Problems to display the Toradex Easy Installer

Technical Support
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1

Hello everyone !

I’m currently working with the SoM Verdin iMX8M Plus on the Verdin Development Board. My goal is to flash in ROM a prebuilt image and to test the TSN features of the board.

My first question is : do you have a pre-built image supporting the TSN ? For instance I chose this one : https://artifacts.toradex.com/artifactory/torizoncore-oe-prod-frankfurt/dunfell-5.x.y/release/13/verdin-imx8mp/torizon/torizon-core-docker/oedeploy/torizon-core-docker-verdin-imx8mp-Tezi_5.6.0+build.13.tar

Then, I understood that I need to use the Toradex Easy Installer to flash the image in ROM. My company doesn’t allow the network access for the board. It means I have to do an offline installation (untar the image onto an SD Card, plug the SD Card into the board, and than the image should appear in the list of available images with an icon indicating that it is found on a local storage device).

But my problem is I can’t access the graphical interface of the Toradex Easy Installer. However I pluged an HDMI cable from the MIPI DSI (Verdin DSI to HDMI adapter) to a screen…

Here is what I did :

  • First, I downloaded the latest release of the Toradex Easy Installer (5.6.0+build.9)

  • Then, I followed the steps here for the Hardware setup. I just supposed that the Ethernet cable is not necessary because I don’t have an internet access.

  • After that, I followed the steps discribed here : the step 3 succeed because I had the message " Successfully downloaded Toradex Easy Installer". But the step 4 doesn’t works… After a few seconds, nothing appears on my monitor attached to the HDMI port of the DSI to HDMI adapter. Do you have an idea why ?

Does it exist an other solution to flash in rom a demo image without using the Torizon Easy Installer ? Or do you know how can I fix my monitor issue?

Thanks a lot for having read me until the end. Hope you will find a solution.

Sincerely,

asanson

2

Hi @asanson,

Welcome to our community :rocket: ! Please feel free to roam around and explore.

About your comments:

I’m checking internally if there is a more adapted image to use Time-Sensitive Networking with the module.

Usually, a new module comes with the Easy Installer by default. Was that not the case?

You could automate it by setting autoinstall: true on your image.json file (Detailed Manual | Toradex Developer Center) otherwise, as you want to use TorizonCore, you could use the TorizonCore Builder deploy (TorizonCore Builder Tool - Commands Manual | Toradex Developer Center) or the Torizon Platform (app.torizon.io). Both of the last two methods work with the image already installed so you would not need to enter recovery mode.

Finally, you could also connect to VNC to the Toradex Easy Installer in order to see the screen. If you have the OTG cable connected to your host computer, you could log in using the following IP: 192.168.11.1.

Can you please confirm which exact module and carrier board version are you using?
Also, can you please confirm that the jumpers on the Development Board are on the original positions?

Best regards,

3

Hi @asanson,

Do you have any news on the topic?

4

Hi @gclaudino.tx !

Thanks a lot for all your answers !

Did you find an image adapted to use Time-Sensitive Networking ? I’m working with the Verdin Development Board with HDMI Adapter. The SoM is the Verdin IMX8M Plus.

Yes, normally a new module comes with the Easy Installer by default. But my board isn’t new… Someone already worked on it before me. He flashed a pre-built image on the ROM but the problem is the image doesn’t support TSN features… That’s why I downloaded the Toradex Easy Installer in order to flash a more recent image.

My monitor still displays nothing when the Toradex Easy Installer is successfully downloaded into the module… I will try to load the image into an SD card and try to boot the board with the SD card. It will probably be more painfull and complicated but I can’t use the Toradex Easy Installer…

If know how I can do, please let me know.

Best regards,

asanson

5

Hi @asanson,

Thanks for updating the topic.

I forwarded it internally and it seems that we’d need to check what has been done on the BSP from NXP to enable it to test if everything works well on our images but this is something that is not properly verified from our side yet. I’ll discuss it again with the team to see if we have any news on the topic.

Did you try using both the HDMI Entries that you have available (including the one with the adapter)? The one on the Adapter and the one that comes by default on the board?
I just tested it on my side and both should work by default. Can you share the file overlays.txt on the Toradex Easy Installer folder from where you ran the recovery script?

Do you have any output from the serial console when you run the recovery script?

Have you considered using the auto-install or VNC as I suggested above?

Best regards,

6

Hi @gclaudino.tx ,

One more time, thanks for all your answers.

Ok, thanks for these precisions. Please, let me know if you have news about this topic.

Yes, I tried the both HDMI Entries. For the both, it’s the same result: nothing appears on my monitor after successfully loading the Toradex Easy Installer into the module (through port X34).
I ask my self three questions :

setup
setup1046×513 62.8 KB

According to your tutorial, we need to setup the board and the host computer like the picture above. But…

  • I am in offline mode. My company doesn’t allow the module and the board to access the wifi. That’s why I don’t use Ethernet cable… Is it a problem for the Toradex Easy Installer if I don’t provide it any internet connection ?
  • Also, my screen only support VGA. So I use an HDMI to VGA adapter to connect the carrier to my screen. Is that a problem ?
  • Finally, there is already an image flashed in the ROM of my module (but this image isn’t suited to my usecase because it doesn’t support TSN). Can the presence of this image in ROM compromise the functionning of the Toradex Easy Installer ?

Here is my file overlays.txt :
overlays.txt (86 Bytes)

Unfortunately, I can’t use a VNC client because myy company is very restrictive and it locks vncviewer or TightVNC… In other words, my computer can’t be a VNC client.
Concerning the auto-install solution I didn’t understand it very well… What am I supposed to do exactly ? Do I have to flash the image into an SD card ?

Thanks in advance for all your answers.

Sincerely,

asanson

7

Hi @asanson, how are you?

Thanks for the updates.

No, you don’t need to be online. This would be only in case you want to download images to your module directly from our feeds. What you can do however is to load your images to an external media (USB Key, for instance) and then flash it to the module using Easy Installer.

Can you please share with us the adapter model? There may be an error with the supported resolution that is being sent to it. Maybe you can force a supported resolution to your display by following: Display Output, Resolution and Timings (Linux) | Toradex Developer Center

No. On Toradex Easy Installer you can erase other images that were present on the module and flash new ones overwriting stuff.

I understand the VNC point. About the autoinstall, you can download an image on our website (Download Links | Toradex Developer Center) or create a custom one (Build a Reference Image with Yocto Project/OpenEmbedded | Toradex Developer Center for BSP and TorizonCore Builder Tool “build” command | Toradex Developer Center for TorizonCore). In any case, you’ll have a folder with the image itself. Inside this folder you’ll have a file called image.json that looks like this:

{
    "config_format": "4",
    "autoinstall": false,
    "name": "Toradex Embedded Linux Reference Multimedia Image",
    "description": "Image for BSP verification with QT and multimedia features",
    "version": "5.7.0-devel-20220719184942+build.0",
    "release_date": "2022-07-19",
    "u_boot_env": "u-boot-initial-env-sd",
    "prepare_script": "prepare.sh",
    "wrapup_script": "wrapup.sh",
    "marketing": "marketing.tar",
    "icon": "toradexlinux.png",
    "license": "LA_OPT_NXP_SW.html",
    "supported_product_ids": [
        "0058",
        "0061",
        "0063",
        "0064",
        "0066"
    ],
    "blockdevs": [
        {
 ...

This is where you can set autoinstall: true. Then you just need to make this image available to the module either by adding it to some external media (e.g. USB Key, SD Card) or even to a Local Web Server.

8

Hi @gclaudino.tx !

Thank for all your replies ! I think I finally fixed the problem !

My HDMI to VGA adapter was the problem. As you said, there may be an error of supported resolution. I changed my screen to use an HDMI-HDMI cable and it displays perfectly the Toradex Easy Installer.
Now I am able to enter in the Toradex Easy Installer (offline mode).

You mentionned just here what I have to do now but I have a new problem… Maybe because I used SD card instead of USB Key ?

I loaded my images in two differents ways :

  • First, I downloaded the last monthly release of Toradex Embedded Linux Reference Images for Yocto Project. Here is the link :
    Toradex Download Links (Torizon, Linux BSP, WinCE and Partner Demos) | Toradex Developer Center
    Then, I followed exactly the instructions here to prepare my SD Card. At this stage, I have to partitions (one for the boot and one for the rootfs). As mentionned in your web site, at this stage, I can normally boot my module directly on the SD Card. I entered in U-Boot (by hitting any key in the early boot screen). Unfortunately, my partitions are not reconized by the module…

mmc part on U-Boot returns MMC Device 0 not found ; no mmc device at slot 0
run sdboot on U-Boot returns Error: “sdboot” not defined

Do you have an idea why ?

I also tried to plug this SD Card on the board when I use the Toradex Easy Installer. But nothing changed, like if my SD Card wasn’t reconized by the module. Here is a picture of the Toradex Easy Installer after having plugged my SD Card. Look at the bottom left corner of the screen.

TEI_with_Yocto_image_SD
TEI_with_Yocto_image_SD1920×1440 268 KB

I didn’t succeed to flash in ROM my image. Maybe I did something in a bad way ? Do you have a trail to help me ? Maybe I should use a USB Key ?

Thanks a lot for you help !

Best regards,

9

Hi @asanson,

Thanks for the update. I’m glad the display is now working! About your points:

You should be able to load an image with a SD Card without any problems. I think you’re trying to boot from the SD Card itself. However, if you have a look here on the detailed manual: Detailed Manual | Toradex Developer Center it states that Toradex Easy Installer will look for external media and check if you have any folder with the following structure:

Verdin-iMX8MP_Reference-Multimedia-Image-Tezi_5.7.0-devel-20220719184942+build.0 tree -L 1                                                                                   
.
├── image.json
├── imx-boot
├── LA_OPT_NXP_SW.html
├── marketing.tar
├── prepare.sh
├── Reference-Multimedia-Image-verdin-imx8mp.bootfs.tar.xz
├── Reference-Multimedia-Image-verdin-imx8mp.tar.xz
├── toradexlinux.png
├── u-boot-initial-env-sd
└── wrapup.sh

If such a folder is present, the Easy Installer would be able to detect it. This would be the most standard procedure in contrast to the boot from SD Card.

Please note that from the same page I linked above, supported formats are:

Supported file systems are ext2/3/4, FAT and NTFS.

Is your SD Card using one of such formats?

I’d suggest you to first have your SD Card with just the image files that come when you untar the tar files you downloaded. It will look like the folder structure I sent above. If this does not work with a SD Card, you can try to do the same using a USB Key.

10

Hi @gclaudino.tx,

One more time thanks for your time and all your replies.

Yes, ultimately, it is possible to load an image with a SD Card ! The format of my SD Card wasn’t the good one (it was exFAT). I tried with the NTFS format and it doesn’t work too. However, with ext4 format, the Toradex Easy Installer was able to recognize and mount my SD Card ! From here, it is possible to flash in the module’s ROM a pre-built image found here :
Toradex Download Links (Torizon, Linux BSP, WinCE and Partner Demos) | Toradex Developer Center

Unfortunately, the images I flashed doesn’t support TSN features. It is a pity because I wanted to use the IMX8M PLUS module only for its TSN compatibility :confused:
I think, at this time, no existing Linux kernel implements TSN for this module… Do you know if Toradex is currently working on that ?
(More precisely, I want to use the commands tsntool and tc to create a TSN network using IMX8M PLUS as end-point).

Let me know if you know an existing image supporting the TSN for the module IMX8M PLUS. :wink:

Have a good day,

Sincerely,

asanson

11

Hi @asanson, how are you?

Thanks for the updates! I’m glad you could load an image from an SD Card.

I’ve sent you a private message in the community about the TSN questions. We can follow up there about the topic.

Have a nice day :smiley:

Best regards,

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