This article shows how to flash Embedded Linux onto Toradex Colibri VF50/VF61 modules using the flashing utilities provided by the Toradex image. For Vybrid the following flashing methods are currently possible:
The recommended way of flashing Embedded Linux onto Colibri VF50/VF61 modules is using the installed version of the boot loader (Normally Eboot) to upgrade the device. In case the boot loader got corrupted and does no longer work please refer to the VFxx Recovery Mode article. For release specific information please also consult the Vybrid Release Notes.
The preparation steps need to be executed on a x86-64 development host running a Linux distribution (e.g. Fedora or Ubuntu). Please note that there is no support for 32 bit hosts.
The following host applications and libraries are a pre-requisite for executing the update script and the 64-bit host tools contained in the image tarball.
E.g. for Ubuntu 14.04 (64-bit)
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install dosfstools e2fsprogs gawk mtools parted
sudo apt-get install zlib1g liblzo2-2 libuuid1 libusb-1.0-0
E.g. for Fedora 21 (64-bit)
yum install dosfstools e2fsprogs gawk mtools parted
yum install zlib lzo libuuid libusbx
On older distros (e.g. Ubuntu 12.04) the tool to create a FAT filesystem was named mkfs.vfat while the update.sh script uses mkfs.fat. If you get an error that mkfs.fat is missing then find the full path to mkfs.vfat and create a symlink by doing the following:
trdx@trdx:~$ sudo sh -c "command -v mkfs.vfat"
/sbin/mkfs.vfat
trdx@trdx:~$ sudo ln -s /sbin/mkfs.vfat /sbin/mkfs.fat
Note: Due to the limited amount of RAM available on Colibri VF50, the full LXDE demo image simply won't fit. Please use the console-tdx-image aka Colibri-VF_Console-Image instead.
It is possible to flash an embedded Linux image to a target module using two methods:
Note: Legacy flashing method does not imply that the embedded Linux image is legacy. There are pre-built Toradex images that are provided in both legacy and Toradex Easy Installer formats. Consult the image releases for a list of images in both formats.
Attention: If your Computer on Module is supported by the Toradex Easy Installer, the legacy flashing method is considered deprecated and you shouldn't use it.
This prepares a SD card or USB flash drive for later use on the carrier board with the module which is to be flashed.
<module-type>_<image-name>_<version>.tar.bz2 where <module_type> is one of Apalis TK1, Apalis T30, Apalis/Colibri iMX6, Colibri iMX7, Colibri-T20, Colibri-T30, or Colibri-VF and <module_type>_LinuxImageVx.yz.tar.bz2 where <module_type> is one of Colibri_T20, Colibri_T30 or Colibri_VF.You can find all the latest pre-built images in Binary Images, both in the legacy as well as the Toradex Easy Installer formats, or conveniently in the tables below, only in the legacy image format:
Toradex Embedded Linux Stable Releases
| OS Image | Supported Modules/Download Link | Summary Overview | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Linux LXDE Image | Apalis TK1 (2.8.7 | 2020-06-10) Apalis TK1 Mainline (2.8.7 | 2020-06-10) Apalis T30 (2.8.7 | 2020-06-10) Apalis iMX6 (2.8.7 | 2020-06-10) Colibri T30 (2.8.7 | 2020-06-10) Colibri T20 (2.8.7 | 2020-06-10) Colibri iMX6 (2.8.7 | 2020-06-10) Colibri iMX7 (2.8.7 | 2020-06-10) Colibri VFxx (2.8.7 | 2020-06-10) |
Angstrom LXDE desktop environment image |
 |
Linux Console Image | Colibri VFxx (2.8.7 | 2020-06-10) | Linux Image without graphical user interface |
Use any FAT formatted SD/uSD card or USB flash drive with enough free space (1GB or more recommended).
Note: U-Boot expects a partition table (MBR) on the SD card or USB flash drive and the FAT partition to be the first partition!
Find the mount point of your SD/uSD card or USB flash drive by e.g. using df or lsblk:
[user@host ~]$ df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
...
/dev/mmcblk0p1 7582228 2808272 4773956 38% /media/KERNEL
[user@host ~]$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
...
mmcblk0 179:0 0 7.3G 0 disk
└─mmcblk0p1 179:1 0 7.3G 0 part /media/KERNEL
update.sh script with the -o argument pointing to the mount point of the SD card or USB flash drive. For example assuming the SD card is mounted at /media/KERNEL: ./update.sh -o /media/KERNEL/
At this point the SD/uSD card or USB flash drive should contain U-Boot, optionally the Linux kernel, the flashing scripts and the ext3 (for eMMC modules) resp. UBI (for NAND modules) root file system images.
By default, Colibri VF50/VF61 modules will be shipped with Eboot. This steps need to be followed the first time in order to switch to U-Boot.
Toradex Bootloader 1.1 BETA 2 for Colibri Built Apr 28 2015
CPU: MVF61 500 Mhz
Flash: 512 MB
RAM: 256 MB
Using ECC Type: 7
Booting from fuses.
Colibri VF61 module version 1.2A
Press [SPACE] to enter Bootloader Menu
Initiating image launch in 1 seconds.
BootLoader Configuration:
C) Clear Flash Registry
X) Enter CommandPrompt Mode
D) Download image to RAM now
F) Download image to FLASH now
L) Launch existing flash resident image now
Enter your selection:
X to enter CommandPrompt ModeThen enter flashloader colibri_vf/u-boot-nand.imx to flash U-Boot. Enter reboot or power-cycle the board.
Note: BSP versions prior to V2.5 beta 2 did not yet use any module type specific folders therefore leave the colibri_vf/ part away.
...
Enter your selection: x
>flashloader colibri_vf/u-boot-nand.imx
Bootloader image size: 424728 bytes.
Loading done.
Flashing bootloader.
Writing 208 sector(s) of bootloader code from sector 64.
Erasing block 1
................................................................
Erasing block 2
................................................................
Erasing block 3
................................................................
Erasing block 4
................
Flashing completed.
>reboot
...
nand erase.part ubi before the update procedure is needed: Colibri VFxx # nand erase.part ubi
...
Colibri VFxx # run setupdate
...
Colibri VFxx # run update
...
Follow the steps below to upgrade or re-flash the module.
Connect the serial console to your host PC
Note: U-Boot provides only a serial console. To get to that console of U-Boot one needs to open the /dev/ttySx or /dev/ttyUSBx port with a terminal emulation program like minicom on Linux or a CoMx port on Windows with PuTTY, with baud rate 115200, 8 data bits, no parity and one stop bit without any hardware/software flow control.
Apply power or reset
U-Boot 2014.10 (Feb 03 2015 - 17:54:12)
CPU: NXP/Freescale Vybrid VF610 at 500 MHz
Reset cause: EXTERNAL RESET
Board: Colibri VF61
DRAM: 256 MiB
NAND: 512 MiB
MMC: FSL_SDHC: 0
In: serial
Out: serial
Err: serial
Net: FEC
Hit any key to stop autoboot: 0
Colibri VFxx #
At this point the U-Boot prompt should be visible.
run setupdate and run update command to update the module Colibri VFxx # run setupdate
...
Colibri VFxx # run update
...
**Note:** Modules flashed with images V2.3 Beta 3 and older need to be flashed with the latest V2.3 release V2.3 Beta 7, otherwise the configuration block might be lost. Alternatively, the modules can be Flashed from Scratch (see below).
**Note:** For old U-Boot versions instead of using ``run setupdate`` to load the update script use the following command:
Colibri VFxx # mmc rescan; fatload mmc 0:1 ${loadaddr} flash_mmc.img; source ${loadaddr}
In case the module doesn't show any boot loader output or hangs at very early stages refer to the VFxx Recovery Mode article to download U-Boot directly into RAM. From the U-Boot command prompt some additional commands makes sure that the whole NAND is erased and rewritten including the first boot configuration block (BCB). Within the boot configuration block the Toradex config block (production data such as serial number) is stored too, hence recreating the BCB also requires to restore the Toradex config block.
Colibri VFxx # nand erase.chip
Colibri VFxx # run setupdate
Colibri VFxx # run create_bcb
Colibri VFxx # cfgblock create
Is the module an IT version? [y/N] y
Enter the module version (e.g. V1.1B): V1.1B
Enter module serial number: 04815386
Toradex config block successfully written
Colibri VFxx # run update
...
Note: When U-Boot was started using the recovery mode the module will hang with the last output "resetting ...". This is because the Vybrid SoC stores the "enter recovery mode" flag beyond a hardware or software reset. To clear the "enter recovery mode" flag power the module off and back on (power cycle).
Note: The cfgblock create command is available since BSP release V2.4 Beta 1 (U-Boot 2015.04). To recover the config block for older U-Boot versions use the configblock.sh script and copy the configblock.bin file to the SD-card. Then, use run setupdate && run update_configblock.
While downgrading between some versions might work, the scripts do not generally take care of this use case (e.g. the scripts do not downgrade the NAND format or configuration block). Hence, the recommended way to downgrade is to use U-Boot of the (older) target versions and flash from scratch. There are two methods to boot into the old U-Boot: either using the Vybrid Recovery Mode, or, if a recent version of U-Boot 2015.04 is already on the module, using the U-Boot bmode command.
bmode command, make sure to use format_sd.sh which creates a bootable SD-Card.Depending on the method used to download U-Boot, use either
a) the Vybrid recovery mode, or
b) the bmode command
Colibri VFxx # bmode esdhc1
run setupdate && run update_configblock.The update scripts should cope with the standard update and upgrade cases. However sometimes things can go wrong. This section helps to recover the module in those situations.
Since V2.4 we try not to delete the UBI volume to retain the erase counters and hence proper wear leveling information. This can lead to problems when using NAND flash with incompatible ECC modes or file systems (Windows CE). In this case the UBI stack of U-Boot claims an "init error":
UBI: default fastmap pool size: 200
UBI: default fastmap WL pool size: 25
UBI: attaching mtd1 to ubi0
UBI: scanning is finished
UBI init error 22
To solve this issue a proper cleaning of the UBI partition is required before starting the update process:
Colibri VFxx # nand erase.part ubi
...
Colibri VFxx # run update
...
Creating the BCB fails with "Skipping bad block at 0x00000000"
Colibri VFxx # run create_bcb
NAND erase.part: device 0 offset 0x0, size 0x20000
Skipping bad block at 0x00000000
Block 0x00000000 is guaranteed to be good by the NAND manufacturer so this block should not be a bad block. However some Eboot versions marked the block accidentally as bad. To recover from this situation a sufficient recent U-Boot version is needed. The following commands clean the block completely (including its bad block marker) and also remove the U-Boot/Linux bad block table (use them with care):
Colibri VFxx # nand scrub -y 0x00000000 0x20000
Colibri VFxx # nand scrub -y 0x07f80000 0x80000 # For Colibri VF50
Colibri VFxx # nand scrub -y 0x1ff80000 0x80000 # For Colibri VF61
Colibri VFxx # nand scrub -y 0x3ff80000 0x80000 # For Colibri VF61 (initial samples with 1 GB NAND flash)
