TorizonCore 4.0.0-devel-20200522 is using kernel 4.14. Currently. Is it planned to move to a newer kernel version? We need newer kernel version to support devices on our carrier board.
According TorizonCore Issue Tracker,
“TOR-133 New Feature Bump to latest Linux 5.4 release”,
a kernel 5.4 should be already in TorizonCore 4.0.0-devel-202004 (Release date: 2020-04-07).
Am I missing something?
Greetings @klausci
Sorry for the confusion, it seems that our release notes are not very clear about this.
Just to clarify in general on Torizon all of the mature i.MX products like i.MX6 and i.MX7 are on the 5.4 kernel and we plan to have these products stay on mainline kernel versions.
For newer i.MX namely all of the various i.MX8 SKUs like the i.MX8M Mini, we are currently on a downstream 4.14 kernel. The plan is to eventually have these on a 5.4 kernel but a downstream branch, not mainline. The current timeline for this is planned to be sometime in Q3 this year. We may have monthly builds/releases that support an updated kernel before then, but the official production release is tentatively planned for Q3.
Please let me know if you have further questions about kernel versions or if there’s anything else related that I could help clarify.
Best Regards,
Jeremias
So just to clarify the downstream/mainline difference here. When we say “downstream” what we mean is that the 5.4 kernel that will come with i.MX8M Mini, will be based on an NXP fork of the Linux kernel. As compared to being just based off of the main Linux community kernel.
The main reason for this difference is that the i.MX8 platforms are relatively new and therefore support for this hardware comes from NXP as there is little support for it by the open source community at large.
As for your other question, just to make sure I understand, the corresponding kernel config you’re looking for is this CONFIG_LAN743X correct? As of right now in our 5.4 kernel we do not have this config enabled. Though we could probably just add this config if there is no conflict. However if this device also requires changes to the device tree to work, then that is something we are unlikely to add on our end.
I hope this helps clear things up.
Best Regards,
Jeremias
Thanks for your explanation. Yes, I’m looking for CONFIG_LAN743x. How do I find out if this requires a device tree change?
Thanks for your fast reply!
May I ask what is the reason not to go on the mainline for kernel 5.4? (What is the difference of using a downstream branch)?
And: Do you know if this kernel will support Microchip LAN7430 ethernet controllers?
Thanks!
After some additional investigation into the kernel, it doesn’t seem like this device requires devices tree changes.
However I guess we’ll just have to await the 5.4 branch for the i.MX8M mini till we can verify any changes.
Best Regards,
Jeremias
