topic Re: [i.MX Yocto] Virtual Display X11 RDP for i.MX91 in i.MX Processors

[i.MX Yocto] Virtual Display X11 RDP for i.MX91

Zk47T — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 14:05:08 GMT

Hi all,

I’d like to double-check my understanding about display support on i.MX91 (FRDM board).

From what I can tell, the i.MX91 FRDM has no HDMI or MIPI-DSI (or other display) outputs on the board, and I’m not seeing a display controller exposed by the SoC in the BSP.
My goal was to run a lightweight GUI remotely just for testing Yocto apps.

What I tried

Built core-image-sato (X11) and set up xrdp. The RDP session connects, but I only get a terminal session (no Sato desktop).

Doing the same workflow on STM32MP157 produces a proper remote GUI, so I’m trying to understand what’s different/unsupported on i.MX91.

Questions

Can someone please confirm whether i.MX91 (SoC + FRDM board) has no hardware display controller / no supported display outputs (HDMI/MIPI/LVDS/RGB) in the current BSP?
If there is truly no display pipeline, what is the recommended approach for a headless GUI on i.MX91? For example:
- Weston headless backend + RDP/VNC backend,
- Xorg with Xvfb/Xdummy + xrdp,
- or any NXP-recommended method that works with the i.MX91 graphics stack (e.g., software rendering via llvmpipe).
Are there any reference designs or add-on boards for i.MX91 that provide a supported display interface? Or is display only available on other i.MX9 variants (e.g., i.MX93)?

Environment (for context)

Board: FRDM-i.MX91
Yocto: scarthgap follow guide in https://www.nxp.com/document/guide/getting-started-with-frdm-imx91-development-board:GS-FRDM-IMX91?section=build-and-run
Image: core-image-sato (X11)
Remote: xrdp (RDP) → terminal only, no desktop

If anyone’s interested in the exact steps I used for the RDP setup on i.MX91, I’m happy to share.

Thanks!

Re: [i.MX Yocto] Virtual Display X11 RDP for i.MX91

Zk47T — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 00:17:17 GMT

Hi, anyone has any idea ?

Re: [i.MX Yocto] Virtual Display X11 RDP for i.MX91

AldoG — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 19:32:46 GMT

Hello,

i.MX91 FRDM only support 5-inch Tianma LCD display by default on our BSP.
Please refer to the Board User's Guide:
https://www.nxp.com/webapp/Download?colCode=UM12262&isHTMLorPDF=HTML

Chapter 3.1 5-inch Tianma LCD

Best regards/Saludos,
Aldo.

Re: [i.MX Yocto] Virtual Display X11 RDP for i.MX91

Zk47T — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 00:19:47 GMT

Hi @AldoG

Thank you for your reply

Actually i know about this screen, but it so expensive, the screen price is triple the board price.

So i think i will stick with virtual display solution. Do you think it possible to some kind of port forwarding or screencast framebuffer to output GUI to xfreerdp from PC.

Also can i ask currently frdm-i.mx93 is out of stock, we need to wait at least November right ?

Re: [i.MX Yocto] Virtual Display X11 RDP for i.MX91

AldoG — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 21:32:25 GMT

Hello,

Yes, for stock on the freedom board please check the webpage or if urgently please contact your local NXP office or your assigned NXP sales person for any availability.

Best regards/Saludos,
Aldo.