.
On top of these, the Torizon platform comes with other features such as Over The Air updates (remote updates) and Secure Offline Updates using which you can update your base OS image or application containers or both synchronously at your own convenience. I hope this answers some of your questions.
Regarding your other question:
This depends on which processor you choose to use. We provide modules with both 32 bit and 64 bit architecture and also TorizonCore images supporting some of those modules. Here you can find the list of supported modules. In your case, verdin imx8mp module uses a 64 bit processor. Therefore you should be using an OS that supports this architecture.
If you still have some open questions, I would propose that we arrange a meeting where we could clarify all your doubts and help you get started quickly. Please let me know if you are interested in that and we will be happy to help you.