Anyone using NXP board with Yocto

[BlogRahul]

I can see on internet that many people use NXP board like iMX8 and Yocto linux distribution for Embedded linux system development

I just want to buy NXP board for learning. I am also think of buying a NXP board but I don't have any idea which board to buy as there are so many chocice. I am looking for one board whose sample code is avillable on internet to make it easy for me to learn

Is anyone using NXP board with yocto here? Please help me to get NXP board ?

[DC1MC]

Hi, first of all go to NXP and look at the iMX6,7 and 8 series of MCUs, then look at what features they have and what would you like to focus on (multimedia, IoT, industrial devices, etc.).
ALL the development kits from NXP and partners come with FULL source code, except for some special proprietary binaries (HDMI controller, DRAM controller and so on).

Actually the full software is available to download from public repositories, both as a Yocto BSP bundle or individual components (U-Boot bootloader, Linux kernel) and so on.

So my suggestion is to download the BSP for a few MCUs (the NXP distribution covers more MCUs at the same time, you just have to configure it foe your favorite) and play with it:

- install the suggested Linux distribution
- install the per-requisites packages for cross compiling.
- compile the default configuration to get a SD image.
- read Yocto's documentation
- do some changes (add/remove packages included in the firmware) and recompile.

Once you've done all the steps above, you'll get a grasp and the selection of a specific devkit will be easier to make.

Cheers,
DC1MC

[nctnico]

Do yourself a favour and stay clear from Yocto! Better choose a SOM module (like the ones from Variscite) that support a regular Debian distribution. Much easier to get going and to manage.

It is also very possible to use any iMX8 board with a standard Debian distribution but it will require some work to get the right driver packages and kernel DTB installed.

[rstofer]

If you want something like Debian Linux and you want full source code why not start with the Raspberry Pi and Raspian?  The good news is that 30+ million of boards are out there doing all kinds of things.

If you want to add gadgets to the Pi, consider the starter kit:

https://www.amazon.com/Freenove-Raspberry-Processing-Tutorials-Components/dp/B06W54L7B5

You can get a lot of education out of a Pi and a Starter Kit.  It even makes a decent workstation.  The Pi 4 is great, if you want more integration, try the Pi 400.

[betocool]

I'll add my 2c...

Stay clear of Yocto to start with. While the concept of recipes is understandable, it gets very messy very quickly if you want to change things, and you have to use a language which uses a mix of Python and Makefile syntax.

Buy a board as described above. Chances are there is a Buildroot port for the board. Buildroot is less powerful than Yocto, but much easier to start with! And then having understood Buildroot, you'll understand Yocto better. I've been able to modify and add new board definitions for a Cyclone-V ARM processor using Buildroot. I spend two weeks looking at Yocto and went nowhere. Oh! And Yocto took 4 hours to finish a project, Buildroot about 1...

Consider though, for both Yocto and Buildroot you should have a Linux host or at least a Virtual Machine running some sort of Ubuntu.

Cheers,

Alberto

[nctnico]

I agree buildroot is much easier to understand but there is still a steep learning curve. The fact is that the recent NXP SoCs (iMX6 and iMX8) are powerfull enough to do development on. The need for cross compiling is greatly reduced. The projects I have build on the iMX8 are all running standard Debian and development is done on an iMX8 board. Not having the cross compile the whole lot, saves a huge amount of time. IOW: nowadays I wouldn't bother with buildroot as well.

[BlogRahul]

Hi, first of all go to NXP and look at the iMX6,7 and 8 series of MCUs, then look at what features they have and what would you like to focus on (multimedia, IoT, industrial devices, etc.).

Cheers,
DC1MC

@DC1MC

I would love the board with the features of IoT. I live in india and i am planning to buy imx8 board under 120$

please help me to buy board so do you see any link online so there's board available under 120$ in India

[DC1MC]

Hi, first of all go to NXP and look at the iMX6,7 and 8 series of MCUs, then look at what features they have and what would you like to focus on (multimedia, IoT, industrial devices, etc.).

Cheers,
DC1MC

@DC1MC

I would love the board with the features of IoT. I live in india and i am planning to buy imx8 board under 120$


My dear sir, I don't know if you observed that there is a HUGE crisis of semiconductors, consequently people are buying the cheap development boards and take parts from them.
I would be surprised if you'll find any new one available to buy in India under ₹22.000.

My personal recommendation will be a Google Coral https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15318 from an Indian distributor, you can ask Google India Development Centre if they offer with discount for students or young professionals.
Otherwise as long as the crisis persist you can forget about cheap boards.

Best of luck,
DC1MC




please help me to buy board so do you see any link online so there's board available under 120$ in India

[BlogRahul]

Which NXP imx 8 board do you personally use for projects?

[DC1MC]

Which NXP imx 8 board do you personally use for projects?

I use the official iMX8mm EVK bought directly from the NXP site, as it is the most supported board out there.

[BlogRahul]

I use the official iMX8mm EVK bought directly from the NXP site, as it is the most supported board out there.

Which platform do you use windows 10 or Linux to develop Linux system?

[DC1MC]

I use the official iMX8mm EVK bought directly from the NXP site, as it is the most supported board out there.

Which platform do you use windows 10 or Linux to develop Linux system?

Linux Ubuntu 20.04LTS, but for development the WSL can be used under Windows, is just cumbersome.