New Linux reference image based on (coming) Yocto Kirkstone LTS 4.0

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The current LTS release of Yocto is Dunfell, and Toradex reference image is keeped aligned with Yocto LTS as described here.
But the next Yocto LTS (Kirkstone 4.0) is just around the corner (maybe already released a couple of days ago).
Based on what I read here NXP is going to release Linux version 5.15.x-2.0.0 on June 30 based on Kirkstone.
I expect this would contain a lot of improvements, especially for newer modules based on iMX8M-Mini and so I wonder if Toradex is going to release a next major BSP based on it on Q3 2022 (best effort).

Is there such a kind of roadmap?

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Hi @vix,

We’re still working on our roadmap for the new BSP 6. Our development team will start to discuss it soon. Therefore I can’t guarantee you that this new release will use Kirkstone or Dunfell, but we always try to keep our products updated and supported with the newest releases.

If you wish we can keep you updated on any new information regarding the next BSP.

Best regards,
Hiago.

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Hi @hfranco.tx
yes, please, keep me updated.
Let me know if I can do something to help.

It just came to my mind that maybe Toradex can send a survey to customers asking for the needs in terms of OS, drivers, features, … (to drive the development in some way).
Sometimes I received such a kind of survey for hardware (ideas for new modules).

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Hi @vix,

Thank you.
Sure, I will keep you updated.

Also thanks for your recommendation. I will send this to our team so they can evaluate that.
Let me know if you need anything else.

Best regards,
Hiago.

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Hi @vix,

Just a quick update, I had a response from our BSP team and I can say that we plan to launch BSP 6 on Kirkstone.

Best regards,
Hiago.

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Hi @hfranco.tx
great news!

I think it’s the best decision, from the customer point of view.
I think that a major BSP release (6) it’s the right milestone where to upgrade almost everything (kernel, u-boot, …).
And I would expect that with the new software the inter-processor communication (Cortex-A to Cortex-M) works out of the box.

I appreciate your effort.

Can you share a preliminary timeline, too?

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Hi @vix!

We expect a release at the end of Q3, but I still can’t guarantee which boards and platforms will be supported on this new release.
I will let you know of any news.

Best regards,
Hiago.

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Hi @vix!

We are currently running kirkstone on our Colobri iMX8X modules. We use the following repos (commit ID + layer name):

 2d0ef3e83549f39d9298b3e5449aae0e57cbc9e9 layers/meta-freescale (2.1-3251-g2d0ef3e8)
 f244dd4b26f5958e586f2cee3e6854489c2a049f layers/meta-freescale-3rdparty (2.2-466-gf244dd4)
 2d4090a7233274e2f876d812c13803ae1e1a2acf layers/meta-openembedded (heads/master)
 c702b23223c7217e1f9d15eb0766a1fc3bc22941 layers/meta-qt6 (v6.3.0-beta3-7-gc702b23)
 44341df4b79ccdf2072d0f2a49ce7893e321dfef layers/meta-toradex-bsp-common (Colibri-iMX7_LXDE-Image_2.8b5.156-20181228-314-g44341df)
 3112c5877d4dba188126062998de65501f6e894b layers/meta-toradex-nxp (Colibri-iMX8X_Console-Image_3.0b2.65-20190830-404-g3112c58)
 c41172d837dcaa73c338ac44ab43a3eb11299c2e layers/poky (3.5_M3-313-gc41172d837)

To get things runnig, you have to backport mesa 21.3.7, but every thing else seems to work pretty well.

Hope it helps.

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Hi @steff
I’m quite new to Yocto, but as I can read here I understand that the integration of Kirkstone into meta-freescale is work in progress.
Did you complete the integration by yourself?

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Hi @vix!

Yes, integration of kirkstone is still in progress, but already works quite well. Though I do not recommend to use it in an production environment.

As I said, I had to backport mesa, because graphics support for imx cpus is not available in upstream. But I would not call this ‘complete integration’. :wink:

BR, Steff

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Hi @hfranco.tx

Great to hear that the BSP 6 will be based on Kirkstone.
I was wondering when an initial test version would be available, or is it possible to use the latest master branches to try out Yocto Kirkstone?

Best regards, Rik

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Hi @rikte,

Welcome back to our community :grinning:

I don’t have a date for an initial test yet, but I’ll update you as soon as I have one.
Regarding the second question, nothing from our side yet, but you can try the steps that @steff described. Please be aware that these steps are only for testing, they are not supported and should never be used for production.

Best regards,
Hiago.