IMX219 Camera Module (Raspberry Pi5 Compatible) Not Working on FRDM-IMX8MPLUS - Pinout Compatibility

[intronix]

Hello NXP Community,

I'm trying to interface an IMX219 8MP camera module (designed for Raspberry Pi 5) with the FRDM-IMX8MPLUS board and encountering issues. I'd like to understand if this is a pinout incompatibility or configuration problem.

Hardware Setup

• Board: FRDM-IMX8MPLUS (i.MX 8M Plus)

• Camera: IMX219 8MP with 22-pin FFC cable for Raspberry Pi 5 (from AliExpress: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005009258177201.html)

• Connector: CSI1 (J13) on FRDM board

• OS: Yocto Linux with kernel 6.6.36

Current Status

Device Tree Configuration:

• Originally configured for &i2c2 with address 0x10 → failed with error -6 (ENXIO)

• Need to change to &i2c3 with address 0x1a based on I2C detection

Problem:

• Driver successfully binds to I2C address but cannot read IMX219 chip ID

• No video devices created (/dev/video* doesn't appear for camera)

• MIPI CSI data lanes may not be working despite I2C communication

Questions

1. Pinout Compatibility: Are Raspberry Pi 5 22-pin camera modules directly compatible with the FRDM-IMX8MPLUS CSI connectors (J13/J14)? I've found that RPi5 and i.MX8MP use different 22-pin pinouts:

   • Power pins appear reversed (RPi5: Pin 1=GND, Pin 22=3.3V vs i.MX8MP appears different)

   • Data lane positions may differ

   • I2C pin positions different

2. I2C Bus Mapping: Why does the camera appear on I2C bus 2 (i2c-2 = I2C3 controller) instead of the expected I2C bus 1 (I2C2 controller)? Is there documentation showing which CSI connector uses which I2C bus?

3. Alternative Address: The IMX219 standard address is 0x10, but this module responds at 0x1A. Is this a known variant or does the pinout mismatch cause address shifting?

4. Recommended Solution: Should I:

   • Use a pin remapping adapter between the camera and FRDM board?

   • Get a different IMX219 module specifically designed for i.MX8 platforms?

   • Modify the device tree with special configuration for RPi5-compatible cameras?

Device Tree Excerpt

text

&i2c3 { imx219: imx219@1a { compatible = "sony,imx219"; reg = <0x1a>; clocks = <&clk IMX8MP_CLK_IPP_DO_CLKO2>; assigned-clock-rates = <24000000>; // ... MIPI CSI configuration }; };

Additional Information

• CLKO2 is confirmed running at 24MHz

• Camera module has power (shows I2C response)

• Using standard NXP Linux BSP from Yocto

Has anyone successfully used Raspberry Pi 5 compatible cameras with FRDM-IMX8MPLUS? Any guidance on pinout compatibility or recommended camera modules would be greatly appreciated.

References:

• FRDM-IMX8MPLUS User Manual

• Raspberry Pi 5 Camera Pinout: HackMD Documentation

Logs:

root@imx8mpfrdm:~# dmesg | grep -i imx219
[ 0.000000] Machine model: NXP i.MX8MPlus FRDM board with IMX219
[ 0.076368] platform 32e50000.csi: Fixed dependency cycle(s) with /soc@0/bus@30800000/i2c@30a30000/imx219@10
[ 8.531294] imx219 1-0010: supply VANA not found, using dummy regulator
[ 8.538280] imx219 1-0010: supply VDIG not found, using dummy regulator
[ 8.545630] imx219 1-0010: supply VDDL not found, using dummy regulator
[ 8.559462] imx219 1-0010: Error reading reg 0x0000: -6
[ 8.564769] imx219 1-0010: failed to read chip id 219

Thank you!

[Bio_TICFSL · Accepted solution]

Hello,

The key issue appears to be a pinout mismatch between the Raspberry Pi 5 camera connector and the i.MX8M Plus CSI connectors. While both use 22-pin FFC connectors, they have different pinout configurations:

1. Power pins are reversed (RPi5 has Pin 1=GND, Pin 22=3.3V while i.MX8MP has a different arrangement)
2. Data lane positions differ between the platforms
3. I2C pin locations are different

This explains why:
- The IMX219 responds at address 0x1A instead of the standard 0x10
- You're seeing I2C communication but failing to read the chip ID
- No video devices are created despite I2C detection

For i.MX8M Plus boards, I2C3 controller is associated with the CSI1 connector (J13), which explains why your camera is appearing on i2c-2 bus.

To resolve this issue, you have several options:

1. Use a pin remapping adapter between the camera and FRDM board to correctly align the signals
2. Obtain an IMX219 camera module specifically designed for i.MX8 platforms rather than Raspberry Pi
3. Consider using the officially supported cameras for the i.MX8M Plus platform

Note that while it's theoretically possible to interface Raspberry Pi camera modules with i.MX8 processors (as they both support MIPI CSI2 specification), the hardware implementation differences require additional adaptation. The driver is correctly binding to the I2C address but failing to communicate properly due to the mismatched pinouts.

Regards