Attention: the Quickstart Guide for BSP 2.8, based on the Ångström distribution, is not being updated anymore. Depending on your SoM, you have different options:

Vybrid and Tegra: the information is provided as-is and still accurate, since newer Toradex BSPs are not ported to those SoMs. Just keep in mind that the Guides are not being maintained anymore, even if we find bugs or outdated instructions.

Apalis TK1 (all variants), Colibri iMX6ULL (all variants), Colibri iMX7S 256MB and Colibri iMX7D 512MB: these computer on modules are still regularly maintained in our BSPs and, to get started, you must check the software page Toradex BSP Layers and Reference Images for Yocto Project. Since Torizon is not supported, at the moment a Quickstart Guide is not available.

All other i.MX-based SoMs: you have two options to get started with embedded Linux: the first is to follow the Quickstart Guide for Torizon, which provides the greatest out-of-the-box experience, or if you choose to use Yocto, check the software page Toradex BSP Layers and Reference Images for Yocto Project.

Overview

In this lesson, you will learn the basics of GPIO usage on Linux, being able to read or write to a GPIO pin from command-line, as well as by developing a minimal C application.

In this lesson you will:

• Understand how to translate the hardware pin names to the correspondent Linux sysfs interface numbers.
• Assemble the additional hardware - an LED and a switch.
• Use the Toradex GPIO Tool to validate the hardware setup.
• Configure and use GPIO pins through the Linux sysfs.
• Debug GPIO configuration.
• Write minimal sample applications in C.

The information provided in this guide is based in Toradex's knowledge base article GPIO (Linux), as well as other knowledge sources such as kernel documentation and the Linux man-pages project.

Materials Required

The Colibri Evaluation Board already has buttons and LEDs available for debugging purposes, therefore only jumper wires are required.

Step 1

To find out which GPIO number to use in the Linux sysfs interface, you have to know the correspondence between available pins in the carrier board, number of the correspondent pins on the SODIMM connector of the Colibri computer on module and number of the pins on Linux.

Download or open in a web browser the Colibri Evaluation Board and the Colibri iMX6 datasheets from the respective products pages of the developer website:

Colibri Evaluation Board datasheet

Colibri iMX6 datasheet

Step 2

For this introduction guide, some pins configured by default as GPIO in the Toradex BSP were chosen. The choice of pins was made based on their availability on all the carrier boards covered by the getting-started guide. This module will not go through the configuration of other pins as GPIO, although it is possible.

First of all, you need to find the correspondence between the SODIMM and the connectors exposed for the developer on the Colibri Evaluation Board V3.2. Consult the Colibri Evaluation Board datasheet and fill the table below based in the example provided:

Note: The notation CONNECTOR.PIN will be employed in this lesson, e.g. X12.5 means pin 5 of the X12 connector.

Warning: The pinout of the Camera Interface connector (X22) has been updated from Colibri Evaluation Board V3.1 to V3.2. Please consult the datasheet if you are using the older version.

Step 3

Have a look at the table available in the "List Functions" chapter of the Colibri iMX6 datasheet. It provides a list of most of the iMX6 pins available on the SODIMM connector.

The SODIMM pins we are interested at are connected to the iMX6 SoC and have names defined by the iMX6 Ball Name function. Each pin is multiplexed to have a specific function - among them GPIO, therefore the ALT5 function is the column that we are interested at.

Having a look at the GPIO Alphanumeric to GPIO Numeric Assignment article, the correspondence between ALT5 and the Linux numeric representation of the GPIO pins is provided as a table. To find it from the ALT5 it is possible to use the formula below:

PORTx[y]
Linux numeric representation = [(x-1)*32]+y

Either by consulting the table from the article pointed above or calculating it, the previous table with the correspondence between Iris Carrier Board pins and SODIMM pins can be extended to have the iMX6 pin name (ALT5), formed by GPIO controller, as example GPI07, plus pin at SoC level, as example IO09, and the Linux numeric representation. Fill the table below based in the example provided:

Step 4

Choose two of the GPIO pins from the list above to toggle an LED and read the value of a switch. This lesson will use the following pins (Linux GPIO number):

• 15 for SW
• 50 for LED

Use jumper wires to connect GPIO 15 to the slide switch SW4 on the connector X21.7, and GPIO 50 to the LED1 on the connector X21.2.

Note: For more informations about pins schematic, please access the Colibri Evaluation Board schematics here.

Note: You may use any other of the LEDs/switches available. Please refer to the section 3.9.2.3 LED / Switches (X21) of the Colibri Evaluation Board datasheet.

• 

  Connecting the SODIMM pins to the LED and switch

Step 5

The Toradex Linux pre-built image comes with a tool named Toradex GPIO tool meant for debugging pins configuration. It can also be used to determine the correspondences found in the previous step. We will use it to test the hardware connections.

Note: You need a display and a mouse connected to the system in order to use the GPIO tool. Please go to the beginning of the getting-started guide for more information about assembling the peripherals.

Run the GPIO tool from the target Linux desktop:

• 

  Starting the GPIO tool

• 

  GPIO tool initial screen

Step 6

Locate the pins 15 and 50 in the table. Right click the direction of each of them and configure pin 15 as INPUT and pin 50 as OUTPUT. See the changes reflected in the application.

• 

  Configuring SODIMM pin

Step 7

Toggle the switch SW4 and see the Logic checkbox of the pin 15 change its state. Click the Logic checkbox of pin 50 and see the LED switch on/off.

• 

  LED toggled from GPIO tool

Step 8

The Linux sysfs interface provides an abstraction to access the GPIO, as well as many other hardware features, from the Linux user-space.

The pin has to be exported first, which guarantees that it is not being used by other kernel drivers nor allow other drivers to use it. It also has to be configured as input or output.

From the Linux terminal, export the pins 15 and 50:

echo 15 > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo 50 > /sys/class/gpio/export

Configure the pins as input and output, respectively:

echo "in" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio15/direction
echo "out" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio50/direction

Step 9

Read the switch value as you toggle it:

cat /sys/class/gpio/gpio15/value

Step 10

Toggle the LED GPIO:

echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio50/value
echo 0 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio50/value

Step 11

There is a debug interface provided by the kernel debugfs for GPIO, which holds information about GPIO pins already reserved for drivers, as well as pin configuration and state. See the example below for the Colibri iMX6, and try it yourself:

root@colibri-imx6:~# cat /sys/kernel/debug/gpio
GPIOs 0-31, platform/209c000.gpio, 209c000.gpio:
gpio-15  (sysfs               ) in  hi
GPIOs 32-63, platform/20a0000.gpio, 20a0000.gpio:
gpio-37  (cd                  ) in  lo
gpio-50  (sysfs               ) out lo
gpio-54  (Wake-Up             ) in  lo
GPIOs 64-95, platform/20a4000.gpio, 20a4000.gpio:
gpio-90  (enable              ) out lo
gpio-95  (usb_host_vbus       ) out lo
GPIOs 96-127, platform/20a8000.gpio, 20a8000.gpio:
gpio-108 (scl                 ) in  hi
gpio-109 (sda                 ) in  hi
GPIOs 128-159, platform/20ac000.gpio, 20ac000.gpio:
gpio-130 (spi_imx             ) out lo
GPIOs 160-191, platform/20b0000.gpio, 20b0000.gpio:
GPIOs 192-223, platform/20b4000.gpio, 20b4000.gpio:
gpio-204 (id                  ) in  lo

See that the pins 15 and 50, configured as input and output in the previous steps, are the only ones taken by sysfs and are correctly configured as in and out respectively.

Export, unexport, configure and toggle the GPIO pins as you read the debugfs information to see the changes.

Note: If you want additional pin configuration debug, explore the /sys/kernel/debug/pinctrl/ directory.

Step 12

Write a small C application that toggles the LED GPIO. A small source-code is given below for reference and you may copy-paste it to your previously configured Eclipse environment.

Warning: The source-codes provided in this guide are distributed under the 3-clause BSD license terms. See below:

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>
 
int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
    int fd;
 
    // export GPIO
    fd = open("/sys/class/gpio/export", O_WRONLY);
    write(fd, "50", 2);
    close(fd);
 
    // Configure as output
    fd = open("/sys/class/gpio/gpio50/direction", O_WRONLY);
    write(fd, "out", 3);
    close(fd);
 
    // Blink GPIO once
    fd = open("/sys/class/gpio/gpio50/value", O_WRONLY | O_SYNC);
    write(fd, "0", 1);
    usleep(1000000);
    write(fd, "1", 1);
    close(fd);
 
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Step 13

Write a small C application that reads the switch GPIO. A small source-code is given below for reference and you may copy-paste it to your previously configured Eclipse environment.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>
 
int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
    int fd;
    char value;
 
    // export GPIO
    fd = open("/sys/class/gpio/export", O_WRONLY);
    write(fd, "15", 2);
    close(fd);
 
    // configure as input
    fd = open("/sys/class/gpio/gpio15/direction", O_WRONLY);
    write(fd, "in", 2);
    close(fd);
 
    // read GPIO once
    fd = open("/sys/class/gpio/gpio15/value", O_RDONLY);
    read(fd, &value, 1); // read GPIO value
    printf("GPIO value: %c\n", value); // print GPIO value
    close(fd); //close value file
 
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Step 14

The GPIO sysfs interface enables the use of interrupts from user space, as long as it is supported by the underlying hardware. Read the sysfs GPIO documentation, have a look at the poll system call and try to implement an application that handles the interrupt. Have a look at the source code below for reference:

 
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <poll.h>
 
int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
    int fd;
    char value;
    struct pollfd poll_gpio;
 
    poll_gpio.events = POLLPRI;
 
    // export GPIO
    fd = open("/sys/class/gpio/export", O_WRONLY);
    write(fd, "15", 2);
    close(fd);
 
    // configure as input
    fd = open("/sys/class/gpio/gpio15/direction", O_WRONLY);
    write(fd, "in", 2);
    close(fd);
 
    // configure interrupt
    fd = open("/sys/class/gpio/gpio15/edge", O_WRONLY);
    write(fd, "rising", 6); // configure as rising edge
    close(fd);
 
    // open value file
    fd = open("/sys/class/gpio/gpio15/value", O_RDONLY);
    poll_gpio.fd = fd;
 
    poll(&poll_gpio, 1, -1); // discard first IRQ
    read(fd, &value, 1);
 
    // wait for interrupt
    while(1){
        poll(&poll_gpio, 1, -1);
        if((poll_gpio.revents & POLLPRI) == POLLPRI){
            lseek(fd, 0, SEEK_SET);
            read(fd, &value, 1);
            printf("Interrupt GPIO val: %c\n", value); 
            break;
        }
    }
 
    close(fd); //close value file
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
 

To prevent the main loop from blocking, run the GPIO IRQ handling in a separate thread. Try to implement it.

Step 15

Improve the code from the previous steps to handle errors and add other functionality you want. The code below implements a frequency meter by measuring the elapsed time between GPIO interruptions:

 
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <poll.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <errno.h>
 
// high priority or an error occured in SW
#define POLL_GPIO POLLPRI | POLLERR
 
#define TIMEOUT 10
#define SAMPLES 10
 
#define EXPORT_PATH      "/sys/class/gpio/export"
#define SW_VAL_PATH      "/sys/class/gpio/gpio15/value"
#define SW_INT_PATH      "/sys/class/gpio/gpio15/edge"
#define SW_DIR_PATH      "/sys/class/gpio/gpio15/direction"
 
int configure_pins();
 
const char *sw = "15"; // Linux GPIO representation
 
void close_fd(int);
int configure_pins();
 
int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
	int fd, fd_edge, fd_export, count, poll_ret;
	double period, cpu_time_used;
	char value;
	struct pollfd poll_gpio;
    time_t t0, t1;
 
    configure_pins();
 
    while(fd = open(SW_VAL_PATH, O_RDONLY) <= 0);
    printf("Opened SW value sucessfully\n");
 
    // file descriptor from SW is being polled
	poll_gpio.fd = fd; 
    // poll events in GPIO 
    poll_gpio.events = POLL_GPIO;
 
    read(fd, &value, 1);
 
    while(1){
 
        t0 = time(0);
 
        for(count = 0; count <  SAMPLES; count++){
            lseek(fd, 0, SEEK_SET);
            read(fd, &value, 1); // read GPIO value
            poll_ret = poll(&poll_gpio, 1, TIMEOUT*1000);
 
            if(!poll_ret){
                printf("Timeout\n");
                return 0;
            }
 
            else{
 
                if(poll_ret == -1){
                    perror("poll");
                    return EXIT_FAILURE;
                }
 
                if(poll_gpio.revents & POLLPRI){
                    lseek(fd, 0, SEEK_SET);
                    read(fd, &value, 1); // read GPIO value
                    printf("GPIO changed state!\n");
                }
            }
        } 
 
        t1 = time(0);
 
        period = difftime(t1, t0) * 1000;
 
        period /= SAMPLES; // divide by n samples
		printf("Period (ms): %f \n", period);
 
	}
 
    close(fd); //close value file
 
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
 
void close_fd(int fd){
	// close file from file descriptor
    if(close(fd) < 0){
        perror("Warning: Unable to close file correctly");
    }
}
 
int configure_pins(){
    int fd_export, fd_edge, fd_input;
 
    /*******************EXPORT*******************/
    // open export file
	if((fd_export = open(EXPORT_PATH, O_WRONLY)) <= 0){
		perror("Unable to open export file\n");
		return EXIT_FAILURE;
	}else printf("Opened export file successfully\n");
    // export SW GPIO
    if(write(fd_export, sw, strlen(sw)) < 0){
		if(errno != EBUSY){ // does not end if pin is already exported
       		perror("Unable to export SW GPIO\n");
			close_fd(fd_export);
			return EXIT_FAILURE;
		}
		perror("Warning: Unable to export SW GPIO\n");
    } else printf("Exported SW successfully\n");
 
	// close export file
	close_fd(fd_export);
 
 
    /******************DIRECTION******************/
    // open direction file
    if(fd_input = open(SW_DIR_PATH, O_WRONLY) <=0){
        perror("Unable to open direction file for PIN 58\n");
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    } else printf("Opened direction file successfully\n");
	if(write(fd_input, "in", 2) < 0){ // configure as input
        if(errno != EBUSY){
            perror("Unable to change direction from SW\n");
            close_fd(fd_input);
            return EXIT_FAILURE;
        }
        perror("Warning: unable to change direction from SW\n");
    }else printf("Changed direction from SW successfully\n");
 
    close_fd(fd_input); // close direction file
 
 
    /********************EDGE*********************/    
    while(fd_edge = open(SW_INT_PATH, O_RDWR) <=0);
    printf("Opened edge file successfully\n");
    while(write(fd_edge, "rising", 6) < 0);
    printf("Changed edge from SW successfully\n");
    close_fd(fd_edge);
 
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
 

FAQ

This lesson only covers the basics of GPIO usage on Linux. Since there are other important topics that were not discussed, this FAQ section is meant as an information complement.