2303921_en-US

[#1]

Debian 13 Kernel Hang After 'Starting kernel...' on Custom i.MX95 Board

Hello,

We are currently testing Debian 13 on our custom i.MX95-based board.

The build completed successfully, and all required binaries (uboot, kernel, and rootfs) were generated and flashed to the board using an SD card. The board boots correctly up to U-Boot, and the U-Boot logs appear normal. However, after the message “Starting kernel …”, the system hangs indefinitely and no further kernel logs are printed on the console.

We have attempted to enable early console output, but there is still no kernel output observed after the handoff from U-Boot.

Please find the boot log attached for your reference.

We would appreciate your guidance on possible causes or recommended debugging steps for this issue on a custom i.MX95 board.

Thank you for your support.

Best regards,
Maruti Naik

Re: Debian 13 Kernel Hang After 'Starting kernel...' on Custom i.MX95 Board

Hi Chavira,

Thank you for your response.

We have already successfully ported and validated Linux 6.12.20 and Android 15.0.0_2.0.0 BSP on our custom board. For Debian 13, we are using the same BSP adaptations and System Manager (SM) configurations, as the hardware configuration of the board has not changed.

The images are generated using FlexBuild and flashed using the standard NXP flashing procedure for our platform. Based on our analysis, the issue seems to be related to U-Boot. As a workaround, when we use the flash.bin from the Linux BSP, the board boots completely and functions as expected. However, when we use the Debian 13 flash.bin generated through FlexBuild, we encounter the boot issue.

This indicates a possible configuration mismatch or difference in the Debian 13 U-Boot compared to the Linux BSP U-Boot. Please let us know if there are any known U-Boot configuration changes specific to Debian 13 or if additional modifications are required when generating flash.bin using FlexBuild.

Best regards,
Maruti

Re: Debian 13 Kernel Hang After 'Starting kernel...' on Custom i.MX95 Board

Hi @Maruti,

Thank you for contacting NXP Support!

To assist you further, could you please provide the following information?

How are you generating and flashing the image onto the board?

Have you correctly ported the BSP according to your custom board’s hardware configuration?Is the System Manager (SM) configured properly to match the hardware on your custom board?

Best regards,
Chavira

Re: Debian 13 Kernel Hang After 'Starting kernel...' on Custom i.MX95 Board

We are able to boot the board with Debian 13 compiled binaries without any issues.

Currently, I am testing 3.4.5 GoPoint demos from the Debian 13 user guide. I have logged in as the debian user.

After running:
debian@imx95ig61m:~$ systemctl stop gdm && systemctl start weston
==== AUTHENTICATING FOR org.freedesktop.systemd1.manage-units ====
Authentication is required to stop 'gdm.service'.
Authenticating as: debian
==== AUTHENTICATION COMPLETE ====
==== AUTHENTICATING FOR org.freedesktop.systemd1.manage-units ====
Authentication is required to start 'weston.service'.
Authenticating as: debian
==== AUTHENTICATION COMPLETE ====

the screen goes blank and nothing is displayed.

Could you please advise if there are any additional configurations required in weston.ini to make Weston and the GoPoint demos work correctly?
We are using 1024x600 resolution lvds display.

Re: Debian 13 Kernel Hang After 'Starting kernel...' on Custom i.MX95 Board

Hi @Maruti,

Sorry for my late response — our community tracking system has been experiencing some issues.

Do you still need assistance?