FRDM-IMX91 Software Release Introduction

i.MX FRDM Development (FRDM) software release contains prebuilt images, documentation, and i.MX FRDM Yocto layer for FRDM-IMX boards. It also includes support for Matter and Debian release. This article will give a brief introduction of FRDM-IMX91 software release. For more details, please check i.MX FRDM Software User Guide.

FRDM-IMX91 Yocto BSP Release

Based on i.MX SW 2024 Q3 BSP release

Linux kernel: 6.6.36_2.1.0
u-boot: 2024.04

i.MX FRDM Yocto layer source: https://github.com/nxp-imx-support/meta-imx-frdm

FRDM-IMX91 BSP changes:

U-boot: Add basic support for FRDM-IMX91
Kernel: Add basic support for FRDM-IMX91 and add support for kinds of accessories
FRDM-IMX91 Yocto layer: Add Yocto layer for FRDM-IMX91 and integrate u-boot/kernel patches

FRDM-IMX91 accessories and corresponding dtb:

5 inch Tianma LCD: imx91-11x11-frdm-tianma-wvga-panel.dtb
RPI-CAM-INTB: imx91-11x11-frdm-mt9m114.dtb
MX91AUD-HAT or MX91AUD-HAT + 8MIC-RPI-MX8: imx91-11x11-frdm-aud-hat.dtb
8MIC-RPI-MX8: imx91-11x11-frdm-8mic.dtb
2LL M.2 Module: imx91-11x11-frdm.dtb

Build FRDM-IMX91 Yocto Image:

Download i.MX SW 2024 Q3 Release:

$ repo init -uhttps://github.com/nxp-imx/imx-manifest-b imx-linux-scarthgap -m imx-6.6.36-2.1.0.xml

$ repo sync

Integrate meta-imx-frdm layer into Yocto code base:

$ cd ${MY_YOCTO}/sources

$ git clone https://github.com/nxp-imx-support/meta-imx-frdm.git

Yocto Project Setup:

$ cd ${MY_YOCTO}

$ MACHINE=imx91frdm DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland source sources/meta-imx-frdm/tools/imx-frdm-setup.sh -b frdm-imx91

Build images:

$ bitbake imx-image-full

Flashing SD card image using dd:

$ zstdcat imx-image-full-imx91frdm.rootfs.wic.zst | sudo dd of=/dev/sdx bs=1M && sync

Or using uuu to burn image to SD card:

$ uuu -b sd_all imx-image-full-imx91frdm.rootfs.wic.zst

FRDM-IMX91 Matter Support

Based on i.MX Matter 2024 Q3

To include Matter support, please follow below steps to include Matter layer into Yocto build.

Download i.MX SW 2024 Q3 BSP Release:

$ repo init -u https://github.com/nxp-imx/imx-manifest -b imx-linux-scarthgap -m imx-6.6.36-2.1.0.xml

$ repo sync

Download i.MX Matter Yocto layer:

$ cd ${MY_YOCTO}/sources/meta-nxp-connectivity
$ git remote update
$ git checkout imx_matter_2024_q3

Integrate meta-imx-frdm layer into Yocto code base:

$ cd ${MY_YOCTO}/sources
$ git clone https://github.com/nxp-imx-support/meta-imx-frdm.git

Yocto Project Setup:

$ cd ${MY_YOCTO}
$ MACHINE=imx91frdm-iwxxx-matter DISTRO=fsl-imx-xwayland source sources/meta-imx-frdm/tools/imx-frdm-matter-setup.sh bld-xwayland-imx91

Build images:

$ bitbake imx-image-multimedia

FRDM-IMX91 Debian Release

FRDM-IMX91 has support for Debian 12 OS. i.MX Debian Linux SDK distribution is a combination of NXP-provided kernel and boot loaders with a Debian distro user-space image, which includes:

Debian-based rootfs
1. Debian Base (basic packages)
2. Debian Server (more packages without GUI Desktop)
3. Debian Desktop (with GNOME GUI Desktop)
Linux kernel
BSP components
various applications (graphics, multimedia, networking, connectivity, security, and AI/ML)

For more details of NXP Debian Linux SDK Distribution, please check NXP Debian Linux SDK Distribution for i.MX and Layerscape.

Quick Start with Debian:

To create an SD card with Debian for FRDM-IMX91, please follow below steps.

Download flex-installer on the Linux host

$ wget http://www.nxp.com/lgfiles/sdk/lsdk2412/flex-installer
$ chmod +x flex-installer
$ sudo mv flex-installer /usr/bin

Plug the SD card into the Linux host and install the images as below

# format SD card
$ flex-installer -i pf -d /dev/sdb
# automatically download and install images into SD card
$ flex-installer -i auto -d /dev/mmcblk1 -m imx91frdm

Plug the SD card into the FRDM-IMX91 board and install the extra packages as below

1. Setup Ethernet network interface by DHCP or setting it manually

$ dhclient -i end0

2. Set correct system time, for example

$ date -s "22 Nov 2024 09:00:00"

3. Install extra packages for GNOME GUI Desktop version

$ debian-post-install-pkg desktop

4. Or install extra packages for Server version without GUI Desktop

$ debian-post-install-pkg server

5. After finishing the installation, run the reboot command to boot up the Debian Desktop/Server system

Building Debian Images with Flexbuild:

To build Debian image with Flexbuild for FRDM-IMX91, please follow below steps.

Set up the build environment

$ git clone https://github.com/nxp/flexbuild
$ cd flexbuild && source setup.env
#Continue to run commands below in case you need to build in Docker due to lack of Ubuntu 22.04 or Debian 12 host
$ bld docker
$ source setup.env

Build image with Flexbuild

$ bld -m imx91frdm

Flexbuild usage:
To build individual part of the image, please check below command list for Flexbuild usage

$ bld uboot -m imx91frdm (compile u-boot image for imx91frdm)
$ bld linux (compile linux kernel for all arm64 i.MX machines)
$ bld bsp -m imx91frdm (generate BSP firmware)
$ bld boot (generate boot partition tarball including kernel, dtb, modules, distro bootscript for iMX machines)
$ bld multimedia (build multimedia components for i.MX platforms)
$ bld rfs -r debian:server (generate Debian server rootfs)
$ bld apps -r debian:server (compile apps against runtime dependencies of Debian server RootFS)
$ bld merge-apps -r debian:server (merge iMX-specific apps into target Debian server RootFS)
$ bld packrfs -r debian:server (pack and compress target debian server rootfs)

FRDM-IMX91 Software Release Introduction

FRDM-IMX91 Software Release Introduction