Processor SDK Linux Software Developer’s Guide

Welcome to the Processor SDK Linux Software Developer’s Guide for J721e

Thank you for choosing to evaluate one of our TI Processors. It is designed to quickly provide the information you need most while evaluating a TI microprocessor, specifically running one of the Software Architectures available, embedded Linux. We are always striving to improve this product. Please let us know if you have ideas or suggestions.

Processor SDK Linux  
Getting Started Guide <– Start Here Directory Structure Overview
Release Notes How To Guides
Technical Support Building the SDK
Linux Software Stack GPLv3 Disclaimer
Training  

Quick Start Guide

Thanks for your interest in Processor SDK Linux J721e. In this section, we describe the basic steps needed to start development using the SDK.

For more detailed documentation, refer to Getting Started Guide

Steps for SDK installation

Refer to section Download and Install the SDK for instructions on running the SDK installer.

Setting up host environment

Once the installer is run, you can setup your host environment with a few steps. Run the following scripts to achieve this:

  • setup.sh to install all host packages needed for development.

Detailed steps are described at Run Setup Scripts

Hardware EVM setup

The J7 EVM comes with a SoM (System on Chip) based on which J7 variant is being used, a common processor board, a PMIC and a few optional daughter cards.

Detailed instructions for EVM setup with image illustration can be found at Hardware EVM Setup. Refer to this to setup your EVM based on which J7 variant you are using as well as for instructions for booting with the default card.

The preferred way for starting SDK development is SD card boot. The section referenced above describes pin settings to set the EVM in SD boot mode.

Running out of the box demo

By default, the SD card comes with pre-built Linux SDK binaries flashed. This will allow you to quickly verify the EVM functionality with just a Display Port monitor.

Insert the SD card with pre-built binaries and boot the EVM. After successful bootup, you should see a welcome message on the display wallpaper.

Flashing release binaries

The SDK Installer packages latest pre-built binaries and filesystem for the target. For detailed steps on flashing these binaries on the SD card, refer to the section format your SD card and flash all the pre-built binaries from the SDK release, Formatting SD card on Linux.

You should be able to verify the same out of box demo after flashing the SD card. This step should be used only when you want to completely overwrite the card with release binaries.

Illustration for simple kernel build and install to target

For most users, an important step in development is the ability to customize baseport software components like bootloader, Linux kernel, hypervisor, etc. This SDK allows you to build these components and install the built binaries for target EVM. This step allows you to verify that your host environment is configured correctly, and you can build and install these components.

For detailed instructions on building BSP components, refer to the section Simplified SDK Build using Top-Level Makefile. You should run the following commands in the installer directory:

  • Build all components using make all
  • Follow the section Installing to SD card rootfs
  • Follow the section Installing boot binaries

After you build and copy all the binaries to your SD card, you can boot the EVM with binaries built on your host. Upon successful bootup, you should see a different wallpaper on the display. This should confirm that your updates are copied correctly in the SD card. Also, you can run the following command on the target to verify that you are using the newly-built Linux kernel.

$> cat /proc/version

The output should indicate the build date, host PC name, etc. This verifies that your SDK has been setup correctly, enabling you to start development.

Feedback

If you have feedback, suggestions, or ideas on how to improve the SDK, it is very appreciated. Please post your ideas to the Linux forum listed at Technical Support.

../../../_images/E2e.jpg For technical support please post your questions at http://e2e.ti.com.