1. Overview

Debian, also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project.

The Linux Debian distribution is enabled for TI’s AM62Px, AM62x and AM64x platforms. Few key highlights of this project are:

  • The Debian filesystem image requires standard packages from debian.org and TI’s customizations as .deb packages. The deb packages for the components owned by TI are built using the public sources hosted on respective git repositories and the deb packages are hosted on TI’s official PPA repository maintained on Github/TexasInstruments.

  • The entire Debian build process is made easy with a build script, the script “ti-bdebstrap” is hosted on TI Debian Github.

  • This document also provides the required steps and instructions to customize the TI’s components for AM62x and AM64x SOCs and create the corresponding deb packages.

  • The entire project is made public and we accept community contributions as pull requests to github repositories.

  • Github actions are enabled for the buildscripts workflow. So, any change in the config files, package additions or modifications in build scripts will result in auto generation of a new debian filesystem that reflects these changes. The new builds will store the filesystem image as an artifact hosted on the same repo, allowing other users to test the change without making a new build. These images are available via github for 90 days after which they may be purged to save disk space.

1.1. Debian vs Yocto

TI provides both Debian and OpenEmbedded/Yocto based images as their Linux offering. Here’s a quick comparision between both to let you choose which one to get started with.

1.1.1. Comparision

File System

Debian

OpenEmbedded/Yocto (Arago)

Build Time

Faster since all the packages are downloaded as deb packages and installed.

All the packages are built from source. so build time is too high.

Patching SW Stack

Difficult because all components are installed as deb packages.

Since all the components are built from sources, patches can be applied using yocto recipes.

Host Hardware Requirements

Less because every component is downloaded except for bootloader.

High because building all the software stack takes so much storage space and computing power.

Installing new packages on the target

Since there is a package manager, installing packages is as simple as running apt install <package>.

Since there is no package manager, packages has to be built using yocto or cross-compiled, and then copied to the RootFS.

1.2. Acknowledgements

1.3. Technical Support

Technical support is a broad term. Our desire is to provide a solid product, good documentation, and useful training that defines a clear path for developing a product based on the Linux/Debian/RTOS/Android SDKs. However, we know we’ll never cover everything that can be done, and occasionally we even make mistakes <gasp>. So, when you can’t seem to find what you need, there’s a good place to search through previously answered questions and ask a new one - The E2E Support Forums.

There is an active community of TIers and other customers like you already using a TI Processor, on these forums. You may find your question has already been answered with a quick Search of the Forums. If not, a quick post will likely provide you the answers you need.