how to remove main desktop UI of Toradex image

Technical Support
1

Dahlia Carrier board + Verdin iMX8M Plus.

$ bitbake -k tdx-reference-multimedia-image

I build the image following your doc, but flash image to Dahlia board. I cannot do nothing. no Linux base Terminal, Folder …

the main UI show 1. Lord of the Rings: 2. Fight Club … only show advertisement E-Books.

I want to remove the main UI, recover Linux base function like Terminal, Folder, desktop …

I also want to load my GUI application based QT and Camera.

how can I changed the build/conf/bblayers.conf

remove the layer ${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-toradex-demos ?

changes incompatibly

LCONF_VERSION = “7”

BBPATH = “${TOPDIR}”
BBFILES ?= “”

BBLAYERS_NXP ?= "
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-toradex-nxp
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-freescale
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-freescale-3rdparty
"

BBLAYERS_TI ?= "
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-toradex-ti
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-arm/meta-arm-toolchain
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-arm/meta-arm
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-ti/meta-ti-bsp
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-ti/meta-ti-extras
"

BBLAYERS ?= "
${BBLAYERS_NXP}
${BBLAYERS_TI}

${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-toradex-bsp-common

${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-openembedded/meta-oe
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-openembedded/meta-filesystems
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-openembedded/meta-networking
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-openembedded/meta-multimedia
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-openembedded/meta-python
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-freescale-distro
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-toradex-demos
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-qt5
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-security/meta-tpm

${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-toradex-distro
${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-yocto/meta-poky
${TOPDIR}/../layers/openembedded-core/meta
"

2

Hi, I’m the Toradex AI Assistant.

I might make mistakes or occasionally get you wrong. Our support team will step in if needed.

(1)

Customizing Your Yocto Build to Remove Demo UI and Add Desktop Environment

You’re correct that the tdx-reference-multimedia-image includes the demo applications you’re seeing (Lord of the Rings, Fight Club e-books). To get a desktop environment with terminal and file manager, you need to customize your Yocto build configuration. (1)

Solution: Create a Custom Layer

Based on the Toradex documentation, here’s how to modify your build configuration: (1)

1. Create Custom Layer

First, create a custom layer based on the existing demos layer: (1)

$ cd .../oe-core/layer
$ cp -r meta-toradex-demos/ meta-customer-demos

(1)

2. Modify Layer Configuration

Edit meta-customer-demos/conf/layer.conf to customize the layer naming: (1)

-BBFILE_COLLECTIONS += "toradex-demos"
-BBFILE_PATTERN_toradex-demos = "^${LAYERDIR}/"
-BBFILE_PRIORITY_toradex-demos = "24"
+BBFILE_COLLECTIONS += "customer-demos"
+BBFILE_PATTERN_customer-demos = "^${LAYERDIR}/"
+BBFILE_PRIORITY_customer-demos = "24"

(1)

3. Create Custom Image Recipe

Create a custom image recipe in meta-customer-demos/recipes-images/images/: (1)

$ cp tdx-reference-multimedia-image.bb customer-multimedia-image.bb

(1)

Then modify the image recipe to remove the demo applications and add desktop components: (1)

-APP_LAUNCH_WAYLAND ?= "wayland-qtdemo-launch-cinematicexperience"
+APP_LAUNCH_WAYLAND ?= "wayland-qtdemo-launch-helloworldui"

(1)

4. Update bblayers.conf

Modify your build/conf/bblayers.conf to use your custom layer instead of the demos layer: (1)

- ${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-toradex-demos \
+ ${TOPDIR}/../layers/meta-customer-demos \

(1)

5. Configure Machine Settings

Update build/conf/local.conf for your Verdin iMX8M Plus: (1)

MACHINE ?= "verdin-imx8mp"

(1)

Adding Qt and Camera Support

For your Qt application and camera integration, you can add the necessary packages to your custom image recipe. The Qt5 layer is already included in your bblayers.conf, which provides Qt support. (1)

Build Your Custom Image

After making these changes, build your custom image: (1)

$ bitbake customer-multimedia-image

(1)

This approach will give you a more traditional Linux desktop environment while removing the demo e-book applications, and provide the foundation for integrating your Qt-based GUI application with camera support.

Best regards, Toradex AI Assistant.

Did you like my answer? :+1: :-1:

If I answered your question, please tick the “Solution” checkbox.

For follow-up questions to me, please use @ToradexAI in your post.

3

Hi @kevinxzl

This is actually not Ads. :sweat_smile:
It’s a demo from Qt, the “Qt Cinematic Experience”.

The Linux running on your device is a “headless” Linux.
Meaning that there is no interface with folders and buttons like a Computer Desktop.

The Desktop environment creates an overhead and is intended for general-purpose PCs.
On the other hand, embedded devices are usually optimized for a specific use case.

You can check this other thread with a similar discussion.

4

If you are not familiar with Yocto,
we recommend that you use Torizon OS instead.